Happy Memorial Day weekend! Memorial Day is one of those bittersweet 3-day holiday weekends. On the one hand, it is (and should always be) a holiday commemorating those who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. But as the weather warms, it also serves as the de facto beginning of summer despite claims to the contrary by astronomers and meteorologists alike. Here at Blog Wyrm, we believe that we can enjoy the burgeoning sunshine and warm weather while also thanking those who make our enjoyment of it in peace and prosperity possible. So, we are offering as a symbol this contemplative picture to remind us of the beauty that exists and the men and women who fought and died so that others could enjoy it.
Now onto the columns.
Jeffrey Kaplan’s linguistic analog of Russell’s paradox centers on predication. Kaplan points out that predicates can be either true of themselves or not true of themselves and that the predicate “is true of itself” is the analog of the set of all extraordinary sets. The key question is whether or not the predicate “is not true of itself” is the analog of the set of all ordinary sets with all the Russell’s Paradox baggage that brings along. Join Aristotle2Digital as it explores Kaplan’s idea and, following Kaplan, comes to the conclusion that paradoxes aren’t just for math.
Self-awareness seems to be in short supply as is deeper appreciation for what irony isn’t and what it is. This month’s CommonCents points out one such case: the ironic discussion between MSNBC’s Chris Hayes and the US Senate’s Bernie Sanders as they discuss, with no hint of self-awareness, what the country needs more of and how one simply plot helps them make the case against everything they state.
This month’s UndertheHood finished the last in a 3-part series on how to link transport coefficients to microscopic motion in kinetic thermal. The particular coefficient: thermal conductivity; the particular microscopic quantity: kinetic energy. Along the way, an interesting twist is revealed concerning thermos bottles.
Enjoy!