Written in the context of explaining ChatGPT, this article is a guide that, from scratch, gives an intuitive sense of machine learning.

https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/02/what-is-chatgpt-doing-and-why-does-it-work/

#ml

This is an excerpt from the book Sense and Solidarity by Jean Drèze. The excerpt appears on the website of road scholarz as their philosophy. This is the research vibe that I enjoy and anticipate. This is the standard with which I judge research and researchers.

https://roadscholarz.net/research-and-action/

#society #research #sociology

I hate paperwork. I hate going to the bank, to the university, to any place which forces you through paperwork. In this essay that I found via @IndianAnarchists channel, the author writes about how these are examples of structural violence. It then goes on to tell more about the issue (which I haven't understood fully 😅). But I like reading articles that I don't understand, especially if they're talking about issues I understand. And the striking example of bank related paperwork that the author uses is extremely relatable for me. The abstract is explained further in section IV which is also relatively readable.

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/david-graeber-dead-zones-of-the-imagination

#sociology #society

Quoting the same section that @IFFchats' Apar posted on LinkedIn:

> "That escape from accountability is one of the most valuable services that management consultancies provide. Bosses have certain goals, but don’t want to be blamed for doing what’s necessary to achieve those goals; by hiring consultants, management can say that they were just following independent, expert advice. Even in its current rudimentary form, A.I. has become a way for a company to evade responsibility by saying that it’s just doing what “the algorithm” says, even though it was the company that commissioned the algorithm in the first place."

https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-artificial-intelligence/will-ai-become-the-new-mckinsey

#tech #society

This starts out as a video on "communication", but soon becomes an anarchist guide on how to engage with the hierarchical world powerfully.

#communication #society

https://youtu.be/6T44xBgKV_s

This is a relatively short post, but it talks about a point that I took many years to learn on my own – that instead of thinking of bringing everyone to one #platform (be it in software, be it in physical world), we are better off thinking about communities of communities.

https://ploum.net/2023-07-06-stop-trying-to-make-social-networks-succeed.html


On that note, a discussion group has been added to this channel. Perhaps it will become our own community: https://t.me/+lHf6LCR6KmgzMWRk

Kiran Kumbhar makes the most sensible argument against advocates of Ayurveda (disguised in the term AYUSH) in India – that their advocacy is steeped in hypocrisy.

https://kirankumbhar.substack.com/p/traditional-medicine-india-history-ayurveda

Vijeta Kumar is back with this melodical composition. I won't blame you if you desire to sit back and close your eyes while reading it.

https://no-niin.com/issue-18/love-is-for-the-ones-who-love-the-work-how-close-reading-interrupts-caste-in-the-classroom/

When we are #learning a subject over years there are stages you cross after which if you look back you would be like "wow! I can't believe this used to be so difficult one year ago". Just saw this talk about that in mathematics and teaching mathematics. I have felt it in every subject.

Part 1: https://youtu.be/zHU1xH6Ogs4

Part 2: https://youtu.be/4HFyWC-YtIk

This is an old video on nonviolent communication. It's been instrumental in my first steps towards using language carefully.

https://youtu.be/l7TONauJGfc

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~wkw/humour/carproblems.txt

This is an interesting anecdote about #problems that seem illogical, irrational, and impossible at the beginning, but with a slight restatement becomes obvious and straightforward. Got via hackernews thread at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37584399 where there are even more similar anecdotes shared.

In the last article of the series, Ravikant Kisana gives me the answer to the question that keeps unsettling me – 'How is it that people who speak radical words also do regressive things without blinking?'

https://theswaddle.com/saving-the-world-like-a-savarna/

The propensity to make mistakes is a universal human trait. But how mistakes are dealt with varies from culture to culture. This particular 500 million dollars mistake and how it was dealt with is a life lesson in itself.

https://www.chrislewicki.com/articles/failurestory

I'm not sure if I've said this here. I have been studying "leadership" for many years – unaffiliated to any university. I haven't put together my thesis yet. But it is gonna come soon. This article came up in a lit search today and it is very nice https://hbr.org/2023/03/you-need-two-leadership-gears

This is a dilemma every day for me. I've been dead against personal branding all this while. My 2024 resolution says "allow myself the luxury of personal branding" (not "do personal branding"). That's how much I hate it. This article goes into the depth of the pit.

https://www.vox.com/culture/2024/2/1/24056883/tiktok-self-promotion-artist-career-how-to-build-following

Is all #knowledge codifiable? Even when LLMs like ChatGPT become extremely capable, they're limited to codifiable knowledge - things that can be expressed in words. What about "tacit" knowledge? Things that can only be known? That are very very difficult to articulate? How do humans learn these? How are these connected to transformative experiences? A lot of such questions come up when reading this article (beginning of a series)

https://commoncog.com/tacit-knowledge-is-a-real-thing/

Found this YouTube series on "What is Politics" very informative and thought provoking.
– what's the actual definition of politics, where does it happen every day in our lives?
– what's the definition of left and right?
– what's socialism, capitalism?
– where does anarchism fit in?
– what is materialism and idealism?
– what is a practical way to affect change in hierarchies?
– [really challenging one] how's identity politics, cancel culture, political correctness, etc figuring in these?
– why did Russia fail?

I personally feel that this podcast would have been perfect if it engaged with intersectionality respectfully. But, it is nevertheless the most I've thought/learnt in many months.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU4FEuj4v9eAU706Cz_fCvcG44pNow14Y&feature=shared

There's an exhilarating feeling that comes to you when you build software by writing code. When all the pieces come together and fit so beautifully together to form a marvelous piece of work. This is perhaps what all craft feel like. It is a spiritual experience. With engineering, though, the experience is limited to inanimate objects. There is (at least) one profession where you get the same kind of spiritual experience, but you feel it much more intensely because you're connecting to several other human beings. It's medicine. You bring thousands of pages of readings, years of experience, and countless previous interactions — and all of that merges together when you're looking at the person in front of you. You feel like you're channeling the power of a vast cosmos through a tiny opening that's you. This blog post describes this experience much more eloquently.

https://vjswords.blogspot.com/2024/04/what-does-it-mean-to-me-to-be-doctor.html

This subscriber only article from TNM is like a textbook chapter in modern India's political history. It talks a lot about the pragmatic politics of Ambedkar and gave me an entirely new perspective about pragmatism. Mallikarjun Kharge's Ism is a few lessons on its own. This article alone is worth a subscription, if you aren't already a subscriber.

https://www.thenewsminute.com/long-form/mallikarjun-kharges-ism-an-ambedkarite-manifesto-for-the-modi-years