Engineers are tools Mar 7, 2017
I'm an engineer, and people sometimes like to point out how engineers created things like the atomic bomb and hydraulic fracking.  You know, the bad things.  I don't need to point out that engineers have created good things too, like jet engines and artificial body parts. 

What I do want to acknowledge is that engineers are simply tools.  They solve problems by creating or fixing or enabling or removing something.  They're like a hammer or a screw driver.  Is a tool inherently capable of amazing or terrible things?  No.  It simply does the job it was asked to do.  That doesn't mean engineers are completely free from blame or responsibility.  But it at least adds some perspective. 

In a similar vein, tools are capable of nearly anything.  Or more accurately, there is a tool for every job.  I have a tendency towards pessimism, so I usually have to tell people their ideas are impossible to achieve in the allotted time and for the budgeted price.  One of my colleagues likes to put it another way:  "With enough money and time, literally anything is possible." #science
Debating climate change Apr 4, 2016
I had a nice little discussion about climate change this morning with some coworkers.  When I say "nice little" I mean "big stupid".  It didn't go well, and I got a little angry.  Not punch-a-coworker angry, but take-a-cigar-break angry. 

First, it annoys me when people are wrong about scientifically verifiable facts.  The thing with facts, and the thing with the scientific method, is that it's open-access.  Anyone can look at evidence, test a theory, and come to a conclusion.  A bunch of climate scientists already did that.  This is the closest thing to a fact that science produces. 

Let me take a brief moment to point out why the "argument from authority" counter-argument doesn't make sense in this instance.  The argument from authority comes from the period of time when a king or a priest could say something and claim that because of their authority, the thing they said was true.  The difference with science, I'll say again, is that science and data and observation are available to anyone with a brain and opposable thumbs.  Scientists can be authorities in their respective fields, but the things they say can be very easily tested and disproved if so desired. 

Second, it bothers me when otherwise thoughtful, intelligent people demonstrate such a ridiculously flawed logic in their viewpoint.  If the person was an idiot, or a presidential candidate, I could at least sort of understand.  But when I respect your brainpower and you believe dumb things, it causes me pain.  Should I now doubt other things you say, things regarding the job that you and I do side by side?  If I can't trust you to accept facts regarding one topic, why should I accept your facts on a different topic? 

You may ask why this matters, and that's a fair question.  Honestly, whether you believe it or not, the climate is changing.  So I can take heart that I'll be proven right in the end.  But it's not about being right; it's about the flawed logic people use to determine what they think and believe.  If this was an opinion about a debatable topic, I wouldn't feel the need to prove a person wrong.  When your life is dictated by shitty logic, how am I supposed to know that you'll apply proper logic to which pedal is the gas and which is the brake? 

Finally, it pisses me off when issues get politicized.  As soon as an issue gets even a hint of political attention, a line is drawn; you're either on the right or the left, conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat.  There's no middle ground.  Also, if you didn't have an opinion beforehand, your political affiliation will tell you how to think.  It's surprising to me that more people don't see how their beliefs are essentially handed to them by the ideology to which they subscribe.  I guess I'm guilty of this as well, but I like to keep referencing the idea that I'VE CHANGED MY MIND BEFORE, which I feel establishes the fact that I can occasionally form an opinion apart from the hive mind. #science
Science is a method Mar 26, 2015
Science is really a method, or a way to do things, instead of being a thing.  I find it odd when people say they're "interested in science" or "studying science."  Which science?  Biological science?  Chemical science?  Physical science?  Science is the method that's proven successful at figuring stuff out about the natural world.  There might've been a better way before science came around, and there might be an even better method in the future.  But for now, it's what works.  And the cool thing is that it can work for anyone.  It helps if you're careful and thorough, but the same science used by Person A in Place M at Time X can be used by Person B in Place N at Time Y.  It doesn't require secret knowledge, or large sums of money, or powerful authority.  It's the everyman method of learning things. 

Most people approach situations somewhat scientifically, I would argue, by default.  In problem solving, people often employ the trial-and-error approach, which is really just a subset of the scientific method.  The things that are "tried" are usually based on some educated guess for what will hopefully actually work.  The result is either a failure or a success, leading to an unstated conclusion about the result of the experiment.  Anybody can do that.  That's science. #science
Trusting experts Mar 23, 2015
At some point in the last few years, I realized I'm an expert at my job.  I'm not an expert because I know the most or because I'm the best at what I do.  I'm an expert simply as a result of doing my specific, complex job for about ten years.  If someone showed up at my job and told me how to do it or questioned why I did it a certain way (which has happened), I would calmly but confidently explain to them why I'm right and they're wrong.  I'm not closed to new ideas, but there are certain aspects of my job that are simply settled matters of math and physics.  That stuff isn't changing. 

Around the time I realized I was an expert, I realized that other people are also experts in their respective fields.  Specifically scientists.  I used to want to question the methods used by evolutionary scientists or the conclusions drawn by climate scientists.  But then I realized that my questioning of their basic methods of research is equivalent to someone questioning the math and physics of my core job duties.  Feel free to question in a friendly inquisitive manner, but be prepared to eat your words and feel like an idiot.  If you can even grasp the entirety of what I actually do (which isn't that complex but takes some getting used to), I can almost guarantee that you won't present an idea that hasn't already been presented, dissected, and rejected. 

That's why it bothers me when non-experts question experts about things like evolution, climate change, and immunization.  The internet has made everyone quasi-experts about everything.  But when 99.85% of experts agree on evolution, or when 97.2% of experts agree on climate change, or when 86% of experts agree on vaccines, I think it's time to recognize who the real experts are.  Hint:  It's probably not you. #science
Description of sleep Jan 17, 2015
I really like this description of sleep from UC Berkeley sleep researcher Matt Walker: 
It's probably worth pointing out that we as a field cannot give you a consensus answer, agreed upon, as to why we sleep.  Imagine the scenario:  The birth of your first child.  You're there in the hospital; the doctor walks into the room and says, "Congratulations, it's a healthy boy or girl.  We've done all of the preliminary tests, and everything looks good."  And they sort of smile in that reassuring way that doctors can smile.  They turn around; just before they get to the door, they look back at you and they say, "There is just one thing:  From this moment forth and for the rest of your child's entire life, they will routinely and repeatedly lapse into a state of non-consciousness.  In fact it will look not dissimilar to death.  But don't worry, it's reversible.  And I should note that at times, while their body lies still and peaceful, in their brain they will be having remarkable hallucinogenic delusional experiences.  And in fact this will consume an entire third of your child's life.  And I've got no idea why.  Good luck."
From the excellent Inquiring Minds podcast. #science
Purpose of environmentalism Sep 29, 2014
I used to think of environmentalism as a sort of "save the trees" hippie movement that was more concerned with plants and animals than with people.  But recently I've started to realize that that's a little naive, to say the least.  From my limited understanding and experience with environmentalism, it's basically the idea that we, humans, should be concerned with the environment, not just because we feel bad for some endangered toads or whatever, but because "the environment" encompasses pretty much everything, and by affecting one part of the environment, we're really affecting ourselves.  It's essentially a selfish pursuit.  The sun provides energy to plants, which feed us (and animals) and also generate oxygen to breathe.  Mess up one part of that equation -- sun visibility, plants, animals, air -- and you have problems across the board.  It's not so much that we can accurately predict what will happen if we mess something up, but the lack of predictable accuracy is kind of the whole point. 

What doesn't make sense to me is when people are anti-environmentalism.  I get that jobs and the economy and politics are important, but do people realize that without a suitably healthy environment, we'll all be dead?  Where do you think your food comes from?  What do you think your food eats?  The shortsightedness of it is frightening. #science
Cilantro and soap Jul 10, 2014
Apparently cilantro tastes like soap for some people, and there's a scientific reason why. #science
Cannibalism calories Jul 7, 2014
Popular Science wrote an article about the caloric content of human bodies.  A whole human contains about 81,500 calories, while a whole leg is around 7150.  As the saying goes, an arm a day (1800 calories) keeps the doctor away. #science
Human extinction Jun 30, 2014
One of the most interesting and surprising facts I've learned in recent years concerns human extinction.  Neil DeGrasse Tyson put it like this in Death by Black Hole:  "Fact is, humans cannot really kill Earth.  Our planet will remain in orbit around the Sun, along with its planetary brethren, long after Homo sapiens has become extinct by whatever cause."  That's a fairly nonchalant way of referring to the near certainty of humans going extinct.  It's a fascinating and somewhat scary thing to think about, but it's based on a few pieces of solid reasoning:  Assuming we don't kill ourselves with bullets or nuclear bombs, there's a good possibility we'll be wiped out by a global pandemic.  If that doesn't happen, there's a good chance we've trashed the earth enough to make it nearly inhospitable to life.  But even if those two things don't happen, there's still the fact that no species in the history of our planet has lived longer than a few million years.  People like to talk about our galaxy's impending collision with the Andromeda galaxy in 4 billion years, or the death of the sun in 5 billion years.  But current thinking suggests that humans will go extinct way before that time.  And that's a crazy thing to think about. #science
Cosmos finale five rules Jun 24, 2014
I missed the last episode of Cosmos, so I missed this invocation by host Neil deGrasse Tyson about the five simple rules of science: 
  1. Question authority.  No idea is true just because someone says so, including me.
  2. Think for yourself.  Question yourself.  Don't believe anything just because you want to.  Believing something doesn't make it so.
  3. Test ideas by the evidence gained from observation and experiment.  If a favorite idea fails a well-designed test, it's wrong.  Get over it.
  4. Follow the evidence, wherever it leads.  If you have no evidence, reserve judgment.
  5. Remember, you could be wrong.  Even the best scientists have been wrong about some things.
That's some good stuff.  Every time I started watching an episode, I would feel reluctant to press play because I didn't feel like turning my brain on and having to think about something.  But every single time, I got completely sucked in and didn't mind having to think.  What a great TV series. #science