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Young adults are taking a more pragmatic and career-oriented approach to education than previous generations

One of the things that bugs me about many weblogs is that there is absolutely no information on the writer and their background. Without this background, I often wonder “why the hell should I care about what’s being said here?” Hopefully this page will let you decide if my opinions matter or not. Its length […]

Weaving your favorite blogs, social media, and more into a unified and chronological timeline.

I’m writing this post from a hospital bed. And I couldn’t be happier. You hear folks say chemotherapy sucks, but until you go through it yourself, you don’t really know how bad it can be. It remains a popular activity only because it’s better than the alternative. My first exposure to chemotherapy was with this […]

OpenAI shares model results on the Kakeya conjecture, Exponential Time Hypothesis, and quantum chromodynamics—and how researchers can verify and build on them.

Anthropic's IPO filing dedicates 80 pages to the risks of AI, nearly double the 48 pages it spends discussing its business plans, according to Reuters.

More and more of your terminal work now runs through tools that push the terminal harder than a shell prompt ever did: AI coding agents like Claude Code and Codex, full-screen apps like Neovim and tmu

The coding interview is dead, at least for my team at Anthropic. I've seen enough to know that it no longer provides signal. I have a spicily optimistic take: I think there's a huge opportunity for junior engineers.

Reflections on a Flamewar (May 14, 2011) Spoiler: Actual change of opinion below!  You’ll need to read to the end, though. I’ve learned that the only way to find out who reads this blog…

5 posts published by Scott during December 1999

As I announced on this blog a couple weeks ago, I’m teaching a new course this semester at UT Austin, entitled AI Alignment Theory. To call such a course “timely” seems like an un…

Keep going! Check out the next lesson and practice what you’re learning: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/a...

We sought to determine whether reading a novel causes measurable changes in resting-state connectivity of the brain and how long these changes persist. Incorporating a within-subjects design, participants received resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans on 19 consecutive days. First, baseline resting state data for a “washin” period were taken for each participant for 5 days. For the next 9 days, participants read 1/9th of a novel during the evening and resting-state data were taken the next morning. Finally, resting-state data for a “wash-out” period were taken for 5 days after the conclusion of the novel. On the days after the reading, significant increases in connectivity were centered on hubs in the left angular/supramarginal gyri and right posterior temporal gyri. These hubs corresponded to regions previously associated with perspective taking and story comprehension, and the changes exhibited a timecourse that decayed rapidly after the completion of the novel. Long-term changes in connectivity, which persisted for several days after the reading, were observed in bilateral somatosensory cortex, suggesting a potential mechanism for “embodied semantics.”

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, later Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was Roman emperor from AD 54 until his suicide in AD 68. He was the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, which comprised the first five emperors. Nero was born at Antium in AD 37, the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger (great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus). Nero was three when his father died. By the time Nero turned eleven, his mother married Emperor Claudius, who then adopted Nero as his heir. Upon Claudius's death in AD 54, Nero ascended to the throne with the backing of the Praetorian Guard and the Senate. In the early years of his reign, Nero was advised and guided by his mother Agrippina, his tutor Seneca the Younger, and his praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus, but sought to rule independently and rid himself of restraining influences. The power struggle between Nero and his mother reached its climax when he orchestrated her murder. Roman sources also implicate Nero in the deaths of both his wife Claudia Octavia – supposedly so he could marry Poppaea Sabina – and his stepbrother Britannicus. Nero's practical contributions to Rome's governance focused on diplomacy, trade, and culture. He ordered the construction of amphitheaters, and promoted athletic games and contests. He made public appearances as an actor, poet, musician, and charioteer, which scandalized his aristocratic contemporaries as these occupations were usually the domain of slaves, public entertainers, and infamous persons. However, the provision of such entertainments made Nero popular among lower-class citizens. The costs involved were borne by local elites either directly or through taxation, and were much resented by the Roman aristocracy. During Nero's reign, the general Corbulo fought the Roman–Parthian War of 58–63, and made peace with the hostile Parthian Empire. The Roman general Suetonius Paulinus quashed a major revolt in Britain led by queen Boudica. The Bosporan Kingdom was briefly annexed to the empire, and the First Jewish–Roman War began. When the Roman senator Vindex rebelled, with support from the eventual Roman emperor Galba, Nero was declared a public enemy and condemned to death in absentia. He fled Rome, and on 9 June AD 68 committed suicide. His death sparked a brief period of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors. Most Roman sources offer overwhelmingly negative assessments of his personality and reign. Most contemporary sources describe him as tyrannical, self-indulgent, and debauched. The historian Tacitus claims the Roman people thought him compulsive and corrupt. Suetonius tells that many Romans believed the Great Fire of Rome was instigated by Nero to clear land for his planned "Golden House". Tacitus claims Nero seized Christians as scapegoats for the fire and had them burned alive, seemingly motivated not by public justice, but personal cruelty. Some modern historians question the reliability of ancient sources on Nero's tyrannical acts, considering his popularity among the Roman commoners. In the eastern provinces of the Empire, a popular legend arose that Nero had not died and would return. After his death, at least three leaders of short-lived, failed rebellions presented themselves as "Nero reborn" to gain popular support.

Incitatus (Latin pronunciation: [ɪŋkɪˈtaːtʊs]; meaning "swift" or "at full gallop") was the favourite horse of Roman Emperor Caligula (r. 37–41 AD). According to legend, Caligula planned to make the horse a consul, although ancient sources are clear that this did not occur. Supposedly, Incitatus had 18 servants for himself, he lived in a marble stable, walked in a harness decorated with rare and special jewels, dressed in Tyrian purple and ate from an ivory manger.

Go to https://brilliant.org/FractalPhilosophy start learning for free, as well as get 20% off an annual plan. This video is sponsored by Brilliant. In this video we simulate the rise and fall of countries by looking at the dynamics of how population, state finances, and inequality change over time. Starting with the theory of Thomas Malthus, we gradually introduce each concept and incorporate them together into a single theory - ultimately building towards Peter Turchin’s implementation of structural demographic theory. At each stage we also analyze the model using both traditional differential equations as well as agent based modeling. Source code on Patreon, both for regular patrons and available as a one time purchase. https://www.patreon.com/posts/source-... Also for some reason (possibly user error) my custom subtitles got marked as Fijian instead of English and Youtube isn't letting me remove them. The English subtitles appear to still be working correctly as well. Apologies to the people of Fiji - I'm sure your language is cool. (Vosota(?)) Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 0:48 Exponential Growth 3:26 Malthusian Growth 8:54 Adding State Funds 15:13 State Phase Space 19:41 Adding Elites 24:42 Final Model 31:51 Wrapping Up + Rambling Music: Trust the Process by Ballpoint It's called hustle culture, not hustle community by ‪@NurtureNurture‬ (a band that is awesome and has way too few fans) ‪@not_David‬ video on shadow manifolds:    • The Butterfly Effect in Cat Purrs   ‪@ProfessorRoss‬ Nonlinear Dynamics course:    • Nonlinear Dynamics & Chaos — Full Course F...