Where did I get the idea for "Creationist Programming", the belief that Software is created by a Programmer? I was trying to describe the TUNES approach as Evolutionary, and found it easiest to explain what that meant by contrasting with a Creationist approach... and elucidating what that meant led me to write this essay and later give this ( Read more... )

Rahul recently pointed me to a nice 1998 review of datamodels in the database world by Stonebraker and Hellerstein: What comes around goes aroundThis paper is quite insightful, and I believe a good overview of the field ( Read more... )

Take Swiss Cheese, the variety that comes with holes (technically known as eyesThere is a clear correlation between holes and cheese ( Read more... )

( Lire l'introduction... )

Mon paternel réagissait il y a quelques temps à mon commentaire sur l'académie. Tonner contre - mais en faire partie si l'on peut, me rappelait-il -- définition que Flaubert donne de l'Académie Française dans son Dictionnaire des idées reçuesSi on m'offrait un poste dans cette académie, refuserais-je ( Read more... )

... would smell as bad. And here, the name for black magic is the propensity to resort to Type M arguments, as opposed to Type C arguments: Type C arguments explore consequences, Type M arguments question Motives. Another great piece by Arnold Kling. (Cám ơn Patri)

Often, some people will argue that democracy requires citizens who are informed, educated, and able to reason, so that they may vote properly. Damn right it does require people who can argue. But it produces people who can't.

And I've explained why in my essay Government is the Rule of Black Magic, section The Law of Eristic Escalation.

Logical ( Read more... )

Voici en avant-première le tout dernier article de François Guillaumat et Georges Lane sur la fameuse Loi de Bitur-Camember.

Pour rappel, La loi de Bitur-Camember fut originellement publiée dans le Tocqueville Magazine du 21 mai 2002. J'en ai fait l'exposé dans le billet de mon blog: Redistribution = DissipationLa BD de Christophe d'où provient ( Read more... )

A random correspondant argues against picking the least of two evils. Quote: you don't have to align yourself toward fighting the worst evil to be morally correct. if you're fighting evil you're fineYeah sure ( Read more... )

In Ontology is Overrated: Categories, Links, and Tags, Clay Shirky clearly explains the issue of a posteriori knowledge versus a priori knowledge ( Read more... )