The hyperfinite timeline
Take an interval. Cut it into H pieces, where H is hyperfinite. This serves as the index set of a stochastic process, among many other uses. Imagine that for each of the H steps, you flip a coin to get -1 or +1. Then move an infinitesimal distance left or right based on the sign. This is Brownian motion. Each infinitesimal piece of the timeline is profitably thought of as a Planck time.
Slick hyperfinite Ramsey theory proof
Blog power laws
Gaoxing Guy
August 2016: Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan Province, China[^maybe it should be timespace instead of spacetime, better to put the time first, what if the place identifier no longer exists? Plus timestamps are orderable.]
A Prince, a Pauper, Power, Panama
Instrumental convergence is an issue I think about a lot because it’s so natural. Being rich and powerful almost never works against you.
Braindead Way to Derive Taylor Series of Exponential Function
\(e^x\) was first defined by a formula for continuous compound interest:
What is the prime factorization of zero?
Fundamental theorem of arithmetic1: every whole number can be split into a product of prime numbers in a unique way.
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Which deserves its name more than any other fundamental theorem, even the fundamental theorem of calculus. ↩
Use of emphasis in speech
Through a somewhat messed up example:
Generating a lot of language data with a theorem prover
I spent the last hour looking and failing to find the paper that made this specific claim:
"Litany Against Fear" in Present Tense
I love the Litany, but think it could benefit from more present tense. A litany is an entreating. That’s why they’re recited over and over. It tells one how to treat something as they are currently experiencing it.
When it's time to party we will party hard
The best feeling in a party is just sinking into a chair and talking about whatever you feel like with another. The best feeling in a party is doing something you’ve never done before and finding you enjoy it, or glorious wipe out like in that motorbike scene in 10 Things I Hate About You. The best feeling in a party is discovering someone strange in the same ways as you and feeling understood and not broken but just different and being ok with that.
these are people who died
they were all my friends and they died.
divine carrot
(some writing without hesitation or editing. possibly with repetition and deviation.)
the frog
i went to kauai with my parents last summer. we walked across some trail that left me covered in mud, and near the entrance to the trail we saw a frog lying on its back, feebly twitching. i figured it would die. i left it there.
what it’s like to get nail phenolization
phenolization: (partially) destroying nail matrix with phenol to prevent ingrown nails.
Why 0 to the power of 0 is 1
A set/category theoretic interpretation.