For 2020, I wrote an article 52 Things I Learnt in 2020. I enjoyed doing that and at least a few people liked it, so I thought I’d continue to do this monthly.
One person said the list was too long. Instead of making the list shorter, I decided to create two lists. One containing the things that I think people will find more interesting, and then the rest. Let me know if you agree with how I split it up!
“More interesting”
Ex CIA director says that we should not dismiss the possibility that UFOs are caused by alien life. “I’ve seen some of those videos from Navy pilots, and I must tell you that they are quite eyebrow-raising when you look at them. […] But I think some of the phenomena we’re going to be seeing continues to be unexplained and might, in fact, be some type of phenomenon that is the result of something that we don’t yet understand and that could involve some type of activity that some might say constitutes a different form of life.” From John O Brennan via Conversations with Tyler.
Most published research is wrong. Via Veritasium or this paper by John P A Ioannidis.
The world is much better; The world is awful; The world can be much better.
Chesterton’s Fence: You should not remove something if you do not first understand why it was put there in the first place. ‘Suppose there is a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.”’ Via Artyom Kazak via Wikipedia.
Few people actually ‘do the reading’, you should look for the value in what other people say (even if their style of discourse is not to your liking or to your standards), genuinely being open-minded and listening is difficult, and there is no ‘real version’ of you but different versions which depend on the context. Plus many more insights. From Ezra Klein via their final episode in the Ezra Klein Show.
The term ‘intersectionality’ was introduced by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in the 1980s, to describe how the law recognises discrimination against women and discrimination against black people, but not discrimination of the intersection black-women. Hence, a company could discriminate against black women in their hiring process and get away with it, if they hired white women and black men. From interview of Coleman Hughes on Rationally Speaking podcast.
Using an IQ test on 2nd graders for entry into 'gifted education programs' reduces under-representation of under-represented groups, compared to using referrals from parents and teachers. Via this 2016 study.
The experience of total global amnesia made Steven Hales experience the loss of a sense of self. From Sudden Amnesia Showed Me The Self Is A Convenient Fiction, via Darren McKee.
A woman failed a maternity test for her own child. The explanation is that while the woman was still a foetus, she somehow absorbed the cells of a potential twin sister. The consequence is the woman has the DNA of two people in her. Via EssentialBaby.
OpenAI releases another mind-blowing algorithm. DALL-E can take free-text description and produce a corresponding image. You really have to see the examples in the article: it’s astonishing how much understanding of language and images is captured in the algorithm. You can even play around with the input sentence a bit and see what happens. Via OpenAI.
“Less interesting”
I am more susceptible to fake news that I thought. A friend posted a news article about Fiji’s leader laughing at America’s pathetic attempt at a coup. The first time I read it, I just accepted it. But then I read it a second time a few hours later, and something felt off. I then looked at the news websites front page, and discovered all of its content is just nonsense.
By making full use of the internet and digital tools, science can be dramatically transformed, e.g. open and reproducible science, optimised collaboration, AI and Big Data, and more. From Michael Nielsen via their book Reinventing Discovery.
In some restaurants in the past, they had women’s menus, which are exactly the same as normal menus but with prices removed. Why? Sara Pascoe correctly guesses: “Because the bitch aint payin’?!”. Via this clip from QI.
John Myatt and John Drewe did what I shall call ‘reverse stealing’. John Myatt made some paintings and photographed them. John Drewe then hacked official art databases and entered those photographs as famous artists’ works. They then sold the paintings to museums. Via Dan Geer on the DataExchange podcast, via the book Provenance that details the story.
Microsoft has intentions of making the Black Mirror episode Be Right Back one step closer to reality (one of my favourite episodes!). They filed a patent for a chatbot that imitates a person’s style, based on their social media data. Via TechNuws.
‘Data Trusts’ are an interesting idea to improve the use of personal data while maintaining privacy. From Sylvie Delacroix via The Turing Podcast.
Taiwan, Germany, Netherlands and Norway have particularly good healthcare systems, but the USA has the potential to become one of the best providers in the world. But it really depends on what you prioritise, e.g. innovation, or low cost, or low waiting times, or state healthcare for the elderley, or … . From Ezekiel Emanuel via The Ezra Klein Show episode on his book Which Country Has the World’s Best Healthcare.
Correcting blatant scientific fraud is difficult, and most journals / journal editors do not have incentives to properly deal with it. From this blogpost detailing somebody’s 2-year efforts at removing Qian Zhang’s fraudulent research from journals.
Free-parking is not free, but is paid for indirectly by everybody. ‘My idea is simple: if somebody doesn't have a car, they shouldn't have to pay for parking.’ Via Vox’s article Why Free Parking is Bad for Everyone.
There was an attempted coup in Gabon, which was partially fuelled by existence of DeepFakes. After a few months of not appearing in public (and unclear information about what was going on) the President Ali Bongo released a video annual address. However, their face looked different, and some political opponents believed it was a DeepFake to cover up the President’s death. However, Bongo actually had a stroke and the change in appearance was due to the stroke and resulting facial surgery. Via Washington Post, via Nina Schick.
Nathan Robinson believes that the best way to provide affordable housing for the poor in US is for there to be increased provision of state housing; a free market would primarily help rich people while poor people are only helped indirectly via ‘trickle down economics’. Matt Yglesias believes the best way is to let the free-market do its thing, by removing the red-tape and restrictions in construction; to help the poor just give them cash / have a strong welfare state. And sadly they seem to be talking past each other in their respective articles. Via The Only Thing Worse Than a NIMBY is a YIMBY and The Induced Demand Case Against YIMBYism Is Wrong.
In Madagascar, there is a ceremony/festival Famadihana where buried relatives are dug up. Via QI.
Our perception of time is skewed in various ways, e.g. an hour waiting in a line feels like long when you are experiencing it, but feels short when you think back on it. From Michael Stevens via VSauce.
There is an interesting analogy between biological aging and ‘digital aging’. If a digital system gets buggy or stops working, the most common solution is to turn it off and on again. Similarly, as an organism ages and starts slowing down and falling apart, the ‘solution’ is for it to die and its children to continue. From Stephen Wolfram via The Stephen Wolfram Podcast.
Witan.io provides legalise-free binding agreements, for little things like house-rules between housemates to serious things like employment contracts. Via the Clearer Thinking Podcast.
In Child Safeguarding training, one of the principles is to not ask leading questions if a child opens up to you. I now know some of the history behind this principle. Some psychotherapists in the 1980s believed that the brain subconsciously represses painful memories, so if a person says they were never abused, you ought to keep on pushing and prodding until they finally do ‘remember’. This led to dozens of false prosecutions of day care centres, known as the Day Care Sex Abuse Hysteria. Experiments show that you can get 80% of children to say they were abused by asking various leading questions, despite no abuse having occured. From Chapter 4, about how human memory is malleable, from Mistakes Were Made But Not By Me.
Lab grown meat requires bovile foetal serum in the production process, at least as of 2018. Via Wired.
Early steps are being taken to produce lab-grown wood and 3d-printed bone, via the TLDR newsletter.
Some High Frequency Traders provide liquidity while others take advantage of normal traders. “A trader’s algorithm might detect that Katsuyama was trying to buy 100,000 shares of a stock and then immediately start buying it faster to drive up the price.” Via NYTimes.
MIT produced a tool that allows you see how headlines and article selection change based on your preferences. There are sliders to adjust how left or right wing you want, the level of nuance, and a few other things. Via the Lex Fridman Podcast.
You can get ‘cooling gel mats’ to help you sleep when it is hot. And nine other product recommendations. From Michelle Hutchinson via the EA Forum.
FocusMate can help you reduce procrastination and make the most of an hour’s slot, by making ‘co-working’ easy. And nine other habit recommendations. From Michelle Hutchinson via the EA Forum.
I should not undervalue basic ergonomics, especially since I spend so much time on my laptop. This is something I have read numerous times, but I did not act on until now. I finally decided to buy a separate keyboard and mouse. Probably ought to invest in a good chair next. Via Rachel Thomas via FastAi.
Maintaining a certain ‘self-image’ is a good psychological tactic to help me make better decisions (like buying a mouse and keyboard). I identify as a sensible and rational person, therefore, I should act in such a way. This and many more researched self-control tips via Scott Young via his Complete Guide on Self-Control.
There is no simple way to refer to the decade 1900–1909, because ‘1900s’ refers to the century 1900–1999. My favourite suggestion from my facebook friends was ‘19-naughties’.
A phalloblaster is a device to inflate the genetilia of dead insects. Via QI.
Brown-headed cow bird will lay its eggs in other species’ nests. If the other bird gets rid of the egg, the brown-headed bird will destroy the whole nest. The other bird learns its lesson and won’t make the same mistake twice. Via QI.
Geometric algebra elegantly generalises many concepts into a single framework that is independent of dimension, e.g. dot products, cross products, rotations, reflections, etc. In particular, it provides simple visualisation of quaternions. Via Geometric Algebra Primer.
Newton was born on the same day that Galileo died. From Mark Saroufim via A Very Brief History of Mathematics.
‘Calculate’ and ‘calcium’ have the same root ‘calx’.
“The Latin word for stone is calx, calcis. The addition of the ending -ulus to the stem produces the diminutive calculus, which means a small stone or pebble. As a medical term, it is used of bladder, gall, and kidney stones, and even the gritty accumulation on the teeth. Since such pebbles were used as counters in counting, the verb calculo, calculare, calculavi, calculatus came into existence with the meaning to count.” Via History of Science and Mathematics StackExchange (via Google via Up and Atom’s video on paradoxes that lead to the mathematical subject of calculus).Zeeland is a province in the Netherlands — and this is what New Zealand is named after, Australia used to be New Holland, the west coast used to be New Netherlands, New York used to be New Amsterdam, Saint Martin is an island whose top half is Saint-Martin and bottom half is Sint Maartin. And many other curious facts about the Netherlands via CGP Grey.
Wall Street in New York is named after a literal wall that the Dutch used to defend against the British. (I do not know where I learnt this).
In order to cool down, pelicans literally take out their spine. Via the Turing Podcast.
Or maybe not. “These cursed images do not show either the pelican or the shoebill shunting their spine through their mouth. What these images are actually showing are some, still very freaky, yawns that force the birds’ lower, soft-tissue beak over their neck.” From iflscience.
You can explain what is going with the pelican with a vacuum hose, a clothes hanger and a condom. Really, this is some masterful communication which you ought to watch. From Kaeli Swift on YouTube.
I know less than I ought to about (biologically) female anatomy. E.g the visible part of the clitoris is just ‘the tip of an iceberg’. From Cariad Lloyd via this clip from QI.
After a vasectomy, one still ejaculates, but the semen does not contain any sperm. From Phil Wang via BudPod Episode 35.
What a scrunchy is. Via the TV show Start-Up on Netflix.
What a festschrift is. Learnt by looking at all books that Carol Tavris had authored, which included a festschrift.
A long time ago, I once saw mayonnaise as an ingredient in a brownie. I now know why: mayonnaise acts as an emulsifier, preventing fats from leaking out and thus preventing the brownie from being greasy. Via Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book.
Fight Club is still an excellent movie! I wonder if kids these days will know what a payphone is, or why blowing up a building could destroy all credit card records. Also, I think this is the first time I saw the various ‘hidden frames’ inserted in the movie.
There was a PC game in the 90s called Detective Barbie, and it was apparently quite good. From Phil Wang via BudPod Episode 33.