Cyperpunk 2026
Tell me we are not living in a world predicted by cyperpunk.
The book [Neuromancer] established the filthy setting of an environmentally damaged, alienated, dystopian society dominated by global computer networks in which characters battle “artificial intelligences, monopoly capitalism and a world culture as ethnically eclectic as it is politically apathetic and alienated,” in the words of Webster’s New World Dictionary of Computer Terms.
From Encyclopedia Britannica entry on Neuromancer by William Gibson.
Tags: sci-fi
Quantum Mechanics In Your Face For Anybody
Wrote a lecture on Quantum Mechanics for a non-mathematical audience [pdf]. There are no equations and little maths beyond percentages. The key conceptual differences between Quantum and Classical Physics are there, though, and these topics require attention and serious thought.
The title alludes to two wonderful expositions of quantum mechanics by the masters:
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Bringing Home the Atomic World: Quantum Mysteries for Anybody
N. D. Mermin
Am. J. Phys. 49, 940–943 (1981)
DOI: 10.1119/1.12594 -
Sidney Coleman’s Dirac Lecture “Quantum Mechanics in Your Face”
Sidney Coleman
e-Print: arXiv:2011.12671 [physics.hist-ph]
YouTube: Sidney Coleman, Quantum Mechanics in Your Face (1994)
Mermin and Coleman are both physicists' physicists: they aren't widely known to the public, but they contributed tremendous insight and clarity. Feynman described Mermin's paper as "one of the most beautiful papers in physics."
If everything goes to plan, I'll deliver the lecture at least three times this autumn to a general audience, and perhaps use the material when I deliver the PHY301 Quantum Mechanics module, as well, which, if you're interested, follows Griffiths.
Comments, discussion and feedback are welcome, but in the original, small net way. Shoot me an e-mail. I'll be happy to hear from you, dear reader.
Tags: quantum-mechanics, physics
England versus Argentina
Thoroughly excited about the England-Argentina World Cup semi-final, which kicks off in just a few hours. What an occasion! heavily loaded with both football and political history.
I was disappointed to hear Falklands/Malvinas mentioned by both sets of fans in a jingoistic manner. We are rivals on the pitch, but all football fans should be united in agreement that we must solve these problems through dialogue and never again resort to armed conflict.
Tags: football, world-cup, conflict
Three lions and red lines
Watched England's inspiring victory against Mexico at the Azteca. What a special match and occasion, one of the most memorable and iconic England games of my life.
Pickford, Bellingham and Kane were particularly inspirational. When the going gets tough, lots of England players over the years have disappeared. They are scared. They don't want the ball. Those three were brave and stepped up and took responsibility.
Immensely disappointed by the decision to suspend Balogun's three-match ban. A terrible precedent that undermines sporting integrity, fairness and transparency. FIFA are not true to their values, and they gaslight fans and behave as though they are beyond reproach. A red line indeed, and I suspect the beginning of a long and lasting open confrontation between UEFA and FIFA.
Whilst this is the most shocking evidence of corruption and collusion between FIFA and global-powers impacting the game, it is only a matter of someone missing a game. We should be just as outraged over FIFA failure to uphold worker and minority rights and safety.
Tags: football, world-cup, FIFA
Standard Fireworks
Read Peter Kay's Diary, a very light and enjoyable read, as I was feeling somewhat stressed at work. The book is everything you would expect from Peter Kay: warm, nostalgic, and funny, with occasional more serious notes.
Peter Kay's father used to buy Standard Fireworks, which crop up in one of my favourite stories told by Bob Mortimer! As David Mitchell says, it's a funny name. Standard Fireworks: for a bonfire night you will forget!
48 teams at the World Cup
This time round, the World Cup has expanded to 48 teams. My first thought was that this watered-down the competition. There are too many easy games, no group of death with 2 or 3 very strong teams, and minimal risk of elimination for big teams. I stand by most of this. Scotland are in arguably the toughest group. Obviously, 48 isn't a power of 2. The sense that it's watered-down feels more so since the first 72 matches only eliminate 16 teams, since 8 third-placed lucky losers go through to make 32, which is a power of 2, teams into the knockouts.
However, I was overlooking something. The expanded tournament partly addresses something wrong with the tournament: UEFA (European) nations are hugely over-represented. Let's take a look at the data by football federation. There are some quirks, e.g., for football, Australia changed to Asia from Oceania in 2010. I go back to 1998, because that's when the number of teams was last increased to 32.
For this 48 team 2026 edition,
- 2026: Asia 9, Africa 10, North and Central Americas 6, South America 6, Oceania 1, Europe 16
- 2022: Asia 6, Africa 5, North and Central Americas 4, South America 4, Oceania 0, Europe 13
- 2018: Asia 5, Africa 5, North and Central Americas 3, South America 5, Oceania 0, Europe 14
- 2014: Asia 3, Africa 5, North and Central Americas 4, South America 6, Oceania 0, Europe 13
- 2010: Asia 4, Africa 6, North and Central Americas 3, South America 5, Oceania 1, Europe 13
- 2006: Asia 4, Africa 5, North and Central Americas 4, South America 4, Oceania 1, Europe 14
- 2002: Asia 4, Africa 5, North and Central Americas 3, South America 5, Oceania 0, Europe 15
- 1998: Asia 4, Africa 5, North and Central Americas 3, South America 5, Oceania 0, Europe 15
The fraction of European teams has dropped from between 13 and 15 of 32, around 41% to 47%, to only 16 of 48, about 33%. This is still too high, in my opinion, but now we have twice as many teams from Africa, and more from Asia. Thus overall I think this is fairer and an improvement.
On that note, it is extraordinary that Nigeria didn't qualify. 10 African teams can make it, and they have footballing heritage and a population of 228 million, far ahead of Ethiopia, who also aren't there, at 129 million. Egypt, who are there, are third at 115 million. Morocco, arguably the best Africa side and who might go far at the World Cup, only have 38 million so perhaps none of this matters!
Robot
Read Robot by Adam Wisniewski-Snerg, written in 1973 in Polish, translated into English in 1990 by Tomasz Mirkowicz, and finally published in English in 2021.
This was a challenging read. The story is deliberately disorienting and confusing, as we experience the uncertainty of the protagonist. Who is he? Is he human or robot? Are the other characters real? Are there discontinuities in their reality? There are general themes of suspicion, paranoia, identity, personal agency and free-will. The robots in question aren't the mechanical sort of the AI sort; they are biological and possess a free-will. They are created by the Mechanism to follow their own instincts and will, which will somehow fulfill the Mechanism's wishes. I did not understand the plot entirely; but maybe I wasn't supposed to.
Are we in the Shelter?
'Haven't you yet noticed,' she said after a moment, 'how some of the Shelter's inhabitants, at times needlessly, strive desperately to appear exactly who they are? Hasn't it caught your attention how carefully they affect a certain innocence, how they mask their deepest feelings, even of repugnance, and how by feigning total compliance, pretend to be busy and, when the need arises, even by shamming greed and stupidity, they do everything possible to make their behavior appear absolutely normal; in short, haven't you noticed they are doing their best to hide in the crowd?''Robot, by Adam Wisniewski-Snerg