So That's What I've Been Doing All Along

I think a fascinating part about life is the things that I come up with in my mind, only to discover later on (sometimes years) a different vocabulary in which to use which describes the same ideas and principles I had come up with. I don't care that I wasn't the first to come up with them because I am a student of knowledge and am always excited to learn new things. Even if it is adjusting my vocabulary so I can dive into a newly "discovered" subject to gain new perspectives and further understand.

I tend to find human interaction and communication very interesting and sometimes a bit foreign. I tend to look at situations in the third person; putting emotions into a situation tends to exaserbate it.

My interest in the interactions, controlling them, and analyze them started in high school when I started reading a lot of philosophy. Being a quiet geek in school, I had a lot of time to observe and ponder. I later "experimented" with seeing if there were ways to control situations or at least influence them. I realized very quickly how powerful of a tool this is/was and that it could be used for good and bad. I resolved myself to thought experiments.

Logic, philosophy, and critical thinking have been quiet personal hobby of mine ever since. I took several excellent courses in college on them. I attribute them to my distaste for bad reporting on many new stations.

Several good web resources:

• http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=c0x&q=Critical+thinking&btnG=Search
• http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/
• http://people.hofstra.edu/Stefan_Waner/RealWorld/logic/logicintro.html
• http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=sAe6GppFPDAC&dq=introduction+to+logic&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=ubOD-xO6Vv&sig=tHir3LuRQNf9-9WDu9ApwGqbSoU&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result#PPR5,M1

I used them to enhance and refine my thought experiments.

A little while ago I ran across a blog post (sorry, I can't remember which one) from Mind Your Decisions by Presh Talwalkar and discovered that much of what I was doing in my mind was a major subject. Presh blogs on "Game Theory". The subject applies to many aspects of hard and soft sciences and mathematics. I find it quite amazing how the same ideas and principles I use to analyze situations in the sciences, mathematics and life are used by other people in a different vocabulary.

Discovering a new vocabulary that explains your own ideas is a lot like having a library of books in an unknown language and then suddenly being able to understand it. With a side of Christmas morning. Since that time, I have taken to any knowledge of game theory like a starving person to a sandwich.

Oh what I will learn tomorrow... I can hardly wait.

Happy Learning.