From math

So Much Candy Data, Seriously

As promised, here is the candy hierarchy data for 2017. (Released Oct 25th @1:45pm PST. Will provide updated xlsx file on Oct 31st as well) . xlsx | csv | txt (d&t) | surveyQ pdf | n=2460 If you tag your work with #candyhierarchy2017 or #statscandy, I’ll do my best to aggregate efforts here (and also possibly at BoingBoing for a round up piece). Note that traditionally, we’ve plotted a figure based on a “Net Feelies” metric (=#JOY-#DESPAIR). We also have additional meta data affiliated with demographics, and some questions that link to other potential datasets (see actual survey for…

WHY SOME PEOPLE MAKE THE WRONG DECISION AND OTHERS DON’T: AN ASSESSMENT OF ARITHMETIC AND GEOMETRIC PROJECTIONS OF THE FRIDAY-SUNDAY DIVIDE BEYOND THE MEHSPAIR CHASM WITH P-VALUES, χ2, AND LICORICE

ABSTRACT So it’s come to this. Another year has passed and another Candy Hierarchy survey has been completed. Check that. “Candy Hierarchy” is what yahoos call it, but to us, it’s a deep dive into the Friday/Sunday question that has blessed our species since caveman times. Caveman times. We’ve taken a look at the data, and frankly, we don’t like what we see. Maybe it’s not all bad. Maybe. Let’s start with the good. Remember last year when a couple of plucky scientists who had overcome obscure forms of childhood adversity before finding their footing in a ne’er do well…

HOW TO MANAGE A HOTEL WITH AN INFINITE NUMBER OF ROOMS

It will help to know a little math. We don’t mean fancy math like differential calculus, the Mandelbrot set and Fermat’s Last Theorem. We mean the ability to juggle lists with an infinite number of items in your head without getting dizzy. An appreciation for very large numbers will also be beneficial. Most people have a concept of infinity that is far too small. You must disabuse them of their petty notions and expand their idea of infinity at every opportunity. You can prime your guests in this direction by keeping a few large numbers at your disposal. For example,…

THE ABRAMS’ STORMTROOPER AXIOM

It (hypothetically*) goes like this: * Like all good science, this needs some testing… – – – When news hit that Disney bought the rights to Star Wars, and that J.J. Abrams would be manning the first movie of a new trilogy, my inner geek went into giddy overdrive. This was because it gave me a chance to revisited my bucket list, which had previously scratched off “be an extra in a Star Wars movie” as something that was unattainable having presumed the prequels were my last chance. But now, there is (literally), A NEW HOPE. Even better, is the…

UP OR DOWN? AN EFFICIENCY-BASED ARGUMENT FOR OPTIMAL TOILET SEAT PLACEMENT

– – – UP OR DOWN? As long as males and females have been living with indoor plumbing they have argued over the placement of the toilet seat. Most often, males leave the toilet seat up and females leave the toilet seat down. Males may not necessarily have a problem with the toilet seat down, but then females will suffer from wet bottom syndrome from time to time. If males leave the seat up, females may “fall” into the toilet particularly at night. A solution to this problem is to always leave the toilet seat in a particular position: the…

WRITE PRIME

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A SOCIAL IMPOSSIBILITY THEOREM

For centuries, generations of philosophers and social scientists have studied the sources of income inequality in human society. Finally, a major breakthrough in the form of a mathematical proof of a fundamental truth, long suspected by millions of laboring individuals, and now shown rigorously. Theorem: It is impossible for engineers, scientists and the professoriate to earn as much money as business executives. Proof: Postulate 1: Knowledge is Power. Postulate 2: Time is Money. As every engineer knows, Since philosophers and economists have amply demonstrated that Knowledge = Power, and Time = Money, we have via substitution, Solving for Money, one…

MY SUBMISSION TO WEIRD TALES MAGAZINE

Weird Tales magazine is a horror, science fiction, and fantasy periodical established in 1923 that became famous for publishing such literary geniuses as H.P. Lovecraft of Cthulhu Mythos fame and Robert E. Howard of Conan the Barbarian fame. The glory days of Weird Tales occurred back in the 20s and 30s and after that time the magazine has been sold and purchased by different companies, but none of the various reincarnations of Weird Tales ever truly lived up to the magazine’s initial years. But even in the wonderful early days, when they were printing stories regularly by Lovecraft and Howard,…

WOMEN HAVE MORE SEX THAN MEN

ABSTRACT: Surveys usually confirm the popular notion that men have more sex than women. This paper proves the opposite, at least if the measure is taken to be the average number of unique partners of the opposite sex over a lifetime. The reason for this is basically that more men are born than women, and both sexes share the same sexual encounters. The paper also includes some speculation about why it should be that so many people believe something that can’t be true. KEYWORDS: Median, Mean, Census – – – 1. BACKGROUND. One June 28, 2007, Fryar, et. al. released…