Todays Thought

When you counsel someone, you should appear to be reminding him of something he had forgotten, not of the light he was unable to see. 

-Baltasar Gracian, writer and philosopher (8 Jan 1601-1658)

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BIFTEK HACHE A LA LYONNAISE

 BIFTEK HACHE A LA LYONNAISE

INGREDIENTS

• 3⁄4cup finely minced yellow onion
• 2tablespoons butter
• 1 1⁄2lbs extra lean ground beef
• 22 tablespoons marrow or 2 tablespoons fresh pork fat
• 1 1⁄2teaspoons salt
• 1⁄8teaspoon pepper
• 1⁄8teaspoon thyme
• 1egg
• 1⁄2cup flour, spread on a plate
• 1tablespoon butter
• 1tablespoon oil
• 1⁄21/2 cup red wine or 1/4 cup water
• 2 -3tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS

• Cook the onions slowly in 2 Tablespoons of butter (about 10 mins) until tender not browned.
• Place onions in mixing bowl. Add the beef, butter (or suet, marrow or pork fat) the seasonings and the egg; mix well.
• Form into patties 3/4" thick.
• Cover & refrigerate till ready to use.
• Just before sautéing, roll the patties lightly in flour.
• Shake off any excess flour.
• Place butter and oil in heavy skillet over med-high heat.
• When butter foam begins to subside, saute the patties for about 3 minutes per side (or more depending upon how you like your burger).
• Place burgers on serving platter and keep warm while finishing the sauce.
• Pour fat out of the skillet and discard.
• Add stock (or wine, vermouth or water) and boil down rapidly.
• Scraping up the coagulated pan juice till reduced to almost a syrup.
• Off heat, swirl 2-3 Tablespoons of butter into the sauce - 1/2 Tablespoon at a time until absorbed into the sauce.
• Pour the sauce over the hamburgers and serve.

Stop Asking If the Universe Is a Computer Simulation

 Stop Asking If the Universe Is a Computer Simulation

We will never know if we live in a computer simulation; here is a more interesting question

The 18th-century philosopher Immanuel Kant argued that the universe ultimately consists of things-in-themselves that are unknowable. While he held the notion that objective reality exists, he said our mind plays a necessary role in structuring and shaping our perceptions. Kant was ahead of his time but undeniably insightful. Modern neuroscience and cognitive science have revealed that our perceptual experience of the world is the result of many stages of processing by sensory systems and cognitive functions in the brain. No one knows exactly what happens within this black box. What we do know is these brain processes generate a vast amount of additional information beyond what our senses perceive. Take vision, for instance; our retinas are two flat surfaces that only receive two-dimensional information, but our cognitive functions add the third dimension to our perceptual experience.

If empirical experience fails to reveal reality, reasoning won’t reveal reality either since it relies on concepts and words that are contingent on our social, cultural and psychological histories. Again, a black box.

So, if we accept that the universe is unknowable, we also accept we will never know if we live in a computer simulation. And then, we can shift our inquiry from “Is the universe a computer simulation?” to “Can we model the universe as a computer simulation?” These are two very different questions. The former confines us in speculation; the latter puts us on track to doing science.