The ever classic “paperclip maximiser” problem.
An AI is given the goal of maximising paperclip production in a factory. It’s given no other guard rails. Some shenanigans later, it finishes wiping out humanity, in order to divert more resources to paperclip production. (Apparently humans don’t want the iron in their blood used to make paperclips)
It sounds like they have found a chemical pathway to counter some of the disruptions that ultimately cause autism. Particularly things like sensory processing. Autism is likely a cluster condition, with multiple causes leading to similar symptoms. This only focuses on 1 sub path.
As an aspie myself, I am cautiously optimistic. I wouldn’t use it myself. Too much of who I am is built on my alternative brain wiring. However, if it can turn some low functioning autistics into high functioning, I would call that a MASSIVE win.
It is only a mouse model however. It’s interesting and promising, but VERY far from a usable treatment.
I’ve noticed there seems to be a divide between deep thinking and wide thinking.
Deep thinking tends to be directed and has a tight focus. It covers a lot of intellectual thinking.
Wide thinking is a lot more integrated, it’s how we instinctively know how a particular action will affect others, both directly and indirectly. It integrates a lot of topics, but at a far shallower level.
As an aspie, I’m good at deep thinking. I struggle with wide thinking. I suspect I am fairly blind to a lot of wide thinking effects. Whether their more intuitive thinking is better or worse than my logical deep thinking is a different matter.
Karma is generally associated with some form of personal scoreboard. E.g. if you have bad luck it’s either because you did something bad, or a “due” your share of good luck.
Karma is a lie, but it’s a useful lie (like truth or mercy) I explicitly know that my good deeds won’t get rewarded I do it because it can help make the world a better place. If I’m lucky, that will loop around to help me down the road, but I don’t expect it.
It was more subtle and interesting than just a fad. It accidentally hijacked a number of our social instincts. In this case, it was disruptive and obvious. It’s likely the effect is happening to everyone, just more subtly.
It becomes the mechanism through which a very old human phenomenon — the tendency of a stressed group to adopt a shared physical response to that stress
Basically, our stress responses are subconscious, but learnt. Think swearing when you hurt yourself. It’s common, but it’s not universal.
In this case, the girls, due to existing stress formed a pseudo social group. The group “leader” had an unusual ‘stress’ venting method (due to tourettes). The other girls synced to this without conscious involvement. It’s the same mechanism that makes us pick up a local accent, or adopt local habits, when we move somewhere new.
In short, fads include this mechanism, but generally have a far more conscious aspect. This was an interesting short circuit, exposing some of the underlying mechanics of the human mind.
I refer to it as “sowing karma”. I don’t believe actual karma exists. However, a small positive act can create an avalanche of other, small positive acts.
Whenever I do someone a favour, particularly random people. If they try or offer to pay me back, I tell them to pay it forward. I’ve no idea how many do, but even if it’s just 1 or 2, then the world is that bit better for all of us.
Keep being awesome!
Agreed, but with a few provisos.
Turning a peaceful protest (march etc) violet is a big no no. If there is seen to be a risk of this, the popularist section will rapidly hemorrhage members. The radicals can use the events as cover/meeting new members, but not go hot on the march. The exception to this is if the government/police go violent. Defensive counter violence is then acceptable. The goal should be to get the “civilian” supporters (think families etc) clear. Then, it’s down to them whether they bolt too, or play whack a mole with the police.
The other proviso is that the radical groups actions should be proportional. The IRA walked this line. When they set major bombs, they gave the authorities enough warning to clear the area of civilians. They were mostly aiming for property damage and disruption, not mass casualties. The times the IRA went past that line did severe damage to their reputation. They need to act to reinforce the position of the other 2 groups, not undermine it.
For best results, you need a trifacta.
A popularist movement is core. This should be non-violent and as welcoming to new members as possible.
A political group then acts as a focus for the group. It translates the mob grievances into politically actionable demands.
A radical group acts as the teeth. It forces the government to take proper notice of the other 2 groups.
The Irish troubles would be a good example. The popular movement was ignored by the UK government. It bubbles over into riots etc at times, which actually hurt their message in many ways. The Sinn Féin party focused the discontent and gave the UK government someone to negotiate with. Finally the IRA provided the force on the UK government.
Take away any leg and the whole movement stutters. If the popularist wing gets violent, then it bleeds members fast. Without a political wing, the movement is unfocused and will achieve nothing. The violent wing can be dropped IF there is sufficient threat of its existence/creation to keep governments motivated. Unfortunately, most governments that let things escalate that far will just dig in their heels, rather than do the sensible thing.
They’ve actually now achieved over unity. The main sticking point left is the wall material. It needs to contain a hard vacuum. Unfortunately, the neutron flux transmutes the elements used. This has interesting results on the material stability. It’s a solvable engineering problem however, though will likely be the limit on cycle times.
The current plan is building the first viable power station. Efficiency goes up with scale, so the current tech should make it viable. Multiple groups are building them right now, though it takes years to build one.
I played that game, though not as badly.
My phone started to refuse to charge. By the time I realised, and got it turned off, I was below 10%. I was also supposed to be meeting family in another city the next day.
Between bursts of power on to deal with things like directions to a shop to buy a new phone, I was down to 3% when I got the new one. Just enough to authorise a new phone on my Google account.
I now travel with a spare phone tucked away!
I think it’s more acceptable to talk about it, particularly for men. I suspect the actual number has gone down, due to awareness, but can’t back that up with research.
My brain is slightly broken, likely linked to autism and ADHD. I can recognise faces fine. What I can’t do is remember them properly. The brain has an area dedicated to remembering faces. In me , it just doesn’t work well. I get a blank “null” in memories where the face (and even body/outfit) should be. If I want to remember a face I need to manually break it up and store the aspects in explicit memory. It’s very annoying.
One minor plus side, it’s not completely broken. If I’m exposed to the same face enough, I can (eventually) pattern match it fine. I now take a photo of people when I add them to my phone. It helps a lot getting the required exposure.
I hate to be “that guy” but be very careful throwing sticks for dogs. I know several vets and throat damage from sticks is a depressingly common injury for dogs.
The dog races after the stick, and it bounces weirdly. Rather than grabbing it in the middle, the tip goes into their mouth. Their own momentum then impales them on it. It’s a major surgery to remove it and repair the damage (assuming the dog survives).
Balls are a lot safer, and go a LOT further, particularly with a ball thrower.
The only reason I don’t currently is that my phone’s VPN connection doesn’t handle network switching gracefully. Otherwise I try and tunnel all my traffic through my home network.
As a useful side effect, I need to expose far less of my IoT devices .
Given the title of the blank list is “Diseases eradicated by prayer” this list gets a lot funnier.
The worst bit is, it seems to work. At least if it blows up in trump’s face, it’s fairly unambiguous. I’m sure America’s right wing media would spin it otherwise, but it at least makes that harder for them.
The biggest risk would be the bubble holding together and the democrats getting into power, only for it to blow up in their face immediately.
While they might deal with it a bit better than trump, the damage he is already doing could tie their hands a lot.
We all know the right would get decades of mileage out of “look look, it was all awesome under trump, then the democrats broke everything”.
That’s fair. However, a lot of it is already in place and is quite automated. E.g. on busses they have a contactless card reader. Many have already moved to a fixed ride fee too. Basically you just tap as you walk past the driver, who already has to be there.
The London underground has intermittent enforcement. A lot of the time the honour system is all there is. You just swipe your oyster card or bank card at the read point next to the entrance. They do random checks just to keep people honest.
Even if you expand things, the cost of the tech is low enough to almost be a rounding error.
The goal is to limit completely frivolous usage saturating capacity or otherwise forcing the target riders off completely.
As far as I’m aware, it’s down to our homeostatic systems. They try and keep our bodies (and minds) in proper balance. When someone takes a drug, it pushes things out of “balance”. The homeostatic systems respond by adjusting other hormones etc to compensate. Eventually, you need more to get high, or some to feel normal. Not taking it, and the homeostatic systems overcompensate, leading to withdrawal symptoms.
With ADHD. The brain chemistry is out of balance already. The homeostatic systems try and respond, but can’t get far enough. We experience it as a need/craving for anything that produces dopamine.
When we take medication, it kicks out whole brain, with a focus on the executive functions. This takes the pressure off the homeostatic responses and let’s up operate in a calm state. The homeostatic systems also counter the various “side effects”. These are more minor than the main effect, and so have FAR less noticeable withdrawal symptoms. E.g. for me my appetite overshoots when I forget my meds. It’s technically withdrawal, but not really noticeable most of the time.
It’s a terrifying abuse of human brain’s defense wiring.
At a tribal level/time when we are not under stress, we often disagree and bicker. However, when the tribe is threatened, those disagreements take a back seat to survival. If the stress is constant, our brain structure begins to change. Empathy is reduced, to better allow for defence/warfare.
The modern right is designed to hijack these mechanisms. The constant flow of fear puts the brain into a warfare state. Tribe becomes everything, with internal issues being put on a back burner till the threat is over. However, the threat is never over. It shifts and changes, but is never gone. Eventually, out-tribe empathy becomes harder and harder, while internal disagreement becomes almost impossible. In a tribe preparing for war, this is life-saving. For a political party, it’s an unthinking, pliant mob to control.
Breaking out requires breaking that internal cycle. Recognising you are being manipulated, and internally countering the effects. Most people just can’t do that. Deprogramming the damage is a job of generations, and that’s assuming it’s no longer being reinforced.