Mar 4Custody and ConsumptionSometimes at family gatherings, I am mocked for the one time when, as a child, I was asked the question ‘What would you like to be when you grow up?’ and I answered, ‘A Librarian.’ It has always seemed odd to me that this should be so humourous. Even then…Literature4 min readLiterature4 min read
Oct 2, 2022I Still Have FearsAbout a year ago, I started a masters course in Artificial Intelligence. I had no formal computer science experience, a Politics degree and was sort of surprised that I had been accepted. I had taught myself most of the basic maths and programming which was necessary to get on the…Fear7 min readFear7 min read
Jul 14, 2022The Importance of Talking to strangersI have, on a couple of occasions recently found myself on a train or in a coffee shop minding my own business when a stranger comes over and strikes up a conversation. I don’t know what it is about my face or whatever but this never ends up how every…Social4 min readSocial4 min read
Jun 2, 2022The Modern Academy Works Too Hard For Genuine Progress to be PossibleAround the time of the discovery of the Higgs Boson, Peter Higgs, its namesake admitted that the academics of his generation would not be productive enough to get a job in a modern University as junior academics. The modern academic is not the tweed jacket wearing, pipe smoking thinker of…Science4 min readScience4 min read
Apr 5, 2022Examinations and the fiction of Equal OpportunityExaminations provide a level playing field. That is why they exist. But if the game is flawed and the dice is biased, what good is the gradient of the table? In the 7th century, the Sui dynasty realised that it was better to select officials on the basis of merit…Education12 min readEducation12 min read
