aquarkortwo

"Demis Hassabis talks about how we have very little comprehension of what is coming. He specifically talks about how we can't wait until things change so radically that we are forced to confront them, but instead, need to start talking and planning now.

We can't possibly grasp how quick things will happen, Hassabis talks about how money will become irrelevant if advancements come like he thinks they will over the next decade. He thinks we will reach AGI within this decade, which will change everything that is foundational to our modern way of life."

They also had strong communities in many cultures/cases. Community, "sharing the load", and having a sense of purpose (e.g. kids, community members) helps a huge amount.

Caregiver burnout is real and we have to self-regulate even if no one else seems to be stepping up.

If a person minimizes their own feelings and doesn't realize it, be it towards family or others, they will minimize yours' when the time comes and not see the damage they are doing regardless of how many ways you try telling them.

Once an addict, always an addict (e.g. gambling). The game may change but the instinct to react in a fight-or-flight way and protect one's wins versus think rationally will kick in.

If feeling neglected in a relationship, not to compare to others and try to incentivize one's partner to step up.

Shutting down and minimizing and invalidating and gas-lighting can be incredibly damaging. It isn't an "offensive" technique but damaging nonetheless.

I grew up watching Avatar the Last Airbender — as a kid and young adult, I rewatched the series at least 6, 7 times (probably closer to 10-15). Anyone else love Avatar as a kid? How did it impact you? Do you now watch it with your kids? Watching clips of the new Netflix series reminds me about how deep of an impact the show had I find the show gets better with each iteration: it hits especially differently each time I experience a different type of deep loss.

Legend of Korra is amazing too: it does depression, trauma, ptsd especially well. I didn't appreciate LoK as much until adulthood hit.

https://www.cbr.com/avatar-uncle-iroh-most-inspiring-quotes/...

>it won't matter, so get drunk with your friends and stack some rocks.

Good to take a balanced approach, but my thoughts too a lot of the time. I am most likely going to go to Patagonia in the next few weeks/months, a dream of mine, and then go home and see grandparents while they are still around.

My approach as well. Yep, agreed: we are just blips in the cosmic timeline.

The links are wonderful, thank you.

I appreciated the part about caregiver burnout:

"They are the shadow soldiers in the battle, where all the attention and support goes to the patient."

"Something else changed. Suddenly, the two layoffs stopped being of any consequence. They quite frankly didn’t matter anymore."

Beautiful piece. I feel this very deeply these days. Loved ones are all that matter in life (including ones no longer in my life).

The ideas here remind me a bit of the book "Man's Search for Meaning."

Came across this on my nightly read. This definitely feels like "pop science." Opinions? I have met people who have been consistently accurate (e.g. Trump when he ran the first time, Russia-Ukraine 2 years before).

Helpful partners and friends who try to find opportunities most definitely can help (and in unbalanced relationships, can do it all), like the market research team at a startup.

> Or when someone is intelligent enough you don't figure out they're not honest until it's too late. <shiver>

Very true, and it may not even be malicious on their end, just avoidance and their brain rationalizing/minimizing without them realizing it.

In a world where we have personalized tutors and assistants that can pass on knowledge much more efficiently and effectively than human teachers can.

Agreed about being in for a treat! Aww, book three is absurd but one of the most impactful books I have read. I was angry/frustrated with the ending for weeks but that just made the ideas stick better and hold more weight.

Someone already mentioned Permutation City by Egan, but look at his website for other math ones; he is considered one of the hardest sci-fi authors out there (?).

I second "The Three Body Problem" series (writing is meh but I think the ideas are excellent. Disclaimer: first half of book one is a slog to get through but the second half onwards is fantastic, in my opinion. I keep thinking about the book many years later on a near biweekly basis).

"The Gods Themselves" by Asimov isn't a book mentioned here yet—it has nice math-physics energy ideas.