piecewise linear vs smooth interpolation

suppose you are given a bunch of points on a plane. is the natural thing to consider a smoothly interpolated curve passing through the points or do a piecewise-linear join of the points

(it seemed to me that when the points have an naturally appealing polygon shape, then the piecewise linear interpolation occurs, otherwise the tendency is to draw a smooth curve through the points)

confusing energies

why it there a temptation to press harder against a button in the hope that the bulb burns brighter -- must be case of the brain misfiring, and mixing up different forms of energy.

motd

"Keeping up the appearance of having all your marbles is hard work but important. Anyway, Im not really addled. I just have more facts to keep track of than other people"


-- "Water for Elephants", Sara Gruen

qotd

it is melancholy to think that such wonderful perseverance should have been wasted in so vain a pursuit, and that energies so unconquerable should have had no worthier field to strive in.

-- charles mackay in "extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds" on the alchemist bernard of treves

(could just have well been someone talking about me and minesweeper :-) )

research extending life

is it just me -- why is it that most of the research around us is primarily focused on extending life?

twinkle twinkle little star

what the heck does it mean for a star to twinkle, i have no clue what twinkling means and ive not seen a star "twinkle"

evolution ..

in high school when we were taught things about evolution/natural selection -- i somehow got the impression that species were explicitly trying to adapt to their environment, i.e., each animal somehow consciously tries to grow a longer tail or sharper claws or change its color to survive better.

now that i understand it slightly better this mistaken notion has since been dispelled -- its not the case that each species/animals consciously try to adapt -- the truth couldnt be farther away from this. the truth is that random shit happens, and the random shit that turns out to be best adapted to the current environment has greater probability of survival and there is an observational bias -- we only see those species that have the beaks/claws/colors best suited to the environment (the rest have been exterminated!), giving us the impression of some conscious effort by species to adapt to their surroundings.