10 MAR 2019 by ideonexus
Kasparov was the John Henry of Chess
HE NINETEENTH-CENTURY African American folk legend of John Henry I pits the "steel-driving man" in a race against a new invention, a steam-powered hammer, bashing a tunnel through a mountain of rock. It was my blessing and my curse to be the John Henry of chess and artificial intelligence, as chess computers went from laughably weak to nearly unbeatable during my twenty years as the world's top chess player.
As we will see, this is a pattern that has repeated over and over for centuries. Pe...Folksonomies: automation
Folksonomies: automation
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notes11 FEB 2014 by ideonexus
Curse of the Gifted: Personal Account
I am miles away from Eric or Linus, but the "curse of the gifted" is very real.
Thankfully I wasn't smart or gifted enough that I could ride it for long, but when it comes to math and problem-solving I rode it well into my high school years. I never learned to do algebra "by the book," because I didn't need to. Or maybe because I wasn't smart enough to.
The math teacher would teach "3x 6 = 9." Basic algebraic problem-solving says you subtract the 6 from both sides, then divide by 3. So "3...
2 A reply to the article, personal anecdote.
11 FEB 2014 by ideonexus
The Curse of the Gifted
When you were in college, did you ever meet bright kids who graduated
top of their class in high-school and then floundered freshman year
in college because they had never learned how to study? It's a common
trap. A friend of mine calls it "the curse of the gifted" -- a tendency
to lean on your native ability too much, because you've always been
rewarded for doing that and self-discipline would take actual work.
You are a brilliant implementor, more able than me and possibly (I say
this a...Because some people grew on their own talent, they never learned to appreciate the reasons for overhead.
Eric S. Raymond writing to Linus Torvalds.
06 JUL 2012 by ideonexus
The Curse of Knowledge
Call the random variable being forecasted X. If X is a discrete event,
then it has the value zero or one. Forecasts of X depend on the
information set available to the forecaster. Assume that there are two
information sets Io and II, where Io is a subset of II. A forecaster
with information set I, knows everything that the forecaster with in-
formation set Io knows, and more.3 Denote the optimal forecast of X
given the information set I...
1 Experts tend to assume others have the same knowledge they do and have difficulty taking the perspective of someone without their expertise. As a result, someone selling a car will sell it for less when they know about defects undetectable by buyers, investors will assume other investors are acting on the same knowledge they privately hold, and teachers will assume more knowledge from students then they actually have.
21 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Anesthesia Thwarts the Will of God
It is a curious and painful fact that almost all the completely futile treatments that have been believed in during the long history of medical folly have been such as caused acute suffering to the patient. When anesthetics were discovered, pious people considered them an attempt to evade the will of God. It was pointed out, however, that when God extracted Adam's rib He put him into a deep sleep. This proved that anesthetics are all right for men; women, however, ought to suffer, because of ... 1 notes
notesBut Biblical precedent is found in the book of Genesis to allow it for men.
25 JUL 2011 by ideonexus
Gains and Loses in Man's Empirical View
I may hand over to men their fortunes, now their understanding is emancipated and come as it were of age; whence there cannot but follow an improvement in man's estate and an enlargement of his power over nature. For man by the fall fell at the same time from his state of innocency and from his dominion over creation. Both of these losses however can even in this life be in some part repaired; the former by religion and faith, the latter by arts and sciences. For creation was not by the curse...Folksonomies: nature empiricism
Folksonomies: nature empiricism
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notesMan loses his innocence and dominion over creation, but gains in his estate and power over nature.
28 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Humans Have to Keep the World Going
Pelorat said, "You know what that reminds me of? -Pardon me, Bliss, for interrupting, but it so fits that I can't resist telling you right now before I forget. There's an old creation myth I once came across; a myth in which life was formed on a planet and consisted of only a limited assortment of species, just those useful to or pleasant for humanity. The first human beings then did something silly-never mind what, old fellow, because those old myths are usually symbolic and only confusing i... 1 notes
notesAfter they remove the natural components they dislike but that also kept the natural system in balance.
