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Mildorf
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Name: Thomas
Gender: Male
Interests: Table Tennis, Frisbee, Astronomy, Philosophy, Chess, Math, Soccer, Break Dancing (I am too weak for it but it is so cool to watch!)
Expertise: Math, Physics, FPS's.
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
7/17/2004
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| It has been way, way too long since I updated.
I actually took five classes this term, punting 1.00 on the grounds of multiple "meh" reviews. They were:
6.046/18.410
Algorithms. I took it primarily to fill in gaps in the disorganized
knowledge I have acquired over the years with random discussions with
the likes of ecprice. The most useful thing I took from that class was
meeting Prof. Kellis, who does what appears to be highly interesting
work in computational biology - interpreting DNA sequences and
microarrays to deduce regulatory patterns, systematize gene anotation,
and build evolutionary trees. I will have a UROP with him beginning
next IAP. (So 6.370 looks unlikely.)
7.05 Biochemistry. I took
this to continue exploring my nascent interest in biology and
chemistry. The transformation of biology from voodoo to well-motivated
series of chemical interactions was pleasant. Excellent coverage of
proteins and catalysis, nucleic acids, and sugar metabolism, both
conceptually and in practice.
8.044 Statistical Mechanics. This
was somewhat random, though a natural choice for a prospective physics
major. It was also surprisingly excellent. There was commendably
thorough buildup from the empirically motivated axioms of
thermodynamics together with a phase-space uniformity hypothesis in the
microcanonical ensemble to macroscopic behavior, both qualitatively and
quantitatively. The class dispelled misconceptions that quantum
mechanics only applies to tiny systems (it applies to stellar physics)
and that relativity only applies to huge systems (it matters for
calculations involving many heavy elements). It also gave a
badly-needed and deliciously rigorous definition of entropy, and
contributed to my understanding of chemical equilibria and thus
biology. Moreover, the mathematics contained some interesting tricks as
well as penumbras of high culture, such as zeta(3) arising in blackbody
radiation.
18.330 Numerical Analysis. I chose this to begin
shoring up my applied mathematics, particularly for my summer
internship in Merck's Applied Computer Science and Mathematics
division. A. Toomre is a true goofball who clearly enjoys contest-type
mathematics. The class was relatively nonrigorous for a math class, but
included enough detail and coding to convince me that the claims were
indeed reasonable. Gaussian quadrature, enabling fifth degree
polynomials to be integrated from -1 to 1 with but two values was a
highlight, together with Adam's methods for solving differential
equations. And I shall never forget the ridiculous power of
extrapolation.
21W.747 Rhetoric. Well, a HASS-D, but it sounded
interesting. I've always enjoyed thinking carefully about the specific
effects of wording, and this class did just that. Ethos, pathos, logos,
or so the classical style goes. My only objection to this class was a
major shortage of feedback and timeliness on the part of the prof.
I
had exams in the first three. I felt that 6.046 went poorly, but that
grade returned otherwise; the exams in 7.05 and 8.044 felt very good,
but neither grade has yet returned.
The 2007 Harvard-MIT Math
Tournament, of which I was the Problem Czar, went well. Apparently, I
was the only one who thought it was disorganized, reflecting my biased
perspective from the most chaotic rooms. The problems were well
received, which was a relief. I wrote about 70 of them, struggling to
maintain creativity by the end, and did about 90% of the proofing
(shoutouts are due to Thobel especially, and TAbbott.) That job was
indeed rather hosing by February, and I will return to merely being a
prolific problem writer for next year's contest. The only downers were
that I didn't really get to chill with people very much, and I no
longer recognize the large numbers of contestants I once did.
Apparently
I did well on Putnam 2006. I never bothered to find out my exact score,
but it must have been at least as large as the maximum of 70 (seven
problems solved, commentary on some others) I had predicted for myself,
given that I cracked into the money winners this year. MIT again
destroyed everyone else, with 5 out of the top 7 scores, 13 out of the
top 26, and a third of the HMs and up. In fact, this is the second year
in a row where a Random Hall team would have won... 
As far
as other miscellaneous activities, the term included the USAMO grading
and the COMAP MCM. There is a fairly good chance that I'll get to fly
out to MOP 2007 to give some lectures, though I won't be there the
whole time due to my summer internship in Rahway, N.J. I am thinking
one will focus on motivation and how to think productively. I am not
sure what else I'd like to do, perhaps Inequalities redux... 
Bonfire
is now addicted to "Doctor Who," "Heroes," "House M.D.," "The Daily
Show," and "The Colbert Report." Sadly, SG-1 is essentially over and
Battlestar Galactica is taking an overly long season break and won't
return until 2008. I forget when Atlantis resumes... and the House
season finale is this Tuesday.
I can't think of anything else to say. | | |
| SOTU: In a word, lassitude.
I finally started reading, thanks to
some external poking. C. S. Lewis writes rather witty prose... or my
brain puts together humour where it isn't intended... Or both.
Tarukaja!
I did a 1 rep max on bench press at the Z the other day. Had to stop
because the place closed at 11. I was still going strong (ha ha) and
had nearly conquered the full stack. Rakukaja! My cardio state is in
fact not broken; actually, quite the contrary. I'm just easily made
anxious.
Moo! 34ish TP problems down, N to go. I'm definitely
learning the thinking that goes on behind implementing algorithms.
"This is very fast, but it's a pain. This is trivial but slow, but
actually fast enough." Modular thinking.++ Coding_habits.improve(). Who
knew classes could make a difference? Maybe in a few months I'll
consider myself competent as far as the programing side of CS is
concerned.
"Timelords - Doctorin' the TARDIS." I finally
understand this song! I've been hearing it on the family trips to
Alabama since I was a little kid (it was on a tape given to my folks by
an uncle together with other unusual music.) Turns out it's the full
version of the theme song to "Dr. Who," the venerable British Sci-fi.
Catchy.
BSG returned, after another mid-season. The writers did
not include the usual insane cliffhanger at the end of the episode, but
they did play the "lol, there are five more" card quite extensively.
The lounge offered wide speculation as to who the remaining models
could be.
No kidding, I am about as relaxed as I have been in the past five years. Not quite Peter Gibbons, but close. It's just great.
| | |
| The first rule of war, know thyself:
Abortion - I am generally opposed to it, particularly to later term
abortions, but I have no qualms with contraceptives, or the morning
after pill. Even given the direct biological progression, I find it
difficult to equate a newly conceived unicellular zygotic being with a
human being.
Affirmative action - Although I support the notion that diversity is
desirable, I am furiously opposed to the ways affirmative action is
usually applied. Not only was the University of Michigan's admission
policy blatant racial discrimination, it was an undue slap in the face
of the "bonus" recipients. All races are perfectly capable of great
achievement. I do not buy any of the arguments to the contrary.
Dead white males - I don't feel particularly strongly either way on
this issue. Most of the history directly responsible for shaping my
life thus far was indeed dominated by peoples of Anglo-European roots.
How much focus should be placed on the specific leaders? It's not clear.
Race and intelligence - As you could probably guess from the above, I
am skeptical about such a connection. Maybe IQ tests purport to
indicate some racial discrepancy, but there are lots of other
explanations. What is intelligence? Do IQ tests measure it? Have the
test takers had the same environmental influences?
Creation-evolution controversy including Intelligent Design - I don't
believe in a literal read of Genesis I, but if you accept that the
Bible invokes metaphor, then it's quite a plausible story. What was the
formation of the earth but a chance amalgamation of space dust? Who's
to say that there isn't a God behind the scenes manipulating
probability? And the same goes for evolution. It's analogous to
stacking a deck of cards.
Censorship, videogame controversy - I am generally opposed to
censorship and believe that consumers should be responsible for
regulating themselves. One person's preferences should not dictate
another's. I don't think there's a causal effect between videogames and
the people playing them. I've played plenty of first-person-shooters,
and yet I feel no desire whatsoever to own or discharge a firearm. On
another scale, the media that purport to be factual had damned well
better be factual. Dan Rather's memo and Newsweek's flushed Koran are
two of the more egregious examples I can recall. I prefer
self-regulation in this regard, but if that repeatedly proves
insufficient, then censorship is ok by me.
Capital punishment - I used to be quite tolerant of this practice, but
more recently it has come to my attention that plenty of convictions
leading to this punishment are based on faulty evidence. I now view it
as dubious practice to execute without clear forensic evidence. In
particular, witness testimony should not be the sole basis for capital
punishment.
English-only movement - The taxpaying citizens of this country should
all be allowed to vote with ballots that they can understand. However,
choosing from a comprehensible list of names on a ballot in a foreign
language does not of itself constitute understanding or an informed
decision in my opinion. If enough serious material is available in a
second language, then it is fine as an alternate language for a ballot.
But the national language is English (perhaps not legally, but it
should be), and providing translations to a language appearing only on
a ballot is lip service.
Environmentalism and global warming - This is a serious issue that is
too often neglected in politics, particularly by the right. The
Washington Post editorial http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/10/AR2006071001145.html?referrer=email
gives a good explanation of the global warming situation. We are the
world's premier species, which empowers us to do quite a bit to the
planet, but wreck it is not one of those things. It's too bad nuclear
power was derailed in the U.S. for decades and is only now re-emerging
in political rhetoric. We are years behind countries such as France,
who run their electrical grid primarily with this clean power source.
Family values - It's a shame the Equal Rights Ammendment did not get
ratified. Sex discrimination goes hand in hand with racial
discrimination as something that is too often condoned in practice,
even in a casual setting. That I have many smart female friends; they
should not have to tolerate chauvinist rhetoric. As for homosexuality,
I trend toward the don't ask, don't tell policy. If I could, I would
make everyone in the world heterosexual and be done with it, but things
aren't so simple. I think a quasi-equivalent civil union, but not
marriage, should be available to them. I think there's too much energy
spent lobbing animosity at gays; why should they be barred from
visiting each other at deathbeds?
Media bias in the U.S. - The media tends to focus on material that
makes entertaining news. Most often, this is negative content. This is
how a dozen bad apples at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo can be the focus of
the news for years. A fact, never disputed by any political figure who
isn't being a demagogue, is that the overwhelming majority of the
hundred thousand soldiers deployed in Iraq have done nothing but fight
terrorists. It's shameful that the media insist on tarring them by
focusing on the relatively few negative aspects of war. The media loves
digging up dirt and opposing whatever administration is in charge.
Thus, I am not surprised or concerned by the fact that I find more
leftist commentary in my reading.
Moral absolutism vs. moral relativism - I believe that there exist
some standards that transcend cultures. A society's particular belief
system
may empower it to do terrible things: the Holocaust, slavery, etc.)
However, appropriate scope cannot be ignored, and strikes me as the more relevant factor. It's bad to point a real
gun at someone. It's worse if that gun is loaded. If I shoot and kill
someone, that of itself is wrong. If it turns out I shot this person in
defense of myself and my family and had no other options, then it is
less wrong. If this person was also about to slaughter all other living
beings on the planet, it's still less wrong.
USA PATRIOT Act - (It's actually a really long acronym! "Uniting and
Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to
Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism") One thing that strikes me as
ridiculous is the way people fight so hard for their privacy when the
government collects individualized data in the name of combating
terrorism, but couldn't care less when similar data is routinely
assembled and shipped off to Economists and Sociologists working on
their Ph. D's. Does it harm you to suspect that there may be someone in
the CIA logging your phone conversations? In my mind, the only
legitimate objection is that the government has lost many personal
records and, some would argue, surreptitiously exposed millions of
Americans to potential identity theft.
Permissive society - I view society's increasing tolerance as a good
thing in general, but I hope we're beginning to reach a stopping point.
Things were awfully conservative in the early 20th century and before,
but now taboos are an endangered species. If you've seen late night
comedy, you know that almost nothing is off limits at this point, and
the clothing front has nearly disappeared. There needs to be a little
mystery...
Political correctness - We shouldn't show total disregard for refined
speech, but I think rewriting the English language is a bit extreme.
Maybe I'm a traditionalist, but do people really take that much offense
at language? "chairman" is now "chair"; "man does not live by bread
alone" is now "people do not live on bread alone" (yup, we're editing
the Bible!); "imbecile/moron/idiot" became "mentally retarded," which
became "slow/mentally handicapped," which became "mentally disabled,"
and then "mentally challenged," and finally "developmentally disabled."
Amusingly, Wikipedia points to what I think reads more like a
retrogression - "impotence" has become "erectile dysfunction." For a
period in 2005, the Florida State University Seminoles had their name
deemed 'hostile or abusive' by the NCAA, over the objections of the actual Seminole
Tribe of Florida who supported the school's name! And of course, Christmas and Easter now appear on
calendars as Winter and Spring Holiday.
Right to die movement, euthanasia, and Terri Schiavo - I think this
should vary on a person to person / family to family basis. Although in
general I don't feel strongly either way about these choices, I dislike
the government forcing itself into this difficult issue. What happened
to Terri Schiavo was flagrant overreaching by the political leadership
of this country.
Separation of church and state, public displays of the Ten
Commandments, and religious freedom - The constitution specifically
prohibits state religions. Thus, readings specific to particular
denominations should not be permitted; organized prayer is too
structured to be allowed in public schools. However, more general
statements are ok, such as the mention of God in the Pledge of
Allegiance and public displays of the Ten Commandments (though it may
not regard them as divine in nature, is there a mainstream religion
that does not endorse the message of the commandments?)
Sexual revolution - Everyone should be educated to the point where they
understand themselves and what is going on as far as the matter is
concerned. Their decision as to the role of sex in their lives should
be theirs alone (provided it doesn't involuntarily subjugate others.) I
happen to agree with the abstention that is currently advocated in
classrooms, on grounds of both safety and personal convictions.
Stem-cell research - I don't encourage the destruction of life, but
embryos which are already slated for destruction can at the very least
have a more productive existence in terms of research use. The current
federal guidelines are a bit too strict for my preferences. Not enough
biology is known for me to advocate restricting our research to adult
stem cells.
Transhumanism - The use of technology to better our lives is highly
tempting. I without hesitation advocate its use to restore function to
people with disabilities, but enhancing the average person through
technology is a slippery slope we'd best avoid.
Women in combat - I don't feel particularly strongly either way on this
issue. The current selective service program enlists only males aged
20-25, and women are not allowed to serve in active combat roles. It
seems perhaps unfairly discriminatory, but I think the arguments in
favor of it are slightly stronger than those opposed.
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I still haven't written a summary of my first year at MIT. I'll do that at some point... | | |
| My IAP from the bank's perspective:
Date Item Amount Discretionary
Mandatory Purpose
01/08/06 T-usage: Logan to Random 1.25 X Transport
01/09/06 Bananas 0.32 X Food
Peanut Butter 8.49 X Food
Strawberry Jam 2.50 X Food
Skim Milk 3.75 X Food
Whole Wheat Bread 1.79 X Food
01/11/06 Apples 1.47 X Food
Bananas 0.42 X Food
Ground Turkey 3.79 X Food
Ready-serve Chicken Patties 2.00 X Food
Applesauce 1.89 X Food
Irish Spring Soap 2.59 X Cosmetic
Sandwich Buns 2.39 X Food
(5% Sales Tax on Soap) 0.13 X Tax
01/13/06 Sloppy Joe Sauce 2.19 X Food
SHAWS 100% STN Bakery 1.79 X Food
01/14/06 Skim Milk 3.75 X Food
Sandwich Buns 2.39 X Food
01/15/06 Post Raisin Bran 3.59 X Food
Ready-serve Chicken Patties 2.00 X Food
01/17/06 Apples 0.88 X Food
Bananas 0.58 X Food
Applesauce 1.89 X Food
Newman's Marinara Sauce 6.58 X Food
Strawberry Jam 2.50 X Food
Herb Roasted Chicken 2.50 X Food
Skim Milk 3.75 X Food
Whole Wheat Bread 1.79 X Food
01/21/06 Pour House 3.50 X Food
01/22/06 Apples 2.47 X Food
Bananas 0.58 X Food
Ready-serve Chicken Patties 2.00 X Food
Ketchup 1.99 X Food
Sloppy Joe Sauce 2.19 X Food
Post Raisin Bran 3.59 X Food
Strawberry Jam 2.50 X Food
Skim Milk 3.75 X Food
Sandwich Buns 2.39 X Food
SHAWS 100% STN Bakery 1.79 X Food
01/23/06 Mary Chung's 11.00 X Food
01/26/06 Apples 0.71 X Food
Bananas 0.28 X Food
Ground Turkey 3.79 X Food
Spaghetti 1.60 X Food
Newman's Marinara Sauce 6.58 X Food
Post Raisin Bran 3.59 X Food
Herb Roasted Chicken 2.50 X Food
Parmesan Cheese 5.98 X Food
Skim Milk 3.75 X Food
Sandwich Buns 2.39 X Food
Whole Wheat Bread 1.79 X Food
01/27/06 Power Strip 11.53 X Entertainment
01/28/06 LSC Sci-fi Marathon Admission 6.00 X Entertainment
01/28/06 Sci-fi Marathon Food 7.75 X Entertainment
01/29/06 Apples 2.24 X Food
Bananas 0.43 X Food
Ready-serve Chicken Patties 2.00 X Food
Applesauce 1.89 X Food
Peanut Butter 8.49 X Food
Strawberry Jam 2.50 X Food
Skim Milk 3.75 X Food
Whole Wheat Bread 1.79 X Food
02/01/06 Ready-serve Chicken Patties 2.00 X Food
Herb Roasted Chicken 3.49 X Food
Mixed Vegetables 1.29 X Food
Sandwich Buns 2.39 X Food
Whole Wheat Bread 1.79 X Food
Total Spent 199.00
| | |
| I get to pay taxes this year. It strikes me as appropriate to
write a money oriented entry here. Allow me to rant a
bit, being as I am a fiscal conservative deeply troubled by the
cavalier manner in which our national government adjusts its budget. I
will try to be educational to make it tolerable.
My source is The Concord Coalition (see website http://www.concordcoalition.org/), one of the precious few bipartisan organizations today, which is "dedicated to
informing the public about the need for generationally responsible fiscal policy."
This was today's Reference.com fact of the day (which ultimately led to this entry):
"Ida May Fuller's first monthly retirement check, paid on this day in 1940 from
the Social Security program, was for $22.54. Ms. Fuller had worked for three
years under the program, which had been established in 1935. The accumulated
taxes on her salary over those three years were $24.75. She lived to be 100
years old, collecting $22,888 in Social Security benefits."
To anyone who can do math, it's clear why such entitlement programs are an astonishingly huge drain on the national budget.
Now, that particular example is extreme. Ms. Fuller was the first
recipient of social security checks who happened to have only been
working a few years under the tax, and she happened to live to be quite
old. But the problem is, SS benefits received by a person after
retirement can easily exceed money paid in by that person. The two
major reasons are:
1. Longer lifespans, meaning longer retirements over which those checks are collected.
2. The rate of return is pegged to a national standard of living.
Over time, that standard, purchasing power (i.e. wages versus
inflation), has increased, and will probably continue to increase.
Expected SS checks will grow in tandem, compounding the spending.
Serious adjustments made for the purpose of ensuring future solvency
will therefore address causes 1 or 2, or both. But reading the
news lately, I have seen all too well how easy it is for demagogues to
rail against benefit cuts. Tampering with the retirement age for
full benefits (i.e. increasing it) will be hugely unpopular with the
uneducated majorities of younger generations, while option 2 seems out
of the question as it directly reduces the checks being mailed to
beneficiaries. Thus, programming into law such gradual and
tremendous automatic increases in
entitlement spending strikes me as massively irresponsible at best,
while underhanded and insidious at worst. Even supposing that it
was all well intentioned, SS as it stands faces moral questions.
For instance, variance in life expectancy (women usually outlive men, minorities do
not on average live as long as whites, etc.) leads to variance in
benefits. Are those benefits fair and equitable to all demographic groups? And so on.
Social Security is at least sustainable as is for a few dozen
years. Medicare and Medicaid , however, face far more immediate
crises. Their difficulties are more complicated, stemming largely
from stunning and egregious spikes in the cost of health care.
Given the lobbying power of the pharmaceutical industries, and
Congress's general misgivings over private sector regulation, we can
expect little help on those fronts in the near future. This, even
though the troubled programs aim to assist particularly vulnerable
segments of the population, so acting to repair them is ever the more
important.
So, until the blind big spenders in Congress are replaced by
straightshooting representatives with foresight (a la McCain), we can expect the rise
of national debt and anemic government programs. Repeatedly
raising the statutory debt limit does not constitute a solution to the
problem, nor does it signal fiscal responsibility. It may give
the Treasury the legal authority to continue borrowing, but it
certainly does not avert what could become a calamitous federal failure.
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