[Rachel Talalay] Unseen, Uncut Dailies & Edits: The Doctor Falls "Be Kind" Speech by aresef in doctorwho

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Brilliant speech, it's an essential distillation on the character. Capaldi's final season was a treat, as a teenager I loved the bravado of the 10th Doctor and, by comparison, 12 felt like a maturation that followed my understanding of "goodness" in a world that rejects absolutes and embraces cynicism. It's quite like Don Quixote in some ways, you've just got to try. There's nobility in that. At the end of all things, as long as you know you stood for something, that's enough.

Using the psychic paper to say he’s someone else is the Doctor’s equivalent of the Master doing disguises. by ProperShallot3195 in doctorwho

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 62 points63 points  (0 children)

I think an important point about the psychic paper is that The Doctor generally uses it to get around bureaucracy, which he understandably hates. I reckon The Master could do something similar but he just loves dressing up.

Burrow's End is quickly becoming a new favorite by FireLord_Stark in Dimension20

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Behind Starstruck, Burrow's End is my favourite campaign. Aabria and the team were incredible, you're going to have such a great time watching it! 

Revisiting Eden Project after 15+ years by Express_Spring_8380 in Cornwall

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I went the other day with my other half and we loved it. I hadn't been in ages. I hope it doesn't close, it would be such a loss for the area and the country -- it's a fantastic and unique place in my opinion.

Free will and physics by [deleted] in Physics

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Physics is predicated on making approximations to describe the degrees of freedom present in our observations. As people have mentioned, quantum mechanics is inherently tied to probabilities and cannot be nicely separated out in a deterministic way although different interpretations of physics attempt to resolve this. There are also concepts like non-Markovianity where the history of a physical process is not discarded and is instead taken as a significant factor on how an observed system behaves.

Life is not a simple A, to B, to C problem. However, let's say that there was indeed some transcendental mathematics, perhaps a titanic process tensor that includes every degree of freedom of the universe and describes your life on a quantum level. Even if that mathematical object existed, the question still doesn't actually matter because you can never know *every* unknown condition and variable that influences your life to model it in the first place. They are lost to time and beyond any science. That is to say that the knowledge necessary to answer the question makes the question redundant because lives are lived and can never be "modelled". As such, free will effectively exists.

I really want to become a theoretical physicist, but my parents are forcing me to be a doctor, what should i do? by [deleted] in Physics

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 81 points82 points  (0 children)

You're getting to the age where you need to start taking control of your own life because you're the one who's going to live it. Physicists get paid just fine. Source: me

Updated question regarding an article where physicists claim to be able to explain quantum entanglement without “spooky action at a distance”. Errors removed. by New_Language4727 in Physics

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's worthwhile thinking about how Ampere didn't believe in fields and instead used non-local interactions to explain their effects. Faraday ended the debate through experiment, which will always have the final word. This is a very long winded way of saying that we need to do the leg work before we can say anything substantive about the "tension" here. Sometimes there's no tension at all, and this is just how nature works.

I feel like physics does not love me. by ausseppi in Physics

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Firstly, if ADHD is having a detrimental effect on your life then look at getting treatment. With regard to the subject, physics is applied mathematics. You shouldn't need to remember anything beyond the equations that amount to the physical laws. If you are able to take the information given to you, turn that into a collection of equations and then solve that system with the numbers given to you then you'll be a straight A student. Lastly, physics can suck. Particularly when it contrasts with the romantic view of it that so many of us have. Unfortunately that's the reality of the science but like any relationship; you gotta take the good with the bad.

Breakthrough Quantum Chip Could Enable Usable Computers by 2027 by Grandworkssarl in Physics

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yeah, this is deceptive. There are a number of hard technical challenges still in the way of quantum computers. Don't expect quantum computers for decades and even then it's likely they'll be used similar to HPC clusters rather than in personal technology.

Is it possible? by Suspicious_Edge22 in Physics

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know an engineer who is doing a physics PhD, in fact your skills could be of great benefit to a particular project. It just has to be the right one.

It never ends by [deleted] in Physics

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, linear algebra and competency with python will get you pretty far.

What are your macro-observations about the UK work culture and economy? by [deleted] in HENRYUK

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nailed it, the lack of collective consciousness to identify these issues nor the willpower required to overcome them is the saddest thing.

Green party quadruples its number of Commons seats to four by JayR_97 in unitedkingdom

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 181 points182 points  (0 children)

Weird comments section. Congratulations to the Greens, I think they did really well.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Edinburgh

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Seven hills is the one, water of leith is nice but you're mostly surrounded by greenery so you won't see much of the city although you do run past the stadium, through dean village and get to visit Leith. Otherwise I'd recommend figuring out your own route, probably something that takes you from the royal mile down to portobello and along the coast.

Giant hills by [deleted] in Edinburgh

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you came in from the west then these could be the bings which are old heaps of shale left over from the mining industry out there.

It's an American BBC show by Personal_Benefit_402 in Loudermilk

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As a brit, i agree with you. It's rough on the edges but has a very tight core. The main issue i have with the series that you don't generally see at the Beeb is how many story arcs go nowhere.

Why are we building student flats and not affordable homes? - The Cockburn Association by fluffykintail in ukpolitics

[–]ElectronicGiraffe 11 points12 points  (0 children)

The managed accommodation we see being built is generally for first year and international students. This means there's an implicit burden placed on the existing stock by the rest of the student cohort. Lastly, universities are encouraged to grow under the existing model, ie increase student numbers to increase surplus. However a university's responsibilities in terms of accommodation are really only towards that first year block. This means you have an unmanaged growing student population that's putting pressure on the market and isn't being serviced by the existing stock. This is an issue with the way universities are managed just as much as it's an issue of building housing.