Archive of posts from 2019
Civilizational Memory and Resilient Knowledge
[Update: this is a subconscious paraphrase, or at least extension, of Jonathan Blow’s excellent talk Preventing the Collapse of Civilization which I watched a few months ago. Thanks JP for the reminder.]
Two Theories of Japanese Culture
Two favorite theories from Japan and the Shackles of the Past:
Where are you from?
This used to bug me, but the question has some depth.
Oh, is that all?
How did the ancient Egyptians build those giant pyramids? Did they have access to some secret technique that we don’t know about? Well, yes and no.
Decentralization
A very thoughtful recent blog post makes the point that institutions that seem “decentralized” or claim that as a value often exhibit centralizing tendencies over time. Some recommendations:
Pluribus Skepticism
Is Facebook’s new poker AI really the best in the world?
Defensive Randomization
Machine learning is common and its use is growing. As time goes on, most of the options that you face in your life will be chosen by opaque algorithms that are optimizing for corporate profits. For example, the prices you see will be the highest price under which you’ll buy, as based on an enormous amount of data about you and your past decisions.
Surveillance Valley
Just read Yasha Levine’s Surveillance Valley. There was a lot more new information than I was expecting but also a lot of “guilt by association” arguments and some interpretations I found a bit sketchy. Curious if anyone else has read it and what they thought. The book has two main sections.