The Implausibilty of Political Gridlock in Singapore

The common argument against a two-party system in Singapore is that of political gridlock. I find this to be implausible, given Singapore's political structure. There are three main factors which strongly inhibit the formation of political impasses.

1. Singapore has a unicameral legislature.
2. Singapore adopts a first-past-the-post voting system.
3. Singapore has strict limits on parliamentary speaking time.

Therefore, I think it is unlikely for political gridlock to exist in Singapore. To elaborate upon the previous points:

The United States is often cited as one example of an indecisive (if not impotent) legislature, which is probably true. Yet, it is invalid to extrapolate this to Singapore because the underlying political system is significant. A bicameral legislature, where a law has to be sanctioned by both chambers, is clearly different from a unicameral legistature. At the very least, a law faces more obstacles to being passed. It is also not uncommon for bicameral legislatures to be 'won' by different (and opposed) parties, which contributes to factionalism.

None of these are applicable to Singapore, where there is only one chamber.

When discussing the malalise in American politics, another important weapon to force an stalemate is the fillibuster. A fillibuster prevents the passage of a vote; in the US, 60% of senate votes are required to force a vote, which has degenerated into a situation where 60% support is required for a motion to be passed (otherwise any objecting party can simply prevent its passage by fillibustering).

Singapore has strict limits on the amount of speaking time each MP has. Thus, it is nearly impossible to delay the passage of any law via filibustering.

Beyond simple factionalism leading to political gridlock, an indecisive legislature can also arise due to the weakness of political parties. Some european governments have adopted proportional representation, which allots seats (approximately) based on the voting share each party has garnered in the previous election. Unfortunately, this tends to lead to the formation of legislatures comprising of numerous small, fratictious parties. If major parties are unable to secure outright majorities, the only option is a coalition. Coalitions are unstable, and may lead to shortsighted, incoherent, and piecewise policy.

Singapore has a first-past-the-post voting system, which tends to amplify the vote share of the winner. While this does not guarantee outright majorities (as with UK's last election, which necessitated a coalition), it is nontheless more stable than a proportional represention.

The fear of an indecisive government seems exaggerated. In my opinion, the greater danger is that of having insufficient safeguards to moderate the political process.

Predicting Plot Twists from Time Remaining

Recently, I have found television dramas, both episodic and serial, to be increasingly predictable and boring. This isn't because television writing has suddenly degenerated (though arguably it is of low quality), but rather, due to the constraints of the format. What I'm talking about is the time that an episode, or series, has to fit into.

Consider an episodic show. The story can only include a fixed number of twists before coming to a resolution. If we know the amount of time remaining before the end of the program, then this actually provides us with additional information about the plot. Clearly, the show cannot be over with half an hour remaining! In a mystery, if a suspect is revealed with 5 minutes left on the clock, he is most probably the true criminal, as compared to 20 minutes left, where there may be one or two twists to uncover.

For serials, the same rule applies, except that we judge the potential plot twists by the number of episodes remaining. Suppose the antagonist repents with 5 episodes left; clearly he will renegade on his decision soon! If instead it is the penultimate episode, then he will probably sacrifice himself for the greater good and die for some reason in the finale.

I find it easier to predict television than movies, because television timetabling tends to be regular, hence you almost always know how much time is left. Movies have variable runtimes that are difficult to gauge without prior checking, thus leaving more room for guesswork. Is this the final arc, or is there yet another twist remaining?

The Lycurgus Cup

Several years ago, I visited the British Museum and took a pair of photographs of the Lycurgus Cup. The photographs are below:

The Lycurgus Cup.

The same artifact!

The two photographs depict the same object, but clearly the glass is of a different color in each photograph! This is due to special properties of the glass which scatters and reflects light differently. When light passes through the glass, the blue end of the spectrum is scattered to a greater degree, resulting in its normal red appearance. However, when light is reflected off the glass, the spectrum is reflected about equally, showing a green color.

Of course, the Lycurgus Cup is kept secure behind a wall of glass, which makes tampering with the lighting to create the color changes difficult. I managed to capture the color changes using a camera flash; the reflected light off the flash makes the Cup appear green. Signs of the flash can be seen in the first image above.

Golden Ball

It was thought to be a historical fiction, an ancient tale that bore no truth. Similarly, the expeditions were thought foolish, and indeed the expeditions were all fruitless. All but one, that is. The artifact was finally found buried deep under the earth, entombed in a sealed, gilded box.

An international committee was established to oversee the research program studying the artifact. Of course, they were not especially interested in the artifact's scientific value, but instead were wary of the potentially catastrophic economic consequences if the artifact was to be misused.

Despite the oversight, abuses were inevitable and unstoppable. Not everyone was immune to greed, and the markets teetered towards collapse with each influx of artificial gold.

To save the global economy, the oversight committee finally came to a decision: To destroy the Hand of Midas, thus forever preventing its use. The chosen method was destruction by atomization, reducing the artifact to a fine molecular dust.

That was a mistake, the greatest one in our history. The Hand of Midas was not destroyed even when reduced to dust; each atom retained its properties.

As the golden dust was scattered by the winds, the Earth was turned into a golden ball, slowly, but surely.

It was thought to be a historical fiction, an ancient tale that bore no truth. Similarly, the expeditions were thought foolish, and indeed the expeditions were all fruitless. All but one, that is. The artifact was finally found buried deep under the earth, entombed in a sealed, gilded box.

An international committee was established to oversee the research program studying the artifact. Of course, they were not especially interested in the artifact's scientific value, but instead were wary of the potentially catastrophic economic consequences if the artifact was to be misused.

Despite the oversight, abuses were inevitable and unstoppable. Not everyone was immune to greed, and the markets teetered towards collapse with each influx of artificial gold.

To save the global economy, the oversight committee finally came to a decision: To destroy the Hand of Midas, thus forever preventing its use. The chosen method was destruction by atomization, reducing the artifact to a fine
molecular dust.

That was a mistake, the greatest one in our history. The Hand of Midas was not destroyed even when reduced to dust; each atom retained its properties.

In the days to come, as the golden dust was scattered by the winds, the Earth was turned into a golden ball, slowly, but surely. - See more at: http://typetrigger.com/trigger/golden%20ball#sthash.PwQsmFhV.dpuf

It was thought to be a historical fiction, an ancient tale that bore no truth. Similarly, the expeditions were thought foolish, and indeed the expeditions were all fruitless. All but one, that is. The artifact was finally found buried deep under the earth, entombed in a sealed, gilded box.

An international committee was established to oversee the research program studying the artifact. Of course, they were not especially interested in the artifact's scientific value, but instead were wary of the potentially catastrophic economic consequences if the artifact was to be misused.

Despite the oversight, abuses were inevitable and unstoppable. Not everyone was immune to greed, and the markets teetered towards collapse with each influx of artificial gold.

To save the global economy, the oversight committee finally came to a decision: To destroy the Hand of Midas, thus forever preventing its use. The chosen method was destruction by atomization, reducing the artifact to a fine
molecular dust.

That was a mistake, the greatest one in our history. The Hand of Midas was not destroyed even when reduced to dust; each atom retained its properties.

In the days to come, as the golden dust was scattered by the winds, the Earth was turned into a golden ball, slowly, but surely. - See more at: http://typetrigger.com/trigger/golden%20ball#sthash.PwQsmFhV.dpuf

It was thought to be a historical fiction, an ancient tale that bore no truth. Similarly, the expeditions were thought foolish, and indeed the expeditions were all fruitless. All but one, that is. The artifact was finally found buried deep under the earth, entombed in a sealed, gilded box.

An international committee was established to oversee the research program studying the artifact. Of course, they were not especially interested in the artifact's scientific value, but instead were wary of the potentially catastrophic economic consequences if the artifact was to be misused.

Despite the oversight, abuses were inevitable and unstoppable. Not everyone was immune to greed, and the markets teetered towards collapse with each influx of artificial gold.

To save the global economy, the oversight committee finally came to a decision: To destroy the Hand of Midas, thus forever preventing its use. The chosen method was destruction by atomization, reducing the artifact to a fine
molecular dust.

That was a mistake, the greatest one in our history. The Hand of Midas was not destroyed even when reduced to dust; each atom retained its properties.

In the days to come, as the golden dust was scattered by the winds, the Earth was turned into a golden ball, slowly, but surely. - See more at: http://typetrigger.com/trigger/golden%20ball#sthash.PwQsmFhV.dpuf

It was thought to be a historical fiction, an ancient tale that bore no truth. Similarly, the expeditions were thought foolish, and indeed the expeditions were all fruitless. All but one, that is. The artifact was finally found buried deep under the earth, entombed in a sealed, gilded box.

An international committee was established to oversee the research program studying the artifact. Of course, they were not especially interested in the artifact's scientific value, but instead were wary of the potentially catastrophic economic consequences if the artifact was to be misused.

Despite the oversight, abuses were inevitable and unstoppable. Not everyone was immune to greed, and the markets teetered towards collapse with each influx of artificial gold.

To save the global economy, the oversight committee finally came to a decision: To destroy the Hand of Midas, thus forever preventing its use. The chosen method was destruction by atomization, reducing the artifact to a fine
molecular dust.

That was a mistake, the greatest one in our history. The Hand of Midas was not destroyed even when reduced to dust; each atom retained its properties.

In the days to come, as the golden dust was scattered by the winds, the Earth was turned into a golden ball, slowly, but surely. - See more at: http://typetrigger.com/trigger/golden%20ball#sthash.PwQsmFhV.dpuf

Remember-Me

According to projected medical advances, human life expectancy is expected to peak at 100 years within the near future. Within a century of your death, those who know and love you will themselves be gone. None will remember you, and even those scarce and meaningless traces of you, the proof of your existence, will be eroded to nothingness.

You will be forgotten in the sands of time.

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A Report on the Feasibility of Terrestrial Expeditions

The preliminary finding of this scientific committee regarding the feasibility of terrestrial missions is NEGATIVE. The reasons for this conclusion are summarized below: 

As per prior computer simulations, the density of external medium is insufficient to support any sort of directed propulsion. The measured density of external medium is approximately 0.1% of standard medium, which provides too little reaction force for motion. 

Since it is not possible to rely on external medium, the only feasible alternative is to carry a supply of reaction mass, which can be forcefully expelled to generate a propulsive force. This is similar to the locomotion mechanism of cephalopods. However, since all reaction mass has to be carried locally, this greatly restricts the range of a terrestrial vehicle. The cost of any terrestrial mission will also be prohibitive. 

A final technical point is that while external medium contains a sizable concentration of oxygen, our organs are not adapted to extract oxygen from external medium. Thus, external suits are necessary for any exploration outside the landing module. However, the general opinion of this committee is that manned explorations are cost-ineffective and provide little scientific benefit. Besides the cost and weight of extensive life-support systems necessary to sustain the crew, any manned exploration would require additional specialized equipment for terrestrial locomotion. After all, it is impossible to swim on land.

In light of these technical obstacles, we do not advise any terrestrial undertaking. Instead, we recommend further research into alternative modes of locomotion, perhaps by making trade-offs into the possible axes of motion.

Agent Response to Stimulus

We cannot peer into another mind; all we can do is to observe an agent's reactions to stimulus. Nonetheless, it is possible to model an agent solely by its reactions to stimulus; the agent's mind may thus be considered as some hidden internal states of little importance.

Can we predict with some certainty the future behavior of a simple agent, such as a small insect or animal? With sufficient observation of the agent in a controlled environment, it ought to be possible. We might then describe the complexity of the agent's mind by the number of factors that need to be determined before the agent's actions can be fully predicted.