Tag Archives: configuration space

April 16, 2019

3D Ice Cream

Have you ever had (or at least seen) Neapolitan ice cream? It’s the kind with chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, usually as separate layers in one package. As a kid, I didn’t care for the strawberry. I loved the chocolate and was fine with the vanilla (wouldn’t usually choose it, but don’t disdain it).

That’s just my take on it: one flavor liked, one not liked, and one that’s just okay. Someone else might have the same pattern with different flavors. Or love them all equally or want just the strawberry. Some might not like ice cream at all — any combination is possible.

What if we wanted to describe our feeling about Neapolitan as a whole?

18 Comments | tags: 3D space, configuration space, ice cream, multiple dimensions, Neapolitan ice cream, parameter space, phase space, vector space | posted in Basics, Science

July 7, 2011

Vector Thinking #1

By Wyrd Smythe

Last time I talked about opposing pairs: Yin and Yang, light and dark, north and south. I mentioned that some pairs are true opposites of each other (for example, north and south), whereas other pairs are actually a thing and the lack of that thing (for example, light and dark). Such pairs are only opposites in the sense that an empty cup is the opposite of a full cup.

However, in both cases, the opposites stand for opposing ideas; two poles of polarity, and it is polarization that I address today. Specifically, I want to discuss a way of thinking that helps avoid it.

It’s easy to divide the world into sides. Many sayings begin with, “There’s two kinds of…” It seems easier to break things down into opposing points of view than to consider a variety of views. It seems easier to compare features between two things than twenty. Our court system has two sides and so does our political system (despite many attempts to create a viable third party).

6 Comments | tags: configuration space, debate, discussion, parameter space, thinking, vectors, worldview | posted in Basics, Philosophy