@r00k @McReynoldsJoe @allgarbled maybe "just be a normie" is food for thought if you've literally never heard it before but if you *have* heard it and it sounds unappealing, then don't! use your own judgment and figure out how to get a life you actually want!

Excited to share the preprint of our new State of Brain Emulation Report 2025! We reassess progress since the 2008 brain emulation roadmap by @anderssandberg & Bostrom across organisms from C. elegans to humans, identify current bottlenecks and propose a path forward. 1/N

has anyone else found it's hard to keep a Standard American Accent when projecting your voice? if i try to be loud i turn into Molly Picon. which is probably why i don't do it. much to consider there.

You have heard of AI slop in the context of short video creation. But the same principle applies when it comes to improving drug discovery: we absolutely do not need a deluge of new hypotheses; we need better predictive validity (as per @JackScannell13). https://t.co/kdEEQ38qbP

but intuitively i'm going NO NO NO the universe would be DEAD and COLD and you'd be a BORING PERSON who CANNOT LOVE ANYTHING no possibilities? no room left blank on your map for things you haven't yet seen? no negative capability???

just chat-gpt'ed it and apparently constructivists can have real numbers after all. just, with type theory. oh god. maybe [redacted] likes type theory because they actually bite that bullet. possibly it's not such a deadly bullet in the end?

like mayyyybe one way to do it is "if I feel extremely compelled to consider this supposedly-arbitrary possibility, and i'm pissed off that you don't think it's even possible, then maybe I *do* have a motivating example after all"

i would like someone to steelman the "no speculating without motivating examples, that's Arbitrary (and not kosher)" position

ok yeah. we CONTINUALLY need to make best-guess judgments about *how much* of the "world of possibilities" our examples cover. We shouldn't merely assume that what we've seen is all there is; we also shouldn't persist in worrying about remote theoretical possibilities.

but then second of all, even in the empirical/non-math-proof world, you aren't distinguishing between "i have 2 examples but i fully expect there are unknown unknowns out there" and "i think i've pretty much explored the space and don't expect surprises."

if your interpretation of induction is "i generalize from observations, but i *don't* entertain hypotheses in the *absence* of motivating observations" then, first of all, you ruin math. but ok, maybe math is a separate magisterium.

[subtweeting] oh ffs do i have to be a *constructivist* now? again, i come from math! if you insist on constructive proofs you're incredibly limited! i don't want your revolution if i can't have the axiom of choice.

https://t.co/pzHPKxbpJw welp, i spoke too soon; the "100% cotton" Primary onesie tore within *days* of purchase. i remain in search of reasonably sturdy and well-constructed baby clothing.

links 11/5/25:

discourse on "integrate kids into your life!" vs "that's not realistic, kids change everything!" is mostly people talking past each other & ignoring the differences in their situations.

#14: a baby in a wrap can go virtually everywhere with you. a toddler or small child cannot; they get bored and disruptive. an older child, at some point, can often participate in supposedly "adult" activities or bring a book.

#13: a baby is an excellent excuse to sing whatever song is stuck in your head and tell whatever goofy joke comes to mind. you: change the diaper me, an intellectual: spruce the Bruce caboose

I aesthetically prefer to buy as few doohickeys as possible -- small babies really don't need that much, and Stuff clutters the house. Noise machines, rockers, pacifiers, etc? Nah.

Amazon diaper & wipes subscriptions are a wonderful thing.

I like Boden and Primary for tasteful, more-natural-fiber-based, less sloptastic kid clothes that aren't *so* expensive I'm afraid of letting em get dirty. But I'm always open to more suggestions on clothing brands.