Mathematics as the Central Principle of Modern Origami

At min 2:00 of his TED talk, Robert Lang asks what has allowed the recent explosion of innovation in the ancient art of origami:

And it raises a question: what changed? And what changed is something you might not have expected in an art, which is math. That is, people applied mathematical principles to the art, to discover the underlying laws. And that leads to a very powerful tool. The secret to productivity in so many fields -- and in origami -- is letting dead people do your work for you. (Laughter) Because what you can do is take your problem, and turn it into a problem that someone else has solved, and use their solutions. And I want to tell you how we did that in origami.

In his excellent talk, Lang refers to modern examples of origami, including a cuckoo clock made from one sheet of paper and no cuts. Lang proceeds to discuss the mathematics of origami. Beautiful, mathematical and mind-blowing. It's an excellent talk with more than a few laughs along the way.

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George Carlin is Desperately Needed to Poke at the Woke

We need George Carlin like never before, but he is no longer with us.  He was willing to ignore propriety and power centers and to pull the scabs off social absurdities with polished eloquence. He was able to do this because he no longer "had a stake in the outcome" of the "freak show." We need someone like Carlin to expose and ridicule the absurdities of modern wokeness, especially on college campuses. Unfortunately, some prominent comedians, including Chris Rock, have given up on performing for college students because they have become so Woke.  I believe I heard Ricky Gervais express this same reluctance in a discussion with Sam Harris (in these notes, he discusses the minefield encountered by modern comedians). The following short video illustrates what comedians are up against on campus.

Check out 3:40 of this video, the speaker is talking about what "they" want and the interviewer challenged her: "They don't speak with one voice, do they?" She then claims that 18-21 year olds are "diverse." This is a deep issue, perhaps the defining issue of today: For many people today, "diversity" does not include intellectual diversity. Her comment revealed the intense tribal energy in our coddled young people, as well as their desperate felt need to be protected ideas they consider offensive.

Continue ReadingGeorge Carlin is Desperately Needed to Poke at the Woke