2013-10-26

The Future History of this Channel



I'm blanking on ideas so I'm just going to blather.

Following is a general map of the subjects I learned that I want to turn into videos to produce for YouTube. The subjects were originally taught to me in the course of about 28 one and a half hour sessions, totalling about 42 hours (I swear that's just a coincidence).


Getting 42 hours' worth of material into several videos on the web will be a challenge, so I'm going to present them in the fashion of knowlettes. Each knowlette won't be the presentation of an entire suite of ideas, but solitary bubbles of knowledge, a single idea that is important to absorb to add to the audience's tool-set. I could add other knowlettes that don't present single ideas in themselves, but tie together a bunch of separate knowlettes.

And BAM this is the perfect thing to talk about for the next video. I can describe this knowlette-style production method and tie it into the whole metamyth structure, where the knowlettes are each like small tools that the "hero" needs to pick up to complete his quest. My next video will be a sort of; "Your mission, should you choose to accept it" style.

I could turn the above map into a funky adventurer's map, like you'd see on pirate treasure-hunting game. That would break it down into smaller subjects, and then I could break it down one more level into the individual knowlettes. I'll make those up as I go along however, to make it easier for me to figure out.

As much as I like this, I still need to know the NEXT STEP. This is all vague right now.

Okay fine. So, I think the next step should be the motivation for the journey. Why learn quantum mechanics? What has it got to do with my life?

I think I'll start with a strictly philosophical video discussing my own point of view: why it's fun to be correct. How to choose what to believe in? I'll have to apologize to the religious folks out there but it'll make it easier for me to speak engagingly on camera. I could mention my talks with Wenhao, and how I explicitly advised him that I wanted to be taught Quantum Mechanics without diluting it with my own ideas of gravity.

This is a good segue into talking about personal bias. Personal bias dilutes truth, usually to such a degree that one can no longer separate the truth from the bias.

I'm running out of time but I LOVE this, because it leads me directly into talking about Normal Science (as defined by Thomas Kuhn) and scientific regimes, and from there I can dive into revolutions. First I'll discuss the revolution of Quantum Mechanics, which overthrew the Classical regime, and then I can discuss how modern science is attempting to push through with Normal Science to meld gravity and quantum mechanics (i.e. by inventing string theory, quantum gravity, gravitons, etc.)

Finally, this first (what is shaping up to be a) chapter can end with my ideas on a new idea for how gravity works, based on an idea that must overthrow much of the current cosmological regime to be accepted, though it leaves much of quantum mechanics untouched.

Okay, I think I can start construction of the knowlettes (and YouTube videos!) here. It will be like writing a regular presentation, for this one "chapter".

Heck with it, I don't need the map yet for this chapter, and I want to save it for later anyway, to take play in the metamyth's "Meeting with the Goddess".

Til next time .....

2013-10-21

Bubbling about the direction of the YouTube Channel

Well, I'm sleepy but I want to get a jump on the second video. As of this very post, this blog is now fulfilling the niche I'd intended it for. I want to stream-of-consciousness but for a large number of thoughts, far more than could ever reasonably be tweeted, and which would be inappropriate on the YouTube channel (which is more of a public contact forum).

So, on with it.

I'm quite proud of myself for finishing the Introductory video!  It is found at -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLMixxhy8yY

It turned out relatively well; a bit campy but I think about as good as was possible on my budget and it is quite attractive.

I feel like, for the first time in my life, I want to take a proactive approach to this. Since it's a project I'm doing entirely of my own volition, I feel motivated to try and stack up resources and build videos as quickly as possible, and let them stream out to the YouTube channel at a slower rate. This is as opposed to my usual approach of focusing on one single video each biweekly period, usually ending up slapping things together at the last minute.

Getting certain resources together ahead of time (e.g. the crazy-Brit-chick intros) is not important and can be done per period, as needed. However, script writing and reciting can be done as quickly as I can produce them, because I can simply keep them on reserve as a buffer against harder videos that might take me long to produce.

This approach will mean I'm going to have to start thinking early about the order and content of the videos I want to produce. For the first several videos, I want to build an interface between the Khan Academy and my own videos. Hopefully, the transition from the Khan Academy and my own videos should be as smooth as possible. Of course this means I'll actually have to study at the Khan Academy.

In a very weird way, I'm looking forward to that.. rapacious. I feel Alpha in my head licking his lips whispering for more, like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj-qBUWOYfE  (Incidentally, for those who don't know, Alpha is the title I've given to that facet of my personality who is driven towards producing this theory of gravity. The one with the motivation.)

Here's a list of everything I've been taught in no particular order, or at least as good a list as I can reconstruct from my hideous, hideous notes. (I should have recorded my sessions with Wenhao, damn it.)
  • Thomas Kuhn  (Anomalies, Normal Science, Paradigms, Revolutions)
  • Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle (surface level)
  • DeBroglie Wavelength (condition under which quantum behaviour becomes pronounced)
  • Rough radius of a Hydrogen atom (using HUP, kinetic and potential energies)
  • Fraunhofer, single slit (small angle approximation, far field approximation)
  • Units (Force, Energy, Pressure)
  • Boltzmann's Equation (Evaporating Water) - Check out Annaracus Plot for kicks
  • Boltzmann's Constant
  • Equipartition Theorem (1/2*KT of energy per degree of freedom)
  • Why is the sky blue? Electrical Oscillators
  • e^(i*pi) + 1 = 0  ; The most gorgeous equation in the universe
  • Blackbody Radiation
    • Number of Modes (Classical, Raleigh-Jean's)
    • Equipartition
    • Ultraviolet Catastrophe
  • Photoelectric Effect
  • Bohr's Atom
  • Einstein's 1905 paper
  • Linear Algebra (large subject - Vector spaces, polynomial spaces, other spaces)
  • Fourier Series -- WARNING: Notes got mixed, this stuff appears on the back of the "Applications" notes, listed below
  • Partial Differential Equations (large subject)
    • Eigenvalues, Eigenvectors
    • Boundary Conditions, Initial Conditions, Steady States
    • Heat Evolution Equation
  • Quantum Mechanics!! Schroedinger's Wave Equation
    • Separable PDE;
    • Time Dependent Schroedinger Equ'n
    • Time Independent Schroedinger Equ'n
  • All of Quantum Mechanics: the four steps
  • Applications:
    • Particle in a box
    •  Harmonic
    • Zero Potential
    • Bound State
    • Scattering State
  • Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, in depth
  • Hilbert Spaces (closed under inf, at infinity-> 0, probability -> 1, E is conserved)
  • More complicated V's (potentials) using regular old calculus
  • Spin
    • Stern-Gerlach Experiment
... WOW, we learned a lot and yet, I remember all this! At least, I remember covering it. My ability to replicate it on paper is an entirely different matter. Still ... incredible boost of confidence! I just may be able to pull this shit off!

Alright, it's getting late so I'll have to get back to this. I should go over to Khan Academy anyway and start going back over my bases. I can construct a pathway from their material to my own, when I do it.

For my next maybe two videos, I want to cover fluffy (i.e. mathless) but foundational stuff that are not only important for learning Quantum Mechanics, but will play a huge role in my development and presentation on my theories of gravity.

Those videos will cover:
  1. Thomas Kuhn - Normal Science, Paradigms, Anomalies, and Revolutions in science
    • This is especially important for Quantum Physics, which utterly overturned the classical picture (almost; excluding General Relativity)
    • I want to make it very clear why normal science and these paradigms are so important and why science must suppress new theories in most cases (especially in the absence of anomalies)
  2. Feynmann's Lecture on the double-slit experiment - specifically HIS lecture and not other peoples'. Why I dislike the cat-in-a-box example.
  3. Newton's First Law and its survival to modern times
  4. Units: Force, Energy, and Pressure - What they are, how they are related, and how to use units as a weapon to solve your math problems
That should cover me for the first little while! They're really basic topics I could lecture on with very little research, and it'll give me time to study and catch up on Khan's website and start preparing the heavy-duty lectures with genuine math in them.
Ready, set, go!

2013-10-07

(untitled post)

I've figured out the problem with blogging versus twitting. Blog entries require TITLES. It's not stream of consciousness if you have to give it a title.

ANYway, whatever.  If anyone ever reads this, I will NOT be blogging this frequently in the future. More likely once a week.

So, I'm trying to decide what content I should start putting on the channel. I'd like to put something up soon, to get started. I'm dragging my heels waiting for Fiverr.com stuff, so that I may properly brand my videos. I'm torn between pushing ahead per "PRODUCE OR PERISH" and the need to brand the videos properly. I think I'll probably wait. "Produce or Perish" is blind and doesn't care what you do as long as you do, but Yang is cleverer and knows that it may pay to wait sometimes. The trick is to know when your 'waiting' is merely an excuse for Yin to drag you down.

So that's it then, I'll wait for proper branding. Currently I'm waiting for an "outro" song from one guy who seems pretty talented. It occurs to me that I can use the interim to actually build the content for the first video.

The next question is: what shall that content be?

Oooh, dinner..

2013-10-06

Now what?

SO .. this blog is supposed to be an extension of my twit, but I seem to be freezing up. I've gotten comfortable with the twit slowly but surely. It became a stream of consciousness; my brain just producing output out "loud" as opposed to being locked in my head. I imagine it will happen here too; I just need practice.

What better place to get started practicing than to talk about my immediate plans for the future. Fortunately, unlike that damned twit, I have no character limit here and so I can talk as much as I need. I've decided to put this whole gravity theory-generation thing into high gear; grab the proverbial football and charge towards the end zone.

First I'll draw together the foundational material I'm using to guide and motivate my own self-development:
  • Produce or Perish: I got the idea from a brilliant article on Cracked.com by a fellow named David Wong. The address is - http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-you-better-person/
  • The Art of War by SunTzu: A set of ancient Chinese military documents. Although the focus is war, the concepts can be applied to conflict in general.
  • A chat I had with a 17 year old Brazilian kid while wandering depression chatrooms one night a few years ago, that flipped my point of view 180 degrees.
I'll talk about these foundations in more detail later, whenever the mood strikes me, unless I decide not to or if I forget. I don't like to talk about the last one too much, but I'm beginning to think I have no choice but to make my private life a bit more public if I'm going to release this theory of gravity of mine.
Upcoming stages include the following:
  • Learning the basics: I've using the YouTube channel to go back over everything Wenhao (my Quantum Mechanics tutor) has taught me
  • Learning the basics Part II: I want to really drill into my head the basic stuff, so I'll be going over materials the Wenhao maybe didn't cover because they're not relevant to QM, but which are important for my theory. (For example, I want to study General Relativity for the math, even though I believe the model is wrong.)
  • Physical Experiments: I want to produce real experiments showing the stuff I'm learning, where possible.
  • Production of a brand; I've decided to call it "Everything you know about gravity is wrong". A bit obvious, sure, but I hired this UK girl on fiverr.com to do an attention-grabbing intro and she really sells it.
All of this is primarily within the YouTube channel. I'll continue to use my twit for self-improvement and this blog as the "subsoil" underneath the YouTube channel (though it will be a blog in its own right as a "bigger" version of my twit).

Some things I want to mention in particular that I'd like to cover on the YouTube channel but don't fit into the above categories:
  • A video discussing Thomas S. Kuhn's article on scientific revolutions. This will be important to motivate my complete overhaul of physics. I may have to present it first, so that I can persuade the scientifically savvy members of the audience to stay.
  • A video on the nature of time based on that book I read, introducing theories and concepts of time.
  • Maybe some coverage of Feynmann's lectures, or maybe not. That would be interesting but it doesn't directly play into the goal of the channel.
Signing out! I need to go to bed at some reasonable time..

Reboot

I'm not going to go into a big huzzah to present this reboot of a reboot of this blog.

I've repurposed this blog to combine with my other two public outlets, as follows -

  • Twitter - Stream of consciousness, primarily for the purpose of self-improvement
  • YouTube - Built expressly for the purpose of eventually revealing my new theory of gravity, and in the meantime, presenting educational videos of background knowledge required to understand the theory
  • This blog - Stream of consciousness, like the twitter feed, but primarily for the purpose of constructing the YouTube channel and to help study the background knowledge required for the theory of gravity

That's all I'm going to say for this first post.



I hope to post once a week on this blog, basically to keep tabs on the YouTube channel.