I have long been frustrated with people saying things like “there is no such thing as the self”, “the ego is a delusion”, etc. I finally have a way of explaining what these people are talking about, using the framework of predictive processing. The reason people speak in this frustrating, confused language is, I think, […]
I recently had the first on-site social event for the people I work with, at a major technology company. My coworkers had all gathered for dim sum. As we were sitting around a table at a Chinese restaurant, I asked everybody “who here has been told that you must work hard to do well in […]
If you’re going to take the idea of ‘truth’ seriously, you need to have a belief about what can, and cannot, be true. You might call this a ‘filter on the truth.’ The most popular filter on the truth today, among my peers, is empiricism. This ‘filter on the truth’, says “only things which can […]
Bro, look. It’s all about speed. Don’t matter how accurate you are. All you gotta do is THINK FAST so you can move with the righteous herd. This meme game we’re all playing, the only thing that matters, is being in tune with the meta-mind which spans biological hosts. Since the tune changes all the […]
Humanity has recently completed its Dyson sphere around the sun, bringing us to Kardashev level 2. A full 8% of the sun’s output is used to mine bitcoin. On January 12, 2073, around 8:30 in the morning UTC time, Satoshi Nakamoto’s coins, long since dormant, are suddenly dispersed to millions of seemingly random addresses. Each […]
The Taliban has a more sensible approach to the war on drugs than that shared by American elites, and that’s why they won the war in Afghanistan. America lost in Afghanistan, not because the war was unwinnable, but because we insisted on shooting ourselves in the foot, by trying to ban a product that accounts […]
One Saturday morning, I brushed my teeth while watching my then-four-year-old daughter write her first computer code. I stood with a toothbrush in my mouth, watching Allie carefully select tiles. A green arrow means “go straight”, a blue arrow means “turn right”, and a tile with colorful fireworks, means, “do a dance.” I worked […]
I am laying in a hammock, with my eyes closed. I am swinging gently. I cannot tell if I am feeling weightless, or if I’m feeling the absence of the weight that I normally feel. I accept this feeling, or the absence thereof. I accept the curiosity which wants to know the difference. I feel […]
Distributed systems and packs of animals both need to solve a common problem: who should be in charge? Who should resolve disputes? When there’s a disagreement over the way to proceed, whose lead should we follow? The animals need a leader to coordinate pack hunts and make decisions as to where the pack should go. […]
Some time last spring, I reached a conclusion. I was drinking my morning coffee, and the thought appeared in my mind. It was as clear as the first drop of milk into the otherwise black mug: perhaps many people aren’t capable of holding beliefs that differ wildly from those of their peers. It seemed entirely […]