Roope Kaaronen
@roopekaaronen.net
Forager of information and mushrooms • Cognitive science, cultural evolution, cognitive anthropology • https://roopekaaronen.net • Kayaking, music, nature, photography
Samaa henkeä edustaa meidän metsistä tuttu limasieni paranvoi, jonka nimi juontuu para-nimisestä haltiasta, jonka varastamaa ja pudottamaa voita limasienen on uskottu olleen.
December 12, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Samaa henkeä edustaa meidän metsistä tuttu limasieni paranvoi, jonka nimi juontuu para-nimisestä haltiasta, jonka varastamaa ja pudottamaa voita limasienen on uskottu olleen.
Hyvää itsenäisyyspäivää!
🇫🇮
Happy independence day, Finland!
🇫🇮
Happy independence day, Finland!
December 6, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Hyvää itsenäisyyspäivää!
🇫🇮
Happy independence day, Finland!
🇫🇮
Happy independence day, Finland!
Apropos, kuinka pukeutuisin linnanjuhliin.
December 5, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Apropos, kuinka pukeutuisin linnanjuhliin.
I have decided that I can't pretend to be an ethnomathematics researcher and self-ascribed "string theorist" (anthropologist of string and knots?) without being able to tie a khipu.
So here goes. A project for the holidays. Will update my progress later.
So here goes. A project for the holidays. Will update my progress later.
December 5, 2025 at 9:51 AM
I have decided that I can't pretend to be an ethnomathematics researcher and self-ascribed "string theorist" (anthropologist of string and knots?) without being able to tie a khipu.
So here goes. A project for the holidays. Will update my progress later.
So here goes. A project for the holidays. Will update my progress later.
Grok, are you alright?
November 20, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Grok, are you alright?
Everything is entirely sane on X.
November 20, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Everything is entirely sane on X.
Forget the pomodoro technique.
Enter the trottola-doro.
Twirl a precision-engineered spinning top (copper top with ruby point) and arrange work intervals accordingly.
8 minutes is easy. Still haven't quite reached a 10 minute spin.
Enter the trottola-doro.
Twirl a precision-engineered spinning top (copper top with ruby point) and arrange work intervals accordingly.
8 minutes is easy. Still haven't quite reached a 10 minute spin.
October 13, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Forget the pomodoro technique.
Enter the trottola-doro.
Twirl a precision-engineered spinning top (copper top with ruby point) and arrange work intervals accordingly.
8 minutes is easy. Still haven't quite reached a 10 minute spin.
Enter the trottola-doro.
Twirl a precision-engineered spinning top (copper top with ruby point) and arrange work intervals accordingly.
8 minutes is easy. Still haven't quite reached a 10 minute spin.
Received my copy of this formidable doorstopper.
A thousand pages on how cultures change.
In Chapter 66, with @twaring.bsky.social and Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, we consider how the science of cultural change can be applied to...
...change culture more, and climate less. Or so we hope.
A thousand pages on how cultures change.
In Chapter 66, with @twaring.bsky.social and Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, we consider how the science of cultural change can be applied to...
...change culture more, and climate less. Or so we hope.
September 19, 2025 at 6:53 AM
Received my copy of this formidable doorstopper.
A thousand pages on how cultures change.
In Chapter 66, with @twaring.bsky.social and Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, we consider how the science of cultural change can be applied to...
...change culture more, and climate less. Or so we hope.
A thousand pages on how cultures change.
In Chapter 66, with @twaring.bsky.social and Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, we consider how the science of cultural change can be applied to...
...change culture more, and climate less. Or so we hope.
Lots of traces of Russian history here, like some P. Shkolnov's engraved name from 1910, and fortifications from the Crimean war which the above incident was of course a part of.
August 11, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Lots of traces of Russian history here, like some P. Shkolnov's engraved name from 1910, and fortifications from the Crimean war which the above incident was of course a part of.
Some all but forgotten local history:
Almost exactly 170 years ago two British frigates and one corvette anchored somewhere in this horizon and opened fire at what would eventually become a part of Helsinki, killing one Ostrobothnian soldier. The soldier's memorial stone is still here today.
Almost exactly 170 years ago two British frigates and one corvette anchored somewhere in this horizon and opened fire at what would eventually become a part of Helsinki, killing one Ostrobothnian soldier. The soldier's memorial stone is still here today.
August 11, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Some all but forgotten local history:
Almost exactly 170 years ago two British frigates and one corvette anchored somewhere in this horizon and opened fire at what would eventually become a part of Helsinki, killing one Ostrobothnian soldier. The soldier's memorial stone is still here today.
Almost exactly 170 years ago two British frigates and one corvette anchored somewhere in this horizon and opened fire at what would eventually become a part of Helsinki, killing one Ostrobothnian soldier. The soldier's memorial stone is still here today.
Bought a new instrument a while ago, since there's lullaby duties ahead.
That's a Finnish 5-string kantele.
Made by Kaustisen soitinverstas.
Only the 9th string instrument in this household.
That's a Finnish 5-string kantele.
Made by Kaustisen soitinverstas.
Only the 9th string instrument in this household.
August 11, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Bought a new instrument a while ago, since there's lullaby duties ahead.
That's a Finnish 5-string kantele.
Made by Kaustisen soitinverstas.
Only the 9th string instrument in this household.
That's a Finnish 5-string kantele.
Made by Kaustisen soitinverstas.
Only the 9th string instrument in this household.
Ukkoseltahan se näyttää.
August 4, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Ukkoseltahan se näyttää.
From the photo archives:
Frog eye selfie.
Frog eye selfie.
August 4, 2025 at 7:22 AM
From the photo archives:
Frog eye selfie.
Frog eye selfie.
They tried to test an Amsterdam-esque "shared space" for a few weeks in Helsinki once and it failed miserably. Which is to be expected, people don't develop those skills/habits of coexisting overnight. This stuff needs long-term commitment.
August 2, 2025 at 7:57 AM
They tried to test an Amsterdam-esque "shared space" for a few weeks in Helsinki once and it failed miserably. Which is to be expected, people don't develop those skills/habits of coexisting overnight. This stuff needs long-term commitment.
(Positiivista kokemuksessa oli toki se, että Wienissä sai yksiön yli 20m2 kattoterassilla keskustan kupeesta n. 800€/kk.)
July 30, 2025 at 6:46 AM
(Positiivista kokemuksessa oli toki se, että Wienissä sai yksiön yli 20m2 kattoterassilla keskustan kupeesta n. 800€/kk.)
E.g., once you settle on kayaking with a double-bladed paddle, there's some design space to be left explored, but due to hydrodynamics the core concept might still be the same for centuries. Until something radically different appears.
Meanwhile languages have leeway for evolving more gradually.
Meanwhile languages have leeway for evolving more gradually.
July 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
E.g., once you settle on kayaking with a double-bladed paddle, there's some design space to be left explored, but due to hydrodynamics the core concept might still be the same for centuries. Until something radically different appears.
Meanwhile languages have leeway for evolving more gradually.
Meanwhile languages have leeway for evolving more gradually.
They all resolve to a loop of string.
Like the letter O.
How do I know that? Because I twisted each of them from a loop of string. They have to be resolvable to the state they came from.
Mathematicians have ways of figuring out if a knot is an unknot, but it's tricky (the unknotting problem).
Like the letter O.
How do I know that? Because I twisted each of them from a loop of string. They have to be resolvable to the state they came from.
Mathematicians have ways of figuring out if a knot is an unknot, but it's tricky (the unknotting problem).
July 22, 2025 at 6:35 PM
They all resolve to a loop of string.
Like the letter O.
How do I know that? Because I twisted each of them from a loop of string. They have to be resolvable to the state they came from.
Mathematicians have ways of figuring out if a knot is an unknot, but it's tricky (the unknotting problem).
Like the letter O.
How do I know that? Because I twisted each of them from a loop of string. They have to be resolvable to the state they came from.
Mathematicians have ways of figuring out if a knot is an unknot, but it's tricky (the unknotting problem).
These are all, mathematically speaking, the simplest possible knot:
They are all unknots, also known as the trivial knot.
They are the least knotted knots of all knots. Not kidding.
They are all unknots, also known as the trivial knot.
They are the least knotted knots of all knots. Not kidding.
July 22, 2025 at 6:35 PM
These are all, mathematically speaking, the simplest possible knot:
They are all unknots, also known as the trivial knot.
They are the least knotted knots of all knots. Not kidding.
They are all unknots, also known as the trivial knot.
They are the least knotted knots of all knots. Not kidding.
The reef knot features prominently in, e.g., Greek and Egyptian art. Which is why it's also called the Hercules knot.
July 22, 2025 at 1:15 PM
The reef knot features prominently in, e.g., Greek and Egyptian art. Which is why it's also called the Hercules knot.
And there you have it, it's a reef knot.
July 22, 2025 at 1:15 PM
And there you have it, it's a reef knot.
To double-check you can unslip it as before (loose ends towards and through the knot).
July 22, 2025 at 1:15 PM
To double-check you can unslip it as before (loose ends towards and through the knot).