Alex Wittenberg

Since the design of machines is one of these intellectual activities, an ultraintelligent machine could design even better machines; there would then unquestionably be an “intelligence explosion,” and the intelligence of man would be left far behind. Thus the first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever make, provided... See more

Who is creating those identifiers? And who is organizing data around them? Today, it’s nearly every site you visit, product you use, or company you encounter. Identifiers are listed in a database they have created, mostly private and siloed from every other company’s. Data is put there, and linked there, as well. Often this organized around a user... See more

I’m not sure how common this way of thinking actually is, but, whatever the case, this strikes me as a rather banal observation if all Chalmers means by it is that virtual reality exists. Of course it exists. Of course the experience of putting on VR goggles and navigating a VR environment is a real, genuine experience. What matters is the specific... See more

What does this history tell us about life in the 21st century? Bosses set hours and income, and workers adjust. When husbands controlled their wives’ schedules, they insisted on a clean and tidy home and a ready-made dinner; and their wives typically obliged. When today’s employers hire a full-time worker under modern labor laws, they insist on a... See more

Within the sporting world, of course, the point is to win, and to do so in a way that can be clearly determined quantitatively. There are no grounds for anyone to ask a manager or a player to pursue a strategy that will diminish their competitive edge. Most of life, however, is not a game with quantifiable outcomes, and probably shouldn’t be... See more

Americans tend to use new productivity and technology to buy a better life rather than to enjoy more downtime in inferior conditions. And when material concerns are mostly met, Americans fixate on their status and class, and that of their children, and work tirelessly to preserve and grow it.

When you feedback work, it's usually easier to discuss the context objectively than the person themselves

The more I’ve done it, the more I realize that what most people think of as the hard parts of hiring—asking just the right question that catches the candidate off guard, defining the role correctly, assessing the person’s skills—are less important than a more basic task: how do you see someone, including yourself, clearly?