Following along w/ the last post, (and with a ht tip to Matt Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist) here are advances that I feel are just in their infancy. Perhaps these are the starting points for the same rapid increase in productivity and well being that occurred from 1914 to 1970. Technology• Machine Learning… Continue reading Reasons for Optimism
What’s next
At the moment, I’m reading three books that are all linked together:• Brad Delong’s Slouching Towards Utopia,• Crabgrass Frontier by Kenneth Jackson, and• Robert Gordon’s Rise and Fall of American growth. I’m fascinated by how electricity into the home, the advent of the internal combustion engine pushed the US so far forward at the start of… Continue reading What’s next
Consequences – positive and negative
When I think consequences, I usually jump to the negatives. That shouldn’t always be the case. In this article, Tyler Cowan gets into how AI might have positive consequences:https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2023/05/might-ai-possibly-boost-social-trust.htmlI tend to share his optimism. If we can get to point where the AI algorithm is transparent, or open sourced I can see a lot of… Continue reading Consequences – positive and negative
Some AI Thoughts
I just finished Reid Hoffman’s pdf on AI and read through this TedTalk by Kai-Fu Lee and it occurs to me that several themes run through these two essays: I’ve used ChatGPT-3 a little bit and it is useful in finding tailored results quicker than a Google search, but only if I ask the right… Continue reading Some AI Thoughts
ESG
As a society are we trending away from ESG? At least in the short term? With all the Tech layoffs, generally from companies that are profitable, but just want to make more money by saving cost on people, are we back to shareholder capitalism? Is Adam Smith’s invisible hand guiding us. Are Friedman, von Mises… Continue reading ESG
Knowing & Learning
I’m wondering if it’s better to know a lot about a subject or be able to learn a lot about it. I’m thinking in terms of the classic BCG power matrix. Obviously the upper right quadrant is the place to be. Knowing a lot and being able to learn a lot about a subject. Conversely,… Continue reading Knowing & Learning
Information Sources
I posted a while back on my sources of information on the internet. Probably time to update that now as I just signed up for a Mastodon account (RAholt@mastodon.sdf.org) Not sure if Twitter goes away, but that seems like a distinct possibility. That will make me sad as I use Lists as a big source… Continue reading Information Sources
Philosophy
I’ve always been interested in this subject. But from an external perspective of “how would one ever master it?” I ran across these articles from Helena de Bres via the Point Magazine and found them quite interesting to read:Part 1: thepointmag.com/examined-life/help-academic-philosophy/Part 2: thepointmag.com/examined-life/whats-your-philosophy-of-life/Part 3: thepointmag.com/examined-life/the-meaning-of-life/Part 4: thepointmag.com/examined-life/the-consolations-of-analytic-philosophy/ This paragraph, from Part Two, really piqued my… Continue reading Philosophy
Action! (?)
So there are a few quips that are floating that I’ve been hearing more and more. One is “get stuff (well not actually stuff but sh!t) done.” The other is “doing > talking.” Not that either if these are “wrong” but that they’re nuanced. It’s like a 30 second soundbite. Sounds great, but when you… Continue reading Action! (?)
19th Century English Authors and Life Today
Here’s a quick list of English authors from the 19th century that have stood the “test of time” Charles Dickens Tale of Two Cities – greatest opening lines ever. I like the 3rd & 4th one as muc, if not more. than the first two. “it was the age of wisdom, it was the age… Continue reading 19th Century English Authors and Life Today