@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

KeithDevlin

@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org

Mathematician (Emeritus Stanford), author (inc. many for a general audience), and avid cyclist. For many years "The Math Guy" on NPR. Co-founder of the ed tech company BrainQuake. I write an edited monthly blog for the Math. Assoc. of America called "Devlin's Angle", often (not always) about #mathed. The ranking site AcademicInfluence.com ranks me No.1 of the world's "Ten Most Influential Mathematicians 2000-2020". [https://tinyurl.com/w6p2bx5s] Being active on sites like this probably helped!

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

DataDrivenMD, to random
@DataDrivenMD@fedified.com avatar

Maybe it's because I'm a naturalized U.S. citizen, but when people threaten to withhold their vote in protest I can't help but wonder what the actual fuck they think they're accomplishing by a) demoting themselves into non-citizen status and b) announcing their asinine decision

KeithDevlin,
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

@DataDrivenMD Ditto

lauren, to random
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

I've been involved with the Internet continuously pretty much since its earliest ancestor ARPANET days at UCLA ARPANET site #1.

I can assure you that the ARPANET and the Internet into which it evolved were NOT designed to provide a means for a handful of powerful AI firms to suck the world dry without permission or compensation of information en masse, that has mostly been put online for free as a public service, all to enrich the coffers and stockholders of those firms, while giving only lip service (if that) to ethical considerations, and giving the sites from which they slurp data the finger, while laughing all the way to the bank.

KeithDevlin,
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

@lauren Echo that

Ulrich_the_Elder, to random
@Ulrich_the_Elder@mastodon.social avatar

Yes I realize I am creating a bubble by blocking fascists, nazis, racists, misogynists, white supremacists, maga, trumpists, assholes, and idiots. However in my defense it is a bubble without fascists, nazis, racists, misogynists, white supremacists, maga, trumpists, assholes, and idiots.

KeithDevlin,
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

@Ulrich_the_Elder Simpler to refer to that bubble as the Democratic Party. Not totally accurate, but close 😐

BruceMirken, to random
@BruceMirken@mas.to avatar

I was a regular customer for nearly 3 decades -- starting when they had just a handful of stores in southern California. NEVER AGAIN.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-26/trader-joe-s-follows-spacex-in-arguing-nlrb-is-unconstitutional

KeithDevlin,
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

@BruceMirken Going on customer base, at least in Northern California where I live, this is going to cost them big time. And we have many alternatives to choose from

w7voa, to random
@w7voa@journa.host avatar

I’m flummoxed. Just saw on my inactive Twitter account (which still has 112k followers) that the blue tick is back. The Musk team had taken it away when anyone could begin to buy one. And there’s a notice my account is being reviewed because I purchased a subscription “on another device.” I did not, however, buy a subscription. 🙄

KeithDevlin,
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

@mattblaze @w7voa Not me. I'm devastated not to get my blue check mark back ... 😟

KeithDevlin, to random
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

Niklaus Wirth, the computer pioneer who created the language Pascal (which was my language of choice for many years after graduating from Fortran, Algol, and Basic) has just died. He was a giant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niklaus_Wirth

steve, to random
@steve@fediscience.org avatar

How to tell which is which:

Earth between Moon and Sun: Lunar Eclipse

Moon between Earth and Sun: Solar Eclipse

Sun between Moon and Earth: Apocalypse

KeithDevlin,
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

@steve That one is really, really good ... 👏 👏 👏

KeithDevlin, to random
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

Basically, has assumed the office of President, exerting the power to make any & all key decision as to how the nation operates. We're back where we were before the Revolution, controlled by an small unelected body: 4 rich white guys plus two token minorities, all corrupt

mattblaze, to random
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

I just found out X/Twitter unilaterally "verified" my old and dormant account there ("because you're an influential user"), now making me look like I'm an idiot who's voluntarily paying Musk eight bucks or whatever it is a month.

A free gift of defamation.

KeithDevlin,
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

@mattblaze Nope.

KeithDevlin, to random
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

Today's is basically an unruly gang of ignorant yobos, intent on destroying civil society and installing a fascist dictator. We've seen this movie before; it doesn't end well https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/05/18/clarence-thomas-kennedy-lee-wolf/

KeithDevlin, to random
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

A more accurate headline would be " resulted in exactly what around half the population knew would happen and repeatedly said so at the time." 🙄 https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/dec/30/britons-brexit-bad-uk-poll-eu-finances-nhs

KeithDevlin, to random
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

Sloane's list of Integer Sequences turned 50 this year. And modern Set Theory (including the Continuum Hypothesis) turned 150 a few days ago. The December "Devlin's Angle" post for the Math Assoc. of America pays due homage to both https://mathvalues.squarespace.com/masterblog/category/Devlin%27s+Angle

KeithDevlin, to random
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

One of my goals in using sites like this is to "spread the word" as widely as possible of the role, relevance, and utility of mathematics in modern (and older) society, and convey some of its beauty. I also believe it's important to society for mathematicians to be part of the national and global conversation. (Not all mathematicians agree with this.) I want to interact with others, not just about math. Malicious bots and trolls spoil that for everyone else. I report and block them immediately.

KeithDevlin, to random
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

With today's , there's no role left for

KeithDevlin, to random
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

The birdsite seems to be down; bigly down.

KeithDevlin, to math
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

In response to repeated requests, (which I co-founded) now provides schools with access to teacher-specified collections of our math-learning puzzles. The Web-version of the full, adaptive game is still available, as the "Family" option. https://brainquake.com

KeithDevlin, (edited ) to llm
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

How could LLMs like ChatGPT be useful to mathematicians engaged in research? New "Devlin's Angle" post for the . https://mathvalues.squarespace.com/masterblog/category/Devlin%27s+Angle

KeithDevlin, to random
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

Algebra ain't what you think it is. New post in my Mathematics Outreach Project blog, where I look at those recurring Internet debates where people get different answers to a simple arithmetic problem, such as "8 ÷ 2(2 + 2)". https://sumop.org/blog/

xpof, to random German

KeithDevlin,
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

@xpof I'd feel a lot happier if we saw that kind of response here in the US. We are currently playing with fire. "American exceptionalism" is not a character description or a consequence of the Constitution; it's a state of affairs that came about as a result of a sequence of historical happenstances

KeithDevlin, to random
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar
KeithDevlin, to ai
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

Large Language Models and mathematics: is there a there there? New blogpost for the Mathematical Outreach Project , , https://sumop.org/2024/04/09/how-will-the-new-ai-impact-mathematics/

DrRickWoten, to random
@DrRickWoten@historians.social avatar

Breaking Away & American Flyers introduced cycling to the American mainstream in the 1980s every bit as much as the successes of LeMond, Hampsten, Phinney, et al.

What U.S. cyclist hasn't envisioned themself drafting a Cinzano semi? 😁

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/breaking-away-was-this-actors-breakout-role-fans-say-it-changed-their-lives-too

KeithDevlin,
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

@DrRickWoten Great movies, each in their own way, AF in particular for the aerial shots on the Colorado National Monument

KeithDevlin, to random
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

As a rule of thumb, you can conclude that when Ted Cruz and FoxNews take up a cause, the issue is NOT how and when algebra should be taught in school. 🙄 It's a weapon in the MAGA Republicans' assault on Women and Woke. (For the record, I support both W's. 🙂)

https://www.youcubed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Boaler-Statement-4.8.24.pdf

KeithDevlin, to random
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

Much of the Internet "debate" about algebra seems to stem from lack of awareness of what the subject is (versus the arithmetic method it was long ago) https://tinyurl.com/2p9myzt5

KeithDevlin,
@KeithDevlin@fediscience.org avatar

@SmartmanApps Actually, my main point was that the arrival of modern mathematics at the start of the 20th Century changed the entire game, and eliminated the need for all those old calculating rules, with arithmetic becoming essentially a subdomain of algebra, based on axiomatically-defined modern numbers.

"Algebra Rules rules", if you like 🙂

[I was on the MSEB in 2001 when they published "Adding It Up" to accelerate the change.]

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • anitta
  • ethstaker
  • DreamBathrooms
  • InstantRegret
  • magazineikmin
  • tacticalgear
  • osvaldo12
  • Youngstown
  • thenastyranch
  • slotface
  • rosin
  • kavyap
  • ngwrru68w68
  • cisconetworking
  • JUstTest
  • Durango
  • khanakhh
  • normalnudes
  • provamag3
  • everett
  • mdbf
  • cubers
  • tester
  • modclub
  • megavids
  • GTA5RPClips
  • Leos
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •