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OLDaily - Text Edition by Stephen Downes Feb 21, 2017


Philosophy and the Illusion of Explanatory Depth
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After reading this I was motivated to look up how a
toilet works
https://www.google.ca/search?q=how+a+toilet+works&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=tqKsWKLwM4KyaaOSv4gL#q=how+a+toilet+works&tbm=vid
on YouTube. I'm fairly confident I understand the
mechanics, but I don't really have an explanation. Why
doesn't the bowl simple lose water when the flapper is
opened; why does the water rush out as though it is being
sucked out of the toilet? Everything in the toilet is
actually pulled uphill.  I think it has something to
do with pressure differentials or gravity (the way a siphon
does) but I'm not sure, and the videos didn't help me. And
that's why this article is interesting. Knowing the facts
doesn't give me the explanation, which is why a mere
presentation of the facts doesn't change
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(or inform) opinions. "Confronting and working through the
complicated details of an issue... may be the only form of
thinking that will shatter the illusion of explanatory
depth and change people’s attitudes."
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Bots: What you need to know
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This is a pretty good overview of the current bot ecosystem
(which contains far more than bots) along with a good
graphic drawing out the major contenders and relations
between them. "Bots use artificial intelligence to converse
in human terms, usually through a lightweight messaging
interface like Slack or Facebook Messenger, or a voice
interface like Amazon Echo or Google Assistant. Since late
2015, bots have been the subject of immense excitement in
the belief that they might replace mobile apps for many
tasks and provide a flexible and natural interface for
sophisticated AI technology."
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Four Reasons Why a Library Makerspace Makes Perfect Sense
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If a library isn't really useful for storing books any more
(because who needs books when entire libraries can be
stored on a single flash drive?) then what can we do with
the space? In this article Robert Schuetz suggests using it
to create a makerspace (what we used to call a project
room, workshop or lab). "School media centers provide open,
flexible space," he writes. "Collaboration, interaction,
and hands-on engagement need space for versatility and
movement. Visible, transparent learning will ignite
curiosity and interest from teachers and students." At a
time when governments are closing schools
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maybe they should be thinking of providing better community
support instead.
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Have Spare Time? Try To Discover A Planet
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I spent an hour last night searching for a planet. I did
not discover one. I did, however, look at  lot of bad
photographs of stars (at least, to me they were bad
photographs; they might be state of the art for all I
know). It's a project called  Backyard Worlds: Planet
9
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Basically they show you sequences of four photos from
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE
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telescope. Spot the moving dot and you win the prize of
being the person to discover the mysterious tenth planet.
What's interesting about this project is that it requires
the human eye (and human pattern detection).
 
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4chan: The Skeleton Key to the Rise of Trump
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Celebrating the fail is the new win. This is the core value
being embraced by 4chan members, alt-right supporters and
Trump voters. That's the thesis of this insightful and
well-argued essay by almost-loser Dale Beran in this long
but engaging read. Those who hold to the (often empty)
promise higher education offers should consider this
perspective. It forms part of the narrative of failure that
defines a substantial body of young men, the same men who
constitute things like Anonymous and Gamergate. I am not
sympathetic with the 4chan perspective, but I can
understand it, having lived through the same broken
promises, the same periods of extended unemployment, the
same challenges and the same frustrations. But instead of
embracing failure I embraced
Linkdiversity and equality, and
found myself a cause to fight for.
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Copyright 2017 Stephen Downes
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License
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