We are always using observations to refine our mental representation of the world. We are confident about some of our theories and less confident about others. As we encounter evidence for and against those theories, our confidence in them adjusts accordingly. How much you believe something after you see the evidence depends not just on […]
MoreWhen dealing with complex ideas, it helps to break them down into separate categories. Biologists explain things using biology, psychologists use psychology and so on. Specialising within a category has its advantages – less chance of cognitive overload, easier to remember facts and more but it can limit your ability to see the bigger picture. […]
MoreAlan Turing spent many evenings playing chess. As Turing had long been interested in the way computers might replicate the workings of a human brain, the potential for a chess-playing computer came comfortably to him. Turing approached the problem not by thinking of ways to use brute processing power to calculate every possible move; instead […]
MoreLife itself is will to power. Friedrich Nietzsche Every living thing has to exert power over its environment in order to survive. A deer is either overpowered and killed by a tiger or the leaves and shoots of trees are overpowered by the deer. Personal relationships and the relationships between countries all involve shifts in […]
MoreAlong the coasts of Japan, a reddish-brown seaweed clings to tide-swept rocks. Porphyra, better known as nori, has been consumed by the Japanese for hundreds of years. It is the edible paper-like casing which gives sushi its distinct structure and appearance. Despite sushi’s popularity all across the world, Japan’s long legacy of nori consumption has […]
MoreA test for coronavirus presents a rate of 2% false positives [1] (the test returns positive despite the person not being infected with coronavirus). The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has data on the number of coronavirus cases within private households, excluding hospitals and care homes. This measure is known as the community population and […]
MoreConsider the following statements: Statement A: No swan is black, because I looked at four thousand swans and found none. Statement B: Not all swans are white. Statement A is an example of how statistics can be applied to a problem. A statistician would take a sample of the population and from the sample she […]
MoreDo you ever stop to wonder how your life would be today if events in your past had alternative conclusions? Perhaps the thoughts that enter your mind take you back to moments of great uncertainty. Choices are usually based on outcomes. You are living with the outcomes of your past choices today. But this is […]
MoreThe centre of Asia has served as an incubator for the creation of empires and one of the greatest of all was that of the Persians. Expanding quickly in the sixth century B.C from their homeland in the area known today as southern Iran, they came to dominate their neighbours reaching the Aegean Sea to […]
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