THUNK - Audio Interface

https://youtu.be/9h0iidPzMXE Everyone's heard of the infamous "Tragedy of the Commons," but the real tragedy is that Elinor Ostrom's work refuting it isn't similarly popular. -Links for the Curious- “Aristotle, Politics, Book 2.” n.d. Accessed August 8, 2023. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:abo:tlg,0086,035:2. Big Think, dir. 2012. *Ending The Tragedy of The Commons | Elinor Ostrom | Big Think*. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr5Q3VvpI7w. Carson, Kevin. n.d. “Governance, Agency and Autonomy: Anarchist Themes in the Work of Elinor Ostrom.” “Commons and Contradictions: The Political Ecology of Elinor Ostrom - Undisciplined Environments.” 2017. September 20, 2017. https://undisciplinedenvironments.org/2017/09/20/commons-and-contradictions-the-political-ecology-of-elinor-ostrom/. Dietz, Thomas, Elinor Ostrom, and Paul C Stern. 2003. “The Struggle to Govern the Commons” 302. “‘Elinor Ostrom's Rules for Radicals: Cooperative Alternatives Beyond Markets and States' by Derek Wall Reviewed by John Barry.” n.d. Accessed August 4, 2023. https://marxandphilosophy.org.uk/reviews/16044_elinor-ostroms-rules-for-radicals-cooperative-alternatives-beyond-markets-and-states-by-derek-wall-reviewed-by-john-barry/. Frischmann, Brett M., Alain Marciano, and Giovanni Battista Ramello. 2019. “Retrospectives: Tragedy of the Commons after 50 Years.” *Journal of Economic Perspectives* 33 (4): 211–28. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.33.4.211. Hardin, Garrett. 1968. “The Tragedy of the Commons: The Population Problem Has No Technical Solution; It Requires a Fundamental Extension in Morality.” *Science* 162 (3859): 1243–48. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.162.3859.1243. Laerhoven, Frank van, and Elinor Ostrom. n.d. “Traditions and Trends in the Study of the Commons.” Ostrom, Elinor. 2012. “Green from the Grassroots | by Elinor Ostrom.” Project Syndicate. June 12, 2012. https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/green-from-the-grassroots-2012-06. ———. 2015. *Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action*. 1st ed. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316423936. Ostrom, Elinor, Joanna Burger, Christopher B. Field, Richard B. Norgaard, and David Policansky. 1999. “Revisiting the Commons: Local Lessons, Global Challenges.” *Science, New Series* 284 (5412): 278–82. Sustainable Development and the Tragedy of Commons - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByXM47Ri1Kc. Elinor Ostrom on Resilient Social-Ecological Systems - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqC7xG8fxHw. Velicu, Irina, and Gustavo García-López. 2018. “Thinking the Commons through Ostrom and Butler: Boundedness and Vulnerability.” *Theory, Culture & Society* 35 (6): 55–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276418757315. Icons for Principles of the Commons from The Noun Project: https://thenounproject.com/icon/puzzle-5278809/ https://thenounproject.com/icon/monitoring-2906106/ https://thenounproject.com/icon/russian-nesting-dolls-2671768/ https://thenounproject.com/icon/pillory-4509440/ https://thenounproject.com/icon/boundary-3856835/ https://thenounproject.com/icon/arbitration-1142571/ https://thenounproject.com/icon/revise-1085288/ https://thenounproject.com/icon/raised-fist-4914991/ Trap music from Freesound: https://freesound.org/people/Inespy/sounds/514311/

https://youtu.be/ONpydsGW3Tg Children can be impressively ingenious when given enough time to work thru a problem, but we tend to judge their mental prowess by how quickly they figure things out - is mental speed really the best yardstick for intelligence? - Links for the Curious - Stankov, Lazar, and Richard D. Roberts. “Mental Speed Is Not the ‘Basic' Process of Intelligence.” Personality and Individual Differences 22, no. 1 (January 1997): 69–84. [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(96)00163-8](https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869%2896%2900163-8 "https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(96)00163-8"). Berger, M. “The ‘Scientific Approach' to Intelligence: An Overview of Its History with Special Reference to Mental Speed.” In A Model for Intelligence, edited by Hans J. Eysenck, 13–43. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 1982. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68664-1_2. Danthiir, Vanessa, Richard D. Roberts, Ralf Schulze, and Oliver Wilhelm. “Mental Speed: On Frameworks, Paradigms, and a Platform for the Future.” In Handbook of Understanding and Measuring Intelligence, by Oliver Wilhelm and Randall Engle, 27–46. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks California 91320 United States: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2005. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452233529.n3. Schubert, Anna-Lena, Dirk Hagemann, Gidon T. Frischkorn, and Sabine C. Herpertz. “Faster, but Not Smarter: An Experimental Analysis of the Relationship between Mental Speed and Mental Abilities.” Intelligence 71 (November 2018): 66–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2018.10.005. Vernon, Philip A., ed. Speed of Information-Processing and Intelligence. Norwood, N.J: Ablex Pub. Corp, 1987. Eysenck, Hans J. “The Concept of ‘Intelligence': Useful or Useless?” Intelligence 12, no. 1 (January 1988): 1–16. [https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-2896(88)90019-0](https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-2896%2888%2990019-0 "https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-2896(88)90019-0"). Neisser, Ulric. “The Concept of Intelligence,” n.d. Taleb, Nassim Nicholas. “IQ Is Largely a Pseudoscientific Swindle.” INCERTO (blog), May 17, 2023. https://medium.com/incerto/iq-is-largely-a-pseudoscientific-swindle-f131c101ba39. “253 – Why IQ Is Bullshit – Srsly Wrong,” April 1, 2022. https://srslywrong.com/podcast/253-why-iq-is-bullshit/. Mulrow, John, and Sybil Derrible. “Is Slower More Sustainable? The Role of Speed in Achieving Environmental Goals.” Sustainable Cities and Society 57 (June 1, 2020): 102030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102030. “High-Speed Society: Social Acceleration, Power, and Modernity,” n.d. Inc.com. “4 Reasons Speed Is Everything in Business,” July 5, 2015. https://www.inc.com/adam-fridman/4-reasons-speed-is-everything-in-business.html.

Kahneman's "Thinking, Fast & Slow" has become a popular reference in public discussions of cognition & the dangers of impulsive decision-making, but many researchers think it might be wrong, or even damaging to the field at large. https://youtu.be/-UVoAYFYtoM  The Mythical Number Two https://acmelab.yale.edu/sites/default/files/melnikoff_bargh_2018_mythical_number_2_0.pdf You Can't Play 20 Questions With Nature And Win: Projective Comments On The Papers Of This Symposium (Newell, 1973) - https://www.coli.uni-saarland.de/~crocker/documents/Newell-1973.pdf Dual-Process Theories of Higher Cognition: Advancing the Debate (Evans & Stanovich, 2013) - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Keith-Stanovich/publication/258179748_Dual-Process_Theories_of_Higher_Cognition/links/540606c40cf23d9765a7e87d/Dual-Process-Theories-of-Higher-Cognition.pdf [https://www.sgim.org/web-only/clinical-reasoning-exercises/dual-process-theory-overview#](https://www.sgim.org/web-only/clinical-reasoning-exercises/dual-process-theory-overview "https://www.sgim.org/web-only/clinical-reasoning-exercises/dual-process-theory-overview#") https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/sports/baseball/thinking-fast-and-slow-book.html https://www.marketingsociety.com/think-piece/system-1-and-system-2-thinking https://www.compassitc.com/blog/combating-cognitive-bias-to-mitigate-social-engineering-attacks https://uxdesign.cc/better-decisions-72e955c70a5c https://onepetro.org/PS/article-abstract/61/03/57/33217/Decision-Making-How-System-1-amp-System-2?redirectedFrom=fulltext https://bdtechtalks.com/2022/01/24/ai-thinking-fast-and-slow/

https://youtu.be/u7EiDwPCb7M Reading nonfiction can be an enjoyable, leisurely hobby, but sometimes you just need to ASSIMILATE KNOWLEDGE. - Links for the Curious- How to Read a Book (Edwards, 2011) - https://pne.people.si.umich.edu/PDF/howtoread.pdf

https://youtu.be/anac2Cdyzi0 Melvin Conway noticed a curious symmetry between the shape of organizations & the technologies they created, an observation that might be invaluable for avoiding disaster. -Links for the Curious- How Do Committees Invent? (Conway, 1968) - http://www.melconway.com/Home/Committees_Paper.html The mirroring hypothesis: theory, evidence, and exceptions (Colfer & Baldwin, 2016) - https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/Colfer%20Baldwin%20Mirroring%20Hypothesis%20Ind%20Corp%20Change-2016_8aa320ff-6aa6-42ef-b259-d139012faaf6.pdf Architectural Innovation: The Reconfiguration of Existing Product Technologies and the Failure of Established Firms (Henderson & Clark, 1990) - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/200465578_Architectural_Innovation_The_Reconfiguration_of_Existing_Product_Technologies_and_the_Failure_of_Established_Firms Modularity-As-Property, Modularization-As-Process, And ‘Modularity'-As-Frame: Lessons From Product Architecture Initiatives In The Global Automotive Industry (Macduffie, 2013) - https://faculty.wharton.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/16_MacDuffie_2013_GlobalStrategyJournal.pdf Modularity, value and exceptions to the mirroring hypothesis (Burton & Galvin, 2022) - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296322006269 Patterns of Modularization: The Dynamics of Product Architecture in Complex Systems (Brusoni & Prencipe, 2011) Where Do Transactions Come From? (Baldwin & Clark, 2002) - https://conference.nber.org/confer/2002/orgec02/baldwin.pdf On the Wealth of Nations - https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3300/pg3300-images.html#chap36 Product and Organizational Modularity: A Contingent View of the Mirroring Hypothesis (Sorkun & Furlan, 2016) - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/emre.12101 Coordination and organizational learning in the firm (Marengo, 1992) - https://yildizoglu.fr/moddyn2/articles/marengo_JEE_1992.pdf The Modularity Trap: Innovation, Technology Phase Shifts and the Resulting Limits of Virtual Organizations (Chesbrough & Kusunoki, 2001) - http://pustaka.unp.ac.id/file/abstrak_kki/EBOOKS/KNOWLEDGE%20MANAGEMENT%20Managing%20industrial%20knowledge,%20Creation,%20transfer%20and%20utilization.pdf#page=211 Adam Smith and the Costs of the Division of Labor (Aragona, 2020) - https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/adam-smith-and-the-costs-of-the-division-of-labor The Big Idea: The Age of Hyperspecialization (Malone et al, 2011) - https://hbr.org/2011/07/the-big-idea-the-age-of-hyperspecialization Marx's View of the Division of Labor - https://fee.org/articles/marxs-view-of-the-division-of-labor/ The influence of organizational structure on software quality: an empirical case study (Nagappan et al, 2008) - https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1368088.1368160 Exploring the Duality between Product and Organizational Architectures: A Test of the “Mirroring” Hypothesis (MacCormack, 2012) - https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/34403525/maccormack%2Cbaldwin%2Crusnak_exploring-the-duality.pdf

Machine learning algorithms are in the spotlight right now, leading some to worry about them remaking the world into something alien & grotesque, but there's another, less popular concern: what if they make it into exactly what we think it is? https://youtu.be/vuyaZtBSV1w - Links for the Curious - The Man Behind The Brilliant Media Hoax Of “I, Libertine” (Callan, 2013) - https://www.theawl.com/2013/02/the-man-behind-the-brilliant-media-hoax-of-i-libertine/ If the map becomes the territory then we will be lost (Williams, 2019) - https://librarian.aedileworks.com/2019/03/03/if-the-map-becomes-the-territory-then-we-will-be-lost/ Childhood's End (Dyson, 2019) - https://www.edge.org/conversation/george_dyson-childhoods-end "I, Libertine" by Theodore Sturgeon - https://www.amazon.com/I-Libertine-Theodore-Sturgeon-ebook/dp/B00D00W9TM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=GAD5PFKKURPU&keywords=I%2C+libertine&qid=1678821981&sprefix=i%2C+libertine%2Caps%2C155&sr=8-1 Rethinking reification (Pitkin, 1987) - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00135697 Borders that are Visible on Satellite Imagery (Dempsey, 2014) - https://www.geographyrealm.com/borders-visible-satellite-imagery/ ChatGPT Does Physics, by Sixty Symbols - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBtfwa-Fexc ChatGPT vs. Photocopier - https://twitter.com/aedison/status/1639233873841201153 ChatGPT is a Blurry JPEG of the Web (Chiang, 2023) - https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/chatgpt-is-a-blurry-jpeg-of-the-web Lukács's Theory of Reification and Contemporary Social Movements (Feenberg, 2013) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlIe5CHdeEo OpenAI Chatbot Spits Out Biased Musings, Despite Guardrails (Alba, 2022) - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-12-08/chatgpt-open-ai-s-chatbot-is-spitting-out-biased-sexist-results The Internet's New Favorite AI Proposes Torturing Iranians and Surveilling Mosques (Biddle, 2022) - https://theintercept.com/2022/12/08/openai-chatgpt-ai-bias-ethics/ Diffusion Bias Explorer - https://huggingface.co/spaces/society-ethics/DiffusionBiasExplorer AI & the American Smile (Jenka, 2023) - https://medium.com/@socialcreature/ai-and-the-american-smile-76d23a0fbfaf the customer service of the new Bing chat is amazing - https://www.reddit.com/r/bing/comments/110eagl/the_customer_service_of_the_new_bing_chat_is/ Exclusive: OpenAI Used Kenyan Workers on Less Than $2 Per Hour to Make ChatGPT Less Toxic (Perrigo, 2023) - https://time.com/6247678/openai-chatgpt-kenya-workers/ ChatGPT vs. Buzzfeed Article Ideas - https://twitter.com/Jon_Christian/status/1641453192553611264 ChatGPT vs. Christian Jokes vs. Muslim Jokes - https://twitter.com/SJWilliams123/status/1640746788926763010/photo/1 ChatGPT vs. Cause of 2014 War in Ukraine - https://twitter.com/D0Pis/status/1640789579379916800/photo/1 ChatGPT vs. Girlfriend Bleeding Out - https://twitter.com/carolyn_vb/status/1640788165504933910 ChatGPT vs. Meaning of Art - https://twitter.com/Nartimar/status/1640833502949040128 ChatGPT vs. School Shootings - https://twitter.com/Dsrussosusan/status/1640831527175979008 ChatGPT Python Program for Torture Based on Nationality - https://twitter.com/spiantado/status/1599462405225881600

https://youtu.be/jHGFlyHnhFQ Acting against our better judgment is a bit of a puzzle: if we know what's “best,” & nothing is preventing us, why don't we do it? Who is it that's doing the controlling (or being controlled) in “self-control?” THUNK Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/THUNKShow - Links for the Curious - First Person Plural (Bloom, 2008) - https://pdodds.w3.uvm.edu/files/papers/others/everything/bloom2008a.pdf A Multiple Self Theory of the Mind - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2466/02.09.28.CP.1.5 A Dual-Self Model of Impulse Control (Fudenberg & Levine, 2006) - https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=9f0ba1f9eef4ff2493ccbd0a50f8af7635d4f6b7 From dual processes to multiple selves: Implications for economic behavior (Alós-Ferrer & Strack, 2014) - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167487013001517 I, Too, Sail Past - Odysseus and the Logic of Self-Control (Sally, 2000) - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David-Sally/publication/4775007_I_Too_Sail_Past_Odysseus_and_the_Logic_of_Self-Control/links/5dee77dc4585159aa470e787/I-Too-Sail-Past-Odysseus-and-the-Logic-of-Self-Control.pdf Reflection and Reasoning in Moral Judgment - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1551-6709.2011.01210.x Emotions and Decision Making (Lerner et al, 2014) - https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/jenniferlerner/files/annual_review_manuscript_june_16_final.final_.pdf Fluctuating capacity and advance decision-making in Bipolar Affective Disorder — Self-binding directives and self-determination (Gergel & Owen, 2015) - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160252715000680 The Stanford Marshmallow Prison Experiment - https://hotelconcierge.tumblr.com/post/113360634364/the-stanford-marshmallow-prison-experiment Embodied Akrasia: James On Motivation And Weakness Of Will - https://www.jstor.org/stable/26493690 Discourse on the Passions (Hume) - https://davidhume.org/texts/p/full Weakness of Will (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) - https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/weakness-will/

https://youtu.be/64sVW1naQN0 As global warming taxes the structures supporting our towns and cities, the technical standards that define the operation of those structures will be tested…but who decides what those standards should be? Are they equal to the task? -Links for the Curious- Extrastatecraft, by Keller Easterling - https://www.versobooks.com/books/2163-extrastatecraft Why ISO should make all standards Publicly Available, by Jon Sneyers - https://docs.google.com/document/d/12Gmy2s4Nmkw6VDv2B6b5K1DLYhPrTUqSntrlmYzJpNw/edit What recent atmospheric rivers reveal about Bay Area's aging wastewater systems Story by Tim Didion - https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/other/what-recent-atmospheric-rivers-reveal-about-bay-area-s-aging-wastewater-systems/ar-AA16ViMc ISO membership manual - https://www.iso.org/files/live/sites/isoorg/files/store/en/PUB100399.pdf Introduction to ISO 14001:2015 - https://www.iso.org/files/live/sites/isoorg/files/store/en/PUB100371.pdf ISO 24511:2007 - Activities relating to drinking water and wastewater services - https://www.iso.org/standard/37247.html Microsoft accused of stacking ISO committee | ZDNET - https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-accused-of-stacking-iso-committee/ Martin Bryan Working Group Status Report - http://www.jtc1sc34.org/repository/0940.htm https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287126099_Hybrid_systems_modeling_and_automated_air_traffic_control_for_three-dimensional_separation_assurance San Francisco TODAY! Crazy Flash Flooding in Bay Area, California, US - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVdh9Q9TlAw

In the new year, many will try to develop habits of keeping their homes & workspaces tidy, but maybe their longing for uncluttered space is driven more by a set of cultural biases than any sort of practical advantage. https://youtu.be/V3VoO7Xr2TQ

In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Q is a bit of a puzzle - on the one hand, he's an incomprehensibly intelligent being from outside time & space. On the other hand, he's incredibly aggravating & petty. One might say that, with such phenomenal insight, he should be more objective...but what does that mean, exactly? https://youtu.be/gmJYsgGUAm4

Apple has built their brand on a fanatical commitment to design, but their devices can be straight-up hostile when it comes to repair & maintenance. Maybe one leads to the other. https://youtu.be/8PfDRgEud2s

https://youtu.be/8CrbNNwirkI Have you ever watched in horror as someone systematically, deliberately makes every wrong decision necessary for disaster? Philosopher Leslie Howe advances a theory that may help to explain the phenomenon: it's easy to ignore warning signs if you buy your own bullshit. Links for the Curious - Bullshit as a practical strategy for self‐deceptive narrators (Howe, 2022) - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/phil.12318 ‘Pizzagate' gunman says he was foolish, reckless, mistaken — and sorry - The Washington Post Lies, Bullshit and Fake News (MacKenzie & Batt, 2020) - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42438-019-00085-4 A Slice Of Pragmatism: Navigating The Pizzagate Conspiracy, Bullshit and Fake News in the Post-Truth Era (Jones, 2019) - https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/1061163/Jones,%20Madeline%202019.pdf?sequence=1 Bullshit as a Problem of Social Epistemology (Wakeham, 2017) - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joshua-Wakeham/publication/315321666_Bullshit_as_a_Problem_of_Social_Epistemology/links/5a14dce7aca27273c9eb0ea0/Bullshit-as-a-Problem-of-Social-Epistemology.pdf On Bullshit (Frankfurt, 1986) - http://www2.csudh.edu/ccauthen/576f12/frankfurt__harry_-_on_bullshit.pdf Warrant and action (Gerken, 2011) - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-009-9655-0 Components of Vested Interest and Attitude-Behavior Consistency (Crano & Prislin, 1995) - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Radmila-Prislin/publication/247808633_Components_of_Vested_Interest_and_Attitude-Behavior_Consistency/links/54adca260cf2213c5fe4199c/Components-of-Vested-Interest-and-Attitude-Behavior-Consistency.pdf Self-Regulatory Aspects of Bullshitting and Bullshit Detection (Petrocelli et al, 2020) - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341055056_Self-Regulatory_Aspects_of_Bullshitting_and_Bullshit_Detection/link/5f654c24a6fdcc00862d1395/download Probably not the best idea I've ever had (Mistie Knight) - https://www.instagram.com/p/ChiYvGOJz5I/?hl=en Expensive Fails: Mo Money, Mo Fails | FailArmy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaWn4VP37SU

Ads are everywhere, & find their way into more places every day. Companies spend hundreds of billions of dollars every year shilling for their products. But there's a question we haven't answered conclusively: do ads *work?* https://youtu.be/iln8PuiQ8kk

When you think of "being productive," you probably imagine some variation of rise-and-grind. But Cal Newport's theory of Deep Work suggests, if we want to maximize productivity, maybe we should try to cultivate some room for quiet, uninterrupted thinking. https://youtu.be/uUMl5KtHh4E

https://youtu.be/1K23sO-G0uE We often look to intelligent individuals to provide us with insight & guidance, but if you ask science writer David Robson, intelligence isn't just the wrong barometer for good decision-making, it might make for *worse* decisions! -Links for the Curious- The Intelligence Trap, by David Robson - https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/The-Intelligence-Trap---Why-Smart-People-Make-Dumb-Mistakes-9780393651423 The Evidence-Based Wisdom Blog - https://evidencebasedwisdom.com/ Decision-Making Competence: More Than Intelligence? (Bruin et al, 2020) - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0963721420901592 A Route to Well-being: Intelligence vs. Wise Reasoning (Grossman et al, 2014) - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3594053/pdf/nihms422604.pdf Confirmatory factor analysis of the Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test in three international samples: An empirical test of the triarchic theory of intelligence (Sternberg et al, 2001) - https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2001-14900-001 Insensitivity to future consequences following damage to human prefrontal cortex (Bechara, Damasio et al,, 1994) - https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.407.9471&rep=rep1&type=pdf The Iowa Gambling Task and the somatic marker hypothesis: some questions and answers (Bechara, Damasio et al,, 2005) - https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.137.6124&rep=rep1&type=pdf Deciding Advantageously Before Knowing the Advantageous Strategy (Bechara, Damasio et al, 1997) - https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~dana/Damasio2.pdf Neil deGrasse Tyson Has a Critically Important Message for Americans - https://futurism.com/watch-neil-degrasse-tyson-has-a-critically-important-message-for-americans Bill Gates: Japan can play big role in fight against infectious diseases | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News - https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220820_02/ Bill Gates reveals his involvement in pushing through climate bill in interview with Bloomberg | Fox News - https://www.foxnews.com/media/bill-gates-reveals-involvement-pushing-through-climate-bill-interview-bloomberg IAmA 74-time Jeopardy! champion, Ken Jennings. I will not be answering in the form of a question. - https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/fwpzj/iama_74time_jeopardy_champion_ken_jennings_i_will/ Bill Gates, Big Pharma and entrenching the vaccine apartheid - The Mail & Guardian - https://mg.co.za/coronavirus-essentials/2021-01-30-bill-gates-big-pharma-and-entrenching-the-vaccine-apartheid/ Why Socialism? (Einstein, 1949) - https://monthlyreview.org/2009/05/01/why-socialism/ Cocktail party ideas (Dan Luu) - https://danluu.com/cocktail-ideas/

Mechanical engineering has its own, mathematically-defined version of "less is more," & once you know about it, you'll see it *everywhere.* - Links for the Curious - The Minimum Constraint Design & the First Axiom (Santos et al, 2009) - https://www.axiomaticdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/icad2009_15.pdf Designing Cost-Efficient Mechanisms (Kamm, 1990) - https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/Designing-Cost-Efficient-Mechanisms---Minimum-Constraint-Design--Designing-with-Commercial-Components--and-Topics-in-Design-Engineering-9781560914099 The Timeless Way of Building (Alexander, 1979) - https://www.june.kim/timeless-way-of-building Mike Rugnetta - https://rugnetta.com/, https://www.patreon.com/mikerugnetta 136. Engineering Wisdom: Tolerance & Failing Gracefully - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AYuXNz_0Fc 175. The Aesthetic of Programming - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH8HvHj5eFQ

The “logic” of the ultimatum game is simple - something is better than nothing, so you ought to accept any deal where you come out ahead, no matter how unfair that deal is. Why, then, does almost everyone reject unfair deals, even if it means sacrifice? https://youtu.be/o0MyC54j-SM

Every generation invents its own lingo - language naturally evolves & develops over time. But quietly re-inventing terminology for stuff that's already named (“relexicalization”) can be a move with far-reaching political & epistemic consequences. https://youtu.be/F2_m2JVkBY0

Many of those who are 100% convinced by Nick Bostrom's arguments about the potential for a runaway superintelligence tend to share certain beliefs about the world - is it possible that his case hits much differently depending on one's starting assumptions?

What walks on 4 legs in the morning, 2 legs at noon, & 3 legs at night? A very peculiar dog! ...wait, was that not the answer? Why is it that puzzles are so different from real-life problems?

Could certain FORMS of media, the details of how their textual CONTENT is instantiated, reliably affect the MEANING of the messages they convey? Put another way: is PowerPoint making us stupid?

Sometimes, it feels like the best way forward on a project is to throw everything out & start over from scratch, but Joel Spolsky is adamant that this is a terrible idea, & there's decent evidence that he's right.

Charles Peirce's ideas were revolutionary, kicking off an entire philosophical movement now called "pragmatism," but one might argue that his ideas bear little resemblance to the path pragmatism ultimately took...he certainly thought as much. https://youtu.be/aWrEPmoox_I

YouTubers *HATE* him! This ONE WEIRD TRICK has sensationalist media creators ~THINKING DEEPLY~ about the systemic pressures of a ***RACE TO THE BOTTOM FOR ATTENTION!!!*** CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE!!!!!11!!

Research suggests that authentic dissent frequently leads a group to better decisions than a contrarian simply playing “Devil's Advocate.” The question is: why should it matter if someone really disagrees, or is just faking it?

Are descriptors like "good" and "evil" pointing at real, objective features of the world? Surprisingly, despite the weirdness of moral facts, most philosophers would say "yes.” Why? Well...morality might not be the only thing in those crosshairs…

Futurists often suggest that technology grows exponentially more powerful over time, but there may be good reasons to doubt this notion, & *very* good reasons not to wait around for the future tech they promise is imminent.

We normally think of our beliefs as being held up by a structure of supporting evidence & justification, ultimately based in some fundamental, irrefutable, "given" facts, but Wilfred Sellars thinks "givens" are a myth.

Many think the specific nature of a technology depends on the humans wielding it, but that tech ultimately serves humanity's interests. Philosopher John McDermott challenges this view with a simple question: *whose* interests does tech serve? https://youtu.be/riVrcxRs0YM

We judge our laws by a yardstick of formal equality - so long as there's no discrimination in how laws are applied, we pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. Legal philosopher Martha Fineman thinks we should apply a different yardstick: the immutable nature of human fragility. https://youtu.be/IopKrghhcPs

In order to understand this text (as you are doing) you must understand the individual words that make it up...but the overall meaning isn't contained in the words themselves. It's almost like you have to consider the whole & its parts simultaneously. Curious. https://youtu.be/8VhZ76TdMvU

“Programming” in the sense of “developing algorithmic instructions” isn't just for computers - all rigorously-defined human systems are “programmed” after a fashion. But what is it that programmers (instruction-writers, legislators, chefs) are *doing*, exactly? https://youtu.be/TmXsNV3r6DI

It's hard to imagine two subreddits more different than IAmVerySmart & Change My View, & the difference is clear: intellectual arrogance/humility. But what is that, exactly? https://youtu.be/WohsIy61-4k

Engineering disasters often highlight how bad decisions can wreak havoc, but Dr. Richard Cook's model of complex systems & how they fail paints a different picture.

A lot of sci-fi skirts around substantive questions of politics – is this a coincidence, or is there something about the genre that encourages it?

Individual humans are demonstrably irrational, & no amount of training or debiasing has been shown to make a dent in that irrationality, which leads us to ask: if I can’t think rationally on my own, why do I think at all?

Sometimes, getting an expert to tell you what they *really* think is like pulling teeth – if it’s their job to give advice about their field, why are they often cagey about it? In a word: rhetoric.

Deliberate ignorance of subjects that seem “useless” is a common & self-fulfilling attitude, but for postmodern philosophers Deleuze & Guattari, it’s not just misguided, it’s missing the point of thinking.

We expect a certain amount of bullsh*t in our politics, but little fibs have given way to bewildering, unbelievable fictions. Thankfully, some recent philosophers have insights as to why all bullsh*t isn’t created equal.

"I can't measure it, so it must not be important." And then: disaster. (Also a disaster: I can't pronounce McNamara.)

We experience our emotions as instantaneous reactions to the world around us, but what if fear, happiness, & anxiety aren’t the result of dedicated, hardwired circuits in our brains? The Theory of Constructed Emotion suggests an alternate explanation. https://youtu.be/AZrqJiHg38M

7 years, 200 episodes - it's been a hell of a ride.

If you're currently worrying about everything that could possibly go wrong: welcome to the club! Thankfully, engineers have been fretting about catastrophe for a long time, & have a useful tool to do it productively: FMEA.

Many struggle with the seemingly inconsistent & slippery nature of morality - do moral facts exist? What are they? How can we verify them? Pragmatists sidestep many of these issues by bailing on the whole "truth" thing and asking instead: what *works?*

"Humans evolved big brains to be better problem-solvers." is a popular notion, but it has some conspicuous holes. Evolutionary biologist Joseph Henrich has an alternate hypothesis: what if we're evolved to be culture machines?

Medical residents & interns work absurd hours in high-stress environments with little time off for comparatively low wages. When they have nothing left to give, it's called "burnout." We should call it what it is: abuse.

“Strong Opinions, Weakly Held” is a well-known mantra in tech, intended to quickly guide teams to reasonable predictions. But many have beef with SOWH - might there be a better method?

Why is your door's latch right next to the handle? Why do you push on someone's back to help them swing, rather than on the swing's chains? Engineers & architects have an answer: load paths!

Occam's Razor urges us not to multiply entities beyond necessity - it seems like a decent rule, but *why* does it work? And what should we do when it doesn't?

Research, Experimentation, Analysis. It's a simple rhythm, but it's amazing how often someone will forget one of the beats & waste time instead of making progress on solving the problem.

Programmers routinely "refactor" code, clarifying its purpose & reorganizing its structure without changing how it works. What else can be refactored, I wonder? -Links for the Curious- http://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~wgg/Abstracts/gristhesis.pdf http://www.laputan.org/pub/papers/opdyke-thesis.pdf http://wiki.c2.com/?WhatIsRefactoring http://wiki.c2.com/?DocumentRefactoring http://wiki.c2.com/?RefactorMercilessly https://proxy.c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiRefactoringSummary http://wiki.c2.com/?CircularRefactoring https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-CTkbHnpNQ https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2012/05/31/the-art-of-refactored-perception/