Blog Archives - Ivan's island

Ivan's chessboard problem

2/27/2021

Ivan has a white chessboard with a side of N unit squares, whose diagonal (a1, b2, c3, ...) is painted black. How many are the composite squares (i.e. the squares with a side of C unit squares, where 1<C<N), whose vertex unit squares are all white?

PS
Fausto Morales found the following formula
(2N^3 - 9N^2 + 10N)/6 - [1 - (-1)^N)]/4
and I'll write something similar to the (virtual) inscription on Carnegie's tombstone, namely
Here blogs a man who knows how to attract readers cleverer than himself.

Въпрос с понижена трудност

2/26/2021

Ако ги нямаше мороните, кой щеше да произвежда оксимороните?

Синестезия и креативност: Разбиване на митовете

2/14/2021

Според видния невроучен Рамачандран* 2% от населението са синестети, а синестетите сред креативните хора са 7-8 пъти по-често срещани отколкото сред некреативните. Понеже съм хем синестет, хем креативен, та ... ще ви съобщя нещо, което Рамачандран (съзнателно или не) е оставил недоизказано. Имам предвид заблудата че щом си синестет, то значи си креативен**.

И още едно недоизказано нещо:
Рамачандран изрично споменава че някои хора са некреативни, но премълчава относителния им дял в общото население.
Е, ако относителният дял на некреативните сред синестетите е минимум 1/9**, то можем да очакваме че относителният дял на некреативните сред несинестетите е поне толкова голям.

____________________________
* Adventures in Behavioral Neurology—Or—What Neurology Can Tell Us About Human Nature in Thinking: The New Science of Decision-Making, Problem-Solving and Prediction
** елементарно, Уотсън, от 9 синестета осем отиват при креативните, а един - при некреативните

Витгенщайн хайку

2/11/2021

Кацнал бръмбар на
трънка и започнал да
дрънка глупости.

Да се сервира като десерт към:
1. мисълта на Витгенщайн "Ако лъвът можеше да говори, ние нямаше да можем да го разбираме" или
2. към вица за слепия и шкурката.

Religion

2/9/2021

"There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger," cried out the Muslims, waved the green flag and succeeded in capturing the lands from India to France. Even if we have doubts about their faith, we cannot fail to admire its power, i.e. their readiness to die in the name of Allah.

"There is no greater God but Evolution and Darwin is its messenger," cry out today's believers. Even if we doubt the truth of their faith, we cannot fail to admire their pragmatism: as they wave the flags of Evolution, they head en masse to the vaccination points. Faith is dear, but life is dearer.

Съпрузи

2/9/2021

Попитали Жа Жа Габор колко съпрузи е имала, а тя отговорила с въпрос: "Свои или чужди?"

Futurologists

2/7/2021

Futurologists are strange creatures. They tell you that 20 years ago it was impossible to predict you'd carry in your pocket a computer more powerful than those of NASA were when you were born. Next minute they tell you that by 2040 the renewable energy will be at least 80% of all energy produced, if the unforeseen developments are ruled out.

There are always unforeseen developments, why should we rule them out? If there were no unforeseen developments, then 20 years ago I and the futurologists would have known that today we'd carry in our pockets computers more powerful than those of NASA were at the time of our birth.

И най-умният си е малко прост: Шарл де Гол

2/6/2021

"Как можеш да управляваш нация, която има 246 различни сирена?", се питал Шарл де Гол. Имал достатъчно акъл за да разграничава 246-те сирена, но недостатъчно - за да разграничава 50-те милиона французи, за които мислел като за една нация.

Watches and people

2/1/2021

Which watch is smarter: the Swiss one (dozens of springs) or the Korean one (thousands of transistors and lines of code)? Which watch owner is smarter: the one with the mechanical watch (which costs thousands of Swiss francs) or the one with the Korean watch (which costs few hundred euros)?

The Swiss watch is simple, you put it on your hand and forget about it. A Korean watch needs time and effort to set up, update, and connect to another smart and much more expensive device that also requires setup and updates. Therefore, a Korean watch wastes a lot of your time. On the one hand, the people with a lot of time seem smarter. On the other hand, if they dedicate their time to their watches, they don't seem so smart. On the one hand, the people with mechanical Swiss watches seem to earn more than enough and are therefore smarter. On the other hand, if they dedicate their money to Swiss watches and similar knick-knacks, they don't seem so smart.

I think the smartest watch is the watch that does not say what time it is, but what to do with your time. The same goes for people: the smartest are not those who know what time it is, but those who: a) know what they spend their time on, and b) are happy about it. They definitely don't need watches for that.