21 APR 2014 by ideonexus
Praise a Child's Character Rather than Actions
The researchers randomly assigned the children to receive different types of praise. For some of the children, they praised the action: “It was good that you gave some of your marbles to those poor children. Yes, that was a nice and helpful thing to do.” For others, they praised the character behind the action: “I guess you’re the kind of person who likes to help others whenever you can. Yes, you are a very nice and helpful person.”
A couple of weeks later, when faced with more opp...
1 The opposite of telling a child they work hard instead of telling them they are "smart." Tell a child they are a good person when they do good things so that they internalize morality.
24 DEC 2013 by ideonexus
Microbes Rule the World
Microbes make up 80 percent of all biomass, says microbiologist Carl Woese. In one-fifth of a teaspoon of seawater, there are a million bacteria (and 10 million viruses), Craig Venter says, adding, “If you don’t like bacteria, you’re on the wrong planet. This is the planet of the bacteria.” That means that most of the planet’s living metabolism is microbial. When James Lovelock was trying to figure out where the gases come from that make the Earth’s atmosphere such an artifact of ...Stewart Brand describes the state of our world, engineered by microbes and ourselves as the vehicles for their propagation in many cases.
23 APR 2013 by ideonexus
Intelligence Arises out of a Need to Maximize Entropy
The researchers developed a software engine, called Entropica, and gave it models of a number of situations in which it could demonstrate behaviors that greatly resemble intelligence. They patterned many of these exercises after classic animal intelligence tests.
[...]
"It actually self-determines what its own objective is," said Wissner-Gross. "This [artificial intelligence] does not require the explicit specification of a goal, unlike essentially any other [artificial intelligence]."
...
1 The more entropy, the more possibilities. Intelligence therefore seeks to maximize "future histories" in order to keep the number of possibilities maximized.
04 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
The U-Shape of Automation
As we look ahead, we see these three trends not only accelerating but also evolving. For instance, new research by David Autor and David Dorn has put an interesting twist on the SBTC story. They find that the relationship between skills and wages has recently become U-shaped. In the most recent decade, demand has fallen most for those in the middle of the skill distribution. The highest-skilled workers have done well, but interestingly those with the lowest skills have suffered less than thos...Folksonomies: employment automation
Folksonomies: employment automation
People in semi-skilled jobs have been the ones most automated out of jobs, while highly-technical and more menial jobs have remained.
12 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
The Foundation of Science, Not the Periphery, Is Where th...
A number of years ago, when I was a freshly-appointed instructor, I met, for the first time, a certain eminent historian of science. At the time I could only regard him with tolerant condescension.
I was sorry of the man who, it seemed to me, was forced to hover about the edges of science. He was compelled to shiver endlessly in the outskirts, getting only feeble warmth from the distant sun of science- in-progress; while I, just beginning my research, was bathed in the heady liquid heat up a... 1 
notes
notesIsaac Asimov describing his young experience with a professor as he worked on new research.
06 JUL 2011 by ideonexus
Scientists and Babies Belong Together
Scientists and children belong together in another way. The new research shows that babies and young children know and learn more about the world than we could ever have imagined. They think, draw conclusions, make predictions, look for explanations, and even do experiments. Scientists and children belong together because they are the best learners in the universe. And that means that ordinary adults also have more powerful learning abilities than we might have thought. Grown-ups, after all, ... 1 notes
notesBoth are devoted to learning.
21 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Drugging Pregnant Mother Drugs Their Unborn Children
The historians of the future will undoubtedly look back upon our recent past era and refer to it as the "drug" era. The Pharmaceutical Manufacturer's Association estimates that ten thousand types of drugs are being manufactured in this country. We are the pill-takingest people the earth has ever known. Sir William Osier once stated: "The desire to take medicine is perhaps the greatest feature which distinguishes man from animals." Our fervent plea as advocates of natural childbirth is to imit...And leads to unhealthy, drugged-out newborns.
