Discussion:
mental imaging
(too old to reply)
John Larkin
2024-01-03 00:37:24 UTC
Permalink
This has been in the science news lately.

https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-words

Something like one to three per cent of the population can't visualize
objects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.

And maybe 10% of the population is never really in the dark. They (we)
always see flashing geometric patterns, which are distinct from
hallucinations.
a a
2024-01-03 00:55:21 UTC
Permalink
Post by John Larkin
This has been in the science news lately.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-words
Something like one to three per cent of the population can't visualize
objects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.
And maybe 10% of the population is never really in the dark. They (we)
always see flashing geometric patterns, which are distinct from
hallucinations.
Life is for real
Delusional ideas stay for virtual life.

Population is not something for real.

Just ask your questions to your dad, to some other real persons.
a a
2024-01-03 01:16:58 UTC
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Darius the Dumb has posted yet one more #veryStupidByLowIQaa article.
a a
2024-01-03 02:38:19 UTC
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The absolute arsehole "Darius the Dumb" persisting in being an Off-topic troll...
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Dan Purgert
2024-01-03 01:07:51 UTC
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Post by John Larkin
This has been in the science news lately.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-words
Something like one to three per cent of the population can't visualize
objects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.
I can't (or well not well). Like "close your eyes and imagine an apple"
might (*MIGHT*) get me "circle, red, stick out the top" (otherwise, just
the black of the inside of my eyelids.

On the other hand, ask me to draw a shape that'll fold into a cube, and
I'll whip that up right quick (plus tabs for glue, etc). Likewise, stuff
like "will this bookshelf fit on that wall" type things can usually be
generalized to a "yeah, probably" or "notta chance" by eye.
--
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|_|_|O| Github: https://github.com/dpurgert
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John Larkin
2024-01-03 03:14:55 UTC
Permalink
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by John Larkin
This has been in the science news lately.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-words
Something like one to three per cent of the population can't visualize
objects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.
I can't (or well not well). Like "close your eyes and imagine an apple"
might (*MIGHT*) get me "circle, red, stick out the top" (otherwise, just
the black of the inside of my eyelids.
On the other hand, ask me to draw a shape that'll fold into a cube, and
I'll whip that up right quick (plus tabs for glue, etc). Likewise, stuff
like "will this bookshelf fit on that wall" type things can usually be
generalized to a "yeah, probably" or "notta chance" by eye.
That's interesting. You can invent things with a pencil, on paper, but
you can't visualize them?

I can visualize simple circuits, but serious stuff must be drawn. With
a pencil on paper, not CAD. Visualization is often a sort of
out-of-focus image, a hint of what's possible.

I'm very good at sizes and volumes, as whether the leftover soup in
the pot will fit into this square plastic storage thing. Good to about
5% there. I also guess circuit values pretty close. I notice that some
engineers are terrible at estimating magnitudes, like whether PCB
capacitance will affect this circuit (when it won't by a million-to-1)


People are so different.
a a
2024-01-03 06:29:45 UTC
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The arsehole John Larkin <***@997PotHill.com> persisting in being an Off-topic troll...
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Dan Purgert
2024-01-03 11:07:44 UTC
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Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by John Larkin
This has been in the science news lately.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-words
Something like one to three per cent of the population can't visualize
objects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.
I can't (or well not well). Like "close your eyes and imagine an apple"
might (*MIGHT*) get me "circle, red, stick out the top" (otherwise, just
the black of the inside of my eyelids.
On the other hand, ask me to draw a shape that'll fold into a cube, and
I'll whip that up right quick (plus tabs for glue, etc). Likewise, stuff
like "will this bookshelf fit on that wall" type things can usually be
generalized to a "yeah, probably" or "notta chance" by eye.
That's interesting. You can invent things with a pencil, on paper, but
you can't visualize them?
I can visualize simple circuits, but serious stuff must be drawn. With
a pencil on paper, not CAD. Visualization is often a sort of
out-of-focus image, a hint of what's possible.
If by "visualize", you mean "see a picture of it in my head" - no, not
really.

Like I *know* a cube can be made of 6 1" squares laid out in a "t"
pattern; but even describing it here, it's not like I see a picture of
that layout in my head (fuzzy or not). Actually, in the case of this
"foldable template", it's almost more a series of instructions
describing the lines. Not quite as blatant as what I've written below,
but it's the best approximation I can put to paper:

LINE 1.1, 2.1, BOLD
LINE 1.1, 1.2, BOLD
LINE 2.1, 2.2, BOLD
LINE 1.2, 2.2, DASH
[...]

(Instructions -> "Cut on BOLD lines, fold on DASH...")
Post by John Larkin
I'm very good at sizes and volumes, as whether the leftover soup in
the pot will fit into this square plastic storage thing. Good to about
5% there. I also guess circuit values pretty close. I notice that some
engineers are terrible at estimating magnitudes, like whether PCB
capacitance will affect this circuit (when it won't by a million-to-1)
I've not yet had to worry about parasitic loads on a PCB .. but then
again, I'm way down at DC out on the boards (eh, okay, 1 or 2 MHz on an
SPI bus sometimes, but the RF engineers I know [jokingly] told me that's
basically just DC anyway ;) )
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a a
2024-01-03 14:27:27 UTC
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The arsehole Dan Purgert <***@djph.net> persisting in being an Off-topic troll...
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a a
2024-01-03 06:29:51 UTC
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a a
2024-01-03 06:29:39 UTC
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Martin Brown
2024-01-03 15:07:57 UTC
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Post by John Larkin
This has been in the science news lately.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-words
Something like one to three per cent of the population can't visualize
objects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.
It probably isn't a massive handicap to them unless they want to become
a sculptor or an artist. They cannot visualise things or recall images.

I rely on my visual memory to figure some problems out and then write
them down. I have known people who could solve serious mathematical
problems without writing anything down at all - that is impressive.

Playing blindfold chess is another visual memory trick worthy of note.

Visual memory can also defeat some of the oft used simple tests for
Alzheimers since one of them is apple, ball and chair - visualising that
scene bypasses the memory paths that they are trying to test.
Post by John Larkin
And maybe 10% of the population is never really in the dark. They (we)
always see flashing geometric patterns, which are distinct from
hallucinations.
Depending how dark your environment you see thermal shot noise on the
retina after a few hours in true total darkness.
As in photographic manufacturing plant darkroom conditions or deep cave.
It is darker in there than the darkest outdoors.

BTW Happy New Year
--
Martin Brown
John Larkin
2024-01-03 15:54:39 UTC
Permalink
On Wed, 3 Jan 2024 15:07:57 +0000, Martin Brown
Post by Martin Brown
Post by John Larkin
This has been in the science news lately.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-words
Something like one to three per cent of the population can't visualize
objects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.
It probably isn't a massive handicap to them unless they want to become
a sculptor or an artist. They cannot visualise things or recall images.
I rely on my visual memory to figure some problems out and then write
them down. I have known people who could solve serious mathematical
problems without writing anything down at all - that is impressive.
Playing blindfold chess is another visual memory trick worthy of note.
Visual memory can also defeat some of the oft used simple tests for
Alzheimers since one of them is apple, ball and chair - visualising that
scene bypasses the memory paths that they are trying to test.
Post by John Larkin
And maybe 10% of the population is never really in the dark. They (we)
always see flashing geometric patterns, which are distinct from
hallucinations.
Depending how dark your environment you see thermal shot noise on the
retina after a few hours in true total darkness.
As in photographic manufacturing plant darkroom conditions or deep cave.
It is darker in there than the darkest outdoors.
I see a sort of fireworks display in the dark, with occasional
geometric patterns. I once had a concussion and they went away for a
few days. You normal people live in DARKNESS!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphene
Post by Martin Brown
BTW Happy New Year
Ditto. It may not seem like it, but the world is actually getting
better.
a a
2024-01-03 20:35:54 UTC
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The idiot John Larkin <***@997PotHill.com> persisting in being an Off-topic troll...
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bitrex
2024-01-04 04:15:13 UTC
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Post by John Larkin
On Wed, 3 Jan 2024 15:07:57 +0000, Martin Brown
Post by Martin Brown
Post by John Larkin
This has been in the science news lately.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-words
Something like one to three per cent of the population can't visualize
objects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.
It probably isn't a massive handicap to them unless they want to become
a sculptor or an artist. They cannot visualise things or recall images.
I rely on my visual memory to figure some problems out and then write
them down. I have known people who could solve serious mathematical
problems without writing anything down at all - that is impressive.
Playing blindfold chess is another visual memory trick worthy of note.
Visual memory can also defeat some of the oft used simple tests for
Alzheimers since one of them is apple, ball and chair - visualising that
scene bypasses the memory paths that they are trying to test.
Post by John Larkin
And maybe 10% of the population is never really in the dark. They (we)
always see flashing geometric patterns, which are distinct from
hallucinations.
Depending how dark your environment you see thermal shot noise on the
retina after a few hours in true total darkness.
As in photographic manufacturing plant darkroom conditions or deep cave.
It is darker in there than the darkest outdoors.
I see a sort of fireworks display in the dark, with occasional
geometric patterns. I once had a concussion and they went away for a
few days. You normal people live in DARKNESS!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphene
About 150 mg of dextromethorphan hydrobromide and in a few hours in a
dark room you'll be seeing arcade game racecars zipping across the walls
like Frogger, not a problem at all.

Not recommended. Good news is I never got into mescaline or any of that
in my younger days.
Post by John Larkin
Post by Martin Brown
BTW Happy New Year
Ditto. It may not seem like it, but the world is actually getting
better.
John Larkin
2024-01-04 05:59:00 UTC
Permalink
Post by bitrex
Post by John Larkin
On Wed, 3 Jan 2024 15:07:57 +0000, Martin Brown
Post by Martin Brown
Post by John Larkin
This has been in the science news lately.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-words
Something like one to three per cent of the population can't visualize
objects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.
It probably isn't a massive handicap to them unless they want to become
a sculptor or an artist. They cannot visualise things or recall images.
I rely on my visual memory to figure some problems out and then write
them down. I have known people who could solve serious mathematical
problems without writing anything down at all - that is impressive.
Playing blindfold chess is another visual memory trick worthy of note.
Visual memory can also defeat some of the oft used simple tests for
Alzheimers since one of them is apple, ball and chair - visualising that
scene bypasses the memory paths that they are trying to test.
Post by John Larkin
And maybe 10% of the population is never really in the dark. They (we)
always see flashing geometric patterns, which are distinct from
hallucinations.
Depending how dark your environment you see thermal shot noise on the
retina after a few hours in true total darkness.
As in photographic manufacturing plant darkroom conditions or deep cave.
It is darker in there than the darkest outdoors.
I see a sort of fireworks display in the dark, with occasional
geometric patterns. I once had a concussion and they went away for a
few days. You normal people live in DARKNESS!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphene
About 150 mg of dextromethorphan hydrobromide and in a few hours in a
dark room you'll be seeing arcade game racecars zipping across the walls
like Frogger, not a problem at all.
Not recommended. Good news is I never got into mescaline or any of that
in my younger days.
I'm basically crazy enough that chemicals don't make much difference.
A lady once gave me some LSD at Mardi Gras and I thought it made
things duller than normal.

I also get migraine auras, which are interesting, but I don't get the
usual follow-on headache. My favorites are hallucinations, which are
beautiful and colorful and in perfect focus, a nice experience for
someone who has always had mediocre eyesight.

After two vitectomies, my giant structural floaters are gone and I
have tiny ones now, some of which look like energetically swimming
tadpoles. I think they must be some sort of cells.

Optics is cool.
a a
2024-01-04 06:37:32 UTC
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a a
2024-01-04 06:37:25 UTC
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a a
2024-01-03 16:09:49 UTC
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Post by Martin Brown
Post by John Larkin
This has been in the science news lately.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-words
Something like one to three per cent of the population can't visualize
objects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.
It probably isn't a massive handicap to them unless they want to become
a sculptor or an artist. They cannot visualise things or recall images.
I rely on my visual memory to figure some problems out and then write
them down. I have known people who could solve serious mathematical
problems without writing anything down at all - that is impressive.
Playing blindfold chess is another visual memory trick worthy of note.
Visual memory can also defeat some of the oft used simple tests for
Alzheimers since one of them is apple, ball and chair - visualising that
scene bypasses the memory paths that they are trying to test.
Post by John Larkin
And maybe 10% of the population is never really in the dark. They (we)
always see flashing geometric patterns, which are distinct from
hallucinations.
Depending how dark your environment you see thermal shot noise on the
retina after a few hours in true total darkness.
As in photographic manufacturing plant darkroom conditions or deep cave.
It is darker in there than the darkest outdoors.
BTW Happy New Year
--
Martin Brown
Internet magazines keep publishing fake stories to attract readers to not collapse

Never read fake stories like that
to keep your mind clean, not infected by hoax virus
a a
2024-01-03 16:21:13 UTC
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Darius the Dumb has posted yet one more #veryStupidByLowIQaa article.
a a
2024-01-03 17:07:08 UTC
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The absolute idiot "Darius the Dumb" persisting in being an Off-topic troll...
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Don Y
2024-01-03 16:59:32 UTC
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It probably isn't a massive handicap to them unless they want to become a
sculptor or an artist. They cannot visualise things or recall images.
We have a friend who is also a (artistic) painter. When out with
his colleagues, they will be painting a *desert* scene -- and Tony
is off painting images of the seashore.

"Tony, why do you even come out with us on these /plein air/ jaunts?
You're NEVER 'here'..."
I rely on my visual memory to figure some problems out and then write them
down. I have known people who could solve serious mathematical problems without
writing anything down at all - that is impressive.
I rely (heavily) on visual abstractions to plan how processes interact.
Most folks have "single threaded" ideas of the world -- which can
be a downside when designing hardware or (modern) software. Particularly
distributed systems where many things ARE happening concurrently and
transport delays are *tangible*!
Playing blindfold chess is another visual memory trick worthy of note.
I am amused by the things that I can *visualize* but can't reify.
One would assume that "seeing it" should correlate with being
able to (re)create it...

[I am also amused by how much WORSE my auditory learning channel is
than visual.]
Visual memory can also defeat some of the oft used simple tests for Alzheimers
since one of them is apple, ball and chair - visualising that scene bypasses
the memory paths that they are trying to test.
Likewise cognitive skills. I can recall very long strings of digits
if I can *see* them written down; less so if read to me (in which case,
I *imagine* writing them down). And, simple arithmetic (often fails
in alzheimers pts) is just a bunch of digit sequences that flash in
my mind, without thinking about how they are (algorithmically) "formed".

I met a /savant/, once. His "skill" was scary. But, like many (most)
/savants/, not very "deep". :<
a a
2024-01-03 20:36:00 UTC
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a a
2024-01-03 20:35:48 UTC
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Martin Rid
2024-01-03 17:21:08 UTC
Permalink
This has been in the science news lately.https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-wordsSomething like one to three per cent of the population can't visualizeobjects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.And maybe 10% of the population is never really in the dark. They (we)always see flashing geometric patterns, which are distinct fromhallucinations.
I wonder if that's related to not having an 'Internal monologue '.
Eg; talking to oneself.

Cheers
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a a
2024-01-03 20:36:06 UTC
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Dan Purgert
2024-01-04 11:48:28 UTC
Permalink
Post by Martin Rid
Post by John Larkin
This has been in the science news
lately. [...]
like one to three per cent of the population can't visualizeobjects.
I wonder if such people can still design electronics.And maybe 10% of
the population is never really in the dark. They (we)always see
flashing geometric patterns, which are distinct fromhallucinations.
I wonder if that's related to not having an 'Internal monologue '.
Eg; talking to oneself.
It's the only intelligent conversation I can get some days :)
--
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|O|O|O| PGP: DDAB 23FB 19FA 7D85 1CC1 E067 6D65 70E5 4CE7 2860
a a
2024-01-04 17:03:18 UTC
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john larkin
2024-01-04 18:51:40 UTC
Permalink
On Wed, 3 Jan 2024 12:21:08 -0500 (EST), Martin Rid
Post by Martin Rid
This has been in the science news lately.https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-wordsSomething like one to three per cent of the population can't visualizeobjects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.And maybe 10% of the population is never really in the dark. They (we)always see flashing geometric patterns, which are distinct fromhallucinations.
I wonder if that's related to not having an 'Internal monologue '.
Eg; talking to oneself.
Cheers
Some people really talk to themselves, out loud, which can be
confusing to others.
Martin Rid
2024-01-05 17:34:34 UTC
Permalink
I'm referring to internal, not out loud. Search 'internal
monologue ' on youtube. It's interesting, never knew there were
people like that.

Cheers
--
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Phil Hobbs
2024-01-05 16:46:12 UTC
Permalink
Post by Martin Rid
I'm referring to internal, not out loud. Search 'internal
monologue ' on youtube. It's interesting, never knew there were
people like that.
Cheers
I have a very quiet mind like that, but I can speak in my head. One of
my sisters can't--if she wants to work out what she's planning to say,
she has to say it under her breath.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs
--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

http://electrooptical.net
http://hobbs-eo.com
Jasen Betts
2024-03-06 12:09:55 UTC
Permalink
Post by Martin Rid
I'm referring to internal, not out loud. Search 'internal
monologue ' on youtube. It's interesting, never knew there were
people like that.
It's a real thing, but it doesn't come with a reverb effect
like in the movies.
--
Jasen.
🇺🇦 Слава Україні
a a
2024-03-10 06:07:08 UTC
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legg
2024-01-06 15:40:16 UTC
Permalink
Post by John Larkin
This has been in the science news lately.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-words
Something like one to three per cent of the population can't visualize
objects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.
And maybe 10% of the population is never really in the dark. They (we)
always see flashing geometric patterns, which are distinct from
hallucinations.
Why would you have to close your eyes to 'visualize' something?

I think someone's confusing vision with activity in the brain.

RL
a a
2024-01-06 16:08:04 UTC
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john larkin
2024-01-08 20:27:42 UTC
Permalink
Post by legg
Post by John Larkin
This has been in the science news lately.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-words
Something like one to three per cent of the population can't visualize
objects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.
And maybe 10% of the population is never really in the dark. They (we)
always see flashing geometric patterns, which are distinct from
hallucinations.
Why would you have to close your eyes to 'visualize' something?
Some people close their eyes to better hear voices or music, or
appreciate flavors or whatever. Or kiss.
Post by legg
I think someone's confusing vision with activity in the brain.
Both need brain bandwidth.

In some university math departments, a professor's office has a couch
where they can recline and close their eyes think about mathematics
and get paid, too.

I have my best ideas while I'm asleep. 100% available brain bandwidth.

When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
Post by legg
RL
Dan Purgert
2024-01-09 01:46:47 UTC
Permalink
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
--
|_|O|_|
|_|_|O| Github: https://github.com/dpurgert
|O|O|O| PGP: DDAB 23FB 19FA 7D85 1CC1 E067 6D65 70E5 4CE7 2860
John Larkin
2024-01-09 03:02:43 UTC
Permalink
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?

Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
Phil Hobbs
2024-01-09 03:14:00 UTC
Permalink
Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
;)

‘Tain’t that hard a problem—it doesn’t have to be the ultimate, most
cosmically optimal solution—it just needs to work right, and (ideally) be
pretty enough to be satisfying to the designer.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs
--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC /
Hobbs ElectroOptics Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics
a a
2024-01-09 23:59:38 UTC
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Anthony William Sloman
2024-01-09 03:28:46 UTC
Permalink
Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
Of course, setting up a "goodness" mask involves working out what you want the circuit to do, and one vital part of invention involves seeing that there is a problem that could be solved. Once you've defined the problem, the solution can be trivial.

Politicians define lots of problems, most of which don't actually exist, and then tout their "solutions". Hitler thought that German needed more living space. Donald Trump seems to have though that the US needed fewer immigrants.
--
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a a
2024-01-09 23:59:18 UTC
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Tabby
2024-01-11 21:37:50 UTC
Permalink
Post by Anthony William Sloman
Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
Of course, setting up a "goodness" mask involves working out what you want the circuit to do, and one vital part of invention involves seeing that there is a problem that could be solved. Once you've defined the problem, the solution can be trivial.
Politicians define lots of problems, most of which don't actually exist, and then tout their "solutions". Hitler thought that German needed more living space. Donald Trump seems to have though that the US needed fewer immigrants.
I thought his lebensraum was just an excuse to kill people & steal their stuff.
a a
2024-01-11 22:20:49 UTC
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Bill Sloman
2024-01-12 06:43:20 UTC
Permalink
Post by Tabby
Post by Anthony William Sloman
Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
Of course, setting up a "goodness" mask involves working out what you want the circuit to do, and one vital part of invention involves seeing that there is a problem that could be solved. Once you've defined the problem, the solution can be trivial.
Politicians define lots of problems, most of which don't actually exist, and then tout their "solutions". Hitler thought that German needed more living space. Donald Trump seems to have though that the US needed fewer immigrants.
I thought his lebensraum was just an excuse to kill people & steal their stuff.
That makes it a typical example of the "problems" that politicians
define and propose to solve. Killing people was a incidental side effect
- stealing their stuff - mainly their land - was the solution he was
selling.
--
Bill Sloman, Sydney
darius
2024-01-12 17:50:28 UTC
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a a
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bitrex
2024-01-11 03:46:46 UTC
Permalink
Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
There's a standard "mental imagery vividness test":

<https://aphantasia.com/study/vviq/>

Apparently there's a condition called "aphantasia" where the person is
unable to visualize imagery in their "minds eye" and can only think in
words. Purportedly more common among engineers though I'm unsure what if
any disciplines are involved.

But total aphantasia is rare and it's a matter of degree, I expect
people who are strongly phantasic might like fiction significantly more
- imagine being able to pick up a book and visualize its contents very
strongly almost like you were watching a film. Sure save money on Netflix.

I'm not a big fiction fan, I was moreso as a kid. My test rates me
somewhere in the middle, not sure if it's an ability that perhaps tends
to decline with age and is strongest in children.
--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
www.avast.com
John Larkin
2024-01-11 14:37:59 UTC
Permalink
Post by bitrex
Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
<https://aphantasia.com/study/vviq/>
Apparently there's a condition called "aphantasia" where the person is
unable to visualize imagery in their "minds eye" and can only think in
words. Purportedly more common among engineers though I'm unsure what if
any disciplines are involved.
Interesting. I would have expected that all engineers visualize.

Many engineers are bad with words. I know a couple that freely
substitute milli and micro, and capacitor and inductor, when speaking.
That creates difficulties. Lots of engineers stutter, or can't find
common words.
Post by bitrex
But total aphantasia is rare and it's a matter of degree, I expect
people who are strongly phantasic might like fiction significantly more
- imagine being able to pick up a book and visualize its contents very
strongly almost like you were watching a film. Sure save money on Netflix.
I'm not a big fiction fan, I was moreso as a kid. My test rates me
somewhere in the middle, not sure if it's an ability that perhaps tends
to decline with age and is strongest in children.
I loved sci-fi as a kid, but find it lame and boring now. But I hated
classics, Jane Austin and Shakespeare sorts of stuff, but love it now.

Fortunately, I can still design electronics. I visualize basic
circuits but have to draw them to really think about them. I go
through absurd numbers of grid pads and uniball pens. The Amazon
Basics pads are pretty good.

LT Spice is a great aid to thinking.

When I was 30, I had designed hundreds of PCBs and could draw any of
their schematics from memory. I can't do that any more. No big deal,
they are on my computer now.
Joe Gwinn
2024-01-11 15:04:30 UTC
Permalink
Post by John Larkin
Post by bitrex
Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
<https://aphantasia.com/study/vviq/>
Apparently there's a condition called "aphantasia" where the person is
unable to visualize imagery in their "minds eye" and can only think in
words. Purportedly more common among engineers though I'm unsure what if
any disciplines are involved.
Interesting. I would have expected that all engineers visualize.
Many engineers are bad with words. I know a couple that freely
substitute milli and micro, and capacitor and inductor, when speaking.
That creates difficulties. Lots of engineers stutter, or can't find
common words.
I took Western Civilization in college (graduated with a BSEE in 1969)
- the Professor was spellbinding, and his lectures were standing room
only in the largest lecture hall on campus.

My Teaching Assistant for Western Civilization had started out in the
EE department, and switched to History about half way through. Why?

He said that while he was passing all the academic courses with good
grades, he had observed that his fellow EE students could "see" the
electrons flowing, and so could jump directly to the solution.

But he could not see those electrons, and so had to analyze his way
from first principles, which would be far too slow to be competitive
in a real EE job.

So he switched majors. My reaction at the time was that he was
exactly correct, and that switching was a very wise decision.

Joe Gwinn
bitrex
2024-01-11 18:13:48 UTC
Permalink
Post by Joe Gwinn
Post by John Larkin
Post by bitrex
Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
<https://aphantasia.com/study/vviq/>
Apparently there's a condition called "aphantasia" where the person is
unable to visualize imagery in their "minds eye" and can only think in
words. Purportedly more common among engineers though I'm unsure what if
any disciplines are involved.
Interesting. I would have expected that all engineers visualize.
Many engineers are bad with words. I know a couple that freely
substitute milli and micro, and capacitor and inductor, when speaking.
That creates difficulties. Lots of engineers stutter, or can't find
common words.
I took Western Civilization in college (graduated with a BSEE in 1969)
- the Professor was spellbinding, and his lectures were standing room
only in the largest lecture hall on campus.
My Teaching Assistant for Western Civilization had started out in the
EE department, and switched to History about half way through. Why?
He said that while he was passing all the academic courses with good
grades, he had observed that his fellow EE students could "see" the
electrons flowing, and so could jump directly to the solution.
But he could not see those electrons, and so had to analyze his way
from first principles, which would be far too slow to be competitive
in a real EE job.
So he switched majors. My reaction at the time was that he was
exactly correct, and that switching was a very wise decision.
Joe Gwinn
I also grew up around white male Americans. and an important step in my
professional development was ignoring the overwhelming majority of
stories dudes tell like "I can see the electrons flowing" "I knew I
wouldn't be competitive enough so I...", "Yeah Susan is totally into me,
we banged the other night, bro" and all the fantastical stories dudes
regularly tell, which even many children who still believe in Santa
Claus and the tooth fairy would be straight-up too insightful to take
particularly seriously.
a a
2024-01-11 19:05:55 UTC
Permalink
The arsehole bitrex <***@example.net> persisting in being an Off-topic troll...
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john larkin
2024-01-11 19:15:26 UTC
Permalink
Post by bitrex
Post by Joe Gwinn
Post by John Larkin
Post by bitrex
Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
<https://aphantasia.com/study/vviq/>
Apparently there's a condition called "aphantasia" where the person is
unable to visualize imagery in their "minds eye" and can only think in
words. Purportedly more common among engineers though I'm unsure what if
any disciplines are involved.
Interesting. I would have expected that all engineers visualize.
Many engineers are bad with words. I know a couple that freely
substitute milli and micro, and capacitor and inductor, when speaking.
That creates difficulties. Lots of engineers stutter, or can't find
common words.
I took Western Civilization in college (graduated with a BSEE in 1969)
- the Professor was spellbinding, and his lectures were standing room
only in the largest lecture hall on campus.
My Teaching Assistant for Western Civilization had started out in the
EE department, and switched to History about half way through. Why?
He said that while he was passing all the academic courses with good
grades, he had observed that his fellow EE students could "see" the
electrons flowing, and so could jump directly to the solution.
But he could not see those electrons, and so had to analyze his way
from first principles, which would be far too slow to be competitive
in a real EE job.
So he switched majors. My reaction at the time was that he was
exactly correct, and that switching was a very wise decision.
Joe Gwinn
I also grew up around white male Americans. and an important step in my
professional development was ignoring the overwhelming majority of
stories dudes tell like "I can see the electrons flowing" "I knew I
wouldn't be competitive enough so I...", "Yeah Susan is totally into me,
we banged the other night, bro" and all the fantastical stories dudes
regularly tell, which even many children who still believe in Santa
Claus and the tooth fairy would be straight-up too insightful to take
particularly seriously.
I can see the current flowing on a schematic. But positive charges,
not electrons.

Probably some non-white non-male people can too.
darius
2024-01-11 19:45:05 UTC
Permalink
The arsehole john larkin <***@650pot.com> persisting in being an Off-topic troll...
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bitrex
2024-01-11 20:39:08 UTC
Permalink
Post by john larkin
Post by bitrex
Post by Joe Gwinn
Post by John Larkin
Post by bitrex
Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
<https://aphantasia.com/study/vviq/>
Apparently there's a condition called "aphantasia" where the person is
unable to visualize imagery in their "minds eye" and can only think in
words. Purportedly more common among engineers though I'm unsure what if
any disciplines are involved.
Interesting. I would have expected that all engineers visualize.
Many engineers are bad with words. I know a couple that freely
substitute milli and micro, and capacitor and inductor, when speaking.
That creates difficulties. Lots of engineers stutter, or can't find
common words.
I took Western Civilization in college (graduated with a BSEE in 1969)
- the Professor was spellbinding, and his lectures were standing room
only in the largest lecture hall on campus.
My Teaching Assistant for Western Civilization had started out in the
EE department, and switched to History about half way through. Why?
He said that while he was passing all the academic courses with good
grades, he had observed that his fellow EE students could "see" the
electrons flowing, and so could jump directly to the solution.
But he could not see those electrons, and so had to analyze his way
from first principles, which would be far too slow to be competitive
in a real EE job.
So he switched majors. My reaction at the time was that he was
exactly correct, and that switching was a very wise decision.
Joe Gwinn
I also grew up around white male Americans. and an important step in my
professional development was ignoring the overwhelming majority of
stories dudes tell like "I can see the electrons flowing" "I knew I
wouldn't be competitive enough so I...", "Yeah Susan is totally into me,
we banged the other night, bro" and all the fantastical stories dudes
regularly tell, which even many children who still believe in Santa
Claus and the tooth fairy would be straight-up too insightful to take
particularly seriously.
I can see the current flowing on a schematic. But positive charges,
not electrons.
Probably some non-white non-male people can too.
I think it's a skill that can be learned with practice like many others.
and the main reason people stop doing things and get out of certain
avenues of study is they just don't like doing them.

The whole "I knew I wouldn't be competitive"-thing sounds like a
back-rationalization to me, "I got out of EE because I wasn't getting
much out of it and I wasn't really motivated by the material" is much
more common, but not as cute a story.

Young adults are fickle, I wanted to be in a big time rock band at age
20. Sounds dreadful to me now but the heart wants what the heart wants
in the moment. I was into cognitive science for a while too but the
department professors were uninspiring and the material annoyingly
abstruse at least for me at 20.
bitrex
2024-01-11 20:50:44 UTC
Permalink
Post by bitrex
Post by john larkin
Post by bitrex
Post by Joe Gwinn
Post by John Larkin
Post by bitrex
Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
<https://aphantasia.com/study/vviq/>
Apparently there's a condition called "aphantasia" where the person is
unable to visualize imagery in their "minds eye" and can only think in
words. Purportedly more common among engineers though I'm unsure what if
any disciplines are involved.
Interesting. I would have expected that all engineers visualize.
Many engineers are bad with words. I know a couple that freely
substitute milli and micro, and capacitor and inductor, when speaking.
That creates difficulties. Lots of engineers stutter, or can't find
common words.
I took Western Civilization in college (graduated with a BSEE in 1969)
- the Professor was spellbinding, and his lectures were standing room
only in the largest lecture hall on campus.
My Teaching Assistant for Western Civilization had started out in the
EE department, and switched to History about half way through.  Why?
He said that while he was passing all the academic courses with good
grades, he had observed that his fellow EE students could "see" the
electrons flowing, and so could jump directly to the solution.
But he could not see those electrons, and so had to analyze his way
from first principles, which would be far too slow to be competitive
in a real EE job.
So he switched majors.  My reaction at the time was that he was
exactly correct, and that switching was a very wise decision.
Joe Gwinn
I also grew up around white male Americans. and an important step in my
professional development was ignoring the overwhelming majority of
stories dudes tell like "I can see the electrons flowing" "I knew I
wouldn't be competitive enough so I...", "Yeah Susan is totally into me,
we banged the other night, bro" and all the fantastical stories dudes
regularly tell, which even many children who still believe in Santa
Claus and the tooth fairy would be straight-up too insightful to take
particularly seriously.
I can see the current flowing on a schematic. But positive charges,
not electrons.
Probably some non-white non-male people can too.
I think it's a skill that can be learned with practice like many others.
and the main reason people stop doing things and get out of certain
avenues of study is they just don't like doing them.
The whole "I knew I wouldn't be competitive"-thing sounds like a
back-rationalization to me, "I got out of EE because I wasn't getting
much out of it and I wasn't really motivated by the material" is much
more common, but not as cute a story.
Young adults are fickle, I wanted to be in a big time rock band at age
20. Sounds dreadful to me now but the heart wants what the heart wants
in the moment. I was into cognitive science for a while too but the
department professors were uninspiring and the material annoyingly
abstruse at least for me at 20.
Incidentally I think another reason people leave engineering tracks is
that the quality of the didaction at anything but top-tier US
universities tends to range from just okay to abysmal.
a a
2024-01-11 22:21:17 UTC
Permalink
The idiot bitrex <***@example.net> persisting in being an Off-topic troll...
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John Larkin
2024-03-06 15:31:57 UTC
Permalink
Post by bitrex
Post by bitrex
Post by john larkin
Post by bitrex
Post by Joe Gwinn
Post by John Larkin
Post by bitrex
Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
<https://aphantasia.com/study/vviq/>
Apparently there's a condition called "aphantasia" where the person is
unable to visualize imagery in their "minds eye" and can only think in
words. Purportedly more common among engineers though I'm unsure what if
any disciplines are involved.
Interesting. I would have expected that all engineers visualize.
Many engineers are bad with words. I know a couple that freely
substitute milli and micro, and capacitor and inductor, when speaking.
That creates difficulties. Lots of engineers stutter, or can't find
common words.
I took Western Civilization in college (graduated with a BSEE in 1969)
- the Professor was spellbinding, and his lectures were standing room
only in the largest lecture hall on campus.
My Teaching Assistant for Western Civilization had started out in the
EE department, and switched to History about half way through.  Why?
He said that while he was passing all the academic courses with good
grades, he had observed that his fellow EE students could "see" the
electrons flowing, and so could jump directly to the solution.
But he could not see those electrons, and so had to analyze his way
from first principles, which would be far too slow to be competitive
in a real EE job.
So he switched majors.  My reaction at the time was that he was
exactly correct, and that switching was a very wise decision.
Joe Gwinn
I also grew up around white male Americans. and an important step in my
professional development was ignoring the overwhelming majority of
stories dudes tell like "I can see the electrons flowing" "I knew I
wouldn't be competitive enough so I...", "Yeah Susan is totally into me,
we banged the other night, bro" and all the fantastical stories dudes
regularly tell, which even many children who still believe in Santa
Claus and the tooth fairy would be straight-up too insightful to take
particularly seriously.
I can see the current flowing on a schematic. But positive charges,
not electrons.
Probably some non-white non-male people can too.
I think it's a skill that can be learned with practice like many others.
and the main reason people stop doing things and get out of certain
avenues of study is they just don't like doing them.
The whole "I knew I wouldn't be competitive"-thing sounds like a
back-rationalization to me, "I got out of EE because I wasn't getting
much out of it and I wasn't really motivated by the material" is much
more common, but not as cute a story.
Young adults are fickle, I wanted to be in a big time rock band at age
20. Sounds dreadful to me now but the heart wants what the heart wants
in the moment. I was into cognitive science for a while too but the
department professors were uninspiring and the material annoyingly
abstruse at least for me at 20.
Incidentally I think another reason people leave engineering tracks is
that the quality of the didaction at anything but top-tier US
universities tends to range from just okay to abysmal.
People leave engineering mostly because they shouldn't have signed up
for it in the first place; too many do. Any engineering school that
provides the basics is good enough. Nobody teaches undergrad
"electronic design" that I know of.

I suspect that the most rigorous schools actually drive some
engineering talent away. They treat engineering as another formal,
rigorous scientific/mathematical discipline, which it's not. That's
another discussion.

I was just talking about that with a guru at a giant 2-character-named
corporation. He won't work on anything below a billion dollar project.
We agree that ee schools emphasize semiconductor design too much (the
ICE in SPICE) and that the semi industry slurps up the best.

Granted your assumption about US universities, what universities are
best at ee "didaction" ? What countries create the best electronics
designers?
Phil Hobbs
2024-03-06 22:36:52 UTC
Permalink
Post by John Larkin
Post by bitrex
Post by bitrex
Post by john larkin
Post by bitrex
Post by Joe Gwinn
Post by John Larkin
Post by bitrex
Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
<https://aphantasia.com/study/vviq/>
Apparently there's a condition called "aphantasia" where the person is
unable to visualize imagery in their "minds eye" and can only think in
words. Purportedly more common among engineers though I'm unsure what if
any disciplines are involved.
Interesting. I would have expected that all engineers visualize.
Many engineers are bad with words. I know a couple that freely
substitute milli and micro, and capacitor and inductor, when speaking.
That creates difficulties. Lots of engineers stutter, or can't find
common words.
I took Western Civilization in college (graduated with a BSEE in 1969)
- the Professor was spellbinding, and his lectures were standing room
only in the largest lecture hall on campus.
My Teaching Assistant for Western Civilization had started out in the
EE department, and switched to History about half way through.  Why?
He said that while he was passing all the academic courses with good
grades, he had observed that his fellow EE students could "see" the
electrons flowing, and so could jump directly to the solution.
But he could not see those electrons, and so had to analyze his way
from first principles, which would be far too slow to be competitive
in a real EE job.
So he switched majors.  My reaction at the time was that he was
exactly correct, and that switching was a very wise decision.
Joe Gwinn
I also grew up around white male Americans. and an important step in my
professional development was ignoring the overwhelming majority of
stories dudes tell like "I can see the electrons flowing" "I knew I
wouldn't be competitive enough so I...", "Yeah Susan is totally into me,
we banged the other night, bro" and all the fantastical stories dudes
regularly tell, which even many children who still believe in Santa
Claus and the tooth fairy would be straight-up too insightful to take
particularly seriously.
I can see the current flowing on a schematic. But positive charges,
not electrons.
Probably some non-white non-male people can too.
I think it's a skill that can be learned with practice like many others.
and the main reason people stop doing things and get out of certain
avenues of study is they just don't like doing them.
The whole "I knew I wouldn't be competitive"-thing sounds like a
back-rationalization to me, "I got out of EE because I wasn't getting
much out of it and I wasn't really motivated by the material" is much
more common, but not as cute a story.
Young adults are fickle, I wanted to be in a big time rock band at age
20. Sounds dreadful to me now but the heart wants what the heart wants
in the moment. I was into cognitive science for a while too but the
department professors were uninspiring and the material annoyingly
abstruse at least for me at 20.
Incidentally I think another reason people leave engineering tracks is
that the quality of the didaction at anything but top-tier US
universities tends to range from just okay to abysmal.
People leave engineering mostly because they shouldn't have signed up
for it in the first place; too many do. Any engineering school that
provides the basics is good enough. Nobody teaches undergrad
"electronic design" that I know of.
I suspect that the most rigorous schools actually drive some
engineering talent away. They treat engineering as another formal,
rigorous scientific/mathematical discipline, which it's not. That's
another discussion.
I was just talking about that with a guru at a giant 2-character-named
corporation. He won't work on anything below a billion dollar project.
We agree that ee schools emphasize semiconductor design too much (the
ICE in SPICE) and that the semi industry slurps up the best.
Granted your assumption about US universities, what universities are
best at ee "didaction" ? What countries create the best electronics
designers?
As far as I know, the best places for turning out BSEEs who can actually
design stuff are CU Boulder and MSU Bozeman.

(Insert obligatory vigorous disagreement on the value of rigorous math.)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs
--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

http://electrooptical.net
http://hobbs-eo.com
john larkin
2024-03-06 23:02:05 UTC
Permalink
On Wed, 6 Mar 2024 17:36:52 -0500, Phil Hobbs
Post by Phil Hobbs
Post by John Larkin
Post by bitrex
Post by bitrex
Post by john larkin
Post by bitrex
Post by Joe Gwinn
Post by John Larkin
Post by bitrex
Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by
good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
<https://aphantasia.com/study/vviq/>
Apparently there's a condition called "aphantasia" where the person is
unable to visualize imagery in their "minds eye" and can only think in
words. Purportedly more common among engineers though I'm unsure what if
any disciplines are involved.
Interesting. I would have expected that all engineers visualize.
Many engineers are bad with words. I know a couple that freely
substitute milli and micro, and capacitor and inductor, when speaking.
That creates difficulties. Lots of engineers stutter, or can't find
common words.
I took Western Civilization in college (graduated with a BSEE in 1969)
- the Professor was spellbinding, and his lectures were standing room
only in the largest lecture hall on campus.
My Teaching Assistant for Western Civilization had started out in the
EE department, and switched to History about half way through.  Why?
He said that while he was passing all the academic courses with good
grades, he had observed that his fellow EE students could "see" the
electrons flowing, and so could jump directly to the solution.
But he could not see those electrons, and so had to analyze his way
from first principles, which would be far too slow to be competitive
in a real EE job.
So he switched majors.  My reaction at the time was that he was
exactly correct, and that switching was a very wise decision.
Joe Gwinn
I also grew up around white male Americans. and an important step in my
professional development was ignoring the overwhelming majority of
stories dudes tell like "I can see the electrons flowing" "I knew I
wouldn't be competitive enough so I...", "Yeah Susan is totally into me,
we banged the other night, bro" and all the fantastical stories dudes
regularly tell, which even many children who still believe in Santa
Claus and the tooth fairy would be straight-up too insightful to take
particularly seriously.
I can see the current flowing on a schematic. But positive charges,
not electrons.
Probably some non-white non-male people can too.
I think it's a skill that can be learned with practice like many others.
and the main reason people stop doing things and get out of certain
avenues of study is they just don't like doing them.
The whole "I knew I wouldn't be competitive"-thing sounds like a
back-rationalization to me, "I got out of EE because I wasn't getting
much out of it and I wasn't really motivated by the material" is much
more common, but not as cute a story.
Young adults are fickle, I wanted to be in a big time rock band at age
20. Sounds dreadful to me now but the heart wants what the heart wants
in the moment. I was into cognitive science for a while too but the
department professors were uninspiring and the material annoyingly
abstruse at least for me at 20.
Incidentally I think another reason people leave engineering tracks is
that the quality of the didaction at anything but top-tier US
universities tends to range from just okay to abysmal.
People leave engineering mostly because they shouldn't have signed up
for it in the first place; too many do. Any engineering school that
provides the basics is good enough. Nobody teaches undergrad
"electronic design" that I know of.
I suspect that the most rigorous schools actually drive some
engineering talent away. They treat engineering as another formal,
rigorous scientific/mathematical discipline, which it's not. That's
another discussion.
I was just talking about that with a guru at a giant 2-character-named
corporation. He won't work on anything below a billion dollar project.
We agree that ee schools emphasize semiconductor design too much (the
ICE in SPICE) and that the semi industry slurps up the best.
Granted your assumption about US universities, what universities are
best at ee "didaction" ? What countries create the best electronics
designers?
As far as I know, the best places for turning out BSEEs who can actually
design stuff are CU Boulder and MSU Bozeman.
(Insert obligatory vigorous disagreement on the value of rigorous math.)
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
Math is wonderful and necessary. But it doesn't have ideas.

When I was at Tulane, the ee dean told me that undergraduates don't do
design, that was reserved for grad school. Funny.

I've employed two, maybe three, PhDs and I didn't find them to be
especially creative. They seemed to be afraid to break rules. I do
have a very recent PhD hire that I'm optimistic about; she has had a
bunch of hands-on experience in power electronics and had ideas in an
interview brainstorm.

It would be fun to teach a course on electronic design.
a a
2024-03-10 15:56:26 UTC
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Don
2024-03-07 04:19:44 UTC
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Phil Hobbs wrote:

<snip>
Post by Phil Hobbs
As far as I know, the best places for turning out BSEEs who can actually
design stuff are CU Boulder and MSU Bozeman.
Bless you. My fondest college memories entail studying for my BSEE at CU
Boulder's Engineering Library. My dad attended CU Boulder about the same
time as Widlar.

Danke,
--
Don, KB7RPU, https://www.qsl.net/kb7rpu
There was a young lady named Bright Whose speed was far faster than light;
She set out one day In a relative way And returned on the previous night.
Bill Sloman
2024-03-07 05:39:59 UTC
Permalink
Post by Don
<snip>
Post by Phil Hobbs
As far as I know, the best places for turning out BSEEs who can actually
design stuff are CU Boulder and MSU Bozeman.
Bless you. My fondest college memories entail studying for my BSEE at CU
Boulder's Engineering Library. My dad attended CU Boulder about the same
time as Widlar.
Bob Widlar certainly could design stuff. So could Barry Gilbert.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrie_Gilbert

He got his degree in applied Physics from the Bournemouth Municipal
College, in the UK in 1962. It's not a famous tertiary educational
institution.
--
Bill Sloman, Sydney
darius
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Bill Sloman
2024-03-07 04:19:44 UTC
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<snip>
Post by John Larkin
Granted your assumption about US universities, what universities are
best at ee "didaction" ?
None of them are much good at it. Electronic engineering is an art, and
what universities do is provide access to knowledge. Harvard gave us
"The Art of Electronics" which is a great textbook for clever students,
but can't turn them into good engineers.
Post by John Larkin
What countries create the best electronics designers?
Lots of them. One of the best I knew was born in Ethiopia, and in the UK
I worked with very good people who were born in India and Pakistan,
though most of them came from England and Scotland. The Welsh were
under-represented but there weren't all that many of them in south east
England.
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darius
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bitrex
2024-01-11 17:51:17 UTC
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Post by John Larkin
I loved sci-fi as a kid, but find it lame and boring now. But I hated
classics, Jane Austin and Shakespeare sorts of stuff, but love it now.
The only thing more scary to a HS English teacher than a teenager who
isn't into Shakespeare is one who's very big into it.

There's a better-than-average chance they're going to be a movie star
and a better-than-average chance they'll end up a HS teacher and they'll
probably remember you either way..
Post by John Larkin
Fortunately, I can still design electronics. I visualize basic
circuits but have to draw them to really think about them. I go
through absurd numbers of grid pads and uniball pens. The Amazon
Basics pads are pretty good.
LT Spice is a great aid to thinking.
When I was 30, I had designed hundreds of PCBs and could draw any of
their schematics from memory. I can't do that any more. No big deal,
they are on my computer now.
I think human designers may have some kind of elegance/consistency
internal rulecheck independent of the internal electrical rulecheck;
that "good" circuits tend to have a certain "look" about them,
independent of their electrical validity. Our brain's ability to do
electrical rulechecks at more than a cursory level is pretty poor.

In the larger-than-electrons-in-Universe state space there are many
circuits appealing to the first rulecheck that are electrical nonsense
and vice-versa, but it may be that the number of "ugly" but
exceptional-performing circuits in that state space, that completely
fail the first human test but pass the physics test with flying colors,
greatly outnumbers the set of circuits that meets both checks.

However a human will have extreme difficulty finding them, the implied
network analysis problem we're discussing is likely NP hard/complete so
can't yet be brute-forced by machine, and AI often has trouble
optimizing even known circuits, much less coming up with novel ones.

So even if I'm right I think the overwhelming majority of "beautiful
scum"-type circuits are just lost to the curse of dimensionality.
darius
2024-01-11 19:06:01 UTC
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Don Y
2024-01-11 15:12:47 UTC
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But total aphantasia is rare and it's a matter of degree, I expect people who
are strongly phantasic might like fiction significantly more - imagine being
Why would that be limited to fiction? Can't you "immerse yourself" in
a recounting of history, etc.? Can't you "feel" what another individual is
purporting to have experienced? I.e., isn't *compassion* a form of
(non-visual) visualization?
able to pick up a book and visualize its contents very strongly almost like you
were watching a film. Sure save money on Netflix.
Totally different experience. Watching films/video is a pedestrian
experience -- the film is "over there" and you are "over here".
I'm not a big fiction fan, I was moreso as a kid. My test rates me somewhere in
the middle, not sure if it's an ability that perhaps tends to decline with age
and is strongest in children.
An imagination is like anything else -- if not EXERCISED, it degrades.
Being able to "forget where you are" (e.g., in the reading of a book)
is a delightful (though often scary) experience!

I've learned that I can't read a novel while *in* the airport lounge
lest I miss the call for my flight. And, if the novel I've selected
is a bit too long for the flight (I read fast), someone invariably has
to jostle me out of my seat when the aircraft lands.

And NEVER take a book into the bathroom!!! :<
Don Y
2024-01-11 15:37:54 UTC
Permalink
Why would that be limited to fiction?  Can't you "immerse yourself" in
a recounting of history, etc.?  Can't you "feel" what another individual is
purporting to have experienced?  I.e., isn't *compassion* a form of
(non-visual) visualization?
No, "empathy" is a more appropriate comparison. One can *learn*
compassion much the same way that one can "learn" to express
gratitude *without* being grateful.
a a
2024-01-11 19:06:14 UTC
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whit3rd
2024-01-11 20:11:01 UTC
Permalink
Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits...
In a sense, filter cookbooks are a fit to that kind of perception. There
are tables of integrals that attempt to solve a range of problems by
just covering many forms, and yes, those are useful approaches
Post by John Larkin
that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?
By knowing as much as possible about similar uses, one can
Post by John Larkin
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
Quantum isn't a magic word meaning what you need. Content-addressable
memory comes closer (and human memory is content-addressable).

As Edison once said, 'To be an inventor, you need a good imagination and
a lot of junk'.

In essence, every table of integrals IS a lot of junk. So is a liberal education.
And, so is a circuit cookbook-style collection.
a a
2024-01-11 22:20:55 UTC
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john larkin
2024-01-11 22:47:26 UTC
Permalink
Post by whit3rd
Post by John Larkin
Post by Dan Purgert
Post by john larkin
[...]
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
When I've had a chance to relax (note - they're still *bad* by good long
way ;) )
My mental model is that, given some modest kit of components, there is
a multidimensional "solution space" of possible circuits...
In a sense, filter cookbooks are a fit to that kind of perception. There
are tables of integrals that attempt to solve a range of problems by
just covering many forms, and yes, those are useful approaches
Post by John Larkin
that could be
made from them. With, say, 200 parts the number of possible circuits
exceeds the number of electrons in the universe. All the digikey parts
make more. So how does one search that space in, say, a few hours or
days?
By knowing as much as possible about similar uses, one can
Post by John Larkin
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
Quantum isn't a magic word meaning what you need. Content-addressable
memory comes closer (and human memory is content-addressable).
I think the human brain is a quantum computer that can evaluate the
immense solution space in parallel, preferably when asleep.

One trick is to not pre-censor the space. Keep, literally, an open
mind.
Post by whit3rd
As Edison once said, 'To be an inventor, you need a good imagination and
a lot of junk'.
He said a lot of cool stuff.

I recently read that when he developed the light bulb and city
lighting systems, he didn't understand Ohm's Law.
Post by whit3rd
In essence, every table of integrals IS a lot of junk. So is a liberal education.
And, so is a circuit cookbook-style collection.
Circuit cookbooks used to be popular. I have a couple. They are
interesting to browse.

Jim Willams' two books of essays are great. Some touch on the mental
design issues.

AoE is fabulous, worth reading cover to cover, plus the X-chapters.
darius
2024-01-12 02:06:44 UTC
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Bill Sloman
2024-01-12 13:09:45 UTC
Permalink
Post by john larkin
Post by whit3rd
Post by John Larkin
Use quantum computing. Set up a goodness mask and apply it to all of
them simultaneously.
Quantum isn't a magic word meaning what you need. Content-addressable
memory comes closer (and human memory is content-addressable).
I think the human brain is a quantum computer that can evaluate the
immense solution space in parallel, preferably when asleep.
John Larkin knows even less about quantum computing than he knows about
the human brain. His speculations on the subject are random noise.
Post by john larkin
One trick is to not pre-censor the space. Keep, literally, an open
mind.
And how would somebody do that? You approach seems to be to learn as
little as possible about about the components you are using - see where
they blow up rather than reading the data sheet.
Post by john larkin
Post by whit3rd
As Edison once said, 'To be an inventor, you need a good imagination and
a lot of junk'.
It a lot easier if you have access to lots of different well
characterised components, rather than junk. Knowing what you are playing
with may inhibit your creativity, but it does let see a lot furhter into
where you might go.
Post by john larkin
He said a lot of cool stuff.
I recently read that when he developed the light bulb and city
lighting systems, he didn't understand Ohm's Law.
And it took Telsa's better educated insights to set up the AC
distribution systems we have today. Admittedly, we've gone back to 500KV
DC for really long links, but Edison would never have got there on his own.
Post by john larkin
Post by whit3rd
In essence, every table of integrals IS a lot of junk. So is a liberal education.
And, so is a circuit cookbook-style collection.
I never found circuit cook books all that useful.
Post by john larkin
Circuit cookbooks used to be popular. I have a couple. They are
interesting to browse.
Jim Willams' two books of essays are great. Some touch on the mental
design issues.
They can be interesting, but they aren't all that great. He wrote six
application notes on the Baxandall Class D oscillator, but never
realised the Peter Baxandall had invented it, or suggested using MOSFET
switches. Not a lot of creativity there.
Post by john larkin
AoE is fabulous, worth reading cover to cover, plus the X-chapters.
It's useful, but very much aimed at physics students, and scientists in
general. The treatment of transformers is pretty superficial, but you
wouldn't have noticed that.
--
Bill Sloman, Sydney
Don Y
2024-01-12 00:00:47 UTC
Permalink
Post by whit3rd
As Edison once said, 'To be an inventor, you need a good imagination and
a lot of junk'.
In essence, every table of integrals IS a lot of junk. So is a liberal education.
And, so is a circuit cookbook-style collection.
The point of a (good) formal education is to expose you to
as much of that "junk" as possible. You aren't (typically)
required to know/retain all of the detail; rather, just
for some association to trigger a "vague recollection"
of some POTENTIAL solution (which may need modification)
to the problem at hand.

The Rub comes when none of the "standard forms" fits your
application and you have to decide which of them to
leverage to fit -- or, whether another "novel" approach
may be better.

Searching a dictionary is a lot different than searching an
address book -- even though (superficially) they appear
to be the same problem! (think about it)
darius
2024-01-12 02:06:50 UTC
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The arsehole Don Y <***@foo.invalid> persisting in being an Off-topic troll...
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a a
2024-01-09 23:59:25 UTC
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legg
2024-01-09 13:53:45 UTC
Permalink
Post by john larkin
Post by legg
Post by John Larkin
This has been in the science news lately.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-words
Something like one to three per cent of the population can't visualize
objects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.
And maybe 10% of the population is never really in the dark. They (we)
always see flashing geometric patterns, which are distinct from
hallucinations.
Why would you have to close your eyes to 'visualize' something?
Some people close their eyes to better hear voices or music, or
appreciate flavors or whatever. Or kiss.
Post by legg
I think someone's confusing vision with activity in the brain.
Both need brain bandwidth.
In some university math departments, a professor's office has a couch
where they can recline and close their eyes think about mathematics
and get paid, too.
I have my best ideas while I'm asleep. 100% available brain bandwidth.
When do you get your best electronic design ideas?
It's the other way around; most of the better ideas get me by
accident. You just have to notice them, when they occur.

. . . but walking the dog or riding the bike is a good start
to the day.

RL
a a
2024-01-09 23:59:44 UTC
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a a
2024-01-09 23:59:19 UTC
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Don Y
2024-01-09 10:20:12 UTC
Permalink
Post by legg
Why would you have to close your eyes to 'visualize' something?
I have no problem "visualizing" STATIC objects, regardless of
whether eyes are open or closed and whether or not the "scene"
around me is static or dynamic. Showering, walking, even
driving.

But, to "visualize" dynamic processes, I find I have to either
have a static scene engaging my sight *or* close my eyes (thereby
creating one).
Post by legg
I think someone's confusing vision with activity in the brain.
a a
2024-01-09 23:59:50 UTC
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The arsehole Don Y <***@foo.invalid> persisting in being an Off-topic troll...
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John Larkin
2024-03-06 15:15:28 UTC
Permalink
Post by legg
Post by John Larkin
This has been in the science news lately.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-words
Something like one to three per cent of the population can't visualize
objects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.
And maybe 10% of the population is never really in the dark. They (we)
always see flashing geometric patterns, which are distinct from
hallucinations.
Why would you have to close your eyes to 'visualize' something?
I think some people visualize better that way. I do, a bit.

People are very different.
Post by legg
I think someone's confusing vision with activity in the brain.
There's a difference?
Post by legg
RL
a a
2024-03-10 15:56:51 UTC
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The arsehole John Larkin <***@997PotHill.com> persisting in being an Off-topic troll...
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Anthony William Sloman
2024-01-10 02:29:28 UTC
Permalink
Post by John Larkin
This has been in the science news lately.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-some-people-cant-visualize-images-and-may-dream-in-words
Something like one to three per cent of the population can't visualize
objects. I wonder if such people can still design electronics.
And maybe 10% of the population is never really in the dark. They (we)
always see flashing geometric patterns, which are distinct from
hallucinations.
And why should anyone care? Individual differences can be interesting, but John Larkin doesn't seem to be able to design electronics and obsesses about what he does when he cobbles together parts in what he imagines to be electronic design.

This hasn't stopped thread from getting something like thirty response, from all the usual people, including five from John Larkin, but about half of them are posts from a a labelled as "off-topic alerts" calling people idiots and arseholes, but not explaining why he thinks that.

I've taken to marking his posts as spam, but theye don't get deleted. Google has a last taken to deleting the southeast asian gambling ads which I mark as a spam advertising regulated goods and services, but meaningless noise doesn't seem to worry them,
--
Bill Sloman, Sydney
a a
2024-01-10 14:19:56 UTC
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