Published inAge of Awareness·PinnedMember-onlyDoes AI mimic humans? Or do we mimic AI?Imagine that, in the not-too-distant future, machine learning algorithms spit out movies instead of text or fanciful paintings. What is a movie, but a series of images? The training data is a subset of all the movies ever created, labeled with ratings from the target audience. An algorithm like that…Art5 min readArt5 min read
Published inAge of Awareness·PinnedMember-onlyWhat Flat Earthers Can Teach Us About How Science WorksIf you didn’t know, there is a growing community of “flat earthers” who believe: 1) that we all live on a flat land mass (not a spinning globe traveling around the sun), and 2) that governments and scientific organizations have conspired to hide this fact. They have their own conferences…Flat Earth8 min readFlat Earth8 min read
Published inAge of Awareness·PinnedMember-onlyThe RCT FetishA curious thing happened in 2016. The federal government quietly removed its recommendation to Americans to floss in that year’s dietary recommendations. The move was prompted by an article finding little to no evidence in favor of flossing in the Associated Press. No good randomized controlled trials (RCTs) supported flossing…Randomized Control Trials6 min readRandomized Control Trials6 min read
Published inAge of Awareness·Sep 14, 2022Member-onlySummarizing Yourself Into StupidityAbout two years ago, someone contacted me to help them build a platform for summarizing books. Instead of, say, spending 5–6 hours reading a book, users of this platform could listen to a fifteen-minute summary on their morning walk. Or knock off a couple of books while they’re at the…Learning6 min readLearning6 min read
Jul 10, 2022Great discourse on the epistemological weakness of RCTs.11Thane BlinmanMany thanks for the insightful comment!Many thanks for the insightful comment! I think the standard response to your first point would be that it doesn't really matter in the case of masks. The purpose of widespread masking is (er... …3 min read3 min read
Published inAge of Awareness·Jun 23, 2022Member-onlyAI doesn’t work like our brains. That’s the problem.It’s odd to try to create artificial intelligence without taking inspiration from the only existing natural intelligences we have: humans and animals. Yet that is the current direction of AI research. Although “deep learning” is often described in the media as similar to “the way human brains work,” nothing could…Artificial Intelligence5 min readArtificial Intelligence5 min read
Published inAge of Awareness·Aug 18, 2021Member-onlyThe Power of Worked Examples for LearningCooking shows. How-to videos. Dance choreography. Test-prep books. Math classes. All of these things share one key attribute: worked examples. What it is.Learning Science5 min readLearning Science5 min read
Published inAge of Awareness·Aug 10, 2021Member-onlyLlama Llama Learns About ScienceFor several decades, science educators have had a generalized anxiety about what students learn about science. The fear has been that “textbook science” presents students with well-understood scientific concpets, without showing students what scientific inquiry actually looks like. …Nature Of Scienc3 min readNature Of Scienc3 min read
Apr 6, 2020Member-onlyAn alternative history of coronavirus in the U.S.About a month and a half ago, a friend in Oregon texted me about the coronavirus. I live in Taiwan. “How bad is it?” She asked. “It’s not a big deal,” I answered. “We’ve got about 30 cases. Masks were sold out at pharmacies for a while, but then the…Coronavirus4 min readCoronavirus4 min read
Published inAge of Awareness·Mar 30, 2020Member-onlyLearning Science Gets RealWell here we are. COVID-19 is now ravaging the U.S. Thousands of people have died. Many thousands more will die. Several state healthcare systems are already stretched to their limit. And the powers that be are still reluctant to shift towards more production of needed equipment. …Learning4 min readLearning4 min read
