more on common knowledge

puzzle red hat, blue hat

Muddy Children and Common Knowledge

Interesting article on common knowledge and a simple form of the red hat problem.

But does he know that I know that he knows?
From No Right to Believe by Ezra Resnick


Five children have been playing together, and three of them have gotten mud on their foreheads. Each child can see mud on others but not on himself. When the children come home, their father says that at least one of them has mud on his forehead; he then asks if anyone can deduce whether there is mud on his own forehead. The children look around, but no one answers. So the father asks again: Does anyone know whether he has mud on his own forehead? Silence. The father then repeats his question a third time, at which point all three dirty children immediately step forward and proclaim that their foreheads must be muddy.

Today's tidbits

The best way to keep up do date on my posts about Fukushima is via this link.

The Fukushima 700, from Reuters, my new favorite news source.

 "They're all the real Samurai," said one admirer on a Facebook page dedicated to the Fukushima workers and mainly containing messages from outside Japan.

I seem to be to be observing a slight "disconnect" between the way this event is being experienced by gaijin (foreigners) and natives, especially in Tokyo.

How Bad is the Reactor Meltdown in Japan?

The best way to keep up do date on my posts about Fukushima is via this link.

The Question of the Day: How Bad is the Reactor Meltdown in Japan?
Not so bad according to this physicist, who seems to know what he is talking about.



On the other hand, from slashdot and newscientist

"The cumulative releases from Fukushima of iodine-131 and cesium-137 have reached 73% and 60% respectively of the amounts released from the 1986 Chernobyl accident.
These numbers were reached independently from a monitoring station in
Sacramento, CA, and Takasaki, Japan. The iodine and cesium releases are
due to the cooking off of the more volatile elements in damaged fuel
rods."

The story of the second nuclear casualty in history

Louis Slotin

radiation levels in Kyoto

Kyoto levels seem unchanged from what I can tell. Tokyo is getting a bit worse, though, and I would say is approaching the turning point. It has crossed my mind that the government would not have the will to do the right thing...evacuate...should the time for that come. But as Yukie says, this kind of cynicism is probably not constructive, and we don't even have enough information to be cynical. 

I am going to keep updating  my blog with general information for people that want to keep up. The best way to keep up do date on my posts about Fukushima is via this link.

part 3 of Japan Update

Part1 original post
Part2 follow up 1
Part3 (this post) follow up 2
I am going to keep updating  my blog with general information for people that want to keep up. The best way to keep up do date on my posts about Fukushima is via this link.
-----------
First I want to thank people for the warm response to my email, and also for the kindness people showed in passing it along to others. This is heartwarming, and I can only reply with my own love and appreciation, and the traditional buddhist prayer that "all beings be blessed by this selfless action".

After sending the email, though, I did have some further thoughts, and I started to compose a followup without a serious intention to send it, and in fact, in the end I didn't, but posted it to my blog-that-no-one-reads-but-me. But after that, radiation levels started spiking, and I got worried, then calm, and I wanted to let people know that I was still alright, but concerned. I then realized there were even more things I wanted to say, especially about how to keep informed about what is happening, so I wrote another blog post/email.

Thus I am sending a long these links. They are not terribly well composed, just a set of notes to myself, but I think they complement and complete my original thoughts.

Again, thanks of the response, and I will limit myself to individual replies from now on...

david

follow up unsent on blog up unread

The best way to keep up do date on my posts about Fukushima is via this link.
Part1 original email
Part2 (this post) follow up 1
Part3 follow up 2
I am going to keep updating  my blog with general information for people that want to keep up.
--
This is a follow-up to an email [below and here. read first?] I sent that included a call for people to make donations in support of the survivors of the first 2011 Japanese earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster (in case there should be another). This got sent on to others [below], and I suddenly felt a bit of concern over what I had written. I never actually sent the follow-up, since my position didn't end up changing very much, and in order not to complicate matters, but I decided to post it here to save my effort for future reference.

I should add that I have no special interest in this, but one thing led to another...