As always, great stuff. I appreciated your take on research funding and competition with China. It holds a lot of truth. However, one point that is worthy of mention is that a lot of R&D agencies in the US government have become bloated and no longer use much of the investments in them to do R&D. The cuts to these agencies, as I see it, are largely being used to re-focus them. As you highlight though, American society has to re-focus on competition also, and that is an even greater hurdle when dealing with a hungrier competitor. Previous empires have fallen when things were too good for them for too long. It is hard to turn very large ships like the nation of the US, especially when tools like AI can be used to make life easier instead of learning and self-improvement easier.
I agree that there's a lot of bloat, and to be clear, I didn't mean that the specific things that were done back then are the exact answers today. But there are definitely a lot of counter-productive things being done right now, like making it harder for talented foreigners to work in the US and immigrate there. And the cuts to a lot of R&D orgs weren't done with much precision or foresight, they appeared to have been done mostly for ideological reasons (ie. the stories about people working on transgenic mice getting cut because the word "trans" was in their documentation..).
I agree that there should be reform to boost effectiveness, but I don't think this is what we're seeing right now, sadly. A lot of non-scientists, non-engineers, and even anti-science people have been put in charge of various departments, and that's probably not going to help either.
It's been so long since I read them... over 20 years. I'm a totally different person now, so they would be different books to me. I just need to find the time, I have so many other books I want to read 📚😅
Your advice on AI usage is 💯. I think people largely don't realize the "intelligence" machines are just calculators stitching characters together...there's no "thinking" happening. PRWeek did this recent dozen-page guide for professionals that was out-of-breath in its zeal for AI, including for generating content. Only on the last page, buried in a quote, was a good warning to make sure and be accurate. Just stunning.
There's a lot of misinformation (often well-intentioned) about these tools out there, often by people who don't use them much and haven't been experimenting with them for long.
The best thing is still for people to try for themselves, but I think it helps to have a few tips like this.
Too many people who try for the first time use them like they would a search engine, for example, and don't understand the difference.
Another great post overall. Thanks. Specially appreciated your lead off section. I had already been doing about half of what you suggested, but now I’m inspired to step up my game further. Bravo.
As always, great stuff. I appreciated your take on research funding and competition with China. It holds a lot of truth. However, one point that is worthy of mention is that a lot of R&D agencies in the US government have become bloated and no longer use much of the investments in them to do R&D. The cuts to these agencies, as I see it, are largely being used to re-focus them. As you highlight though, American society has to re-focus on competition also, and that is an even greater hurdle when dealing with a hungrier competitor. Previous empires have fallen when things were too good for them for too long. It is hard to turn very large ships like the nation of the US, especially when tools like AI can be used to make life easier instead of learning and self-improvement easier.
I agree that there's a lot of bloat, and to be clear, I didn't mean that the specific things that were done back then are the exact answers today. But there are definitely a lot of counter-productive things being done right now, like making it harder for talented foreigners to work in the US and immigrate there. And the cuts to a lot of R&D orgs weren't done with much precision or foresight, they appeared to have been done mostly for ideological reasons (ie. the stories about people working on transgenic mice getting cut because the word "trans" was in their documentation..).
I agree that there should be reform to boost effectiveness, but I don't think this is what we're seeing right now, sadly. A lot of non-scientists, non-engineers, and even anti-science people have been put in charge of various departments, and that's probably not going to help either.
Can't wait to check out BTMC. Just finishing Return of the King and the LoTR sounds like a great place to start!
You finished the book or the film?
Either way, I think you're the exact best target audience for it because it's all fresh in your mind! Enjoy, and let me know what you think! 💚 🥃
A few chapters to go in the book!
It's been so long since I read them... over 20 years. I'm a totally different person now, so they would be different books to me. I just need to find the time, I have so many other books I want to read 📚😅
Your advice on AI usage is 💯. I think people largely don't realize the "intelligence" machines are just calculators stitching characters together...there's no "thinking" happening. PRWeek did this recent dozen-page guide for professionals that was out-of-breath in its zeal for AI, including for generating content. Only on the last page, buried in a quote, was a good warning to make sure and be accurate. Just stunning.
There's a lot of misinformation (often well-intentioned) about these tools out there, often by people who don't use them much and haven't been experimenting with them for long.
The best thing is still for people to try for themselves, but I think it helps to have a few tips like this.
Too many people who try for the first time use them like they would a search engine, for example, and don't understand the difference.
Six hundred is crazy! Congrats Liberty!
Thanks LL! 💚 🥃
Another great post overall. Thanks. Specially appreciated your lead off section. I had already been doing about half of what you suggested, but now I’m inspired to step up my game further. Bravo.
Thank you, glad you found it useful! 💚 🥃
Thanks, I appreciate it