nico λ

According to Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, the U.S. and many Western European cultures are extremely individualistic. The U.S. has the highest score for individualism. And it is only getting higher.

This is at odds with the human limbic system which thrives on and craves connection with others, with a community. Community means we are secure,... See more

“Math ain’t about numbers. If you think math is about numbers, you probably think that Shakespeare is all about words. You probably think that dancing is all about shoes. You probably think that music is all about notes. Math ain’t about numbers. Math is about logic, it’s about beauty, it’s about connections, it’s about how you get from one place

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We have a problem here, folks. The word “intelligence” is a semantic catastrophe. Whenever doomers use this word, I have no idea what they’re talking about. I often don’t know if they’re talking about a real thing at all. And when they say things like, “AIs are approaching human-level intelligence,” I start to bang my head against the table. What... See more

The mistake is that...it’s not just a logical deduction, but, so to speak, a deduction that has turned into a feeling. Not all natures are the same; for many, a logical deduction sometimes turns into the strongest feeling, which takes over their whole being, and which it is very difficult to drive out or alter. To cure such a person, it’s necessary

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People used to call LinkedIn “work Facebook”, by which I think they meant it's a mindless website where people gab about their work lives. But LinkedIn isn’t really about work in any meaningful sense. Of course, people talk about working on LinkedIn. Oh, how they love to talk about working! No matter the shitty job, no matter the grueling hours,... See more

No physical process can grow indefinitely.

There are always friction terms in the dynamics equation that eventually become dominant (energy consumption, heat dissipation, quantum effects, thermal fluctuations, communication bandwidth, mass/energy density....).

Even processes that *appear* exponential on a long time scale are actually a succession of... See more

Snapshot of a “theoretical” life

– Loves learning for its own sake; regards wisdom as a permanent quest.

– Accepts leisure (scholē) not chiefly for recreation but for reflection.

– Feels reverence for what is permanent and overarching—nature, being, the divine—rather than for shifting public opinion.

– Skeptical of power when it threatens the

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The government lost control of controlled substances. The Sackler’s main crime, which doesn’t really come through in these dramas because it’s actually a difficult thing to narrativize, is knowing precisely how to exploit America’s thin, hollowed out, and very weak regulatory state. And that’s just not a very sexy Netflix style crime. It’s a crime... See more

"Back then, all of us drank too much. The more in tune with the times we were, the more we drank. And none of us contributed anything new"

- The Great Gatsby