This week, I learned:

  • Quantum computing is slow, has low transfer bandwidths, and only prime factorization has an exponentially faster algorithm. via
  • The hidden brain podcast. What would Socrates do? Also Philosophy Bites Podcast: why do philosophers use example. And: the happiness lab: happiness lessons of the ancients
    • How many of our beliefs are truly our own? How many are a product of our environment? Contrast these and identify your true beliefs
    • For every thought and action you have, even tiny ones, ask “Why am I doing that?” Dig deeper because it may not be intrinsic
    • One way to become memorable is to.write stuff others will reproduce for a long time. Plato and Aristotle did that
    • everyone has multiple personality. This is partly because different parts of the brain evolved independently for different functions. System one and system two thinking are just such one broad classification. e.g. We think our train is moving when the nearby train moves because our visual brain is faster than our somatic brain.
    • Good lessons and pitches cater to the rational AND the subconscious. Reason AND story. To activate different parts of the brain. That’s why philosophers use examples
    • Philosophy brings change through reason. Revelations: through sudden insight. Rhetoric: through insight.
    • Act as if you already are what you want to become. Aristotle
    • Align your environment (including habits) to your beliefs. It will become easier to act your beliefs then.
    • All virtues are moderation. It’s possible to take every virtue to the wrong extreme
    • Some Christians have wristband that reads WWJD. What would Jesus do? Explore yourself a reminder of what would X do. Maybe Benjamin Franklin, Socrates, Feynman, etc
    • People mistake their environment for their feelings. 1970s Experiment: People on a shaky bridge think they love each other. Experiment: people rationalize things irrespective of reality.
    • “The Unexamined Life” is about questioning theories or stories or maps constantly. It’s also about questioning our thoughts and emotions constantly. Mindfulness is the VERBAL way of doing this. Meditation is the NON-VERBAL way of paying attention. Both are Processes to remove distraction and increase authenticity.
    • Learning about people is a good way to learn about ourselves. And vice versa.
  • Lica has a fascinating demo of how a document can be converted into a video story.
  • Spillnot doesn’t spill drinks even when you swing!
  • Things super-intelligences could do that humans can’t:
    • Solving complex mathematical problems
    • Advanced scientific discovery (quantum computing, nanotechnology, biotechnology)
    • Ultra-precise predictive modeling in complex systems (climate, economics, social dynamics)
    • Optimizing global systems at high precision (logistics, traffic, energy distribution, resource allocation)
    • Universal translation (unknown languages, animal communication, extraterrestrial signals)
    • Deep medical personalization: individualized medical treatments from genetics, environment, and lifestyle
    • Create new materials: Designing materials or chemicals with specific properties
    • Complex system integration: combining AI, bio tech, nano tech in new ways
    • Philosophical insights: new perspectives or solutions to age-old philosophical dilemmas
    • Space exploration and colonization
    • Predicting natural disasters
    • Customized education at scale
  • Ways of working with them
    • Collaborative problem solving
    • Creative collaboration
    • Decision support
    • Personalized education
    • Establishing ethical and safety protocols
    • Recreational and leisure activities
  • Mini-GPTs is an interesting approach to shrink LLMs and make them domain specific. It takes existing LLMs and removes neurons not used in a specific domain (e.g. law, medicine, etc.)
  • Book to read (again) about how to take a team beyond their abilities even if you’re not the expert
    • “Measure What Matters” by John Doerr
    • “High Output Management” by Andy Grove
    • “The Checklist Manifesto” by Atul Gawande
    • “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries
    • “Creativity, Inc” by Ed Catmull
    • “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz
    • “The Four Disciplines of Execution” by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling