Glowing Fish's New Writeups

Your argument is invalid (idea)

2009-11-22T07:53:18Z

After I passed my 30th birthday, I should find myself growing a little bit beyond the latest joke on the internet. And perhaps I am growing a little bit beyond them, since I probably find out about them several weeks or month before the true woodlice of the rotting underbellies of the forums have originated and grown tired of them. And so it is with "Your argument is invalid", the latest catch phrase to set the net ablaze. I don't know when this went from being the flash of a single person, to an in-joke, to a phenomena. It probably happened some time in the odd, sideways time of the internet.

The format of these pictures is to have a picture of something that is slightly incongruous to confusingly unlikely, with a description of what is in the picture, followed by the caption "Your argument is invalid". For example, a picture might have a cat playing a flute, with the caption "This cat is playing a flute...your argument is invalid".

Why the pictures reached popularity is…

Nirvana: Unplugged (review)

2009-11-22T06:58:37Z

In perspective, it could be argued (and it has been argued many times) that Nirvana was much more important as a phenomena than as musicians. This isn't to slight them, since it could be argued that there are many excellent bands, but only once in a while does a band manage to shake the youth of a nation awake.

What Nirvana would do, the Pixies had already been doing for years. But as much as there may have been some cool kids listening to the Pixies and their surrealistic lyrics and punk rock, that is mostly revisionist history. As far as I remember it, as the 1990s begin, this was what was considered cool. Of course, I am coloring this with my own personal view, since I was only a naive preteen when Nirvana hit. When I first heard them, I was still listening to the Oldies Station on a clock alarm radio, and I found them threatening the way that I found the surly older kids around arcades or…

cherry picking (idea)

2009-11-22T03:27:10Z

In science, social science or any other form of endeavor that uses data, especially statistical data, "Cherry Picking" is the term for picking out data that fits a particular hypothesis. Cherry picking can be done through malevolence or accident, and is almost always a bad thing to do. Purposely cherry picking data is usually considered to be unethical. However, it certainly seems to happen often enough.

There are also some times when it is unclear whether a process would be cherry picking or a sensible way to control data. For example, say that a researcher was trying to find correlation between median income and poverty rate in all the communities in a state. In such a case, excluding communities below, for example, 5,000 people might give a better view of the general trend, as well as saving the researcher time and confusion. Or it could be seen as a form of excluding data so that a certain result can be reached.

The other time when it can be acceptable…

Pill Hill (place)

2009-11-21T11:49:35Z

Pill Hill is an area in Portland, Oregon, located south of downtown on the ridge of what is known as The West Hills, or more precisely, The Tualatin Mountains. The other half of the area's name comes from the many medical facilities that are clustered near the top of the hill.

The area was formed around 1917, when some wealthy donors gave some land to the state as a place to build a medical university. the generosity of the donation is somewhat questionable, since the land was in an area that was not very viable for commercial or residential development. (Although there is also some very expensive residential development in the West Hills). The main hospital in the area is Oregon Health Sciences University, and its Doernbecher's Children Hospital, as well as the Shriner's Hospital and the Veteran Administration's hospital. There are also a number of subsidiary offices and private practices scattered over the area. The physical and…

Attempting to harness the engine of our own destruction, only humans are so foolish. (essay)

2009-11-21T10:43:07Z

"Attempting to harness the engine of our own destruction...only humans are so foolish" is a line spoken by by Major Misato Katsuragi in the series Neon Genesis Evangelion. She speaks the line late in the series, when one of the first big secrets is revealed. Although the plot of Evangelion is almost incomprehensible to explain, I will attempt to explain the quote anyway: Major Katsuragi has just learned that the Evangelion units, previously believed to be mechanical, are actually biological in nature, and cloned from Adam, an alien being (who is kept in stasis on a crucifix buried deep underground). The irony is that the Evangelion units are meant to fight other beings like Adam, referred to as Angels. It is later revealed that the entity that everyone, including Katsuragi, believes to be Adam is actually Lilith, the original mother of humanity.

And yes, I realize what that sounds like. And that is the summary, too. The complete story is…

Battle of Roncevaux Pass (event)

2009-11-21T00:32:26Z

The Battle of Roncevaux Pass was a military engagement (despite its name, it is questionable whether it was really a battle) that occurred in 778, where a group of Basque fighters pillages the rear guard of Charlemagne's army as it exited Spain after an unsuccessful campaign.

The background as to why Charlemagne was in Spain is, as most politics of long ago are, almost totally incomprehensible. There is a reason "byzantine" became an adjective. Basically, there was a war between two different Islamic factions in Spain, and Charlemagne intervened, in alliance with one side. The war did not go well, and while in the process of exiting, a totally unrelated group of people, ambushed the rear guard of the army.

Despite its name, this is probably only marginally a "battle". As far as I can tell, there was no political motivation or desire to control territory involved in the battle. It actually seems like an act of banditry against a target of opportunity. And in…