Tag: Learning

Standard Candles

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I love this phrase, standard candles, it’s a way of looking at the universe to work out distances in light years.

But I keep getting conspiracy theories about the universe from people on the Internet. I decided to try and explain my point of view.

I explained I’m not a physicist or optical expert. But I’ve read a lot over the years so this is my take on measuring the universe’s size.

This is what I wrote. Please accept my apologies if this is totally wrong. I only have a scant understanding.

I’m no

t an expert in optics but I think they have found the universe is over 13 billion years old based on the time light takes to arrive at earth. The science uses standard candles (globular clusters of stars that have the same light production so they can be used to judge distance because of light intensity). John Gribben explains this well in his popular science books.
Parallax can also be used to measure distance. If you look out of one eye at your thumb at arms length, then at it from your other eye you will see it apparently move. The same can be done from earth observatories. Look at a star at one end of Earth’s orbit around the sun then 6 months later at the other end… Effectively creating a very long thin triangle. The star will move a tiny fraction against the background of other stars. Using simple geometry you can measure the distance. These methods helped to work out how far other galaxies are outside the milky way. I read all of this from books by authors like Issac Asimov, Sir Patrick Moore, Carl Sagan, Brian Cox, and John Gribben among others. Not by watching Fox news.

(the last bit because I was accused of believing things that are on TV)

Simplify don’t dumb down

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The world is complex and hard to explain.

I once had a long argument with someone who told me that my way of speaking was not complax enough. So I deliberately changed how I was talking, I spoke about the method of communication I used and that while I understood his phrasiology I preferred clarity. In the end we came to an agreement that each of us had our own styles, but I did feel he had been condescending and patronising.

I still feel the same way about communicating with people. Yes you can be elitist, but what is the point? A teacher or expert might try and share information but if they don’t use explanations and analogies how can they pass it on. Simplification can help, visualising data using illustrations is a way of showing how things work. Teachers may assume you already understand the basics of a subject but you might not have attended the right courses. I never did Physics at A level, but did a course that required some knowledge of it. I had to resit the exam at the end because of that.

As far as I understand dumbing down isn’t simplification, it’s not even sharing correct information. It is using less knowledge and making it sound plausible, effectively cutting off dissemination (sharing) of any number of subjects to the detriment of civilisation. Instead of the sum of information growing and people’s lives improving, whether it’s in medicine, or finance, understanding the weather or geology, we seem bent on causing harm to people and places. An attempt to keep the masses down?

This post is a bit odd, I wanted to explain what I thought but I’ve been a bit verbose. I don’t know if I’ve achieved clarity, I just think dumbing down is not good for the world.

Upside down

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There’s nothing worse or funnier than seeing a supposed doctor ot medic looking at an x-ray upside down. These chest x-rays are an example.

I was watching a TV show and saw what I knew was wrong. This is why we need to learn, to be educated. If you don’t have knowledge how is it possible to learn. It a trivial example, but worth considering. Meanwhile I’m still chuckling!

Blurred

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Image blurred

I sang in the opera choir and the photos of us singing are now out on the website. People gave permission to be photographed but I don’t have that permission so I have blurred out their images. What a strange world we live in where we can delete or smudge out images if people we don’t want or require? The world changes quickly.

Music and memory

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A song I love. We are re-learning this soon,  I’m used to the unison version, but this has harmonies. I don’t read music well. But we will learn it by repetition and copying.

I love the Simon and Garfunkle version.

I’ve been to Scarborough and it’s an old Victorian resort and fishing town although the majority of it’s trade is mainly tourism these days. It is South of Whitby in Yorkshire. As you come down towards it from the North you can see it’s castle standing on the headland. There is a north and south bay on either side of the castle. The town is mainly old Victorian terraces which are 3 or 4 storey and either hotels or bed and breakfast properties.

We stayed outside the town in a caravan site. There are plenty of places to visit, like an old museum set back from the coast which has information about the local geology amongst other things. A lovely park that feels sub tropical and I think I remember a car and motorbike racing circuit at a place called Olivers Mount.

Singing

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I went to the one to one session with the opera singer. I explained that Parkinsons affects your voice and throat muscles so I’m trying to keep singing as much as I can. She got me to warm up my voice, showed me how to stick my tongue forward to relax it and allow myself to hit higher notes. I was surprised at how high I could get.

Singing in front of a professional musician was nerve-racking but she was so kind and very complementary about my voice. I don’t think I’ll ever be professional myself, but it taught me ways to improve my technique. And it was wonderful to try something new and exciting. It also made me feel less anxious about my health.

Freedom should be fair.

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What does freedom mean to you?

Freedom should go hand in hand with equality. The right to speak out about problems in society, to try and eradicate things like torture and violence and wars. To reduce poverty and share resources and responsibilities more fairly. And also allow religious freedom as long as it doesn’t discriminate against others.

I know it’s impossible. Human behaviour makes selfishness and greed almost impossible to avoid. But we should try. Some rich people create foundations to make their wealth go to the poorest, the most needy. They show up the other wealthy millionaires and billionaires as people stifling equality and freedom.

Freedom is the ability to learn. To understand, to share knowledge. To show we are more than bluntly uncaring primates. Perhaps our anticedents with simpler lives may have been happier than modern humans can ever be. I am a naive idealistic person but I do care.