The Newsletter Collection
Every week, I share the top 10 articles/videos I went through with my friends. I’m putting it all here together into one post that I will update to include what I sent out. I used to share each newsletter one week behind, but that feels very spammy on my blog so this is better lol
Week 1
Long story short, I’m starting a newsletter. You all share with me some amazing articles (keep sending them to me), and my Medium account is also sending some great material along the way. Instead of randomly texting you stuff I think you’ll like, I decided to just place it here. On Friday, I will send you the top articles I read this week. It will cover technology, finance, philosophy, AI, bitcoin, sociology, feminism, art, and whatever topic may seem interesting.
Easy explanation of Deepmind’s use of AI to play videogames
Microbes that survive by eating electrons
The AI implications of Godel’s incompleteness theorem (it’s kinda long)
Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater, TED talk on his company culture
Freakonomics on how prevention and intervention programs make youth delinquency worse
Micro-religions: the dangers of antifa and the alt-right
Using physics and network theory to model ISIS and the Alt-Right
Evolutionary Game Theory and the argument against objective perception
This is it for this week. Send me more stuff bc I love to read, and especially now that I’m doing a PhD I have a fuckton of time to just read.
Week 2
Wow. The newsletter just grew 300% in one week! This is awesome ahaha.
Here is some of the top content for the week
The Map of Computer Science (many of you have seen the map of physics and the map of math before, but if you haven’t it’s a great visualization of how entire fields of a discipline relate to each other)
The world’s best Go player talking about how playing against Google’s AlphaGo changed his life
Will AI make language obsolete?
The Great Man Paradox: Why we should save the Sistine Chapel as opposed to Newton’s Principia
A Primer on Data Network Effects
Christopher Nolan speaking at Princeton and revealing the meaning of Inception (starts at 1:26:00)
The gender shift across occupations since 1950
A serious roadmap of what needs to happen for an AI breakthrough in healthcare
Aliens and Octopusses (Octopi??) (truly the weirdest thing about consciousness you’ll ever read)
It’s never too late: from prison to PhD
Keep sending me stuff,
Week 3
Ima kick off this week’s newsletter with a quote from Warren Buffet: “Read 500 pages…every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.” Moral of the story: be more like Davis — read!
Thanks again for all the submissions. This was the first week where I had to actually cut material from the newsletter to narrow it down to 10, which means that some of your articles didn’t make it but that’s ok because they are probably going to be added next week.
1) Fidget Spinners: How disintermediation creates fads and not long-term economic opportunity for businesses [article]: this is truly fascinating in the context of the rise of marketplaces like AirBnB, Uber, and so on
2) AI genocidal behavior [article]: I loved this one bc it’s my area (AI & game theory) and it shows the catastrophic consequences of unchecked rationality. Peace and cooperation maybe not be evolutionary stable by default…
3) The Cellular Automata interpretation of Quantum Mechanics [paper]: Stephen Wolfram fucking called this one years ago
4) Net Profits Contracts in Hollywood are fucking scam [paper]: pretty self-explanatory. Always negotiate a % of the gross box office of the movie, not on the profit net of “costs”
5) Meta-set theory accidentally solves infinity-gap question [article]: model theory led to a huge breakthrough on the continuum hypothesis about the different sizes of infinities.
6) Panarchy and scale-linked evolutionary cycles [article]: the jargon may be a little complicated, but the article is really short. Essentially, feedback loops at the micro level create an upward pressure at the macro level because of scaling mechanisms.
7) The shared universe behind Black Mirror [video]: ScreenPrism is the most professional visual essay channel out there. Loved their analysis of screens in black mirror. They have 2 videos on Rick & Morty for those of you who are interested.
8) Inter-allegorical narratives in Westworld [video]: Also by ScreenPrism. I shared with Davis a while back and we both agree it’s the best analysis of the show we have seen so far. Make sure you are caught up before you watch it, and Avery, you will particularly enjoy this one.
9) Big Data as a tool for Oppression [video]: Shieeeet. Many of you and I have talked about implicit bias being encoded into AI that because of scientism we never question, but this is fucking horrible…
10) Advertising and insecurity [video]: Advertising uses hyper-real imagery to program insecurity into the subconscious of young girls who eventually grow up obsessing over buying products that make them feel beautiful. Pornographic advertising undermines the very source of genuine romance and authentic sex.
Enjoy the reading,
Week 4
“When you want to succeed just as hard as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful” — my I/O prof said this randomly in class this week
The newsletter doubled this week! I’m also sharing a program (star it on Github!) I recently wrote that converts text to audiobooks (star it on Github!). Furthermore, these audiobooks can be listened to with VLC (there is both an iOS and Android App), which, as Christina pointed out, goes way past 3x speed so it’s much better than the default audiobook.
A lot of people have asked about sharing some of the academic papers I read (cognitive science, computer science, psychology, economics…). How do you all feel about that?
1) Peter Thiel vs Marc Andreesen debate [video]: at last, two of the biggest titans of Silicon Valley argue face to face about the future of innovation and actual technological progress.
2) Algebraic topology as the foundation to neuroscience [video]: mindblowing account on how some abstract mathematicians reached a major breakthrough in categorizing neurological phenomena.
3) The behavioral psychology behind individual decision-making [article]: a great rundown of the many psychological forces influencing our behavior when making choices.
4) Thermodynamics and the universe’s rise in complexity [article]: the concept of thermodynamic equilibrium suggests that self-replication and spontaneous complexity emerge as natural response to entropy. Truly revolutionary in the context of the origin of life.
5) Systems Failure: Academics turn to sex work to survive [article]: Apparently because of Obamacare, universities are undercutting full professors in favor of adjunct professors and lecturers as a way to save $$$ and resources and still provide educational services to students. Some of these professors are homeless…
6) Information Theory and understanding how AI thinks [video]: very technically intense. Essentially showing how the bottleneck principle in information theory can explain the model behind deep learning neural networks.
7) Notes on Post-Modernism [article]: very good rundown on pomo as a movement. This will be enough to sound cool at cocktail parties.
8) Memes and the rise of the techno-replicator [video]: genes are self-replicating units of biological information. Memes are self-replicating units of sociological information (ideas). Meme theory shows how ideas evolve into norms and cultures just like how genes evolve into life-forms and populations.
9) How to corner the bitcoin mining market with a quantum computer [article]: apparently this guy did it, and it was worth the upfront investment. Chuck, you know this is for you lol
10) Hookup Culture: freedom or a different chain? [podcast 20min episode]: really opened my eyes to the marginalizing effects of my appreciation of women who hold qualities we traditionally associate with men (independence, strength, dominance, and so on). This episode will make you rethink how the words “desperate” and “basic” can really hurt some people.
BTW discovered this week why Google thinks I’m an hispanic woman…
Week 6
Hey everyone,
Mel, this is how I imagine working at a lawfirm must be like: Gaslighting for Beginners ahahaha
I hope everyone had a good week. Ima pre-empt Bekk and point out that this week was heavy in terms of research for me, plus I had a midterm, so this week’s newsletter is more geared towards art, religion, psychology and social science.
1) Is Christopher Nolan Overrated? [quora discussion]: I loooove the back and forth. As many of you know, Nolan is my favourite film-maker, so it’s great to see how he impacts different people in different ways. Maz, this is why he is the best, irrespective of your digital indie-flick-lover opinions ahah
2) How Spotify creates Discover Weekly [article]: Collaborative Filtering, Matrix Factorization, and Convolutional Neural Networks. These are some of the techniques Spotify uses to analyze and recommend music. Rohan, I think you are going to find this very interesting.
3) Language Bootcamp: How Mormons Learn Languages [article]: Sooo fascinating. 9 weeks to learn Chinese? Count me in. Max and Tony, you might want to do this before you sail off to save Africa lol
4) Upsidedown chickens [article]: “learned helplessness” is when an animal ceases to fight for survival and passively accepts the scenario after being taught to lose all hope. This is dedicated to all my friends that were bullied in middle school, and part of why I think resilience training is key.
5) Enemies: why religions need enemies [podcast 1h]: as many of you know, I am a big fan of The Liturgist. A musician and a scientist run this podcast where they talk about different topics at the intersection of art, science and faith. This week they bring in Peter Rollins to talk about postmodernism and psychonalytical theory applied to “loving your enemies”. Niki, you will really like Peter Rollins. So will you Blake.
6) Embracing Violence [article]: a former pacifist re-evaluates violence after being sexually assaulted and by talking to veterans and their experiences on the field. Mark, these are the kind of scenarios you have to prepare yourself for to one day lead all of us lol Will, idk why but I get the sense you’ll really like her justifications lol
7) Human Personality in Videogames [article]: psychologists analyze gamer behavior, which sets the foundation to then engineer personality. Caroline, I think you are going to really like this. Isaac, stop messing with children’s brains ahah
8) How Economics Explains Religion: Club Theory and Self-Sacrifice [paper attached below]. I met with Makowsky on Monday and I have to say I’ve had the most productive conversation about game theory I’ve ever had. I love his fresh approach on analyzing religions through the club good model in economics.
9) Why User-Centered Design is Harmful: by the guy who brought you “The Design of Every Day Things” [paper]: Donald Norman is one of the most important UX thinkers in the world, and, without game theory I might add, he makes a compelling argument against user-centered design. Christina, Caroline, and Avery: this is the best response I’ve found from a highly reputable source (it’s Norman after all) against user-centric UX.
10) George R. R. Martin & Stephen King [video 1h]: the sadistic minds behind Game of Thrones and IT interview each other about their writing style, their reading preference, violence, sex and all that fund stuff. Kenny & Nick, this is for you lol
Week 7
Hey everyone,
Check out the splendor of the marriage between cinematic composition and contemporary dance. @Edyta, thank you for getting me interested in dance from a philosophical standpoint.
1) Automated Proofs in Set Theory [article]: ever wondered what the @Hermano and @Davis are actually talking about when they get stuck in a loop about “category theory”? This article explains the difference between set theory, type theory, and category theory, and groupoid dynamics as they apply to the basis behind automated proof software in mathematics.
2) The top 6 trends in Synthetic Biology [article]: @Keanu and @Will, you might want to start a biotech company soon lol Marc Andreesen says that if he was in college right now, computational biology is what he would be working on.
3) Generative Predictive Models in Neuroscience [article]: Really great intro to the neuroscience behind deep learning, and the notion of networked computation (@Hermano and @Abdul throwback to the convo we had on “ego-death” night). @Mark I guess this may not be as novel for you in its neuroscience, but I think you’ll find it interesting from the computer science POV.
4) Nicholas Taleb on Ergodicity [article]: straight from his new book, Taleb shits on flawed statistical thinking and the logic of risk-taking in the caustic way we’ve come to expect form him. @Kenny, enjoy lol @Gabe and @Ryan: if you are not familiar with Taleb’s work, it’s a must for anyone in finance or takes risks in life.
5) Cambridge’s Series of Interviews with Top Economists [playlist, 1h videos]: Just as the title says, this is a series of interviews with some of the top economists in the world talking about cutting edge economic theory. @Max and @Phil, you will really dig this.
7) The sociology of social networks [video 1h]: Truly a great example of how data science can massively improve a field like sociology. It will really change the way you look a social networks, population and behavioral contagion. @Marina this goes far beyond stand alone complexes!
8) The Values Software Engineers care about [article]: Every wondered what it would take to hire top engineers like @Abdul? Here is the data.
9) Top Lessons from all of Amazon’s shareholder letters [article]: @Vittorio and @Isaac, this is what @Davis means when he talks about Jeff Bezos being an actual visionary. I like the idea of a portable framework in business as a way of surviving drastic economic and technological change.
10) Biggest ICO plummet so far [article]: @Chuck: over $200million raised and shit is hitting the fan. It’s a bubble y’all….
Be safe,
Week 8
Hey everyone,
lol right?? I hope everyone had a great week. A few announcements:
a) Some of you have asked about my blog, so I decided to share an essay a week. Ima kick of this week with Simulation Theory applied to Theology. @Niki and @Joey this is the “God as the simulator” theory I told you about. Fun Fact: a couple of days ago an e-magazine requested the rights so publish it #humbleBrag.
b) Since we are now at 60 people and still growing, I’ve decided that starting with Newsletter #10 I’m going to put the newsletter also on my blog so that people can quickly access past issues. @WillBest thanks for the idea.
1) Melinda Gates at Stanford’s ETL [podcast 1h]: I had never heard Melinda Gates speak before, but she is really awesome. Really sharp and charismatic. @Christina I think you are going to really dig this.
2) Human Factors in AI [podcast 45m]: how to use applied cognitive science to structure human-AI partnerships that are superior to both humans and AIs. @Paulo, this is what I think the future looks like. A hammer needs a hammer-holder after all ;)
3) Suicide as a Social Phenomenon [article]: the contemporary relevance on Dunkheim’s social context analysis for suicide epidemics. @Matthew and @Marina this may be helpful for ethics bowl, along with Stand Alone Complexes of course ;)
4) The Neuroscience behind Boredom and Daydreaming [article]: this reminds me of the reveries concept in Westworld @Avery.
5) Virtual Learning [article]: as many of you know, online classes have truly changed my life. Not all are great, but this article does a great job pointing at the research behind effective online learning. @Edyta this is for you.
6) Alphabet’s Urbanism vs Blackstone Urbanism [article]: Once Google takes over Toronto, what will cities look like? Very interesting ethical reflection on capitalism’s incentive to revitalize neighborhoods to subsequently gentrify them.
7) The Heteronormativity behind MMF [article]: pretty self-explanatory.
9) The Self Under Seige: 20th century philosophy explained by Rick Roderick [playlist, 1h videos]: @Daniel how fortuitous that you shared the Roderick’s lecture on Baudrillard lol. I am a big fan of Rick Roderick and his ability to break down post-modern philosophy in a very accessible way. This series of lectures will pretty much get you up to speed on 20th century philosophy.
10) Design for Augmented Intelligence [article]: the founder of IDEO (@Abdul I’m looking at you) proposes a new framework to design human-AI partnerships with. @Phil I think you’ll like this much better than Ray Dalio’s approach to it.
Week 9
Hey everyone,
Quick poll: would you personally identify with the statement “I like Rick & Morty”?
My latest blog post about game theory’s application to fake news was picked up by Hackernoon. @Abdul commented “but tbh being on the front page of hackernoon isnt that many views. but u do get a decent number of views out of their RSS feedits way better than nothing”
For our weekly shoutout, here is a shoutout to @Max and @Jamie for coming to see me at Clemson this week. Glad to hear you are all doing well. Also to @Pawel since we were finally be able to hear each other’s voice for the first time in at least a year lol
1) How Leonardo da Vinci made the Mona Lisa [article]: Thank you @Avery. As all of you know, Leonardo da Vinci is a huge source of inspiration for me personally. This article shows beautifully how science can inform art and push us towards broader landscapes artistically, spiritually, and philosophically.
2) Top 10 Rick & Morty Theories [video 10m]: self-explanatory.
3) The Agony and Ectasy of On-Demand Eating [article]: I really like the link between SV’s fascination with BDSM and on-demand healthy eating as symptom of a larger obsession with control. @Yasmin this is dedicated to your veganism :)
4) Lessons from Google’s Shareholder letters [article]: @Chris this connects to our convo about the best tech companies not building products but being platforms for innovation. @Paulo, you are going to really dig this.
5) GAN-generated Celebrity Pics [vide 6m]: truly amazing how far we’ve come. I feel validated after saying that GAN’s are the future of animation over a year ago.
6) The DARPA Mafia of Self-Driving Cars [article]: as the @Hermano always puts it “DARPA is really fucking cool” ahah
7) Bio-fem-tech: Female Viagra and Funding Women’s Sexual Future [article]: I wanted to make the title as click-baity as possible lol Jokes aside, @Will and @Keanu this is why recruiting women
8) Ideology is the Original Augmented Reality [article]: Zizek’s latest rant! @Daniel this is for you. As @Kevin once put it “how many lines of coke does Zizek do: 15 hegels a day!” ahah When asked about his drug use, Zizek is quoted as saying that he doesn’t do drugs because of his “disciplinary-terrorist attitude” and that “May be if you take drugs, then you get soft, then the enemy can attack you easily I hate drugs.”
9) 15 amazing visualizations and what to learn from them [article]: @Caroline this is how to apply UX to information, something that I think @Rohan you will like as well. @Ryan, read this shit for breakfast lol
10) Capsule Networks and Hinton’s vision for the future of AI [article]: as I’ve told a few of you, I’ve recently befriended a math professor here at Clemson that up until recently taught in Canada and is good friends with Hinton, and he said he is just getting started lol
Have a great weekend everyone,
Week 10
Hey Everyone,
Thank you for your undivided attention: a great poem about our post-modern anxiety about technology. Also, phones off during yoga!!!!!
No blog post for the week. Didn’t have time because I had to finish a paper.
Shoutout to @Davis for hosting me in China starting next Friday. I’m really excited because I have never been to China, and thanks to Davis I’ll get to observe what middle class life for a Chinese person is actually like! Because of this, next week’s newsletter will be sent out on Thur.
Also, starting this week I’m going to start adding back issues of the newsletter to my medium. They will be a week off, so when you all get newsletter #N the blog will show newsletter#N-1.
1) Sheryl Sandberg speaking at Stanford [podcast 1h]: How do you tell the truth at scale? Truly fantastic speaker. @Christina you may have been there when she came, but in case you weren’t I think you’ll be really interested in what she has to say about leadership.
2) Animating Wolfram’s Playing Cards [article]: trippy af.
3) Virality for social change [video 18m]: before there was Buzzfeed, here was this cultural anthropologist talking about virality as a tool for engagement in education, social justice, and advertising. The “Free Hugs” sign section truly blew me away.
4) Sam Harris on Buddhism [podcast 1.5h]: @Matthew this is for you man. Two secular Buddhists talking about consciousness, de-realization, meditation and existence from a philosophically and evolutionary psychology POV.
5) Problematizing Rom-Coms [video 14m]: @Maz enough said ahaha the @Hermano and I talked about this a few years ago. Movie truly set the archetypes from which we infer much our own identity, and this has disastrous consequences on a sexual and romantic level.
6) Psycho-Analyzing The Fantasy of 50 Shades of Grey [video 12m]: not gonna refer to anyone specifically, but I think I’ve had convos with most of you about how some of the most strong and independent female friends of mine are very submissive in the bedroom and how this never made sense to me until I got into BDSM.
7) Everything you need to know about neural networks [article]; @Daniel this is a good primer on how the most popular AI architecture works. It’s for non-technical people so I encourage everyone to read this because neural networks are going to be as ubiquitous as smartphones pretty soon.
8) Grammarly and the suppression of language [article]: @Nick I wonder what your thoughts are on this since you are an author. As someone who spent a part of their life with a very thick accent, and whose mother still messes up basic grammar but in a cute way, I found this article to be very thought-provoking. Who gets to set the standard for homogeneity in “proper language”?
9) The Emptiness of Privilege [article]: a sex worker psychoanalyzes her clients. @Niki I really want you to read this.
10) How Pegging can Help Save the World [article]: @Joey and I were talking about this last night. This research is sooo interesting, and it’s not actually advocating for everyone to be into pegging. Most impactful article of the week for me.
Everyone have a great weekend,
Week 11
Hey everyone,
Sorry for the delay but as mentioned I was in China so I could not access jack shit bc of the Firewall lol
While on my 25h flight, I did quite a bit of reading. First, I encourage everyone to read this post about living with schizophrenia.
The weekly shoutout of course goes to Davis for being such a bro and hosting me while in China! I truly had a great time seeing a side of China tourists don’t get to see.
1) How Women trigger hostile behavior within incompetent men [paper]: this is dedicated to all of you who play videogames lol
2) How the auction for the latest DaVinci is changing the art world [article]: auction houses and art critics alike are having to adapt to a new globalized art world where buyers with different preferences are some time at odds with the consensus of the art intelligentsia. @Max this is for you so that you can understand the non-business world better ;)
3) Which Dystopian Sci-Fi is the most Plausible [Quora thread]: @Nick and @Avery you are going to find some of the answers really interesting. I really dug the quote from the thread about Huxley’s “Brave New World”: “As Huxley saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think”
4)The Economics of Nursing [podcast]: fuck the AMA! This podcasts walks you through how the AMA is bankrupting the US healthcare system. In a perfect act of misdirection, Congress is stuck debating how to manage insurance instead of asking the real question: why is healthcare so expensive in the first place? @John this is for you.
5) Outsourcing thinking to the subconscious [article]: @Yasmin and @Mark you are going to like the neuroscience angle to this. @Mr.Cook this is very similar to Brian Chou’s OO inspired by Gladwell’s “Blink”. Essentially, there are mechanisms by which through practice we can make complex cognition happen on a subconscious level, thereby leading to very effective and educated “gut instincts”
6) Why Deep Learning undermines the foundation of Probability Theory [article]: Statistics is slowly becoming less relevant as the future of predictions is in computer science and machine learning. @Kenny this is for you and your Taleb-loving friends at UVA aahah but seriously, I guess @Pawel you might find this interesting since you are into Bayesian inference.
7) How Facebook’s Advertising Auction system operates [article]: FB Ads are truly remarkable in how effective they are — whether it’s at destroying democracy or helping small businesses succeed. @Phil this is def the future of marketing for startups.
8) A visual guide to evolution strategies [article]: one of the areas I work on here at Clemson is evolutionary game theory’s applications to computer science, and this article is a very good intro to how they work. I encourage everyone to read this and skip over the technical part because humanity as a species operates in much the same way. This article will help you understand large populist phenomena and why groupthink and social progress manifest themselves in such weird ways.
9) Chaos Theory and Genetic Engineering [article]: As the Hermano and I always say “genetic engineering is great: the problem is who gets to decide the direction of our evolution”. The implications of CRISPR and genetic engineering could be truly catastrophic, and even CS Lewis called in “The Abolition of Man”. @Will and @Keanu be careful what you build ahah
10) Modern Paradigms and Contemporary Approaches to Cancer [article]: really shows why we have yet to get close to defeating cancer. @Dan you will find this helpful.
Week 12
Hey everyone,
Sorry for the delay. Been busy with grading for my classes and the jet lag has been killing me lol
Crypto-coin 4 Jesus lol @Chuck and @JP (the newest member of our newsletter btw) this is a low point of the crypto-bubble ahha
No blog post this week, but here is the first digital version of the newsletter #1. All of the ones up to #11 are now posted and shareable. #4 got picked up by a e-magazine called BuzzRobot.
Shoutout to Rafael for joining the TRACE lab this week with Bekk and me!
1) List of 113 Mental Models [article]: @everyone read this. It’s actually really short and it such a good investment of your time. It goes through the different models, metaphors and analogies, from different disciplines (economics, physics, mythology, psychology) that cross-apply to our every day life.
2) The Role of Gaming in Political Science and National Security [podcast 1h]: The RAND Corporation pioneered the prisoner’s dilemma back in the day, bringing together top scientists to solve political problems. Pretty sure nuclear war would have annihilated us all without the research during the Cold War. They are back at it again in using gaming as a proxy for geopolitical conflict and its effectiveness in bridging communication between different military and intelligence agencies. @Mel and @JohnMurdy and @Jamie you will find this very interesting.
3) Blockchain, FileCoin and the future of the Internet’s core architecture [podcast 45m]. I think most alt-coins are shit like the next guy, but this podcast does a good job showing why FileCoin actually makes sense. More importantly, it exposes some of the odd vulnerabilities in the core architecture of the Internet that we have yet to deal with lol @JP and @Hardik and @Abhishek this is for y’all.
4) What Billionaires in Emerging Markets tell us about Economics [podcast 1.5h]: one of the economists at the IMF has analyzed all of the world’s billionaires to detect patterns about how their rise correlates with the economic progress of the country they are in. Truly amazing findings that go against common sense. @Nishesh this may give you some good material to draw upon in your arguments with people ;)
5) Pukka Theatre and Educating through Art [article]: my friend Gabs is at it at again showing how the arts can be used to engage students in a radical new way as they get introduced to STEAM. Her work in South Africa is truly amazing. @Niki and @Max you will find her work intersecting, albeit for different reasons. @Jamie I wonder if this has implications for your work.
6) The Racial Implications of #BelieveWomen [article]: in the face of sexual assault allegations, should we automatically support the women coming forward? I know men get assaulted as well, as Terry Crews proves, but the article specifically deals with women. Can this open the door to a breakdown of due process and thereby set us back in terms of racial justice? Really thought-provoking article.
7) The Consequences of Narratives in Journalism [article]: very Sapiens-like commentary on how we project subjective narratives into journalism which detaches us from reality. The article may exaggerate some impacts, but with the rise of VICE and hyper-subjective journalism we do need to work on retaining the ability to critically self-reflect as we process current events. @Phil as a media entrepreneur this is something I’d love to talk to you about.
8) Deep Learning, Dissipation Theory and the Origin of Life [article]: In response to the article I shared a few weeks ago about the thermodynamics of the origin of life, here is a computational take on it. The article does point out that the findings don’t necessarily prove that everything in the universe is a deep-learning neural network, but that the mechanics are very analogous. @Hermano, @Pavel, @Paulo, @Rohan and @Davis this is a game changer just like the cellular automata theory of physics is. @PK I wonder what your thoughts are on this.
9) Solving the Gender gap in STEM through Cognitive Science [article]: I really plan on acting upon these findings as I work with students in the CS department. I love the idea of transcending biological differences through education.
10) The Interactive Map of Theories of Everything [interactive visualization]: really cool way to conceptualize the relationship between different theories of foundational physics.
Enjoy!
Week 13
Hey everyone,
Quick announcement: we are switching the order of the list. Normally I add things in real time as I read them, but now I’m going to order them by putting what I find most interesting at the top. It’s subjective I know, but I want to see if it’s better.
The joke of the week is Saoirse Ronan’s Floribama Shore ahahah “my momma didn’t raise me to be afraid of no storm: she raise me to be a fearless Christian sex addict with gum diseases you ain’t even heard of, player!”. She is Irish btw and her Southern accent is on point lol
The Weekly Shoutout goes to @Bekk for adding me to his audible account: I’ve been going through books like a machine lol. This week I read “Sacrice” by Rene Girard, “Payoff” by Dan Ariely, and “The Art of the Strategy” by Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff. Feel free to suggest books from now on because I’m going through about 3 per week so I’m going to run out soon.
1) Biological Intelligence vs Externalized Intelligence [article]: Fracois Chollet makes a case against the “intelligence explosion” for AI. Regardless of how you feel about the argument, I do think his articulation of the difference between biological, artificial, and externalized intelligence is extremely interesting.
2) The Coke Playbook: Melinda Gates on Non-Profit Execution in the Developing World [video 17m]: I’m falling in love with Melinda Gates. She is truly one of the sharpest people on the planet and her work as a philanthropist is truly going to change the way we do philanthropy in the US. @Niki I think you will find her approach to non-profit work very interesting.
3) Psychophysics and Snapple: Manufacturing Addiction through Experimental Science [article]: so psychophysics is a thing, and apparently it’s the discipline at the intersection between psychology and physics, and it’s used to discover ways to maximize the addictive flavor of food….it’s grotesque! @Caroline this is the original neuro-marketing!
4) Interview with the Author of Fight Club [article]: They flat out ask him about how he feels about the white supremacists picking up “snowflake” as a banner term. How does it feel when your work impacts people in a way far different from what you had expected? Find out with Chuck! @Nick this will be very interesting
5) Faith and Gay Celibacy [article]: Instead of confronting his sexual orientation, this young man ran away all the way to monastery in France. A beautiful poetic piece about the tortured existence of those who enwrapped by self-loathing, rejection and guilt.
6) Notifications Schemes: Raw or Cooked [article]: how to build a notification scheme that accomplishes goals, whether it’s getting the user to open up the app more or to actually provide nice updates. Very interesting model for design & development. @Caroline, @Chris and @Jessica you will find this interesting.
7) The Crash of 1987 [video 47m]: A great doc by the founder of ThinkOrSwim (one of the first online stock brokers) on the crash of 1987. It truly shows the role of derivatives and Fed policy in exacerbating a panic. @Davis and @Vittorio this is such a good overview.
8) Alt-tech: the tech of the alt-right [article]: Very eye opening series of the political implications of technology designed around free-speech. It truly shows how capitalism leads to the creation of goods and services for everyone: even fringe groups, regardless of how dangerous some of them can turn out to be….
9) Movies as Iconography: The History of the Movie Poster [video 18m]: @MrCook and @Avery this is a great video talking about the design and illustration of movie posters as they evolved across time.
10) Why Tencent is getting into Snapchat [article]: from the article “In an interview with Bloomberg, the CEO of Tencent, Pony Ma, declared that when Tencent had almost completed the acquisition of WhatsApp, he had to undergo an emergency surgical procedure. It was during this time period that Facebook quickly intruded onto this deal with twice the price of Tencent’s offer, and managed to close it out before Tencent could react.”
Week 14
Hey everyone,
Sorry for the delay but I had a final and a term paper due yesterday, so needed to take care of that. To those of you who are in school, I hope your semester went well.
The joke of the week is from @Gabe: 8-year old struggling for advice to get into private equity. @Davis this kid is def going to end up at KA at Stanford ahahha
The weekly shoutout is to @Chris for introducing me to overleaf and for overall being an amazing partner on countless projects this year.
This week’s book was “Connected: The Power of Social Networks”. By Nicholas Christakis, he shows how social network analysis is remarkably predictive of quite a lot of peculiar human behaviors ranging from hysteria to voting to the spread of disease.
1) NIPS notes [pdf]: One of the biggest AI conferences of the year. If you want to keep up with the latest research, this guy’s notes are pretty thorough. @Pawel you should do something like this when you go to conferences. It will get you many followers on Twitter ;)
2) Margaret Atwood’s thoughts on Christianity, Religion, and Totalitarianism [article]: I’m the first one to admit I had never heard of Margaret Atwood until I watched “The Handmaid’s Tale”. I also recently finished “Alias Grace” on Hulu and her perspective of the relationship between religion and women is truly fascinating.
3) Jeff Dean on TPUs and the future of machine-learning powered hardware [slides]: Yep, I found Jeff Dean’s slides on Google’s new architecture for neural networks. For those who don’t know, Jeff Dean is a legend in Silicon Valley because apparently he built most of Google by himself lol Here are some memes about him.
4) Artwork Personalization at Netflix [article]: truly a fantastic example on how to use machine learning and choice architecture to “nudge” people into making better choices. This is what ethical practices look like, don’t you agree @Caroline?
5) Overcoming Imposter Syndrome in Silicon Valley [article]: FYI a large number of people on this newsletter have suffered form Imposter Syndrome at some point in their life. It’s totally fine but one needs to acknowledge it in order to move past it. No specific mentions here but you know who you are.
6) Bitcoin Whales [article]: Really interesting to see how a few holders own most of the Bitcoin and this dynamic is replicated with alt-coins. Understanding whales is important to understand the future of any cryptocurrency, much like understanding institutional investors is key to understanding any company’s investor base. @Charlie and @JP I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
7) Working Hard, Life and Purpose [article]: @Jessice sent this to me this past week and it’s been an interesting conversation piece with some people so I’m opening it up to the group: what’s the point of dedicating ourselves to our work as opposed to anything else? Shouldn’t we work to financially sustain our activities outside of work? Shouldn’t we look forward to retirement? Very interesting questions indeed, especially for this group of people.
8) Epistemic Approaches to Quantum Physics [article]: To anybody who is interested in quantum physics: you will harder laugh really hard or will think very deeply after reading this. That’s all I’m going to say lol
9) Deleuze on Sense, Series, Structures, Signifiers and Snarks [article]: I’ve been trying to get more into Deleuze recently because Todd May, one of my favourite philosophers here at Clemson, applies his philosophical concepts to a lot of interesting issues. #postmodernism
10) Human-Centered AI Development [article]: this is one of the most exciting areas to work in in Human-Centered Computing in my opinion. As AI takes over more areas our our life, it’s critical that we study it and design it in a human-centered way to prevent ontological death…don’t even get me started (@Hermano ;) ). @Carrie and @Chris this is exactly the kind of conceptual umbrella our project falls under.
Talk to you all next week!
Week 15
Hey everyone,
I hope everyone is having a restful break! As an early Christmas present, here is @Orrod’s Gangsta Rap playlist on Spotify. It has over 300 followers already!
The shout-out of the week goes to @Mike for being such a bro. We went to see The Disaster Artist by James Franco and it was hilarious!
The joke of the week is from the @Hermano around this time last year: “I don’t want to live forever because I would eventually get to the point that I’d see Javascript become the dominant programming language”. Too late now lol
Also, in 2018 I’m going to try to style the newsletter with some nice HTML. @George is going to help so everyone feel free to send me templates that you think might look nice.
1) China’s Nosedive: Social Credit as Social Control [article]: China has been uniquely capable of leveraging technology to achieve unprecedented of coordination, which when managing over a billion people becomes a matter of survival. Because of this however, we get to observe the dark consequences of ubiquitous technology as AI takes over. This is for @everyone.
2) Decentralized Artificial Intelligence [video 12m]: I was talking to my old debate coach a few nights ago about this idea: a decentralized and autonomous nonprofit. As many of you know, I’ve been thinking for a few years about implementing financial trading algorithms for charities and foundations so that they can invest the interest towards their cause. By taking advantage of compound interest, it becomes possible to set up a mechanism that will grow in financial potential over time, thereby enabling the donors to impact the world far longer after they pass. @Mark this is what I was talking about last night.
3) Gridworld: Deepmind’s Safety System [article]: A good first step by Deepmind to account for runaway behavior for AI. I’ve thought about a virtual playground to test AI behavior last summer. I think this is a critical first step towards a safer future. @Pawel and @Paulo I’m looking forward to hear your thoughts.
4) Netflix and Spotify: Trolling as a Marketing Strategy [article]: if great advertising strives to be authentic, Netflix and Spotify have pioneered a brand new tactic to reach out to their audiences. In a weird way, this is the power of data science applied to story telling. @Paulo and @Rohan and @Phil I think you will find this very interesting.
5) Technovigilance: Holding Drug Trials and Algorithms accountable [article]: In the same way drug trials have a lot to learn from algorithms, algorithms have a lot to learn from drug trials. The real question is whether the safety precautions involved with drug trials are to be blamed for the lackluster levels of innovation in biotech: it could be tremendously destructive when applied to AI development. @Hermano @Paulo @Roha @Pawel @Jacob I wonder what your thoughts are on the matter.
6) Credentialism: The Burden of Elite Education [article]: Peter Thiel calls it “the tournament”, while Sheryl Sandberg calls it “dots jumping”: the constant hopping from achievement to achievement is something that I’m pretty sure everyone on this newsletter is familiar with. However, what are the economic consequences of a merit structure that rewards hack & exploit behavior as opposed to genuine passion and creativity? As we reach the marginal return point in the innovation curve, a burden like credentialism may just be the obstacle to the future progress of our country. @Davis @Kenny @Daniel @Christina @Phil @Max and @Karen is this just a rehash of the usual complaint about elite education, or is there something novel about this?
7) Semiotics applied to Design [article]: I love articles like these that cross-apply post-modern philosophy to something really practical like design. Don’t be scared off by the pomo stuff: it’s very accessible and it truly shows how reading philosophy improves your skills as a creator. @MrCook and @Daniel I think you will like this as well.
8) The Pornhub Store: Grooming the Next Generation of #MeToo predators [article]: shoutout to @Autumn for sending me this. I don’t quite agree with the article but as an outspoken critic of contemporary pornography I think Pornhub’s expansion is something that we need to take some time to contemplate. Even if sexualized male dominance and pornography can be separated, it’s very clear that the industry’s current trajectory is problematic. @Niki and @Carrie what do you think?
9) The Myth of Tulip Fever [article]: this sort of blew away. If this is true, it truly shows the power of effective fiction. @Davis and @Daniel this is going to be a fun piece of trivia
10) M-theory as the Theory of Everything [article]: the newsletter would be incomplete without a physics article. It effectively explains what’s the fuss behind M-theory in physics. As I mentioned to @Daniel, I plan on writing a blogpost over the break arguing against this by appealing to Godel’s incompleteness theorems.
See you next week,
Week 16
Hey everyone,
I hope everyone is having a great start with the new year. What are some of you resolutions and goals? Some of mine include 1) learning how to speak toddler-level Mandarin 2) emailing people I admire/was impacted by (Taleb, Nolan, and so on) and asking them 3 questions 3) making the ~30 pounds I gained in 2017 drop faster than Trump’s approval rating.
Joke of the week: always be skeptical of Italians who work in finance lol Also, for those of us working in AI, @John showed me an hilarious video about what working with people who don’t understand AI is like.
Shoutout to @Shawn for telling me about MIT’s encyclpedia of philosophy
1) Jeff Bezos on The Electricity Metaphor [video 20m]: really interesting to see a much younger Bezos coming to terms with the consequences of the .com bust. It’s a great example of how the real winners in bubbles think 2 levels above the crowd: they acknowledge irrational exuberance, but they don’t let that make them so skeptical to miss out on a world-changing opportunity. @Davis and I always talk about this.
2) Repeated Mental Models [article]: based on the feedback I got from you all after sharing the Farnam Street list, I found another great article showing how to track which mental models you find most useful. @Hermano and @Vittorio check this out.
3) Complex Adaptive Systems as Saviors [video 20m]: many of the systems that govern our daily lives rise in complexity over time. This makes them highly susceptible to tiny changes that can trigger chaotic reactions. BUT there are ways of leveraging math, sociology, and technology to make these systems more robust and healthy for our society. @Pavel @Paulo @Rohan you will appreciate this.
4) Emily Chang on Silicon Valley’s Brotopia[article]: As many of you know, Emily Chang is one of my favourite broadcast journalists. She essentially runs the Silicon Valley division of Bloomberg, and her interviews and investigative pieces are always so sharp.
5) Deepfakes and bad AI [article]: This is the kind of thing that used to make me think Reddit was a creepy place….seriously! I have mentioned before that technological progress without cultural progress can trap us into sub-optimal nash equilibria, and this is a good example of how we need to ask tough questions about our culture and our values before AI completely takes over. @everyoneWhoRespondedToTheLastArticleAboutPorn, I wonder what your thoughts are on this.
6) 10 AI failures [article]: we made huge leaps forward in AI this past year, but we are still failing at really basic stuff: it’s very comical. @Daniel you will find this informative as you develop your own views on the topic.
7) Top 10 Predictions for Deep Learning [article]: But if you do want to look far ahead into AI, Carlos Perez offers some really interesting food for thought. @Alpesh gotta get some investment advice from this guy ;)
8) Protein Design [article]: huge breakthrough in protein folding. This will enable us to create proteins that do not exist in nature, which can have far reaching consequences for biotech. @Keanu and @Will this might be a cool field to get into.
9) Mind-mapping [video 15m]: for those of you going to school, I really like this technique for note taking. It takes advantage of many of the benefits of “flowing” in debate. @Keanu use this this semester lol
10) Associahedra and the Topology of Loop Multiplication [video 10m]: this video explains very well why we have different algebras in math. @Sulaiman enjoy this while you are stuck in calc ahha
Have a great week!
Week 17
EDIT: totally forgot to send this this morning lol
Hey Everyone,
Soooo 92% of Blockchain projects are dead…it’s not a joke: it’s fucking terrible. I agree with Vitalik, the founder of Ethereum, that if crypto-mania doesn’t stop we will nullify the true value of these protocols to build applications and organizations that can impact humanity.
Joke of the week is from @Bekk “that’s why it would be cool when I die to be thrown into a mudslide because that way I can be fossilized”.
The shoutout goes to @Bryce for being such a great tiebreaker when @Bekk and I have arguments over bull shit lol
1) Pineapple Fund Sponsors MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD [article]: as many of you know, I’m fairly passionate on this issue because my grandpa survived the Nazis in WW2. Beyond that, I think article shows how amazing DAOs and tech-enabled foundations can be! @Walter this is a good example
2) Ray Dalio’s 3 Levels of Reality [article]: following this trend of many of you getting really into mental models, this article verbalizes something I’ve been trying to describe for a while. @Kenny you will of course like it bc you are so infatuated with Dalio lol @Davis think of this in the context of “the game”. @Daniel this is how computer science can impact your epistemology.
3) The Economics of Weed Legalization [article]: just as we were about to celebrate California’s legalization, Jeff Sessions just had get in the way….still, this article is really interesting take on how this industry operates. @Keanu and @Will, maybe weed is the next frontier in biotech? I’m being serious.
4) The 6 types of Product Manager [article]: being a PM is hard lol I think this helps us as future organization leaders and company founders to understand how a PM can’t and shouldn’t just do it all, but rather should play to their strengths. @Christina I wonder if this fits with your experience.
5) The Life and Work of Kenneth Arrow [article]: one of my favourite economists and game theorists. This article summarizes his contributions to political science, economics, game theory and finance. @Pavel you will find his stuff very interesting. @Isaac thanks for reminded me he existed
6) Experimental Utopias [article]: America was surely a place of exploration back in the day. This article is part of a series of different utopian communities across American History. @Grant and @AnyBodyIntoHippieOrSFCulture
7) The Science Behind the 12 Steps Program [article]: fascinating look at such a controversial program. What are the limits of the power of belief? @Niki and @Caroline you will find this interesting.
8) Dual Process Theory and Machine Learning [article]: here at the interesting ways in which neuroscience and cognitive psychology can inform our understanding of AI. @Paulo @Rohan @Pavel and @Hermano
9) Cormac McCarthy on The Subconscious and Language [article]: this is for you literary folks out there. Cormac McCarthy wrote, among many great novels, “The Road” and “No Country for Old Men”. @Daniel @Nick @Kenny @MrCook his command of the english language to explore scientific/philosophical ideas is truly inspiring.
10) Beyond the Bechdel Test: Hollywood Diversity [article]: data science can help us discover both our own history and our own biases, as well as enabling us to address them. @Mike this is going to be a huge topic of conversation in Hollywood from now on.
Enjoy your weekend,
Week 18
Hey everyone,
The joke of the week: Dry Humping: the Good, the Bad, and the Ridiculous
I finally got around blogging again for the first time in a while. This week’s blogpost is about game theory’s applications to evolutionary psychology and mental health.
The weekly shoutout goes to @JohnHenry: he is in my Self-Deception class with Todd May. I guess @Shawn is there too now but whatever ahah
1) Sexual Coercion and Cultural Coercion [article]: one of the most thought-provoking articles I’ve read in a long time: a sexual assault survivor uses her experience with coercion as a vehicle to discuss the more insidious ways in which groups seek to control each other on a macro-level. This is recommended for @Everyone.
2) The Hype behind AI-led drug discovery [article]: ML-powered drug discovery used to be an area I was super passionate about, but a lot of it has changed now that we have discovered the complexity-theory obstacles involved in the process. I also like this article’s advocacy for “opposition research” in academia. @Hermano this is so sad lol @Keanu and @Will don’t get scammed.
3) Jordan Peterson and Bret Weinstein on Inequality, Post-Modernism, and Hitler [video 3h]: let’s welcome @Spencer to the newsletter! He shared a great video podcast recording of all of these contrarian thinkers discussing everything from liberal call out culture to economic inequality. @Daniel and @Kenny are you fans of JBP? @MrCook and @Mel I think you are going to find this discussion entertaining.
4) Love in Virtual Reality [article]: as we lay the foundation for a “San Junipero” society (#blackMirrorReferences), we should meditate over how our design choices impact our ability to experience genuine romantic connections in VR. @Niki and @Paulo and @Avery I wonder what your thoughts are on this.
5) Lessons from Autistic Prodigies [article]: I’m many ways connected to my blog post, this article shows the structural obstacles that prevent people on the autism spectrum from positively contributing to society. @Yasmin this connects to our convo.
6) Post-Quantum Cryptography [article]: many of you have heard me mention how concerned I am about the current administration’s disregard for our cybersecurity infrastructure and our investment gap in quantum computing when compared to China. I’m glad the NSA is at least trying to figure out how to develop cryptographic standards to keep the internet and military secrets “safe” in post-quantum computer era. @Hermano @Pawel and @Jacob this is def something worth considering.
7) Top 10 Biggest Nobel Prize Snubs in History [article]: a theme of 2017 was unveiling the sociology behind science, and this article is such a great reference point about the systemic biases in academia and science worldwide.
8) Universal Basic Income experiment in Kenya [article]: not necessarily the most compelling study from a methodological point of view, but the results so far go against a lot of pre-conceived notions in the UBI debate. @Max, @Jamie and @JohnHenry I think you are going to find this extremely interesting.
9) Death by Derivatives [article]: this article is interesting even if purely because of the special effects: what a truly wonderful way to take advantage of the blogging medium! Also, it’s a really interesting historical anecdote of why derivatives emerge in financial markets. @Davis and @Chuck you will def find this enjoyable.
10) Leveraging Neuroscience to Improve Education [video 27m]: a very compelling case that neuroscience should gain a center hold of education theory. @Bekk
Week 19
Announcements
@Bekk last night suggested I play around with the format so Ima try something similar to Farnam Street (@Kenny). Let me know if you like it!
Joke Of the Week
From @Daniel: how TripAdvisor turned a fake restaurant into a London sensation #theSimulacrumTakesOver
Weekly Shoutout
This week it goes to @Abigail, our newest member of the newsletter, for, no joke, managing over the span of just 3 days to say enough hilariously crazy things to warrant 5 entries into the “crazy shit my friends say” folder. Many of you have your own folder in there (@Hermano, @Davis, @Bekk, @Matthew, @Shawn, @Rafael), but for those who don’t know I have a folder where I record absurdly hilarious things some of you say sometimes ahhaha
Books (the books I “read” during the week, and by that I mean Audibled)
I realized I’m a few weeks behind, so ima share all the ones since the beginning of the year, usually though it won’t be more that 2 per week lol
“Hit Makers” by Derek Thompson: how do you stand out in a media saturated world? You become an engineer of familiar surprises!
“The Alchemy of Finance” by George Soros: eh, I agree with @Davis on this that it’s not great. Just read the Wiki on Reflexivity.
“Irrational Exuberance” by Robert Shiller: if markets are so efficient that no one can consistently outperform them, then why do bubbles happen? Fantastic read.
“Who Gets What and Why” by Alvin Roth: Nobel-prize winning game theorist shows how market design can change lives. I read it because he is a big figure in my kind of research.
“Matchmakers” by David S. Evans and Richard Schmalensee: 2-sided marketplaces redefine traditional business models and economic theories. If you are in the Valley, this won’t be new at all, but otherwise it will be a very interesting read.
“Social Physics” by Alex Pentland: big data and social network theory can enable us to restructure networks, companies, and cities to achieve unprecedented levels of progress.
“Smartcuts: The Breakthrough Power of Lateral Thinking” by Shane Snow: as Ling Ling, one of my mentors, always put it “don’t work hard: work smart!”. Shane does not just offer productivity tips, but a broader framework for how to leapfrog in life.
“Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception” by George A. Akelrof and Robert Shiller: “Phishing Equilibrium”: just as there is competition among sellers to satisfy consumers, so there is also competition to trick and shortchange them. If someone doe snot take advantage of fools, someone else will. Fantastic read!
Food for Thought (thought provoking pieces and conversation starters)
Equality and Diversity: If Race and Gender are Artificial Constructs, Does Diversity Matter? [article]: eh, I don’t really buy it but def hits the cultural pulse @Spenser
Gene Editing to Engineer away Sex [article]: think of the productivity gains lol @everyoneOutOfControl
Deadpool and the future of Advertising [video 12m]: as I mentioned to many of you, I’m getting super into advertising as an art medium. @Daniel this echoes the convo we had last week. @Mike I feel like you’d be good at this kind of ad lol @Abigail this is def something to think about when it comes to contemporary approaches to persuasive communication.
Crowd Pleasers (broad ideas that everyone can enjoy)
Work is Good [podcast 35m]: Britton, Stanford’s RUF Pastor, is at it again by re-mapping our relationship to work. This is a good response to @Jessica’s article a week back about “stepping off the treadmill” that you all liked so much XD
Transfer: The Key to Education for an Uncertain Future [article 16m]: even though it’s aimed at educators, I think this makes sense for self-teachers as well. @Rohan @JohnH
Advice for First Time Founders by YC Alumni [article]: I really dig how Y-Combinator (the top startup accellerator in the world, from which Reddit, AirBnB, Dropbox and Instacart came out of) is using the data they’ve collected from years of startup funding and mentoring to generate “playbooks” for founders. @Everyone since pretty much everyone on this newsletter is going to start a company or a non-profit at some point lol
Mind-Benders (ideas that blew me away)
Networks for Social Change [video 23m]: this reminded me a lot about the notion of creating a Silicon Valley for the non-profit sector: imagine the kind of growth we would see in organizations tackling social causes! @Dan this is #socialEngineering ;)
Understanding Human History through Thermodynamics [video 14m]: …very alternative viewpoint on the future.
The Origins of the Mafia: The Market for Lemons [paper]: @John actually wrote his IB thesis on the Mafia so he is a great person to talk to about this. Obviously this is personally relevant to me as an Italian, but this kind of analysis extends to all of organized crime.
How to Use Game Theory to take Down an ICO [article]: this reminds me of when Vitalik Buterin completely demolished some of the early ICOs. @JP you and I have talked about the serious implications of game theory in ICOs. @Charlie and @Karen in my opinion, this is probably the best way to go about investing.
Week 20
Announcements
Sorry about the early email send lol I accidentally sent it out as I was trying to make edits to the format. Thanks again for the positive feedback on the new format!
Joke Of the Week
SNL’s take on Google Talks ahahah
Weekly Shoutout
Let’s welcome @Jada on our newsletter. @Bekk introduced us last week because of our shared interest in economics and game theory. Def one of the highlights of the week.
Books
1) “How Ideas Spread” by Jonah Berger: the author of “Contagious” recorded a class for “The Great Courses”. Pretty standard stuff, not as novel post-Gladwell.
2) “Civilization and Its Discontents” by Freud: def worth reading. I am not a fan of psychoanalysis for individuals, but psychoanalysis for society is def worth considering. His thoughts on mass movements and collective delusion have given me a lot to think about.
3) “Animal Spirits” by Robert A. Akerlof and Robert Shiller: essentially a mix of Shiller’s other 2 books (Phishing for Phools and Irrational Exuberance). In this book Shiller explores the implications of his theory about irrational investor behavior for monetary policy and macro-economics.
Food for Thought
Why Alien Covenant is actually a good movie [video 14m]: the religious allegory in and the theological implications of AI in the movie are def worth considering. @Mike and @Joey I wonder if you guys think it’s not subtle enough.
The Pros and Cons of Circumcision [video 5m]: @Isaac and @Gabe this is for you as you fight against human rights violations of this kind.
Ceasing to Model Friendships after Sitcoms [article]: @Grant and I talked about the concept of “residual benefactors” a lot. As many of you know, I’ve recently began advocating for non-transactional bonding and this article delves into one of the reasons why. @Rafael
Crowd Pleasers
Black Mirror’s Self-Analysis [video 10m]: who doesn’t watch Black Mirror on here? I’m finally caught upon the latest season, and if you haven’t SPOILER ALERT. If you have, the video is quite great.
BoJack = Don Draper [video 12m]: let’s be real: the only reason why I posted this is because so many of you are fans of BoJack. @Mike and @Maz, since you have seen both shows, do you agree with the comparison?
The Basics of Color Theory [article]: “I know color theory very well” — Propaganda. @John gets the reference. I was interested in this article because of semiotics, but of course @Caroline and @Phil you will appreciate it for its implications for design.
JavaScript on Paper [article]: it could have counted as the joke of the week, but this is seriously crazy ahaha
Mind-Benders
Quantum Computing and Machine Learning [article]: fantastic primer not just on the mechanics of QC, but also its improvements on and limitations to ML. @Hermano and @Pavel and @Paulo you should check this out.
Adam Smith’s thoughts on Mediums of Exchange applied to Neuroscience [article]: very interesting metaphor that’s hard to appreciate unless you are into both economics and neuroscience. @Daniel I feel like you’d like this.
Simple Networks to Understand Microbial Complexity [article]: it wouldn’t be a newsletter without at least one article about networks lol @Bekk this fits very well with your recent eco-biology fad.
Dark UX in Health Insurance [article]: to what extent are we morally responsible for the active use of bad design to deter behavior? @Caroline and @Ben you will find this interesting.
Have a great weekend,
Week 21
Hey everyone,
Announcements
Even though so far it has not been an issue, I’m going to preemptively go ahead and attach trigger warnings (TW) to some of the content. Over the past few weeks I’ve thought about how sometimes the content I share related to social theory and feminism addresses topics that might open up wounds for some, and since avoiding the issue merely requires adding a classification, it’s more than worth the effort XD
Reasonably, I don’t know everything about everyone’s background so I am bounded but what I know. If anybody wants to reach out to me personally after an article, that’s more than encouraged. As always, I try to be as supportive as I can, even though I fail all the time because of my goofiness ahahahha
Joke Of the Week
Cartoon Trump [video 30m]: Stephen Colbert’s caricature of Trump gets its own show on Showtime.
Quote Of the Week
I think that novels that leave out technology misrepresent life as badly as Victorians misrepresented life by leaving out sex. — Kurt Vonnegut
Weekly Shoutout
@JP for giving me a ride to Greenville and helping me train Riverside’s Congress squad for the district (national qualifier for Speech and Debate) tournament last weekend. 3 out of the 4 students who are going to be representing South Carolina at nationals this summer are from Riverside, and all of three of them are girls!
Books
“Linked: The New Science of Network” by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi: as many of you know, I’ve been obsessed with networks for a while now. This book is very accessible and sets the more formal and mathematical foundations of the discipline while still exploring its wide applications to sociology, hardware, economics, biology and chemistry.
“Society of the Spectacle” by Guy Debord: I haven’t read pure philosophy like this in a while. I had to slow it down to 2x because it was so dense. It’s a great Marxist critique of advertising and capitalism’s trajectory towards hyperreality.
“How Life Imitates Chess” By Garry Kasparov: as a former competitive chess player, I wish I had read this book earlier. Garry made me realize how much playing the game has affected my attitude towards life.
“Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness” by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein. I was like 4/7 of the way through with the hard copy, but then school got in the way. I finally finished and I have to say that every engineer and designer should read this to realize how their skills can improve society at large. @MrCook I mentioned it to you last year, but this book has a lot of interesting insights.
Food for Thought
Natalie Portman on the Male Gaze [article]: TW: Natalie Portman walks us through her journey growing up as the target of “sexual terrorism” (which is a term I need to use more often) after starring in a provocative role in “Leon: the Professional”. @Niki and @Abigail
Public and Private Spaces in Selma [video 13m]: Ava DuVernay is one of my fave directors. She expands the cinematic medium in such a unique way. @Daniel am I right?
The Network effects behind Bitcoin [article]: interesting analysis of one of the most forgotten aspects of Bitcoin: its rising valuation floor as a function of electricity cost. @Vittorio @Chuck @JP I wonder what your thoughts are on this.
Behavioral Design Teams and Nudge Units [article]: echoing the same comments as for the book, it’s truly fascinating how much impact one can have through behavioral design. @Caroline and @Phil, I hope this article expands your design horizon. @Julia think about the implications of these practices for non-profits.
Crowd Pleasers
Behavioral Product Management [article]: ok ok, so clearly this week is very heavy on behavioral design but I swear I’m not obsessed ahaha @John I think a lot of these practices are how WeWork became successful. @Justin this is part of what I think about when considering “product-market fit” ahha
Six-Figure Salaries for In-n-Out managers [article]: don’t I always say that everyone should consider working for a restaurant franchise?!
The Data Behind Podcast Analytics [article]: see: it’s not just me! Podcasts are on the rise because we have so much downtime in our lives!
Mind-Benders
Solving Imperfect-Information Games [podcast 29m]: Tuomas Sandholm is one of my favorite academics. His work on reinforcement learning in imperfect information games like poker is one of the big inspirations behind my research. @Pavel, @Hermano, @Rohan and @Jacob you will find this research fascinating.
What Freelancers can learn from Romance Novelists [article]: this truly blew me away. Romance is the fastest growing and most profitable category in an industry that keeps shrinking, and so much of it can be attributed to the unique and free atmosphere of the writer community. @Abigail this is the article I was telling you about. @Nick this may give you some tips ;)
The Female Price for Male Pleasure [article]: TW: @Niki and I talked about this article a few days ago. The only thought I have about it for now is that either Aziz Ansari is a complete sociopath who has been pretending to be on the side of the women’s rights this entire time, or he genuinely believes in the cause yet the patriarchy got to him anyway. If it’s the latter, then this opens up new evidence that sexually coercive practices are so deeply ingrained in our culture that even someone like Aziz Ansari gets corrupted. BUT the article is not so much about Ansari as it’s about the problematic sexual dynamics with which our society educates young girls. Lastly, regardless how you feel about the situation, “but she blew him so she clearly wanted it” is never, ever a fucking appropriate response…what in the fuck is wrong with some people?!
Have a great weekend!
Week 22
Announcements
Since Spring Break starts on March 16th, I’ma be back in SF next month for a week. I look forward to catching up with all of you!
Joke Of the Week
Girl Scout sells Cookies outside of Pot Dispensary [article]
Quote Of the Week
“All happy families are alike: each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” — Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. @Matthew is a big fan of Russian literature, so I am listening to the audiobook while I swim.
Weekly Shoutout
@JohnPaul successfully ran his own Speech and Debate tournament at Furman! He is such a great example of social entrepreneurship: he decided to express his gratefulness for a program that changed his life by contributing to its devleopment in a major way. Truly inspiring!
Books
“The Great Stagnation” by Tyler Cowen: this is apparently the book that inspired many of Peter Thiel’s views on economic progress and technology. Turns out, he shamelessly ripped off so many of these ideas (the rate of innovation slowing down, chasing low-hanging fruit, tech productivity not being distributed). If you are interested in Peter Thiel, this will be an eye opener. If you are not familiar with him but are interested in economics, this book will offer a refreshing and in many ways contrarian perspective on many issues.
“Thinking in Bets” by Annie Duke: how to use poker as a mental model to handle complex decision making in imperfect information scenarios. I really liked this book although it was excessively long (so many anecdotes). She has a lot of interesting advice on how to use the poker model to approach problem-solving in a team setting.
“Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates: thanks go to @Abigail for recommending this beautiful poetic indictment of racism in America. Written as a heartfelt letter to his son, the author articulates his black experience in America as it evolved and still evolves over time. And don’t worry: it’s not a SJW book lol
Food for Thought
The Medieval Roots of Bro Culture [article]: TW: the article posits that maybe bro culture has not gotten worse, but rather just evolved over time.
Emily Chang on Female Engineers Coping with Brotopia [article]: I can’t wait to read the book soon. Even if we assume that some of these guys are simply oblivious and don’t realize the awkwardness of hitting on someone at work, the women themselves on the other hand have to deal with so many advances on a regularly basis. Can you imagine trying to focus at work in such an environment?
An Asexual’s Take on Shaming Male Virgins [article]: it wouldn’t be the newsletter if I didn’t include at least one article that breaks down gender norms and paradigms of sexuality in an interesting way XD
Crowd Pleasers
Another Good List on Mental Models [article]: since everyone seemed to have really found the last 2 mental models articles very helpful (the Farnam Street article is probably the one I’ve received the most comments about), here is another one.
The Story Behind “Epic Magazine” [article]: I’ve talked to some of you about these guys before, but their biz model is quite amazing: finance high-quality, true-story journalism to then profit from negotiating the movie rights of the story with studios.
What Ursula K Le Guin’s Essay Taught me About Being a Woman [article]: I really liked this article because it shows the impact of an activity like Speech and Debate can have to expand your horizons.
The Value of Coaching [video 19m]: I talked to Nathan (my advisor) about this on Wed. The single biggest value-adding activity we can ALL do is being a mentor to others. Not in a passive way of just being there for other people, but actively trying to give the best advice and feedback possible while building a non-transactional bond.
Mind-Benders
The Dark Rise and Fall of Travis Kalanick [article]: On some level I’m not surprised by any of this because obviously any political struggle within a $60b company would be intense. What I do find interesting is how despite this, Uber now appears essentially too big to fail.
The Current State of Meme Theory [article]: as a big fan of analyzing ideas as self-replicating pieces of information, I’m glad despite the challenges the field is still finding ways to grow.
The Evolutionary Purpose behind Depression [article]: TW: this article will challenge your assumptions about depression in so many major ways. I’m still thinking about it today and I read it last Sunday.
Have a great weekend!
