The Rise Of Fake Scientists
Ro.bert
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fiery stuff I’ve been ingesting
1. Recentism is a phenomenon on Wikipedia where an article has an inflated or imbalanced focus on recent events. It is writing without an aim toward a long-term, historical view. This can result in, among others:
Articles overburdened with documenting breaking news reports and controversy as it happens.
Articles created on flimsy, transient merits.
The muddling or diffusion of the timeless facets of a subject, previously recognized by Wikipedia consensus.
Edit warring over whether to change an article’s well-established title, abbreviation, date and numbering format, national variety of English and spelling, or wording in the lead section or article body on the basis of those used on breaking news sources.
Impassioned discussions on talk pages that debate not just the notability of the recent event (“Is this topic of lasting importance?”) but also where (if anywhere) it should receive coverage on Wikipedia.
2. Lately, I’ve been looking into creating a fixed-gear bike.
A fixie. Following that thread, the algorithm started serving me all sorts of bike-related materials.
Why Dutch Bikes are Better (video)
The Dutch-style bicycle, an upright bicycle designed for comfort - not sport - is commonplace in the Netherlands. But they’re incredibly rare in many other countries. This video explores why these bicycles are so useful, practical, and comfortable.
I learned that under 1% of cyclists use helmets. I also learned that overall injuries to cyclists are way less than any place in the world, so what gives? From what I gathered, cyclists and drivers are more experienced and courteous and the roads are engineered to keep all road users. This includes bike infrastructure throughout the country.
3. The rise of fake scientists & a web of pseudoscience - found this cool piece of thought by Anne-Laure Le Cunff on The Varieties of Religious Experience. There’s also an interesting bit on how to spot fake scientists.
…there is a whole ecosystem of publishers and authors promoting “alternative science”, often linked to the “New Thought” movement, sometimes called the “mind-cure” movement. Some common beliefs within this movement include the law of attraction (according to which “we attract whatever we desire or expect”), the existence of a life energy (which is impossible to detect or measure with conventional scientific means), and spiritism (humans and other living beings are essentially immortal spirits)
- Anne-Laure Le Cunff
4. Relatively fresh essay by Paul Graham - How to work hard
Was there, perhaps, some way to evade hard work through sheer brilliance? Now I know the answer to that question. There isn’t.
5. Soviet Study of Venus
Most of what we know about Venus is derived from the intensive Soviet study of the planet. The only existing images from the surface were returned from four of their landing craft. Attempts to carry phototelevision cameras to Venus in 1962 and 1965 failed, but the Venera-9 orbiter performed the first long-term imaging survey of cloud circulation, in 1975.
-> check out more Soviet Venus Images
Misc
I am vaguely interested in the tiny house movement. That said, here’s a company selling modular homes for under $50k.
Music for Programmers. Also works for deep work & research too!
How To Get Better at Painting – Without Painting Anything. One needs to learn how to see.
(video) How many robots does it take to run a grocery store?
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Visual Theory
Here’s the evolution of one of my side projects — Visual Theory. I am re-learning how to see.
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Thank you for reading!
How’re you and yours doing this week? Any major changes to your status quo, or are things fairly locked-in and predictable at the moment? I respond to every email I get—consider sending me a message and telling me a bit about yourself and what’s been up in your world.
— Robert