Paul Rowe
@pauldrowe.bsky.social
Applied logician. Polyglot. Interested in curiosity, not dogma.
Reposted by Paul Rowe
That code runs is no guarantee it is any good
LLM-generated code runs or it doesn't—what truth do you need?
November 23, 2025 at 7:32 PM
That code runs is no guarantee it is any good
I just learned today is Fibonacci day because the numerals in 11/23 are in the sequence. But what about 1/1, 1/2, 1/12, 12/3, 2/3, 3/5, 5/8, 8/13? Or if we can join 1,1 into 11, why not split 13 to get 1/3 or even 3/21?
I’m all for promoting math, but it seems kind of arbitrary. 🧮
I’m all for promoting math, but it seems kind of arbitrary. 🧮
November 23, 2025 at 7:32 PM
I just learned today is Fibonacci day because the numerals in 11/23 are in the sequence. But what about 1/1, 1/2, 1/12, 12/3, 2/3, 3/5, 5/8, 8/13? Or if we can join 1,1 into 11, why not split 13 to get 1/3 or even 3/21?
I’m all for promoting math, but it seems kind of arbitrary. 🧮
I’m all for promoting math, but it seems kind of arbitrary. 🧮
I recently found a counterexample to a statement we thought we had a proof for. Spent the last few days trying to find the flaw in the proof and finally cracked it today.
Now I guess we have to figure out what we should’ve been trying to prove in the first place. 🧮 #MathSky
Now I guess we have to figure out what we should’ve been trying to prove in the first place. 🧮 #MathSky
November 23, 2025 at 7:23 PM
I recently found a counterexample to a statement we thought we had a proof for. Spent the last few days trying to find the flaw in the proof and finally cracked it today.
Now I guess we have to figure out what we should’ve been trying to prove in the first place. 🧮 #MathSky
Now I guess we have to figure out what we should’ve been trying to prove in the first place. 🧮 #MathSky
Reposted by Paul Rowe
8675309 is prime, and so is 8675311, so if you ever need a middlin'-large pair of adjacent primes to test your cryptographic suite, all you need is a 1980s earworm and a +2 and you're all set.
Man, everything is so bleak, anyone got a fun fact or little bit of trivia they want to share
November 21, 2025 at 3:28 AM
8675309 is prime, and so is 8675311, so if you ever need a middlin'-large pair of adjacent primes to test your cryptographic suite, all you need is a 1980s earworm and a +2 and you're all set.
Let it be known: As an American, I have never been chuffed in my life.
November 13, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Let it be known: As an American, I have never been chuffed in my life.
Reposted by Paul Rowe
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Au soleil couchant
Un flamant rose nourrit son petit.
Casijazz📷
Au soleil couchant
Un flamant rose nourrit son petit.
Casijazz📷
November 11, 2025 at 6:12 PM
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Au soleil couchant
Un flamant rose nourrit son petit.
Casijazz📷
Au soleil couchant
Un flamant rose nourrit son petit.
Casijazz📷
If two asteroids make big booms on the moon but no one is taking notes, do they make a sound?
Two asteroids, seen by a Japanese museum astronomer, made big booms on the moon, but we don't know how big they were, b/c apparently no one here was taking note.
"When asked, America’s space agency was unable to comment. 'NASA is currently closed due to a...
1/2
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/s...
"When asked, America’s space agency was unable to comment. 'NASA is currently closed due to a...
1/2
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/s...
2 Spooky Flashes Lit Up the Moon. Here’s What Made Them.
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:16 AM
If two asteroids make big booms on the moon but no one is taking notes, do they make a sound?
I can’t tell how much back and forth there is between #PhilSky and #MathSky on the sandwich discourse. Which to me means there should be more back and forth. It’s just plain fun!
#HoagieHomies so it is written, so it shall be
A speech act must be enclosed by two puns to be a sandwich.
November 7, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Reposted by Paul Rowe
Euclid’s influence is so under-rated. The “Definitions-Axioms-Deductions” style of reasoning pervaded early modern thought. The Declaration of Independence’s “We hold these truths to be self evident,” is a conscious use of Euclidean-style argumentation.
"Euclid and Abraham Lincoln successfully applied Aristotle's deductive logic: Euclid to geometry; Lincoln, more suprisingly, to politics. The latter's story alone is worth the price of the book"
www.the-tls.com/philosophy/h...
www.the-tls.com/philosophy/h...
The weighing of evidence and human progress
Writing in the sixteenth century, the Dutch humanist Erasmus satirized the corruption of his day. In his Moriae Encomium (The Praise of Folly), he tells
www.the-tls.com
October 19, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Euclid’s influence is so under-rated. The “Definitions-Axioms-Deductions” style of reasoning pervaded early modern thought. The Declaration of Independence’s “We hold these truths to be self evident,” is a conscious use of Euclidean-style argumentation.
When I was in MA the top two were probably Peabody and Quincy.
What’s the word where you’re from that, when pronounced exactly as it looks, identifies a tourist immediately?
October 10, 2025 at 1:26 AM
When I was in MA the top two were probably Peabody and Quincy.
Reposted by Paul Rowe
Roseate spoonbills will splash their wings through the water as part of their beauty routine. Here's one doing so mid-splash, facing straight ahead towards the camera. I really love this shot. #birds
October 4, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Roseate spoonbills will splash their wings through the water as part of their beauty routine. Here's one doing so mid-splash, facing straight ahead towards the camera. I really love this shot. #birds
I had no idea what a mess Australian daylight savings time is. The fact that the blue region exists alongside the green is mind blowing 🤯
And daylight saving has started in Australia 😅. Confusion reigns.
(Image via SBS News.)
(Image via SBS News.)
October 5, 2025 at 12:44 AM
I had no idea what a mess Australian daylight savings time is. The fact that the blue region exists alongside the green is mind blowing 🤯
Reposted by Paul Rowe
Well don't I feel stupid
September 26, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Well don't I feel stupid
I’m celebrating a notable personal accomplishment today. 🥳
September 26, 2025 at 11:01 PM
I’m celebrating a notable personal accomplishment today. 🥳
Reposted by Paul Rowe
Just Maine being stupid beautiful. good morning!
September 17, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Just Maine being stupid beautiful. good morning!
This time it’s Milchick who would like a word with you, NYT Spelling Bee.
September 16, 2025 at 5:24 PM
This time it’s Milchick who would like a word with you, NYT Spelling Bee.
Beowulf would like a word with you, NYT Spelling Bee.
September 15, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Beowulf would like a word with you, NYT Spelling Bee.
I love how at first glance I can’t tell if I’m looking at shadow on the ground or light through branches of trees.
September 10, 2025 at 1:25 AM
I love how at first glance I can’t tell if I’m looking at shadow on the ground or light through branches of trees.
Some abstract photographic art for you weekend pleasure.
September 7, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Some abstract photographic art for you weekend pleasure.
Thinking about this in the context of language learning. “Ethical cognition” is akin to memorizing grammar rules. But just as being ethical does not follow from ethical cognition, nor does ability to speak a language follow from being able to recite rules of grammar.
Ethics classes can teach the content of various theories, and thereby impart knowledge and skills which are useful to ethical cognition. But they can't make someone care, they can't make someone good. It's a fundamental mistake re what university education can or should do to hope they'll do that.
September 3, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Thinking about this in the context of language learning. “Ethical cognition” is akin to memorizing grammar rules. But just as being ethical does not follow from ethical cognition, nor does ability to speak a language follow from being able to recite rules of grammar.
I haven’t yet read the article, but I can say I will approach it with ideas from @kristinandrews.bsky.social in mind. She had a great piece in @aeon.co on how to bring thinking about animal cognition to speculation about AI cognition.
Can AIs suffer? Big tech and users grapple with one of most unsettling questions of our times
Can AIs suffer? Big tech and users grapple with one of most unsettling questions of our times
As first AI-led rights advocacy group is founded, industry is divided on whether models are, or can be, sentient
www.theguardian.com
August 27, 2025 at 12:07 AM
I haven’t yet read the article, but I can say I will approach it with ideas from @kristinandrews.bsky.social in mind. She had a great piece in @aeon.co on how to bring thinking about animal cognition to speculation about AI cognition.
When I thought this was going to be the pangram I was mad about it. But now that it’s not even accepted as a word I’m even more mad. 😡
August 14, 2025 at 4:12 PM
When I thought this was going to be the pangram I was mad about it. But now that it’s not even accepted as a word I’m even more mad. 😡
I also like the Fibonacci trick for converting between mph and kph. Since the conversion is close to the golden ratio, you can use the first few Fibonacci numbers as rough conversions.
mph -> kph
30 -> 50 (more like 48)
50 -> 80 (pretty accurate)
80 -> 130 (more like 129)
🧮 #MathSky
mph -> kph
30 -> 50 (more like 48)
50 -> 80 (pretty accurate)
80 -> 130 (more like 129)
🧮 #MathSky
For conversation purposes, double and add thirty to convert C→F, or subtract thirty and halve to convert F→C.
15°C→60°F (actual 59°F)
100°F→35°C (actual ~38°C)
15°C→60°F (actual 59°F)
100°F→35°C (actual ~38°C)
July 26, 2025 at 4:06 PM
I also like the Fibonacci trick for converting between mph and kph. Since the conversion is close to the golden ratio, you can use the first few Fibonacci numbers as rough conversions.
mph -> kph
30 -> 50 (more like 48)
50 -> 80 (pretty accurate)
80 -> 130 (more like 129)
🧮 #MathSky
mph -> kph
30 -> 50 (more like 48)
50 -> 80 (pretty accurate)
80 -> 130 (more like 129)
🧮 #MathSky