ESP Biography

"If you’re interested in being on the right side of disputes, you will refute your opponents' arguments. But if you're interested in producing truth, you will fix your opponents' arguments for them. To win, you must fight not only the creature you encounter; you must fight the most horrible thing that can be constructed from its corpse." — Black Belt Bayesian If you learn something from every argument you have, then arguments will make you stronger. Therefore the winner of an argument is not the person who doesn't have to change their mind, but the person who learns the most. In this class, you will have real arguments with people you disagree with. You'll practice switching sides in the argument to see how well you understand the other point of view. And you'll practice fixing your opponents' arguments for them.

How is a coffe cup like a donut? They both have a hole. Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics that gives us tools to state this precisely. For example, you can draw a loop around the hole of a donut or around the handle of a coffee cup. Coffee cups and donuts are topologically equivalent to each other, but not to an orange. In this course you will learn some of what mathematicians call algebra (which looks very different from high school algebra), and we will use it to do some topology. The only prerequisite is an interest in fun mathematics.