Now that my PhD is done—for the water wave aficionados out there, I will post a link to the preprint of my research sometime soon, I hope1—it’s time to start catching up on things. The writeup on my math, linguistics…
Interesting Links
Interesting articles and links that I’ve found. Obviously, my linking to them does not constitute an endorsement. I’ll try to credit the blog or source I got the link from (with the exception of common sources like AL Daily, Longform.org, etc.), but I apologize if I forgot to credit you!
Finance, Interesting Links, Math, Social Science
Links: Crowds and the Recession, Snowden, Win $1 Million with Circuits, Social Choice Theory, and More
by Rafe Kinsey •
As promised, more substantive posts (including a reflection on my freshman seminar on math, linguistics, and writing) to come soon, once I finish my thesis.1 For now, assorted links accrued over procrastination during thesis-writing. Terry Tao has a really cool…
Economics, Interesting Links, Probability, Technology
Links: The Future of the Left, Tech Intellectuals, Self-Serve Gas Stations, Etc
by Rafe Kinsey •
Simon Winchester, My First Mistake. An article by Peter Beinart on the future of the left. Paul Berman argues for music lessons. Is anyone else as confused as I am about how it’s possible that a new ligament in the…
Economics, Interesting Links, Literature, Technology, Writing
Links: Pynchon, Marissa Mayer, Larry Summers, Finance, Blogging
by Rafe Kinsey •
I have a bit of a backlog here, but really what’s so important about being timely with these things? Who cares if many of these came out in the end of August…it’s been a busy semester. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Pavlov…
Economics, Finance, Interesting Links, Literature
Links: Economics, Breaking Bad, the Moon, Entrepreneurship, Albert Murray, Etc.
by Rafe Kinsey •
Shockingly, it’s difficult to keep up a blog while finishing a Ph.D., designing a new course, and looking for jobs. I have some drafts of substantive posts that I hope to polish up and publish soon. For now, some more…
Education, Interesting Links, Journalism
Links: Misapplications of math, journalism, AIDS, EB White, Pricing, Gifted Students
by Rafe Kinsey •
A tremendously sad story about skewed incentives that make certain people try to get AIDS. This is a pretty outrageous misapplication of mathematics to psychology. Journalism teachers on journalism school An interesting profile of several talented students in a magnet…
Interesting Links, Technology
Links: On Aaron Swartz, Nate Silver, Detroit, Grace in Teaching, A New Cancer Technology, Etc
by Rafe Kinsey •
Not sure if I will keep doing these links…perhaps will do them less frequently and with less annotation, since even this takes a surprising amount of time. Harry Lewis on MIT’s response to Aaron Swartz, contrasting it with Harvard’s response…
Interesting Links
Links: SWAT Teams, Nostalgia, Lemonade Stands, Why Ice Cream Sounds Fat, Gluten Intolerance, Etc.
by Rafe Kinsey •
An interesting article by Stanford linguist Dan Jurafsky on why different sounds have different associations, e.g., why “ice cream sounds fat”. I’ve always been interested in the Saussaurean arbitrariness of sign—the notion that the sound or form of a word…
Interesting Links, Technology
Links: The Math of Genealogy, Manic Pixie Dream Girls, Techno-Utopianism, Eric Holder, Pope Francis, etc
by Rafe Kinsey •
A few links, as I prepare some more substantive posts. Laurie Penny, I was a Manic Pixie Dream Girl in the New Statesman. (Opening lines: “Like scabies and syphilis, Manic Pixie Dream Girls were with us long before they were…
Interesting Links, Journalism, Law, Science, Technology
Links: NSA, New Nobels, Marijuana Legalization, Corporations and the First Amendment, Roger Ebert, etc
by Rafe Kinsey •
A good article in Slate‘s Explainer column on what the legal repercussions would be for congressmen who revealed NSA secrets. An interesting article by Graeme Wood in New York magazine about online reputation management. Gene Weingarten, A story that could…