THUNK

You probably learned how to do long multiplication by hand in school. Computers used the same algorithm to multiply large numbers together, until computer scientists discovered much, much faster methods, including one published this year that’s “perfect!”

Video: http://youtu.be/UK9XUAfRhCc

Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2019/11/20/178.-Multiplication-Menagerie.html

How is philosophy like fashion? …that’s not a setup for a pun, I promise.

Video: http://youtu.be/kJWmmvLInzo

Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2019/11/06/177.-A-Philosophy-on-Philosophy.html

Violent crime quadrupled in the US between 1970 & 1990, then fell the same amount. What could have caused such a dramatic trend? Economics? Culture? …Lead?

Video: http://youtu.be/lt2yD8RTbrI

Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2019/09/25/176.-The-Lead-Crime-Hypothesis.html

Experienced coders can sometimes tell bad code on sight, not from any aspect of its inherent functionality, but from largely aesthetic characteristics. Turns out those principles have some use in other fields.

Video: http://youtu.be/HH8HvHj5eFQ

Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2019/09/11/175.-The-Aesthetic-of-Programming.html

Although they’re pretty, books are just a kind of product, same as any in your home. So why do nerds like me just lose their minds if someone deigns to mar a text or tome?

Video: http://youtu.be/15iNsNI_PbA

Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2019/08/21/174.-On-the-Origins-of-Bookishness.html

Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em, tell ‘em, then UGGGHHHhhhgghh

Video: http://youtu.be/1iHuXZO8fgg

Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2019/08/07/173.-Against-the-Three-T's.html

Engineers (like me) have a nasty reputation for positing laughably over-simplistic solutions to complex problems in other fields. Perhaps studying those fields closely might help.

Video: http://youtu.be/k2PyYJVi4TI

Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2019/07/24/172.-'Engineer's-Syndrome'-and-Learning-Techniques.html