Sapien Games is a personal blog with a bent toward Politics and Science in a big way.
I break all the rules here. I don’t have any dedicated style or topics that I shy away from. I’ve got posts on Dinosaurs, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and MANY Political rants.
Check out my BEST ARTICLES HERE
Everywhere else on the net, I try to follow the rules. But, this is my personal space, so … frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.
When I’m not here, I’m usually blogging at The Iron Samurai, which is a blog about Zen and the Art of Weightlifting – if you can believe that. 
I can’t get TOO off topic over there, so I reserve my total rambling and babling, and discussions about potentially offensive topics to the pages of Sapien Games.
Why the Name “Sapien Games”
It sounds cool.
That’s the most important reason.
But, I also just like the conjunction of something that sounds Evolution related (Sapien) along with a reference to Game Theory, which is the branch of mathematics that my Masters degree is in (I’m still finishing that bastard).
When combined, I like that the title implies Politics and the interaction of humans in ways governed by basic scientific laws.
Bottom line, I like to take the term Political Science … Literally.
What About the Author? Me!
My name is Nick Horton, I’m a professional weightlifting coach and gym owner. I have a BS in Mathematics, and am slowly finishing my masters in Math. I started my college career as a Music major and I still put out albums and create new stuff which you can check out at The Alterside.
I’ve been practicing Zen meditation for over 15 years now, and along with weightlifting I can honestly say that it has “saved” me.
Not in some obnoxioius froo froo hippy way, but in a very real and profound way.
It all comes down to not being a punk, taking responsibility for your own flaws, and going out of your way to shore them up. You can’t rely on others to “fix” you. You can’t simply whine and cry about the past and the wrongs done to you.
At some point you have to take control of your own life and destiny.
No one else will do it for you.
I’ve found the combination of Zen and Weightlifting to be remarkable at creating a sound mind in a sound body. Add to that studies in mathematics and music and a morbid love for the game of human interaction… and you’re getting a good picture of my design.
This guy sounds de’lishious! Check out his music site too! I think its alterside.com
I feel compelled to congratulate you for an amazing blog site. Your wit, knowledge and intelligence breathes life into so many topics – congrats! The world is lucky to have your contribution and especially those of us in Portland.
Congrats…
Thanks for the kind words! I’ll try to keep it up!
Love your blog and podcasts — really! they’re fantastic! — but man, you really further the stereotype of the ultra-smart math guy who doesn’t get humanities, arts, or language.
“shear number” —> sheer number
“Keith Schreiner who’s other work” —> whose other work
“infinite number of Nick’s” —> of Nicks
I’m glad you dig my stuff so far. And, oh man, them’s the least of my spelling and grammar “mistakes”.
But, seeing as how we math folk can’t resist further categorization and explanation, I’ll try to clarify what you said a bit, and put my own spin on it. It’s just too fun not to!
I’d be wary of lumping the Arts or the Humanities in with language when you’re talking specifically about spelling and grammar. Neither spelling nor grammar are essential parts of either the Arts or the other Humanities. (I say ‘essential’ because if we found misspellings in a work of art that was otherwise great, it wouldn’t detract from it significantly. A case in point is Shakespeare who was totally free with both spelling and grammar and we don’t get down on him for it.) Art is primarily about emotions, not the craft of creation. And the Humanities, such as history, are about ideas, not the intricate nature of the conveyance of those ideas. Yes, spelling/grammar are important. But, not essential.
Spelling is an arbitrary construct that is not congruent with the language itself. That is, the spelling (especially in English) of a word often doesn’t represent the word itself as clearly as it should. A good example is the word “grotesque”. The “que” at the end is ridiculous. But, we’re stuck with it as a holdover of history. A better spelling would be “grotesk” or even better “growtesk” so that “grow” coincides with how it is spelled on its own, considering that it is sounded out the same in both words.
In fact, there are separate parts of the brain that deal with written vs oral language processing. This means that ones understanding of language is not directly dependent on their being able to spell correctly.
And of course, “correct” in both spelling and grammar is something man made and artificial.
When people say that mathematics is a language, they mean the written part. And that is true to some degree, but it is a much better written one. Every symbol in math is clearly defined, and consistent. This is only because it was designed. Natural language evolved, and like all things that evolve, it is messy to say the least.
I, like many other math folk, have had a (somewhat childish, I admit) tendency to “blow off” any work at learning the rules because of the arbitrary nature of them. Written English is a bad system. Sure, I like the theory of language development (because evolution of systems is cool), but I have a hard time caring about pleasing the “powers that be” who decide what is and isn’t a “proper” spelling of word.
If “ain’t” is in the dictionary, it’s a word – officially. But, does that mean before it made the dictionary, it wasn’t a word? I don’t think so. It very much was a word, because people understood it when they heard it. It was a sound that conveyed meaning = word.
The downsides of such an attitude as mine are obvious: it can sometimes be jarring to be reading along and hit on a misspelled word; bad grammar/spelling can make you seem dumber than you are; and in the worst cases, a misspelling can convey a different meaning than you’d intended; oh, and teachers will lower your grade.
But, all of that aside, I’ve never been too concerned that my meaning was lost beyond recognition. Most people are both forgiving and able to figure it out in context. Nor do I suffer from a need to prove how smart I am. (In fact, I kinda like undercutting myself and playin’ the fool. I relate more to surfer-dudes than to academics.)
Hmm … I rambled longer than expected. I guess that means I should just write a full-on post about the subject of spelling/grammar and its relation to knowledge and language.
But, you’re right, I suck at spelling, and ain’t so hot at grammar. If it weren’t for a spell-checker, I’d be worse (which means that I AM worse, you just aren’t seeing it!)
And lastly, as for the stereotype of a math guy not “getting” the Arts, that is very funny to me. I say it’s funny because I never was the kid people pigeon-holed as a future math guy. I failed nearly ALL of my math classes when I was a kid (along with everything else). What I excelled at … was art and music. Those are the fields teachers were convinced I was going to go in to. Art was all I cared about.
My mother is a college art professor, and I spent my childhood drawing nearly every day (as well as painting and printmaking). I was obsessed with theater in high school, and spent tons of my time acting and reading plays. I sang in choir, I learned to play multiple instruments, and eventually went to college to study music (which I did for 2 years).
By all accounts, I was an artist, not a budding mathematician. When I went back to school at 26 years old, people were blown away that I was going into mathematics. It seemed out of left field. Sure, I always showed an aptitude for it. But, I didn’t show an interest in anything but the arts for 26 years.
I never intended to end up a “math guy”. It just sort of happened. As John Lennon said, “Life is what happens when you’re making other plans.” Watch out, you never know. You just might end up a Mathematician, too!