Checking all explanations beyond the obvious is one of the core abilities of a scientific mind. I have always liked to use this ability to advocate strange or adverse viewpoints, even when I personally disagreed with them. [more]
As I continue to delve into Lorelle’s phenomenal heap of blogging treasures, I found a challenge that I could not resist taking:
I challenge all bloggers to blog about 30 things that can be done to change the world in 30 seconds.[…]There is a lot you can do to change the world in 30 seconds. In thirty seconds or less, what are the things you can do to make the world a better place[…]
Update: Lorelle has now included this one in her official blogging challenge. An excellent opportunity for me to re-read my list, and deeply agree with myself that I should read it more often (how about daily?).
Without further ado, the list I came up with:
No tomatoes
When I drive my car — yes, I do occasionally drive a car, although I would not boast about my driving abilities — and an inarticulate fellow driver brakes abruptly just in front of me, passes me on the wrong side, or flashes his lights at me when I am peacefully passing a line of slowish trucks, I generally hear the non-driving driver sitting next to me utter a number of barely polite reproaches to the indelicate vehicle, while I am keeping a very cool-headed, totally non-french phlegm. One day I was trying to get the beloved one to calm down, I made up the rhino analogy.
Lorelle’s blogging challenge strikes again: ‘blog about your hobby’. This immediately triggers the question: ‘what is my hobby ?’. If you had asked this question fifteen years ago, I could have answered right away: [more]
Am I mistaken in believing that at least some readers will recognize the following quote ?
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights […] without distinction of any kind, such as […], sex, […]
In mathematics, when we say things are equal, [more]
I apologize to those who fell for the controversial title: I only have a proof that God partially exists, although if you can hang on through the (mildly-)mathematical developments, you will see how it is sufficient.
I apologize to all readers for the possible random ‘500 internal server error’ messages and sluggish behaviour of my hosting service (free.fr). It seems to happen mostly between 7 and 9 pm french time (peak traffic for the hosting service ?). As service quality tends to fluctuate between the various batches of investment, I will give free.fr two to three months’ second-chance. [more]
I have a scientific mind. Probably as scientific as it can get. I take pride in this, although more and more people tend to consider scientists as senseless robots, a necessary pain to keep our technological society running. People with a scientific mind are dull, they are not fun speaking with, you would not want them around your dinner table. You had rather invite movie actors, singers, football players, writers, businessmen, doctors, firefighters, veterinarians or even lawyers.
This is an attempt at restoring the honour of scientific thinking - through a series of posts, I will take the reader to places a scientist is not expected to go, and yet reach astounding conclusions.