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Monthly Archives: December 2013
speed and endurance
My last months in Nepal I ran a lot with my friend Thomas, a former close-to-elite-level 800 meter runner. We talked a lot, which for me is very much part of my running enjoyment, and one of the lessons learned … Continue reading
Posted in (trail) running
Tagged endurance, energy systems, injury, ironman, running style, Speed, Zach Bitter
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trail trends
My recent review of trailrunning in Nepal mentioned some general trends in (ultra) trailrunning. Being an armchair enthusiast, not a competitive runner, nor otherwise actively involved in the scene, this kinda analysis has to be seen for what it is. I follow … Continue reading
how are things in Egypt?
How are things in…? is the question everyone living elsewhere is asked regularly. As habituation goes, initially lots seems worth reporting in response, but after a while, it all seems so much more of the same. One way of dealing with it … Continue reading
humour as pulse of the times
A fancy is by definition something that moves one. So some of my fancies are totally predictable. Their whole rationale is to move people, to get at them, to push their buttons. Anything that uses the senses to do that … Continue reading
Posted in society
Tagged Hans Teeuwen, humour, Jiskefet, Monty Python, Netherlands, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Fry, Theo Maassen, van Kooten en de Bie, ZAZ
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bias galore
I’ve reflected on bias in scientific production in recent posts:. on publication bias, and on how easy it is to create false positives. Being on a roll, I might as well continue. All part of my worries about the evidence … Continue reading
Cairo, a wet city in flux
Egypt’s first dose of cold weather makes for an unusual sight: Stepping out of my gate, the street in all directions is flooded, and what is on my doorstep is not even the worst as a short outing into Mohandeseen … Continue reading
in the social sciences it’s called relative deprivation
About a year ago I read The Spirit Level and was convinced that its argument that equality is better for everyone made sense. One of my earliest posts was about this book. The authors look at what social and health … Continue reading
Posted in society
Tagged Joseph Stiglitz, Relative deprivation, Richard G. Wilkinson, systemic change, The spirit level
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Looking back on 2013: trailrunning in Nepal
When I suggested to Richard Bull that he do a review of 2013 for trailrunningnepal.org I could have known what would be his answer. No-brainer really, and had he asked me first I would have done the same. So here’s my … Continue reading
visualizing with words
Chris Jordan is a photo artist who tries to use art to get us thinking about big numbers. This is the explanation on his site for his Running the numbers: an American self-portrait project: Running the Numbers looks at contemporary American … Continue reading
Posted in psychology, society
Tagged Chris Jordan, David Abram, George Lakoff, Mark Johnson, philosophy of the flesh, statistics, visualization
1 Comment
Robert D. Kaplan on the Middle East
Over the years I’ve read a fair bit of Robert Kaplan‘s books. I’m not informed enough to say something definite about this analyst’s political position, but he seems very much part of the realist school of international relations. Similar to … Continue reading
Posted in society
Tagged MENA, realist school of international relations, Robert D. Kaplan
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can we bootstrap our way out of bias?
My previous post on publication bias only touches the surface of our psychological and societal biases. I find publication bias particularly pernicious because it is a phenomenon sitting right at the centre of social science and could be largely avoided if … Continue reading
publication bias
One of the things that writing posts has revealed to me is that I very much fancy epistemology. How to know anything? What to believe? How to figure out if something makes sense? I’ve always felt that academia was about … Continue reading
Posted in society
Tagged Ben Goldacre, epistemology, evidence-based medicine, Publication bias
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thinking like a mathematician
I’ve recently entered a time capsule: started a distance education diploma course in math. When in high school, I was pretty good at math , but apart from some statistics in university and in various jobs, I’ve not thrown my grey … Continue reading
visualizing the big
We are really bad at understanding big numbers. Numeracy training may get us a bit beyond one-two-three-many but not much. The problem is that quantity matters to lots of issues in life. My favourite popular science book is a Bill … Continue reading
roger henke's fancies 