Interesting Links for 16-09-2016

[andrewducker]

The Design of Parliaments Has a Major Impact on Politics (tags: politics architecture design psychology ) Man arrested for speeding in DeLorean at 88mph (tags: timetravel funny cars crime ) "How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math" (tags: mathematics learning brain ) In parts of the US it makes more sense to build a solar plant than a

Comments

[drdoug]

Relatedly, I saw this YC interview with Elon Musk and laughed out loud at one point. They're talking about what's really important (in Musk's view) and the interviewer (apparently inadvertently) nerd-snipes him by saying that they would like to go to Mars except for the Internet latency, and Musk goes:: Yeah, the internet latency would be pretty significant. Mars is roughly 12 light minutes from the sun and Earth is 8 light minutes. So, the closest approach to Mars is four light minutes away. The furthest approach is 20. A little more because you can't sort of talk directly through the sun.
You can almost hear his brain spinning a little orrery while he works through the problem: he has the numbers to immediate hand (although having looked it up, Mars is closer to 13 light minutes from the sun most of the time, but that is absurdly picky), does a couple of trivial calculations, and instantly identifies a major problem with that simplified model.

My brain does that too! Except his does it better and quicker. So the way I feel better about myself is that comparing your brain to one that is notable mainly because it's one of the best in the world is going to end badly for almost anyone, and as sour-grapes consolation I like to think that part of the reason is that I use some of my brain for stuff like trying to be a nice person to my nearest and dearest.