Ponderings of science, philosophy, history, society, and many other topics
Last week, Sabine Hossenfelder did a video and post which was interesting (if a bit of a rant at times at strawmen) in which she argued for a little considered possibility in quantum mechanics: superdeterminism. In 1935, Einstein and collaborators published the famous EPR paradox paper, in which they pointed out that particles that were … Continue reading Superdeterminism and the quandaries of quantum mechanics
2021 was not the dumpster fire of 2020, but it was a year with its own challenges. The pandemic continued in its second year, but at least many of us were vaccinated, so the ability to move around again in public was a nice change. But it also led to my employer bringing people back … Continue reading Merry Christmas
The Matrix has always been a fun franchise, albeit one whose premise doesn't stand up to too much scrutiny. It explores the possibility that we are living in a simulation. Although the scenario presented has always been a bit conservative, in that the human characters still have human bodies, rather than being simulations. (Another movie … Continue reading The Matrix Resurrections
When the first season of The Witcher showed up a couple of years ago on Netflix, I was slow to watch it. From a distance, it looked too much like a Game of Thrones ripoff. But numerous recommendations eventually drove me to check it out, and I discovered a rich world with compelling characters, all … Continue reading The Witcher season 2
It's been a while since I've read a book in Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space series. Reynolds, who has a background as a professional astrophysicist, writes fairly hard science fiction, particularly space opera. I say "fairly" because he isn't above mixing in speculative concepts to make the story more interesting. But most of his fiction doesn't … Continue reading Inhibitor Phase
I discovered the first book of The Expanse series, Leviathan Wakes, back in 2014. By then the first three books had already been out. I'm pretty sure I burned through those early books in a few weeks. I know I've read all the subsequent ones as they came out. This was a series that channeled … Continue reading Leviathan Falls (Book 9 of The Expanse)
One of my favorite shows as a young boy was Lost in Space. But when I attempted to rewatch it several years ago, I discovered that it hadn't aged well at all. Except for the earliest episodes, it was basically unwatchable. And after a 1990s failed attempt as a movie reboot, which I enjoyed but … Continue reading Lost in Space 3
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