Are you interested in anything, not just as a resume line? (Brain Ticklers, Ed. 47)
Inspiresting links for February 2024 that [carnivas thinks] will tickle the brains [of his (purportedly) intelligent friends].
Hope all well in 2024 so far, folks. One-twelfth of the year is done indeed, what do you have to show for it? I don’t even have a newsletter edition to show, since I took a break in January. But let’s do it this time. I had a busier than usual January, including some travel for a third of it, but back home now with a jet lag and groggy mood. Blame that for any issues with the links.
History (or its first draft)
The historical context of the United Kingdom’s road signs. I see very similar ones in India, but I didn't know they all originated in the UK. In case you think “obviously”, they aren’t from the colonial period. Do you remember who’s been the world’s superpower post WW2?
An interesting note on "World's Fairs" and how they are coming back after the sole superpower is ceding ground to others.
For more than a thousand years long distance non-instrumental navigation has been practiced over large areas of Polynesia, Micronesia, and perhaps in parts of Melanesia. (This has all but vanished now, thanks to colonialism)
Demand for shipping routes within Asia is rising as producers diversify supply chains. (No mention of India, though)
A new breed of insurers is finding opportunity as larger companies exit some markets through "parametric insurance". As the name says, it is about a parameter, and the insurance payout is based on a ‘metric’ that defines the said parameter.
A lot of things went right in 2023 (right as in “correct”, not political right!), which didn't make a splash in the news. Good to scan through the 66 headlines. (A few did surprise me, like the use of CRISPR already for treatments).
Louisiana Creole is enjoying a modest revival. Very interesting piece if you (like me) like history and languages.
Society
Content generated by generative AI and augmented AI is perceived as of higher quality than that produced by human experts and augmented human experts. However, revealing the source of content production reduces (but does not reverse) the perceived quality gap between human- and AI-generated content.
Cheating fears over chatbots were overblown, research says. I wonder if there has been a systematic study if ChatGPT could give answers that evade the audits.
And btw, encouraging Internet users to rely on search engines to verify questionable online articles can make them more prone to believing false or misleading information
From its earliest days, the mall has been a miniature Main Street, where kids were initially encouraged to play, to shop, to eat, and to form their own identities and social groups in the process. To deny them that space now is both ahistorical and counterproductive.
A good note on the results of more parental supervision and less outdoor play is available here. Well, the article doesn't say it, but IMO it includes the rise of Homo Myopians.
Technology built the cashless society. Advances are helping the unhoused so they’re not left behind. (This story is about the US, but I have seen QR codes with beggars in Bangalore, no kidding).
Laughter might be universal, but lol is not
From Thoroughbred horses and Steinway pianos to caviar and opera tickets, it has become expensive to live like a billionaire. (Hmm, that’s kind of bad. I feel sad for them. Poor things. No? Okay)
Interesting-Perspectives
The industries AI is disrupting are not lucrative
Everyone seems to agree that self-report questions are fraught with lies, biases, errors, and other inaccuracies. We all use them anyway.
The original sin of modernity. We have cleared access, but at the cost of discovery. The only real solution is to find tastemakers. (Hey, like this newsletter. You don’t agree? Okay)
A fascinating take on why we might continue to exist after shuffling off this mortal coil - i.e., the existence of after life.
Fever, anorexia, and depression - How their causes have a common pattern. Fascinating. All towards maintaining stasis.
Our spatial descriptions of social life are more than just metaphors. They reveal something fundamentally spatial about how we experience our social lives. Nice.
A couple of interesting pieces on the Ram Temple: (1) We are witnessing the start of a mighty attempt to begin to pretend that 500 years of Indian history — the entirety of the British Raj and the Mughal era — didn’t happen. (2) In a best-case scenario, we at least become the Hindu version of the UAE, where the dominance of one religion underpins a vague secular modernity that is required to attract Western investments.
Science & Technology
Useful round up of all developments on AI in 2023.
A deep-dive on mass spying and surveillance (first the difference between the two), and how GenAI makes it easier for those who do.
Very exciting: India unveils flatpack field hospital that can be airdropped to disaster zones. The portable unit, comprising mini cubes of medical equipment, enables surgeons to be operating within an hour.
The life and times of Yahoo Pipes. As a user of it circa 2010, I can vouch for how exciting it was.
If you are reading this newsletter, you don't need this. But if you have a friend that needs -- Significantly enhancing adult intelligence with gene editing may be possible. (It is a serious article, don't go by how I have worded this).
Artificial intelligence can now tell tales featuring your kids’ favorite characters.
Interesting piece on AI: Copyright law doesn’t bend to accommodate your vision of the digital future—the digital future bends to accommodate copyright law. The trajectory of any emerging technology is NOT inevitable, especially when its intended trajectory undermines the interests of existing industries.
AI Hallucinations are useful and help us get creative. We should welcome them since it forces us to fact-check. And this will also be a barrier for machines to take over.
What to expect from "Tab", an anticipated wearable AI that is described as a superpower tamagotchi. (This looks like a product to keep a… well, tab on.).
Astronomers spotted something perplexing near the beginning of time
Personal Development
To worry is to work. Are you working on something which is important enough to worry about? If not, maybe it's time you seek it out.
Intellectual masturbation is not a virtue. Philosophy should ultimately be about actually living the good life, not just coming up with the most coherent theory about how to do so. (Oops, that hurts.)
Random
A new book about Fungi provides a prescient warning about the mysterious and deadly world of fungi—and how to avert further loss across species, including our own. Scary. I have been afraid of fungi from the time I read articles about how they take over the brains of other species and make them act in suicidal ways. Do you still want to eat mushrooms, btw?
What would that be like, to just be interested in something, not as a stepping stone or as a resume line. (No, the article doesn't answer that.). An interesting quote from it: We started school at 8 and went until 4:30. Nights were for other worthless extracurriculars to pad out our applications. I did debate team and jazz piano, student journalism and improv, extra science and math classes on weekends. None of it meant anything. I feel bad for children of this age, including my daughter, for how many things that were optional earlier have become mandatory now. (Btw, as I summarize the newsletter, I realize that a lot of things in this newsletter are in the areas of me being “interested in something, but not as a resume line”)