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  • Notes on the Fermi Paradox

    There is an observational subtlety to alien observations, which is that when we look out into the universe we are observing only our past light cone. If grabby aliens were expanding at a high fraction of the speed of light (c), the light carrying information of their coming would be only just ahead of them. So even though aliens might be quite close, we wouldn’t see them until just before they arrived…

    …if the aliens we see are traveling at high speed toward us, the intermediate state (seen but not met) is unlikely to be longer than a handful of weeks. Choosing our present time at random, there is almost zero chance for humanity to find itself in a time where we’re aware of alien intelligences but haven’t yet met them. That is, Earth is 4.5 billion years old (no aliens), then one day the Vera Rubin Observatory sees a flash that turns out to be an alien spacecraft departing to meet us from 100 light years away, traveling at 99.9% of c. They arrive just five weeks later. For the remaining billions of years of Earth’s existence, we are in the world of aliens among us.
    — Read on caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2026/03/03/notes-on-the-fermi-paradox/

    For a while, the Fermi Paradox was my favorite article on Wikipedia. The comments on this post are also worth reading.

  • Transhumanist without realizing

    society indeed did not become transhumanist – that is, not in belief. Few of the biotech users endorse the philosophy of technological transcendence. But society is heading there in deed. Conservative forces (religion, disgust, precaution) were in this case grossly outgunned by the force of sheer desire.
    We got, not transhumanism (as deliberate, informed, rational decision to self-consciously go beyond natural human capacity), but surreptitious transhuman behaviour, without the weird philosophy or the new aesthetics. Technology by default, without conscious ideology. Playing god – but using these new, unfathomable powers to… become more normal. So call it transnormalism.
    — Read on www.gleech.org/enhance

  • Last year my mind exploded and now I’m in spiritual puberty again

    What’s actually important to me is that you really understand that this is a real possibility, for you, in your life. If you practice with honest diligence, with tenderness and patience and determination, one day you will understand that you were completely wrong about everything. And you will be so, so happy about that.

    More here.

  • The Freakiest Outfits We Saw at Frieze Art Fair

    I love how art-world denizens dress when they come to Los Angeles. The collector class interprets “dressing for/with/about fine art in LA” differently than I’ve ever seen elsewhere in the world, applying vast economic resources to fashion interpretations that I can only describe as “downstream from 1960s CIA experiments.”
    — Read on freakpalace.substack.com/p/the-freakiest-outfits-we-saw-at-frieze

  • No more recording without consent?

    Today, we’re introducing Spectre I, the first smart device to stop unwanted audio recordings.

    We live in a world of always-on listening devices.

    Smart devices and AI dominate our world in business and private conversations.

    With Deveillance, you will
    @be_inaudible
    .
    — Read on x.com/aidaxbaradari/status/2028864606568067491

  • The most frequently winning Powerball numbers are 28, 23, 39, 36 and 32

    The most frequently winning Powerball numbers are 28, 23, 39, 36 and 32

    Can AI be used to analyze Powerball data? With the right dataset, it sure can.

    (more…)

  • What Do I Tell My Children about AI and the future?

    A more straightforward tactic: talk to your children often about the kind of working lives I’m outlining here, and the age of AI more broadly. Make them understand that the kind of single-track careers they see on TV or hear about in school — the kind that many of us have had — aren’t really going to exist in the future they’re heading into
    — Read on x.com/dmattin/status/2015405818586279993

  • Can AI help you simplify and understand local government?(Project Report – Success)

    Can AI help you simplify and understand local government?(Project Report – Success)

    I wanted to see if AI could provide insight into local government. AI does analysis really well, those datasets are available, and it’s not something a normal person can do, unless they have hours to spare. Can AI simplify government bureaucracies so we can better understand our government. The answer? Yes, it can.

    (more…)

  • Obvious advice

    Before carrying out any plan, actually do the obvious things.

    When you’re about to make a big decision, pause, and ask yourself what obvious things a reasonable person would do before making this sort of decision. Would they spend a full five minutes (by the clock) brainstorming alternative options before settling on a decision? Would they consult with friends and advisors? Would they do some particular type of research?

    Read on: https://mindingourway.com/obvious-advice/

  • How to Read about Sports

    “High-level sports,” according to Wallace, “are a prime venue for the expression of human beauty,” and this beauty’s “power and appeal…have to do with…human beings’ reconciliation with the fact of having a body.”

    Beautiful. Worth reading the whole thing.

  • Infinite Jest belongs in the techno-optimist canon

    • To be a real optimist, you need to be serious: you need to be a part of something greater than yourself.
    • To be serious, you have to be externally focused (striving for something external, in service of others, in surrender to a higher mission), not caught up in your own head.
    • To achieve true external focus, you probably need to struggle a lot. And it won’t be the romantic kind of struggling either; you are going to look ridiculous.

    More here.

  • gen z pickup artists are taking over my city

    Although it’s still very much in beta, the cold approach revival is signaling something hopeful: young people want to get outside and meet each other! Both sides of the gender divide are clearly starving for connection, and no matter how clumsy it’s looking in Miami, flirting in the wild is a massive step in the right direction. Perhaps after enough reps are cleared, the formulas will fade away and leave room for something more real. 

    Observational and non-judgmental. More here.

  • From noise, all this

    Generative deep learning improves reconstruction of global historical climate records. It uses, as you might guess from the title, generative deep learning to reconstruct global historical climate records. It does temperature and precipitation
    — Read on diagrammonkey.wordpress.com/2026/02/28/from-noise-all-this/

    It will be interesting to check in on this project in a few months to see what they’ve learned.

  • I Asked an AI Chatbot for My Data. I Didn’t Expect a Psychological Profile

    I’ve been paying €20/month for an AI chatbot. Not the free tier — the premium one. The one that remembers things. The one that thinks with you.

    I used it for everything. Career decisions. Travel planning. Creative projects. Emotional processing. I treated it like an oracle, a thinking partner that never judges, never forgets, never gets tired of my questions.

    Then I exercised my GDPR rights and requested my data from all three: ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity.
    — Read on thelocalstack.eu/posts/ai-chatbot-gdpr-data-request/

  • Aliens next year?

    James Miller on X: “Massive real money bet on Kalshi that US will confirm that aliens exist before 2027. Bet was 20 min ago for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Wonder if was someone with inside info in Trump administration. Market now at 37.7% for yes with 8 million volume.” / X
    — Read on x.com/JimDMiller/status/2026110647075803137

  • Should the Supreme Court Be “Pro-Congress”?

    Gorsuch takes just about everyone on the court to task.

    Addressing the liberals, he suggests that Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson are hypocrites for upholding Biden-era executive actions but striking down Trump’s. Thanks for agreeing with me about Trump! But then why didn’t you agree with me on Biden?

    Addressing the dissenting conservatives, he suggests that Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh are hypocrites for striking down Biden-era executive actions but upholding Trump’s. Thanks for agreeing with me about Biden! But then why don’t you agree with me on Trump?
    — Read on www.wakeuptopolitics.com/p/should-the-supreme-court-be-pro-congress

    Quality journalism that educates. I’m not an attorney but after reading this, my takeaway from the article is that: The tariff powers Trump wanted to use are not the sole decision of the executive, but his position requesting them wasn’t insane; it was a legitimate legal gray area.

    And that it’s not without precedent: The courts have approved similar action from Biden, or opposed similar action by Biden, according to political slant (concerning). And that the ultimate position of the court is that when it is really unclear, Congress should help.

    Putting on a historical lens, this does feel like a Caesar/Republic moment, where the question about the limits of executive power vs the Congress are getting repeatedly strained, across multiple administrations- all while Congress holds an abysmally low approval rating for its effectiveness.

    Highly recommended. Kudos to The Browser for surfacing and to the author for being serious about good analysis.

  • I Verified My LinkedIn Identity. Here’s What I Actually Handed Over.

    I tapped “verify.” I scanned my passport. I took a selfie. Three minutes later — done. Badge acquired. I felt a tiny dopamine hit of legitimacy.

    Then I did what apparently nobody does. I went and read the privacy policy and terms of service.

    Not LinkedIn’s. The other company’s.

    — Read on thelocalstack.eu/posts/linkedin-identity-verification-privacy/

  • The Secrets of The Universe Lies in The “3-6-9 Theory”

    The behavior of 9 in mathematics borders on the absurd.
    Multiply any number by 9. Add the digits of the result. You get 9.
    9 × 7 = 63. 6+3 = 9.
    9 × 253 = 2277. 2+2+7+7 = 18. 1+8 = 9.
    9 × 8,471 = 76,239. 7+6+2+3+9 = 27. 2+7 = 9.
    This works for every number, without exception. Nine absorbs everything into itself, transforms it, and returns unchanged. No other single digit has this property.
    — Read on x.com/thecurioustales/status/2025254391935369273

    These strange math experiments illustrate how weirdly regular some of the patterns around us are.

  • Facebook is absolutely cooked

    And I don’t just mean that nobody uses it anymore. Like, I knew everyone under 50 had moved on, but I didn’t realize the extent of the slop conveyor belt that’s replaced us.
    — Read on pilk.website/3/facebook-is-absolutely-cooked

  • But Brutus is an honorable man

    One way to reduce phone addiction is to keep a poem handy in a notes file. Every time you’re tempted to open your phone, start with that poem. It turns out that memorizing long poems focuses your thoughts in a very noticeable way. Select well, and you’re memorizing the best writing on earth – like Marc Antony reacting to Caesar’s murder.

    After starting with Macbeth’s Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow (raw cynicism), I moved to Marcus Antony’s speech at the death of Caesar, which I’m still working on. Words are code and these words are POWERFUL. Antony seethes with malice, making it abundantly clear he’s going to deliver payback in full – without ever saying it outright.

    Speaking of which, you can watch one of the greatest film actors to ever live (Marlon Brando) acting these lines, written by one of the greatest writers to ever live (Shakespeare) and you can do it from your couch. What a time to be alive.