Interesting facts/stories. An "Everything Goes" Lounge for Random Knowledge
08-27-2013, 05:24 PM
The double slit experiment.
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Futility Closet is a collection of entertaining curiosities in history, literature, language, art, philosophy, and mathematics, designed to help you waste time as enjoyably as possible.
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Quote: (07-26-2013 08:09 AM)bacon Wrote:
The origins of the word FUCK
The word originated as the acronym of "Fornication Under Consent of the King," "Fornication Under Command of the King,"
In ancient England a person could not have sex unless you had consent of the King (unless you were in the Royal Family). When anyone wanted to have a baby, they got consent of the King, the King gave them a placard that they hung on their door while they were having sex. The placard had F.*.*.*. (Fornication Under Consent of the King) on it.
Quote: (08-28-2013 05:59 PM)cardguy Wrote:
Brilliant blog here. Just stumbled across it.
http://www.futilitycloset.com/
Quote:FutilityCloset Wrote:
From Gábor J. Székely’s Paradoxes in Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics, via Mark Chang’s Paradoxology of Scientific Inference:
A, B, C, D, and E make up a five-member jury. They’ll decide the guilt of a prisoner by a simple majority vote. The probability that A gives the wrong verdict is 5%; for B, C, and D it’s 10%; for E it’s 20%. When the five jurors vote independently, the probability that they’ll bring in the wrong verdict is about 1%. But if E (whose judgment is poorest) abandons his autonomy and echoes the vote of A (whose judgment is best), the chance of an error rises to 1.5%.
Even more surprisingly, if B, C, D, and E all follow A, then the chance of a bad verdict rises to 5%, five times worse than if they vote independently, even though A is nominally the best leader. Chang writes, “This paradox implies it is better to have your own opinion even if it is not as good as the leader’s opinion, in general.”
Quote: (08-28-2013 10:24 PM)Architekt Wrote:
Quote: (08-28-2013 05:59 PM)cardguy Wrote:
Brilliant blog here. Just stumbled across it.
http://www.futilitycloset.com/
This is probably my new favourite site
Quote:FutilityCloset Wrote:
From Gábor J. Székely’s Paradoxes in Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics, via Mark Chang’s Paradoxology of Scientific Inference:
A, B, C, D, and E make up a five-member jury. They’ll decide the guilt of a prisoner by a simple majority vote. The probability that A gives the wrong verdict is 5%; for B, C, and D it’s 10%; for E it’s 20%. When the five jurors vote independently, the probability that they’ll bring in the wrong verdict is about 1%. But if E (whose judgment is poorest) abandons his autonomy and echoes the vote of A (whose judgment is best), the chance of an error rises to 1.5%.
Even more surprisingly, if B, C, D, and E all follow A, then the chance of a bad verdict rises to 5%, five times worse than if they vote independently, even though A is nominally the best leader. Chang writes, “This paradox implies it is better to have your own opinion even if it is not as good as the leader’s opinion, in general.”
Quote: (08-29-2013 02:23 AM)cardguy Wrote:
Quote:FutilityCloset Wrote:
From Gábor J. Székely’s Paradoxes in Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics, via Mark Chang’s Paradoxology of Scientific Inference:
A, B, C, D, and E make up a five-member jury. They’ll decide the guilt of a prisoner by a simple majority vote. The probability that A gives the wrong verdict is 5%; for B, C, and D it’s 10%; for E it’s 20%. When the five jurors vote independently, the probability that they’ll bring in the wrong verdict is about 1%. But if E (whose judgment is poorest) abandons his autonomy and echoes the vote of A (whose judgment is best), the chance of an error rises to 1.5%.
Even more surprisingly, if B, C, D, and E all follow A, then the chance of a bad verdict rises to 5%, five times worse than if they vote independently, even though A is nominally the best leader. Chang writes, “This paradox implies it is better to have your own opinion even if it is not as good as the leader’s opinion, in general.”
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Came across this awhile ago. The 50 most interesting articles on wikipedia. It is an excellent collection of stuff worth checking out.
http://copybot.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/...wikipedia/
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He was possibly an inspiration for the character of Indiana Jones, but McGovern's life may be more incredible than the fictional character he spawned. By age 30, he had already explored the Amazon and braved uncharted regions of the Himalayas, survived revolution in Mexico, studied at Oxford and the Sorbonne and become a Buddhist priest in a Japanese monastery. He became a beloved lecturer, war correspondent and military strategist.
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he led a party of troopers to his lover's house — deep within Austrian lines. Lasalle was fluent in many languages, including German, so he deceived the various patrols. He left the marquise's house at dawn, neglecting to hide his French uniform. Lasalle and his men were surrounded by 100 Austrian hussars. He escaped by leaping his horse over the parapet of a bridge. With only 18 men left, he routed the Austrian hussars but in the heat of the pursuit found himself isolated. Refusing to surrender, he fought his way out, injuring four hussars, losing his horse, and having to swim across the Bacchiglione River.
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To Roederer’s question if he were traveling via Paris, Lasalle replied, "Yes, it’s the shortest way. I shall arrive at 5 a.m.; I shall order a pair of boots; I shall make my wife pregnant, and I shall depart"