Month: November 2004

Just a thought.

One of the things that annoyed me about the 2000 George Bush (remember him? He was a uniter who didn’t believe in nation-building. He turned out to be a fictional character concocted by Karl Rove) was the way he kept using the term “Fuzzy Math” as if it meant inaccurate math.

There really is such a thing as “fuzzy” math and logic, though, and it’s anything but inaccurate.

Categorizing things using fuzzy set membership is actually much more accurate than crisp set membership, and gives you a better, less distorted picture of reality.

For example, this map reduces the votes in the 2004 election to membership in crisp sets (Republican-won or Democratic-won).

This map uses gradations of color based on fuzzy membership in those sets according to the number of votes cast for each party.

Which one do you think gives a better picture of American reality?

What would our politics be like if we were allowed to think more fuzzily on the political plane?

Is it just me or do the headlines about world reaction to the reelection of George Bush (promising support and unity) tend to sound like the headlines about world reaction to America after September 2001?

One of many examples: “Blair Calls For World To Unite In Wake of Bush Victory”

We can count on our international friends to come together in times of great tragedy, I guess.

Or something.

Dan Clowes, the comic creator behind a number of creepy titles including Ghost World and Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, did a switch ad for Apple. Somehow, it never made it to TV.

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” ~ Maya Angelou

From Wikiquote.