Categorie: Overig
What is true randomness?
The shuffle function on Spotify is an easy way to listen to music without having to pick some numbers. However, once in a while we all seem to recognize patterns in the numbers that we listen to. The shuffle function does not seem to be so random at all, so are these numbers truly randomly picked? This recognition of a sequence is partially caused by the functioning of our brain. It is very easy for the brain to distinguish patterns in seemingly random things like shuffled music or dice roles. Especially when these “processes” are […]
7 tips voor de leukste podcast
Podcasts zijn tegenwoordig erg populair. Naar schatting luistert één op de vijf zeker eens per maand naar een podcast. Voordelen zijn dat je ze wanneer je maar wilt kunt luisteren en je niet naar een scherm hoeft te kijken. Daarnaast is er een enorme keuze aan genres: van sport en economie tot eten en politiek. Om de keuzestress wat te verlichten heb ik 7 leuke en interessante podcasts uitgekozen met elk een andere genre. Politiek: Haagse Zaken Haagse Zaken is de politieke podcast van NRC. Elke week praat politiek redacteur Lamyae Aharouay haar luisteraars bij […]
Estimated reading time: 3 minuten
The ‘Do-Nothing’ Democrats
In late 2019, U.S. President Donald J. Trump caused widespread uproar amongst the Democratic electorate. The turmoil came after the president called the Democrats ‘Do-Nothing’. Okay. Stop right here. I know what you’re thinking. First of all, this is not going to be the nth article talking about President Trump. In fact, this article will be solely dedicated to the topic of widespread public disagreement, that is: controversy. Many people associate controversy with something ‘bad’. Hence, when certain controversial topics become the topic of debate, a heated exchange of views is nothing out of the […]
Dark humor to lighten the mood
‘If the coronavirus doesn’t kill me, being stuck in the house with my wife for three weeks will.’ Tasteless or funny? Since the lockdown, the number of jokes concerning the current pandemic has grown day by day. And while some may take offense from this dark type of humor, others just use them as a laugh to pass the time. They might be tasteless, but for most it’s just a distraction from the current situation. While sitting at home and being separated from the world, we use humor to connect with others. No matter in […]
Estimated reading time: 3 minuten
The Duisenberg Pranksters
Sometime in the future, when physical college lectures are once again allowed, one hundred students are attending a lecture of the Multivariate Calculus course. The students, after hearing multiple savvy jokes about their intellect and ability regarding calculus, decide to play a prank on the professor and his colleagues. They plan to boobytrap some of the one hundred doors on the 7-th floor of the Duisenberg building. However, knowing that the professors are quite brilliant, they need to allocate the boobytraps in a manner that is hard to figure out. Near the end of the […]
Estimated reading time: 3 minuten
The many-worlds theory
The many-worlds theory or also know as many-worlds interpretation is one of the two most supported theories within quantum mechanics. The theory was first proposed by Hugh Everett at the age of 26. That is also the reason why this theory was claimed to be nonsense by many other more experienced physicists. Though in the 60s and 70s the theory became more popular under the name many-worlds interpretation. The theory basically claims that there are a number of parallel universes created at every instance. The theory was concocted to solve the problem of measuring in […]
The ‘New’ normal
The measures taken during the current global coronavirus pandemic will not last for a few more weeks. Instead, these measures may last forever. This pandemic is unlike anything we have ever experienced before. Almost all aspects of our daily lives have been altered to sustain an almost unorthodox way of living. Society has successfully shifted from an open society to one where social distancing is the norm. We have profoundly changed the way we work, socialize, shop, exercise, and educate ourselves. Most of us want things to go back to normal in the coming few […]
You got that?
When asked for the most important elements in human life, many could agree on “communication” being high up on the list. It is essential and fundamental to every aspect of life, with few exceptions to be discovered. Up to this day, many methods have been come up with for sending messages across the globe, some being more reliable than others. The field of communication, being a magnet for technological innovation, sees many advances involving reliability and speed, but one issue remains: How can one be sure every message is received? The two generals Sending a message […]
Estimated reading time: 4 minuten
Chinook: world’s best checkers player
Checkers, the ancient game which was quite easy to learn, has been solved. Along with other classical games, such as Connect Four and Qubic, the game has been pronounced dead. It was killed by Jonathan Schaeffer, who made the computer checkers program ‘Chinook’. Besides that, he publicated, “Checkers is solved’, which is a mathematical proof showing that the game always results in a draw when neither player makes a mistake. Checkers; how to play it More than 150 documented different variations of Checkers exist. Of those 150, only two versions have a large international […]
Hoe een kleurenblinde jongen de allerbeste werd – Interview met Mats Valk
Het is een leuke party trick: het oplossen van een Rubik’s kubus, en dan het liefst zo snel mogelijk. Voor de 23-jarige Mats Valk, tweevoudig wereldrecordhouder en Europees kampioen speedcubing, is het echter wel meer dan dat. Wekelijks is hij urenlang bezig met het bijhouden en perfectioneren van zijn skills. In dit interview (dat wegens het Covid-19 virus via Skype plaatsvond) vertelt hij goedlachs over deze passie, het imago dat speedcubing als sport heeft en de link met econometrie. Laten we beginnen bij het begin: waar is bij jou de fascinatie voor het Rubik’s […]
Estimated reading time: 9 minuten
The shortage of appealing men
The shortage of appealing men is a melodrama that is one of the great riddles of social life. These available, sociable and genuinely attractive men are universally highly demanded in our society. Shouldn’t there be about as many highly eligible men as there are attractive, eligible women? Some men claim their love fortune has to to with becoming more attractive with age, but many women give the explanation that male faults have become easier to overlook. When women don’t find The One, they settle for the sociable but unattractive men, the attractive but unsociable or […]
Estimated reading time: 3 minuten
Is life a video game?
Reality is probably not what it seems. The simulation hypothesis proposes that all of reality, including the earth and the universe, is in fact, a computer simulation. This proposition is, in fact, based on fundamental principles of human reasoning. Billions of years have passed since the formation of the earth. Early carbon-based life forms have had compelling experiences, to say the least. Imagine for a second, that the senses we experience, the things we observe, are all but a simulation, in which we are the “sims”. Computational power is increasing at an unprecedented rate, unlike […]