THUNK

Why don’t you want your snow shovel’s handle to be long and springy? Why do you push on someone’s back to help them swing, rather than on the swing supports? Engineers & architects have an answer: load paths! Video: http://youtu.be/kWUfO3Ia8Io Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2020/08/09/194.-Load-Path-Analysis.html

Occam’s Razor urges us not to multiply entities beyond necessity - it seems like a decent rule, but why does it work? And what should we do when it doesn’t? Video: http://youtu.be/HkgNFG-YLqM Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2020/07/28/193.-Honing-Occam's-Razor.html

Research, Experimentation, Analysis. It’s a simple rhythm, but it’s amazing how often someone will forget one of the beats & waste time instead of making progress on solving the problem. Video: http://youtu.be/_5m9Cgteung Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2020/07/12/192.-Three-Modes-of-Inquiry.html

Programmers routinely “refactor” code, clarifying its purpose & reorganizing its structure without changing how it works. What else can be refactored, I wonder? Video: http://youtu.be/uARhhLW8FhQ Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2020/06/28/191.-Refactoring-the-Real-World.html

What if…guys, are you listening? What if the subjects of scientific theories…ACTUALLY EXIST?! OOOOOOH SNAP Video: http://youtu.be/lTouTijlfhg Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2020/06/15/190.-Scientific-Realism.html

2 out of 10 people who read this will watch this episode. 1 in 20 subscribers will watch it. …I wonder how many subscribers who read it will watch? Video: http://youtu.be/vFS66BK9fRQ Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2020/05/31/189.-The-Reference-Class-Problem.html

Hey, are you bored being stuck inside? Wanna learn some knots? Video: http://youtu.be/Y0_j8VdCRJM Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2020/05/17/188.-Knowledge-How-Knots.html

Calling for more nuance in sociological theories seems unambiguously good, but what if - hear me out here - f@#$ it. Video: http://youtu.be/oW5p4jcmiqA Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2020/05/04/187.-F@-$-Nuance.html

How many legs does a dog have, if you call a tail a leg? Philosophers: “Well…it depends.” Video: http://youtu.be/bWj15Utv3os Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2020/04/20/186.-Natural-Kinds.html

Many academic fields assume that maximizing utility is synonymous with rationality (& marvel at how bad humans are at it). But the real world very rarely allows such clean analysis - maybe we’re not so irrational after all? Video: http://youtu.be/VeMI5Z2cZHM Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2020/04/05/185.-Bounded-Rationality.html