Viewing profile — willowfine

Try Ridley’s The Rational Optimist, as I mentioned above.

You might also like Matt Ridley’s The Rational Optimist (2009). I read that first and was struck by his many insights into how human society has prospered by collaboration and exch…

I just read that story based on your recommendation - thank you! I might be just a tiny bit better as a person now than I was before reading it. For fellow fans of le Guin, Sturgeo…

Neal Stephenson’s Anathem, Norman Spinrod’s Child of Fortune.

I’ve thought about that as well. The only addition I can think of to your short list is Ada Palmer, I highly recommend her Terra Ignota series for social commentary and some refres…

I did some work in Ramsey theory 20 years ago (improved the upper boundaries for R(3,12) and R(3,15) by one digit each [1]) and I agree with Erdös: we could do it, if there was a c…

As a mathematician, I would claim that math at its best is exactly about riffing and jamming on shared fundamentals and adding your own insights. But it is often misunderstood what…

Yes, this is possible and legal in Sweden. The other way to obtain cheap alcohol is to take a cruise via the island of Åland, which is not in the EU. If you plan to visit Åland, ma…

Pre-covid, this was a thriving and mostly legal industry. There are quotas on how much may be imported for personal consumption. Meanwhile, the Swedes go to Denmark for cheap alcoh…

Yes, it’s ”The time traveler”, first published in Analog, April 1974. Reprinted in the collection “Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon”, and in the meta-collection “The Callahan Chronicals…