Madison Chaos and Complex
Systems Seminar
2021 Discussions
At the seminar on May 5, 2015, we decided to make our long-standing
summer discussions
slightly more formal by having a topic, a facilitator, and a
web-accessible reading or video. The reading or video should take no
more than 20 minutes, and the facilitator should be prepared to give
at most a 5-minute introduction to the topic and lead the ensuing
discussion. All discussions are Tuesday noon on the Memorial
Union Terrace (under the big tree, or in the Lakeview
Lounge in the event of cold/bad weather). Anyone interested in
facilitating a topic should contact Peter
Sobol.
Short List
- Jul 6, 2021 - Myrna Casebolt
- Jul 13, 2021 - Jeff Mattox
- Jul 20, 2021 - Myrna Casebolt
- Jul 27, 2021 - Karen Holden
- Aug 3, 2021 - Damien Wilson
- Aug 10, 2021 - Clint Sprott
- Aug 17, 2021 - Jeff Mattox
- Aug 24, 2021 - Peter Sobol
- Aug 30, 2021 - Blaise Thompson
- Sep 7, 2021 - Peter Sobol
- Sep 14, 2021 - Russ Gardner
- Sep 21, 2021 - Peter Sobol
- Sep 28, 2021 - Jeff Mattox
- Oct 5, 2021 - Clint Sprott
- Oct 12, 2021 - Peter Sobol
- Oct 19, 2021 - Jeff Mattox
- Oct 26, 2021 - Terry Allard
- Nov 2, 2021 - Clint Sprott / Terry Allard
- Nov 9, 2021 - Jeff Mattox
- Nov 16, 2021 - Damien Wilson
- Nov 23, 2021 - Peter Sobol
- Nov 30, 2021 - Jim Cass
- Dec 7, 2021 - Jeff Mattox
- Dec 14, 2021 - Peter Sobol
- Dec 21, 2021 - Damien Wilson
The next meeting will be March 15, 2022.
Topics
July 6, 2021
Topic: The future of the seminars and vaccine hesitancy
Facilitator: Myrna Casebolt
Reading: None
July 13, 2021
Topic: Bitcoin: pros and cons
Facilitator: Jeff Mattox
Reading: None
July 20, 2021
Topic: Moral foundations theory
Facilitator: Myrna Casebolt
Reading: Critical
Thinking Concepts
July 27, 2021
Topic: Crypto currency Q and A conversation
Facilitator: Karen Holden
Reading: 'Once
in a century’ bid to remake the U.S. dollar
August 3, 2021
Topic: Experiments that failed
Facilitator: Damien Wilson
Reading: Failed
experiments and N-rays
August 10, 2021
Topic: More experiments that failed
Facilitator: Clint Sprott
Reading: N-rays
and The Piltdown Man
August 17, 2021
Topic: Pros and cons of working from home
Facilitator: Jeff Mattox
Reading: Working
from Home Doesn't Work
August 24, 2021
Topic: Artificial Intelligence
Facilitator: Peter Sobol
Reading: Why
its Hard to Give Computers Common Sense
August 30, 2021
Topic: Gatekeeping in the absence of hard science
Facilitator: Blaise Thompson
Reading: Navigating
Uncertainty: Gatekeeping in the Absence of Hard Science
September 7, 2021
Topic: The placebo effect
Facilitator: Peter Sobol
Reading: A
Comprehensible Review of the Placebo Effect
September 14, 2021
Topic: Hypnosis
Facilitator: Russ Gardner
Reading: Anecdotal
Impressions of Hypnosis
September 21, 2021
Topic: What is it about trains?
Facilitator: Peter Sobol
Reading: Come with your stories about trains
September 28, 2021
Topic: STEM education in the age of search engines
Facilitator: Jeff Mattox
Reading: File
not Found
October 5, 2021
Topic: Spacetime
Facilitator: Clint Sprott
Reading: What is
Spacetime?
October 12, 2021
Topic: Propaganda
Facilitator: Peter Sobol
Reading: The
Story of Propaganda
October 19, 2021
Topic: Normalization of deviance
Facilitator: Jeff Mattox
Reading: Lessons
from the Space Shuttle Challenger Tragedy
October 26, 2021
Topic: Confirmation bias, power politics and innovation in science
Facilitator: Terry Allard
Reading: Confirmation
Bias, Power Politics and Innovation in Science
November 2, 2021
Topic: Status of autonomous driving
Facilitator: Clint Sprott and Terry Allard
Reading: Tesla FSD Beta
Brings Massive Changes (and some bugs) and Notes on Autonomous
Driving
November 9, 2021
Topic: Artificial intelligence ethics
Facilitator: Jeff Mattox
Reading: The Trolley Problem and Self
Driving - Explained
November 16, 2021
Topic: Averting Fascism in the USA
Facilitator: Damien Wilson
Reading: Twenty
Lessons on Fighting Tyranny from the Twentieth Century
November 23, 2021
Topic: Evading tyranny by being kind to
our language
Facilitator: Peter Sobol
Reading: Communication,
Technology and Thought (1.5 hours)
November 30, 2021
Topic: Music and the (bird)brain
Facilitator: Jim Cass
Reading: Aniruddh Patel
at Nobel Conference 47 (1:23 hours)
December 7, 2021
Topic: Mars, who wants to go?
Facilitator: Jeff Mattox
Reading: Oh
the Places we Won't Go: Humans will Settle Mars and Nowhere Else
and Create
Mars on Earth
December 14, 2021
Topic: Are biohackers rogue scientists?
Facilitator: Peter Sobol
Reading: The
Rogue Experimenters and Genspace
December 21, 2021
Topic: Does
the end justify the means?
Facilitator: Damien Wilson
Reading: Wernher
von Braun and the Nazi Rocket Program and Tom
Lehrer's take on it