Strega

I guess we could call on Feynman again with his cure for ‘metacognitive laziness’ and get students to learn the Feynman Technique first?

Explain the idea in plain language.
Notice where the explanation becomes vague.
Return to the source and repair the gap.
Explain it again without hiding behind jargon.

AI could be built into that process rather…[Read more]

Einstein’s originality did not emerge from knowing nothing that had gone before. He ‘stood on the shoulders of giants’ like Maxwell and Lorentz and others. Much of his work was reorganizing existing ideas around problems they had not fully resolved. For years Einstein clung to the prevailing cliché that the universe must be static. He later called…[Read more]

There is this interesting paper on the subject of how AI can make people lazy:

https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13544

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Of course, Einstein would have used AI. Using it does not mean outsourcing critical thought.

I think there is no way Einstein could have come up with his theories if he used AI to do his thinking.  AI summarises things well; but that means it only comes up with clichés.  It doesn’t do any original thinking, beyond su…[Read more]

Have a great week everyone!

A somewhat curtailed post today.

Jake – you might enjoy reading some of works by John Banville. He can have an unusual way with words that catches one off guard. His imagery is great. The landscape is being filtered through memory, grief, vanity, jealousy or desire. A cloud, a reflection in glass, a room at dusk or the surface of the sea tells us as much about the observer as…[Read more]

I hope it clears up soon. Going to spend the whole day hikingwalking. Jake – Reading Dubliners as a ‘wee lad’ is an achievement.

Anyone impacted by the wildfire smoke? Folks in NY say it is a problem. Looks like it is in VT too.

Yes, McCain of course. When I hear people ask if someone “has come out yet?”, I ask them “When did you come out as heterosexual?” or “When did you decide you were heterosexual?” depending on how concerned they seem to be about someone else’s sexuality. If they get all riled up I say “Oh calm down man, nobody here cares if you are straight or not”.

I haven’t yet had the time to think about the impact of his passing. I don’t fully agree with the sentiment that he became a MAGA Trumpist. I think he was clever (or diplomatic) enough to learn how to ‘speak Trump’. He remained in the Cain camp with foreign policy He was an interventionist in that regard while Trump instinctively does not see any…[Read more]

The occam soccam obsccurantism blocker knocker is smoking.

‘member, we don’t talk foolishness we talk trut’

Twenty past midnight here in Dublin. 18C / 66f but a cool breeze….

I have not this conspiracy theory yet so I might as well kick start it…..Lindsey Graham goes to Ukraine. He had just organized a major weapons shipment for them. He goes back to America and dies of a sudden cardiac event. Putin hated him……….

Have a great week!

One of my clients is a large Dublin hospital. If I do have to travel to site, I aim to be there during lunch hour. A very good quality meal for $5 (staff canteen).

As for the Irish Star, do not be fooled by the humble tabloid layout, the celebrity-adjacent headlines, or the general impression that the editorial meeting takes place inside a…[Read more]

……and some commentary by me and then edited by AI.

1. Federal assumption of state debts
The federal government took on the Revolutionary War debts of the states. This was politically explosive, but brilliant. It made creditors loyal to the federal government rather than just to individual states. In plain English: Hamilton tied the moneyed…[Read more]

@Enco – Yes, I found the Commentary article to be a very good read.

Here is another one I read recently. Taken directly from the Irish Times, July 4th. Written by David McWilliams, an Irish economist.

It’s impossible to imagine the world without the dollar.

The American republic is 250 years old today. On this auspicious anniversary, the s…[Read more]