webnrrd2k

Don't they sell used cars in Europe?

This whole argument reminds me a bit of the book, Godel-Escher-Back, which is (partially) about the interplay of formal and informal systems. Both are necessary, and one without the other tend to be useless or sterile.

Sometimes, when I've asked for an reason/explanation about some physics problem, I get a response like: "because of this equation". And in my brain there is a mismatch, were it doesn't feel at all like an actual explanation, because abstract symbol manipulation feels like, well, symbol manipulation.

But I think that's the wrong interpretation, because someone who has been really deep in mathematics for a long time feels the math at a deeper level than I do. For example, it's like explaining something that's true because F=MA. Before I had any physics knowledge someone answering a question with "It's because F=MA" would have felt off, in the same way. After doing a bunch of problems then F=MA is a perfectly fine answer. They are just a lot better at getting meaning from the symbols and following the manipulations.

It makes me uneasy whenever someone suggests forcing an undesirable class of people to become concentrated in institutions (or, perhaps, camps). Historically it hasn't worked out so well. But maybe this time it will be different?

Hormones, I think... I'm not sure exactly what the g.p. post is referring to, but in people there are a lot of non-direct interactions, too. The one's I'm (only slightly) familiar with are hormones. Maybe there are others?

Also check out clojure, and the books: Norvig's PAIP, or Graham's ANSI Common Lisp.

It's talking about lisp macros, idempotent languages, and a few other features of lispey languages. I'd suggest the book On Lisp, or Lisp in Small Pieces as good places to learn about it, but there are a ton of other resources that may be better suited to your needs.

Re: "problem that was best left unsolved"

This is a good example of a hard-won life lesson... There might be a solution to a problem, but the solution is worse than the original problem. I semi-jokingly call this "the healing power of apathy". The reality of it is that, sometimes, there are problems in life where benign neglect is the best response.

Staying with the sinking ship analogy, by patching your sinking ship you will avoid sinking, which is a really big problem.

I know what I'd choose givin the option of avoiding sinking, and possibly dealing with unknown and probably minor consequences later; or dealing with a potentially deadly sinking now, and avoiding unknown (and probably minor) consequences later.

It sounds like an episode of Better Off Ted [1]

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Off_Ted

I was at another OG-style web page [1] today, and thought the same thing. I found a Badger airbrush, a 155 Anthem [2], that I completely forget I had.

[1] https://sites.google.com/site/donsairbrushtips/home

[2] https://sites.google.com/site/donsairbrushtips/home

I wonder if an elephant will ever have a human as an emotional support animal? I've heard that they can become very close with their mahout.

Everything would look like Kai's Power Tools

I didn't say or, I think, even imply that "any metaphor will do". And I'm also not saying that war doesn't exist, or that dancing will somehow replace war.

I said "it's certainly possible to use different metaphors to describe or model the same situation." Then I described some situations where dance, not war or physical conflict, is used to settle disagreements.

Its not silly at all. First, we're discussing metaphors, and it's certainly possible to use different metaphors to describe or model the same situation.

There are dances that decide disagreements. Different cultures use dance for different purposes. What about dance contests? Break dancing? Krumping? People dance to attract partners, to establish social ranking, etc... all of which which are a forms of social contest.

Can't it be both?

Can't it be both?

Landing at McMurdo Station seems a lot like landing on a giant, slow-moving aircraft carrier.

I wonder how similar their ILS is to the ILS used on navy aircraft carriers?

The linked blog post is hardly a way forward, it's a high level summary of LLM uses and drawbacks with no real insight. The conclusion: "The potential for generative AI to transform industries is vast, but realizing this potential requires a thoughtful, strategic approach that balances innovation with practicality." Really?

There are no excellent examples of anything. I feel cheated.

A quick search turns up problems, enough so that, as a consumer, I'd be concerned. Is that hard enough data to reach a conclusion in a major scientific journal? No.

Is it enough data so that, as a consumer looking to purchase one, I would be concerned? Probably.

Is it enough data that I'd expect some engineer at Google (or wherever) to pay attention and address? Certainly, I would expect some engineering team to pay attention to public forums and address issues as they arise. It doesn't seem to be happening. If these phones are supposed to be a flagship items, and I think it's reasonable to claim that they are, it's also reasonable to expect flagship support.

On the rare occasion that I explain it, I tell people that it's important because I want my kids (and others) and their kids to be able to grow up in the same world I did, and to be able to have the same sort of experiences I did. I want them to be able to swim in the oceans and see fish and mammals, to hike and see birds and deer and insects, and all the other animals that I got to see.

In addition to wealth taxes, inheritance taxes are also important to get right. The US, historically, had fairly high inheritance taxes because it was thought to prevent dynastic families from taking over. Over the last few decades, inheritance taxes have been reduced, and it seems to correspond with a large concentration of wealth in the upper classes.

Just a data point I'd like to throw in... I'll get some horrible headaches if I don't get enough sleep and eat too much salt. It took me a while to figure out the trigger because it take two things, lack of sleep and eating something salty, and then there is a delay of 12 hours or so.

You'd really enjoy The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs. One of the big lessons is that it's basically interpreters all the way down.

Even hardware is, at some point, "programmed" by someone to behave a certain way.

You might like to check out the jacquard loom, and it's relation to early programming.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacquard_machine

A morphogenetic field day, no doubt.

I misread your post as meaning there was not more than approximately 250 million spent. Sorry, my mistake.

I don't think that's true. Even a cursory search turns up, as the first response, this:

NIH has received almost $4.9 billion to date to fund important COVID-19 research on diagnostic tests, vaccines, and treatments. More than $940 million came from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020, with supplemental funding coming from the U.S. Congress .

Edit: I guess that you could argue that it wasn't all for a single drug

It's true that doctors should listen to patients, and that diagnosing medical problems, especially psychological problems, can be very difficult.

However, your post has a very "we don't need x-rays, we can just tell the bone is broken" vibe. It reads like you think better and more objective, quantitative diagnosis is not worth pursuing.

Continuing with the dev bio theme, I'd suggest kicking off a mid-life crisis with a decent microscope, petri dishes, and maybe some planeria or something else to study.

I'm about 55 now, and if I was high school or college age again, this is what I'd study. There is huge potential in future biological developments.