I love it when someone tells me about a paradigm that I haven’t previously heard of. New paradigms are always good for challenging your thinking. Paradoxes are particularly interesting, given that they put two things together that seem mutually incompatible, like Determinism and Free Will that I wrote about earlier this year. So today’s newContinue reading “The Stockdale Paradox”
Author Archives: janecshearer
When facts get in the way
I have been writing material for the annual report of one of New Zealand’s science institutions. There have been some particularly interesting nuggets of information; the one that has stood out for me is that provision of facts can sometimes polarise opinions further, rather than leading to agreement. For some of you this may seemContinue reading “When facts get in the way”
Snakes, ladders and daffodils
Today reminded me of a post I wrote last year entitled “Are we nearly there yet?“.; it turns out I wrote it nearly exactly a year ago. How did that year, and the last 1.5 years, go by so slowly and quickly all at the same time? When I wrote my post a year agoContinue reading “Snakes, ladders and daffodils”
Levels of vaccination
Our government’s reluctance to set a vaccine target doesn’t sit well with me. The current mantra is to set targets for everything, so that you can see if you have achieved them or not and to encourage people to reach them. Whether one should have a target for everything is questionable, but whether one shouldContinue reading “Levels of vaccination”
When to speak…
My dilemma of today doesn’t have much to do with the announcement we were all waiting for at 3pm – cake or death; I mean, do we get minor degrees of increased freedom vs more lockdown. It already seems almost passé that those of us south of Auckland now count down the days till nextContinue reading “When to speak…”
Reading tea leaves
Lockdown ennui is starting to set in and I thought about reading tea leaves to get a steer on what Cabinet might say tomorrow. Of course, I could just wait and find out when they say it. However, it is in the nature of human beings, and particularly this human being, to try and guessContinue reading “Reading tea leaves”
How is a virus like a firework?
There are some key descriptors that tell you the potential of a virus, like COVID-19, to spread. I thought I would have a go at elucidating these numbers using the analogy of fireworks. The R number, or reproduction number, tells you how many people each person is spreading COVID-19 to on average. Or, if thereContinue reading “How is a virus like a firework?”
Accursed Tourists
This morning, Chris and I provided feedback to the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) on their Freedom Camping Bylaw. This is the second round of feedback requested. It is a good thing that QLDC asks for feedback, but it is quite a time consuming process to respond to the relatively frequent requests. We responded inContinue reading “Accursed Tourists”
NZ on the leaderboards
I feel it will be hard to top yesterday’s picture (and no, I don’t plan to be taking all my clothes off on social media at any time in the near or far future for spurious fame or other notoriety), so I am back to infoblogging today. A friend asked whether it was true thatContinue reading “NZ on the leaderboards”
Contaminated
From the nightmare category… I await the results of yesterday’s test with intense interest. My medi-bracelet pinged an alarm as I woke up yesterday morning. My temperature and respiration were above normal and my sweat contained chemical indicators of infection. I got up and dressed quickly. It would only be drones coming in, but IContinue reading “Contaminated”