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Field Notes

A weekly dispatch from the longer frequencies. Mathematics, physics, marine biology, and digital rights.

status: Growing

Status Indicator

The status indicator reflects the maturity of the content: • rough — Initial thoughts, unstructured • growing — Being actively developed • evergreen — Stable, well-developed content • withered — No longer being maintained This helps readers understand the completeness of the content.

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certainty: likely

Confidence Rating

The confidence tag expresses how well-supported the content is, or how likely its overall ideas are right. This uses a scale from "impossible" to "certain", based on the Kesselman List of Estimative Words: 1. "certain" 2. "highly likely" 3. "likely" 4. "possible" 5. "unlikely" 6. "highly unlikely" 7. "remote" 8. "impossible" Even ideas that seem unlikely may be worth exploring if their potential impact is significant enough.

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importance: 9/10

Importance Rating

The importance rating distinguishes between trivial topics and those which might change your life. Using a scale from 0-10, content is ranked based on its potential impact on: - the reader - the intended audience - the world at large For example, topics about fundamental research or transformative technologies would rank 9-10, while personal reflections or minor experiments might rank 0-1.
2026A New Result in Persistent Homology Worth Paying Attention ToGrowing0

About Field Notes

My weekly column for the subjects that refuse to be rushed. Mathematics does not care about your timeline. Neither does the ocean. I publish these on the slower cadence they deserve, because depth is a luxury the daily column can't always afford, and some thoughts need a week to become worth reading.

2026.10.01 10:00:18 in Naperville, IL
Last visitor from Mitaka, Japan
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