fw: Idea Machines ⚗️& losing sleep over Java
Ro.bert
here’s your weekly dose of treats 💌
a weekly list of goodies, ideas, pieces of research, principles, models, and other random stuff curated by Robert
fiery stuff I've been ingesting
Idea machines: Effective Altruism is the strongest example of what I think of as an Idea Machine: a network of operators, thinkers, and funders, centered around an ideology, that’s designed to turn ideas into outcomes. /// beware - there are some limitations to it
NVIDIA’s Robot AI Finally Enters The Real World
First image of Earth taken from outer space
The Event Horizon Telescope network has captured the second-ever direct image of a black hole — called Sagittarius A* — at the centre of the Milky Way.
4K 60fps Japanese Countryside Walking Tour
The tallest man ever (video)
Life advice from Tim Urban
Intensity of preference
The marathon monks of Japan: the world’s toughest ultramarathon
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Finally linking a piece I enjoyed: Beauty after Covid
“Lex Fridman talks about love a lot, and I think this is his answer. It’s a pretty common one. Maybe it’s even the tautological answer. Beyond the narrow interhuman definition of love, there’s love for nature, love for simplicity, love for truth, and love for winning. Love is beautiful. But here we are in 2022, and Moloch is what’s left. When we are all atomized, work from home, entertainment from home, economic units. I like to think I’d resist wireheading, but would I really? Go read the above linked piece. “If everyone hates the current system, who perpetuates it?
Sorry I don’t have answers. But when you see smart people turning away from democracy and liberalism, I hope you understand why. The system doesn’t seem to believe in beauty, and so many people have no values outside the system. If there really is a narrative controller, and you’d like to keep power, you can’t keep doing this. Crypto and decentralization are tools for a low trust society. Is that the best we can hope for?
Exit is probably the best we can hope for. I know many people have been saying this, it’s just hard to accept. It’s all cycles, this is how the world breathes. Now we need the leaders of this new world. A positive vision for the future. Beauty. Love. Culture builders. I haven’t really met these people. I don’t think I’m strong enough to do it, I lack conscientiousness. We need the strong men that are built by weak societies. In many ways my life was too nice. We don’t need too many, so perhaps it’s okay that I haven’t met them, but I hope to God they are out there.
It’s time for real honest debates about the future of humanity. Personally, I believe in technological liberation. I will spend my life fighting for it. But there might be other answers and my mind is always open. I support diversity. The monoculture sucks.”
tweets for thought
YouTube archives
Rational improvisation
study like Leonardo da Vinci painting the future (playlist)
war stories 🇺🇦
Disclaimer: There is no such thing as unbiased news. You can call it “less biased news”. There are numerous other biases that can influence news reporting too.
Overt political bias is probably the least concerning aspect of a democracy because it is simple to identify and weigh.
The more concerning biases in news reporting today are those that are more subtle, such as financial incentives and self-censorship of topics. Many topics are simply not covered, and the mainstream media does not question why.
some stuff I was reading
What is the best way Ukraine can stop artillery? Spoiler: drones rule.
Is it worth provoking Putin to add Sweden and Finland to NATO? Yes.
Do Russians want Putin forever?
Russian Oligarchs and Putin’s Future
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🇺🇦 You can donate to support the people in Ukraine.
All funds will be used to help those in need, affected by armed conflict, blood collection, mobilization of volunteers and resources, and emergency activities.
Other places
(͡ ͡° ͜ つ ͡͡°) Telegram group for me to save & share random stuff that might be useful — I find it to be slightly easier vs. Discord for now, but we will see.
👾 some YouTube video essays
— Robert
Thank you for reading!
How’re you and yours doing this week? Any major changes to your status quo, or are things fairly locked-in and predictable at the moment? I respond to every email I get—consider sending me a message.