Saturday, July 19, 2008

xkcd's version of the Sokal affair

Here. (Here's the Wikipedia entry on the Sokal affair).

While on xkcd, here's a good one on how age affects mathematical ability.

BTW, have you checked out the xkcd cartoons on purity of scientific fields, and Mark Pilgrim's response to it?

Posted at

3 comments:

  1. ggop10:13 PM, July 19, 2008

    The purity of scietific fields finally makes me get the joke in a new sitcom "The Big Bang Theory"
    The theoritical physicist character in the show calls engineers the oompa loompas of science.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rahul Siddharthan8:14 PM, July 20, 2008

    The purity thing reminds me of this:
    GOD is applied POWER
    which is applied GOVERNMENT
    which is applied POLITICS
    which is applied ADVERTISING
    which is applied SOCIOLOGY
    which is applied PSYCHOLOGY
    which is applied BIOLOGY
    which is applied CHEMISTRY
    which is applied PHYSICS
    which is applied MATH
    which is applied PHILOSOPHY
    which is applied BULLSHIT

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous12:16 AM, July 22, 2008

    "Purity" of a discipline is inversely proportional to the number of possible variables and interactions.

    An axiomatic system is the ultimate control environment, no wonder mathematics is as "pure" as it gets.

    Sandbox empires and their quibbles -- whose vacuum is better?

    ReplyDelete

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