TheVat

I saw a Homo Erectus drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's. His hair was perfect.

Thank you. Is not the intersection of Mickey Mouse and Lady Chatterly one of the greatest things you could drop into the imagination of a humor columnist? Anyone who had to suffer their way through D.H. Lawrence's vastly overrated classic (I would rank it as his worst work) will appreciate Ms Petri's mash-up. I liked the bit about how Mickey couldn't remove his gloves during the love scene due to copyright reasons.

Black list not only had four times as much spring onion, but also additional onion puree that the white list lacked. That's your cuprit. Both high in fructans, which are fermentable oligosaccharides that are intensely gas producing. Severe bloat is just another way to say "I need to stroll around for a while, farting nonstop."

If I'm following this, I think iNow was just pointing out the black swan effect, as it impacts inductive reasoning.

Yes, I think even the grand old man of AI, Geoffrey Hinton, might acknowledge that causally embedded (as opposed to purely algorithmic) cognition would be needed to really have an AGI that understood a world and learned on its own as we do. I recall he was talking up these analog artificial neurons recently, in the context of what he calls "mortal machines" (not sure if he originated the phrase), which because of their analog nature cannot transfer the weights of their neural connections to other machines. Their understanding, their causal structure, is theirs alone - like we humans. The shifting physical connections and conductances are analog. I find Bishop's critique of digital cognition reasonable, in terms of its limitations. We humans can see how things interact causally and continuously, we can make analogies and follow them where pure reason and algorithms won't take us. Funny: Hinton believes this, but he still believes backpropagation algorithms (higher layers subject lower layers to a sort of computational evolutionary pressure) in a digital multilayered neural net could prove the most powerful AI in the end. He seemingly remains a connectionist who is very wedded to his backprop algorithms and the need for massive quantities of training data. His machines can never learn from a single example (we poor analog meatheads can do so, in many RW situations).

I think heat passes through a metal screen easily (metal absorbs, then re-radiates the heat and of course goes right through the small holes). The holes would want to be fairly small, to catch any embers that may pop out. In my state, you can't have carpeted floor next to the hearth, generally some kind of masonry surface or surface covering is required out to a certain radius. Might actually be in the UBC for the States.

Lady Chatterly and Mickey Mouse enter the public domain this year and all you get is this column.... https://archive.is/DvUSQ (paywall free screenshot of Alexandra Petri column in the Washington Post)

Be interesting if TFG is disqualified after the primaries, eh? Means the bound delegates (as the GOP calls them) would have to be freed, and then select whoever looks strongest against Biden in the general. They can't redo primaries, so it would basically create ~2500 delegates that can't nominate on the basis of their states primary results and would then defer to, I guess, old-fashioned party machinery. Back to the smoke-filled back room? Or would Trump just pick his backup (assuming he would ever admit to being constitutionally disqualified by a court ruling) and the party would bow to that? This could be the world's craziest goat rodeo. (if it isn't already)

Not sure why I bothered to post on-topic here yesterday, using a concrete example, but I won't repeat that mistake again. Good luck and adios.

A lot of confusion can be helped by finding a basic guide to evolutionary biology and learning the domains of microevolution and macroevolution and what changes they cover. Most online chats seem to focus mainly on microevolution. A common example is pesticide resistance. Unlike intelligence, it's pretty easy to define and then to track how it changes in species populations. (and it's another good example of rapid evolution where intelligence is not at all the focus) Corn borers didn't get smarter or bore in faster or change coloration to fool birds or lady beetles, they just had a small percent of each generation that had a higher tolerance for chemical pesticides and survived to reproduce. So now there are no pesticides that kill corn borers. And so we had to transfer specific genetic material from a bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis, Bt, to the plant’s genome so it would contain something that borers couldn't stand. And so it goes. The corn borer survivors will be ones that can eat Bt corn and they will proliferate. At some point, we'll just give up on that and send in the lady beetles and restore avian populations that like the borers more than the kernels.

It's called neuromorphic engineering - here is a recent attempt... https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-05-05-artificial-neurons-mimic-complex-brain-abilities-next-generation-ai-computing#:~:text=A team of researchers at,been published in Nature Nanotechnology. 2D materials are made up of just a few layers of atoms, and this fine scale gives them various exotic properties, which can be fine-tuned depending on how the materials are layered. In this study, the researchers used a stack of three 2D materials - graphene, molybdenum disulfide and tungsten disulfide- to create a device that shows a change in its conductance depending on the power and duration of light/electricity that is shone on it. Unlike digital storage devices, these devices are analog and operate similarly to the synapses and neurons in our biological brain. The analog feature allows for computations, where a sequence of electrical or optical signals sent to the device produces gradual changes in the amount of stored electronic charge. This process forms the basis for threshold modes for neuronal computations, analogous to the way our brain processes a combination of excitatory and inhibitory signals.

Had to Google this. Wow. $500-1000 fine for first offense and then it doubles again. Seems to fit your falls heavier on the poor scenario. Admit that I laughed when I got to the trafficking penalties. Gum trafficking, what a concept.

Ankle-worn cell jammer: brilliant! I rank that up there with EMP cannon for use on loud car subwoofers.

Very helpful @Genady, thanks. Intrinsic and extrinsic are clarified for me now.

The dogputer mental image (a K9 processor?) was amusing but not quite what I had in mind. I was speculating on an artificial system which included forms based on organic structures, not one using actual biological material. IOW, a strong departure from the classical digital Von Neumann architecture that has dominated IT for...almost its entire history. What you are referencing, with its potential for a locked-in consciousness, does indeed seem spooky and an ethical red flag.

Me too. Though social shame doesn't work with teenagers in some societies, often triggering more of an undesirable behavior as an enjoyable bit of rebellion. I used to live near a high school, so have unfortunately accumulated a fair amount of anthropological data on this. Fairly stiff enforcement would be required for that demographic, because moral lectures (How would you feel if I started depositing my trash in YOUR yard, hm?) would be ineffective. A friend of my parents, many years ago, had a rather unusual solution to someone tossing litter from their passing car into his yard. He took down the plates and, being a journalist, was somehow able to obtain their home address. He then mailed the litter (including some spoiled food) to them with a letter explaining that he was kindly returning to them what was theirs. A satisfying story, but an unusual bit of luck to see the perpetrators in the act.

So, if I'm following any of this, curvature is defined in a way that is intrinsic to the manifold and not dependent upon its embedding in higher-dimensional spaces. Like, if I'm a flat bug on the shore of a calm lagoon I can measure a curvature of the "flat" water as flat bug-ships drop over the horizon, without any reference to an earth interior or global topology?

Yes, and it builds on the CRA, a philosophical argument that is a priori. The crux of such arguments is that human brains are largely analog/analog-to-digital and react directly to the world which they are a part of, as opposed to machines (yes, can be circuits or valved water pipes or air hoses or anything) which are digital devices which follow instructions for computation - AKA algorithms - and interact with the world via compiled digital inputs, i.e. they manipulate numeric strings. For the original CRA supporter, computers having minds is rather like a virtual weather simulation that starts gushing water from its processors. Ain't gonna happen. So it comes down to, generally: can a digital simulation in any way become that which it simulates, and second: is genuine understanding (with the conscious awareness that implies) something that could happen if digital systems somehow morphed into fully embodied entities that actually interact with an exterior world? This latter is the focus of the Robot Argument (RA), which philosophers like Dennett and Jerry Fodor, among others have endorsed versions of. The RA involves something usually called externalist semantics. This goes with Searle that syntax and internal connections in isolation from the world are insufficient for semantics, while suggesting a hope that more embodied forms with causal connections to the world can provide content to the internal symbols. So Dennett et al (iirc Hans Moravec is also a fan of RA, no surprise, right?) are open to the notion that a symbol manipulator could, in principle, "graduate" to actual semantics and really attach meanings to the symbols it is manipulating. Full disclosure: I worked briefly with a very narrow form of AI back in the day, developed a couple of expert systems back in the late 80s, and leaned towards the CRA. While I still question functionalism, I have become more open to externalist semantics and the RA in terms of some future entity that might interact both analogically and digitally with the world, a blend of organic and machine forms, a creature that operates both with symbols AND has a non-symbolic system that succeeds by being embedded in a particular environment. Pretty pie in the sky, right?

Thanks @Luc Turpin I will have a look.

On second blush, there is the problem of unintended consequences. Human affairs are complex and chaotic. Time war would seem prone to backfires - kill Hitler and.... woops.... a more clever and ruthless person filled that historical space, formed an even stronger government that more wisely didn't drive out all the smart Jewish physicists or fight on too many fronts, developed a nuclear-tipped longer range V2 before anyone else, and so on. Also, if the time travelers are to remain unchanged, then their original timeline must still exist, right? Otherwise they would wink out of existence as soon as the change was effected.

I would speculate that many doctors steer clear of dietary recommendations because there is such a welter of ambiguous data, so many foods that have both positive and negative aspects. Potatoes, for example, are fairly high glycemic which is mildly linked to prostate swelling and cancer incidence, but they also have nutritional elements supportive of prostate health. Tomatoes, similar thing, are rich in lycopene which is associated with reduced PSA levels and lower cancer incidence, but are also acidic which can be a bladder irritant. Almost every food is a mixed blessing, with different effects traveling different biochemical pathways. Cranberries are diuretic, not great for a full night's sleep, but also inhibit bacterial attachment to bladder wall and further infection. They can also aid better draining during the day and so, if not consumed after say 2 pm, actually ease bladder issues in the wee hours (NPI). (that was my experience ) I agree agri business will often make inflated, bordering on ridiculous, claims about foods based on cherry picking from the research findings. Same as it ever was. It's unfortunate that many overlook habits which do gain some control over health issues, viz. sustained physical activity, noise reduction, and less sitting (western chairs, esp.) are examples. Americans seem particularly fond of panacea thinking - kale smoothies changed my life! Either that, or absolute restrictions - I never pollute my body with dairy! (gluten!)(corn!)(anything from an animal!) etc. A shift to more holistic medicine with more face time between doctors and clients could bring some balance, but I'm not sure if that's going to happen with health being so dominated by mass marketing forces. Sorry, am veering way offtopic. .

Yes, and it's a good question as to which of those pose problems. I have approached this empirically (corresponding with Dr. Freely on a daily basis), and for me peppers seem to be the primary offender, while tomatoes are okay in moderation. I think Solanum members like potatoes are less a problem as you are just eating the starchy rhizome, mostly just carbs. The worst foods, from what I've gleaned from literature, are ones like egg yolks or red meat which are high in arachidonic acid, which elevates inflammatory markers. So much variation in personal chemistry that it seems like an experimental approach is good with some of these. My dad insisted chocolate was a menace to the prostate, but I don't seem to have a problem with moderate intake. And some inflammatory response can happen as a sort of "perfect storm" of several inflammatory foods in concert - e.g. a lasagna loaded with red meat, ricotta cheese, tomatoes, spices, and peppers. Spread all those triggers through multiple meals and dishes and maybe one would have no problems.

A dozen eggs a day would pose some problems for men in middle age or later - eggs are one of the foods, like cheese, meat, strong spices, and Nightshade family plants like bell peppers, that are to be minimized in a prostate-friendly diet. Choline content is high in eggs, and the primary protein, casein, is also implicated in BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia). There's a fascinating monograph on this topic by the British physician I.P. Freely.

One might hypothesize (though not perhaps falsifiable in accord with Popper) that the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog was a surviving Precambrian rabbit. You can also deal with time travelers surviving by positing alternate timelines. When you've stepped on a Jurassic moth or whatever, you start a different timeline but your own remains and can be returned to. This would make time wars pointless however.

I was just making a dreadful pun, on Niels Bohr, who developed that early rendition of the atom. No need to apologize.