Sourav: Blog

A skeptical, replete take on gender-equity in science

2008-05-09T07:35:38Z

Why Can’t a Woman Be More Like a Man?

from the unabashedly conservative American magazine.

My view: Do as much as affordable to encourage retention of female scientists (e.g., blind tenure reviews, childcare services) but do not discourage male scientists (e.g., quotas). Trying to apply Title IX is all wrong.

Rationalization

2008-05-08T07:23:31Z

Is it any wonder a theistic apologist's twin intellectual pillars are wishful thinking and a poor understanding of natural law?

The article reports that Zacharias converted to Christianity after a suicide attempt at age 17. I wonder if there is a psychoneurological make-up (for example) that demands a Great Cosmic Silverback to make everything alright, and whether he was born with it.

Climate change exchange at Skeptic

2008-05-07T11:43:41Z

Patrick Frank argues that climate forecasts are unreliable because the different models don't agree with each other, taken together are not better than a simple linear forcing model, and not all the parameter uncertainties are propagated through.

Tapio Schneider counters that despite these limitations (mostly having to do with cloud formation), the underlying physics is well-understood and all the models agree that the warming is anthropogenic.

(As I posted earlier, people are looking into forecasting errors.)

My view: anthropogenic climate change is by far the best theory we have. Climate models are not as predictive as we like, but that is being improved upon. We will see how right they are, but if they are, inaction will be devastating to 3rd world agricultural populations.

Koan (methodological naturalism)

2008-05-02T15:38:06Z

Zen offers no comfort -- simply what is.

But what else is there?

Daniel Dennett explains how testimony can be crap

2008-04-29T23:56:43Z

A follow-up to my previous embedding on cognitive bias:

Climate change buffoonery

2008-04-24T05:52:56Z

You might disagree with the IPCC. You might consider climate change to be a disaster for individual rights and technological progress. But please, please, don't make stupid arguments, like:

* Rehashing contrarian theories which have been already refuted (an incomplete list: solar variation, sunspots, cosmic rays, natural cycling, CO2 lagging temperature, miscalibration of surface weather stations, volcanic output and galactic motion).

* Ad hominem attacks, e.g. how climate scientists are feeding at the gov't trough and are collectivists trying to ruin your life. This can be applied just as easily to climate change contrarians, most of whom get their funding from oil and auto companies. A conjecture can refuted on the evidence, or not, irrespective of who is proffering it.

* How climate change is "merely" a theory, and so needn't be believed. The consensus hypothesis is a theory like evolution, quantum mechanics and special relativity are theories. Scientific knowledge is always provisional, but the assumption of science is that if a theory survives many attempts at falsification, it's probably close to the truth.

If somebody has a genuine criticism of the consensus hypothesis that passes the laugh test, I'd like to know about it. I have a minor concern that climate models are sensitive to uncertainties in initial parameters and force couplings, though people have looked at this.

All your data are belong to us

2008-04-24T05:37:15Z

The 9th circuit court has ruled that customs agents can search the data on your laptop without cause.

Some practical advice here. Most tech-savvy people who value privacy or have business secrets use file and disk encryption. But as the author of this guide writes, this could be a red flag for meddlesome customs agents, and suggests steganography to plausibly deny truly sensitive data (like with TrueCrypt).

As I wrote about before, a lower federal judge has ruled that one cannot be compelled to divulge a passphrase. However, the UK can, and the federal gov't has other ways of getting what it wants.

However, using a steganographic lockbox is annoying, so even if one is Muslim/brown and traveling to the UK what is the actual risk? In the US, if you are asked to divulge a passphrase and refuse, what's the worst that could happen to you realistically?

If wishes were horses ....

2008-04-19T12:36:00Z

Michael Shermer gives examples and demos of cognitive bias, with an ending that warms the cockles of my physics-y heart --

The best TV ain't on TV

2008-04-17T14:18:03Z

Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss discuss the public education of science.

And via the same blog, more about the relationship between money and happiness.

Advocating jury nullification and suborning perjury

2008-03-28T09:06:52Z

An anonymous Texas prosecutor claims that advocating jury nullification is aggravated perjury under Texas law.

There are two obvious reasons why this is crap:

* Advocating jury nullification does not meet the imminent lawless action test.

* Jury nullification is an element of common law.

Of course, jury nullification can be used for both good (e.g., preventing egregious jail sentences in drug possession cases) and evil (e.g., letting violent white supremacists off the hook).

In any event, if someone is interested in passing voir dire honestly in order to find the defendent not guilty on principle, can he invoke the Eight Amendment to do so?

In Roppongi ...

2008-03-19T07:20:00Z

... I contemplate the cityscape.

School vouchers and data

2008-03-14T19:18:18Z

I support school choice in the form of vouchers for two reasons:

* Spending per pupil is poorly correlated with school performance

* Competition improves school performance

Does anyone have any hard data contradicting these claims?

The voucher program in Sweden seems to have been both popular (even with the union!) and successful in increasing education quality. However, it comes with a few caveats: for schools to be able to cash vouchers, they must not charge any tuition above the voucher amount. Moreover, they must accept students on a first-come/first-serve basis -- no selection process.

This reminds me quite a bit of Swiss healthcare: affording consumer choice of provider, while ensuring equal access to a minimum standard.

A beautiful story

2008-03-13T12:14:19Z

Striving towards no-striving?

2008-03-04T08:34:28Z

An interesting (problematic?) look at whether Aristotelian teleology is compatible with Buddhist ethics,

Buddhist Virtue Ethics and the Oneness of Practice and Attainment by KnutJohan Øen

I fear, however, that he suggests a doctrinaire kind of Zen that is ultimately self-defeating: "Think about nothing!" /stick

I would rather enjoy the Aristotelian ethic for what it is -- a grasp at what Aristotle knew is beyond one's grasp, eudaimonia as the infinite regress of the felicific. Achieving for its own sake, and leisure for its own sake; conscientious in both.

The tricky bit is the teleology: is the nature we discover what we must be? Perhaps, when asking rational questions about ourselves -- what we find is a truth, not the truth.

Ick, Star Trek

2008-02-29T15:57:16Z

The problem with Star Trek is that it is the perfection of the humanist ideology -- and so it must be imperfect. Reason and ingenuity, empathy and cooperation, are "good." And so the result is a look into the future which is highly optimistic in certain ways, and in the very same ways indulgent. Morality plays, after all, assume a morality; though, to be fair, in the original series characters would occasionally feel regret in doing the Right Thing.

Similarly, I've read Asimov and found it intellectually interesting, but also monotonic in being so. And dare I mention it, but Rand is so often one-dimensional I couldn't finish reading We The Living, and Atlas Shrugged felt like digging a ditch.

I need to read more "hard sci-fi" to understand the complaint that Star Trek is not "hard." I take it to mean that the science depicted should be plausible and that the sapient characters treated as fallible creatures -- this would be an improvement, if the author manages to say something interesting all the same.

I have Heinlein on my reading list; other suggestions would be appreciated.

Tokyu Hands

2008-02-24T10:15:58Z

Tokyu Hands is a neat store -- the one in Shibuya has astronomical telescopes, art supplies and motorcycle accessories/gear available on the same floor.

Best damn commercial I've ever seen

2008-02-21T18:54:00Z

5 minutes of beyond words --

The government, encryption and you

2008-02-19T20:35:02Z

I was so busy with liquidating everything in Berkeley I didn't even notice that on November 29, 2007 a federal judge ruled that the 5th amendment protection extends to passphrases. (Coverage and a PDF of the ruling at Volokh.)

The case brings up some interesting issues, both technical and legal:

This idiot should have used an encryption scheme with plausible deniability, like TrueCrypt. TrueCrypt allows you to create a hidden volume that looks just like the free space, which TrueCrypt fills with random numbers. If you write to the outer volume without also entering the hidden volume passphrase, *poof* the hidden volume data is gone.

The UK can compel passwords under RIPA, and the US can label you an "enemy combatant" and waterboard the outer volume passphrase out of you. With hidden volumes, they'd never know.

(In the case the data is more valuable than the person, one could keep the encryption key on a USB stick or CDROM that he could destroy when threatened by force. But, I don't see why one wouldn't use hidden volumes here, either.)
The discussion comments made by lawyers seem to revolve around several "models" :
- The encrypted volume is like a strong box, and the suspect can be compelled to produce the key
- The encrypted volume is like a safe, and the suspect cannot be compelled to testify to the combination
- The point of the 5th amendment is to prevent false confessions compelled by by torture. In this case, the suspect demonstrated his ability to unlock the volume, so he can be compelled to reproduce this action. It is not testimony because the fact is already established.
- Finally, the one the DOJ came up with, which I must admit is creative: grant transactional immunity for the actual contents of the passphrase (e.g., "I killed Hoffa"), skirting the 5th amendment protection, then go after the suspect for anything incriminating in the data the passphrase unlocks.
Potentially in the future, all data and communications will be strongly encrypted and nothing will exist on paper. Should there be an "encryption exception" to the 5th amendment, a la the hearsay exception? This could be useful for, say, cyberterrorism.

It is easy for me to argue "no" for two reasons. First, freedom of expression and privacy come first as a matter of principle. Second, one can use techniques already developed for cracking clandestine organizations: moles, pattern analysis, etc.

Education or social engineering?

2008-02-16T12:30:45Z

Yet another inspiring TED talk, about a new liberal arts college in Ghana designed to encourage critical thought and service among the country's next generation of leaders. The founder argues that mindlessness and entitlement lead to corruption, and he is using his American education and work experience to change things in his home country.

This makes sense, but isn't there tension between critical thought and service? Ultimately, critical thought must come first, and this is why the individual must be cherished even if we exhort him to help others. If it's the other way around, critical thought is the first thing to go.

... the wind's song and the white sail's shaking ...

2008-02-06T12:33:29Z

A great article at Physics Today, The physics of sailing. Teaser:

"Sails and keels, like airplane wings, exploit Bernoulli's principle. Aerodynamic and hydrodynamic insights help designers create faster sailboats."

(Entry title from "Sea Fever" by John Masefield.)

Zen snowmen

2008-02-04T04:52:52Z

So it snowed 3-4" here yesterday. It was right around freezing, so the snowflakes were big and moist -- perfect for making snowmen.

Two interesting things about Japanese snowmen:

* They have two segments, not three as in the US.

* They are called yuki daruma. Yuki here is snow, and daruma is literally Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen. (More here.)

Finally, I was awakened Sunday morning (after a late night in Shibuya; a sweet pic) by squealing kids running out into the snow -- I'm glad that is universal!

The liberal aesthetic

2008-01-26T02:45:58Z

Via nyuanshin, Will Wilkinson writes:

I sometimes think that liberal individualism is something like the intellectual and moral equivalent of the best modernist design — spare, elegant, functional — but hard to grasp or truly appreciate without a cultivated sense of style, without a little discerning maturity. National Greatness Conservatism is like a grotesque wood-paneled den stuffed with animal heads, mounted swords, garish carpets, and a giant roaring fire. Only the most vulgar tuck in next to that fire, light a fat cigar, and think they’ve really got it all figured out. But I’m afraid that’s pretty much the kind of thing you get at the Committee for Social Thought. If you declaim the importance of virtue loudly enough, you don’t have to actually think.

As I commented on nyuanshin's post, it's so easy to make modernism soulless. The U. of Tokyo campus where I'm working right now is a perfect example of mercantile design by committee: enormous straight lines and square, flat spaces; grand gestures like skylights that open to ground-floor pools and upper-floor glass walkways; and vast interiors that aren't all that comfortable. Oh, and when it's windy like it was yesterday, the campus is like open steppe with the buildings acting to funnel and intensify the blast.

Maybe it'll be nicer in the spring :)

Maid cafes

2008-01-25T06:07:28Z

Holy crap. More at Wikipedia.

Maybe we're just being judgmental gaijin stuck in our American cultural frame, but this is hella creepy. Everyone here is into them -- we think they're putting us on! I guess otaku is the new cool.

Japan sundries

2008-01-21T12:23:29Z

* Let me know if you'd rather not read these Japan-related posts -- I'll create a group and exclude you (well, for the friends-only posts).

* My apartment building is served by fiber optic, fed through a 100 Mbit switch to the units; we got hooked up on Saturday. 51 Mbps download, 7 Mbps upload. Ten times as fast as those punks at Comcast, and the technician from NTT -- who owns the wires, doesn't even provide the service -- arrived on time.

* I went to see sumo yesterday (paid for by the university, because the tickets were 8200 yen), and it was everything I hoped for: enormously fat men in stare-downs, celebrating with the crowd perceived victories in said stare-downs, then losing because they were over-confident in the stare-downs. The matches with the yokozuna at the end were most entertaining, both for their excellent judo-like skills, and because they put the smack down on their inferior opponents.

Hakuho got miffed because his opponent (6-1 to that point) used more than the customary number stare-downs to try to psych him out. Hakuho then promptly pancaked him and the dude got up gimpy. Asashoryu played well to the crowd during the stare-down phase. Once the match started, his 2-5 opponent was game, parrying his initial technique, but then Asahoryu threw him out of the ring by his diaper.

Afterward, we had dinner at a nearby "nice" Japanese restaurant which played up the sumo theme -- they have a decorative sumo ring in the middle of the restaurant (we did not inquire about bouts between diners), and they served chankonabe, the traditional sumo soup. We supplemented that with sizzling beef steak and whale meat -- yes, whale meat, and at my urging. It was delicious, and not just because I hate the Earth!

The Great Whiskey Caper

2008-01-19T10:06:08Z

On the same night we visited Shinjuku we stopped at Akihabara to grab dinner and soak in the scene. After being creeped out by the girls in maid outfits and the hentai shops, we hit the liquor store on the way to the train station and picked up a bottle of Jack Daniels. "2000 yen, not bad!" I thought to myself; perhaps, even too good to be true ...

We got back to the apartment, I cracked open the bottle, and UGH. Horrible. It claims 40% alcohol by volume on the label, but I think it's 40% whiskey by volume. Hardly any alcohol in it. I guess I got jobbed.

Fast-forward to last night. We were in a bar called "The Hub" in downtown Kashiwa, and I figure I'd give whiskey another shot. "A 430 yen shot of Laphroaig, not bad." As the reader might have guessed, piss -- not a hint of that sweet Scottish jet fuel.

Devastated and disoriented, I stumbled with my compadres into a basement dive called the "Buffalo Shot Bar." I asked the spunky blond behind the bar straight away, "It says here on the menu that your whiskey ranges from 700 to 900 yen a shot -- is it the real thing?" She answered yes. With my heart in my hand, I ordered the Maker's Mark. The first sip ... bliss; home. The real deal, Kentucky velvet dancing on my palate.

With my soul at ease, I made the acquaintance of said blond bartender (from Romania), the tall barkeep (from Senegal), the owner (from Nigeria), as well as the fellow seated to my left (~60 year-old English engineer, working for Shell Oil in Brunei when he's not partying in Bangkok). I ordered another, Jim Beam Rye -- exquisite, earthy flavor that comes on smooth. My spirits on cloud nine, with Bon Jovi playing in the background.

Later on we met a Dutch world traveler, enjoyed the graces of a hammered 30-ish Japanese woman who was hugging us compulsively, then had an excellent time explaining to the taxi lady how the hell to get back. "Ah, University of Tokyo" she said in English, and we were off to the races.