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Showing posts from January, 2023

Position, Velocity, Acceleration, Jerk, Snap

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The sensation of hitting your pinkie toe on the corner of a sofa may seem unrelated to the concept of derivatives, but in reality, it has everything to do with it. The reason is that our sensors are not as sensitive to familiar stimuli as they are to new ones. This phenomenon is known as sensory adaptation, which is a reduction in sensitivity to a stimulus after constant exposure to it. Sensory adaptation helps free up our attention and resources to attend to other stimuli in our environment. A similar concept applies to the way we experience life. Our bodies are only interested in the "delta," or the rate of change that happens to us. For example, the first time you go on a plane, it is an amazing experience, but the last time, it is not as memorable. This is not the pilot's fault, but rather a result of our numbed senses, as we are not excited by anything less than 2Gs. However, a next flight on a fighter jet pulling 5Gs will be amazing again, as the delta of 3Gs makes

She likes me, she likes me not

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  These days drawing attention to one self has become increasingly more difficult. Further more catching the attention of a given person during scrolling through his/her feed is even harder. But that matters right? I mean popularity algorithms care about engagement, which makes sense all things considered, more audience means more ads, ergo more sells, ergo more profit, its Business 101. Don't get me wrong I am all for it, after all, money make the world go round.  So measuring popularity and consequently value based on engagement or likes this way makes sense, right? At least for online presence and influence, correct?  Well, take a look at another common use case. The same logic above applies in public polls and voting. The best voted party or option, is not the best one, it is just most voted. And since each vote counts the same, majority wins, more like a quantity over quality. But then how to make the voting/liking/subscribing fair? Furthermore if you post something online, re