We don't know how AI works. Rationality? Nah. I'm bored. Simple explanations. You'll ignore my advice. We're right, they're wrong. How you say it matters.
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1. “We mostly treat AI models as a black box”
Mapping the Mind of a Large Language Model – Anthropic – (Blog)
This might be esoteric to some, but I found it interesting. One problem with AI is that we give it inputs, it generates output, and we can’t say why that output resulted.
If we don’t know how they work, how do we know they won’t give harmful, biased, untruthful, or otherwise dangerous responses?
It’s very much like humans: can you explain exactly why you respond as you do questions and events, or every word choice you might make in doing so? Part of that is because, unlike traditional computer programs that are more like a series of instructions or recipes, neural networks are massive collections of data through which the inputs are processed to generate the output.
This summary of a paper by the creators of the Claude AI examines a method for beginning to understand just a little better how this thing they’ve built works. (Found this via The AI Fix podcast, episode 6. The 31:33 mark host Mark Stockley summarizes the summary quite nicely.)
Do this: Continue to watch for developments in this area. I find it pretty exciting.
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2. “The roaring locomotive of self-deception”
Human Rationality is a Myth – Pierz Newton-John – (Medium)
A fascinating essay questioning the core belief that people are rational. Spoiler: they’re not. The hoops some abused individuals will jump through to rationalize their partner’s behaviour is one obvious example. The knots that some voters will twist themselves into to justify their candidate’s or party’s stance or actions is another.
The idea that the world is run by a cult of Satan-worshipping paedophiles and Donald Trump is secretly poised to expose their evil plots — as the QAnon conspiracy theory claimed — is certainly irrational and bizarre. However it is no crazier than believing that human life is subject to the whims of a petty, squabbling bunch of invisible supernatural beings who inhabit Mount Olympus, or any number of other fantastical myths to which human societies have subscribed.
And yet:
The capacity to believe “six impossible things before breakfast” as the Red Queen did in “Alice in Wonderland” is core not only to human nature, but, at least if Noah Harari is correct, to human success.
It seems to all come back to decisions we make. Sometimes the truth is simply too painful and too costly when compared with our tribes, our alliances, and our ability to maintain a society.
Do this: Look for the irrational; in others to better understand them, and in yourself to make better choices.
3. “The quiet brain”
Ep. 308: The Power of the Quiet Mind – Cal Newport – (Deep Questions podcast)
I don’t recall if I’ve had take aways on this before, but it’s an important topic, I think. We’re constantly reaching for things to distract us, to keep us engaged, to keep the dopamine hits coming. As a result, we end up avoiding what Newport calls “the quiet brain”.
This is the cognitive state when you are alone with your own thoughts and your observations of the world around you. So when you’re truly in a quiet brain state, it sort of feels like this: the cacophonous chatter in your head has settled into a singular internal discussion or conversation or exploration.
Unfortunately, we conflate this with boredom, and we think of that as being a bad thing. It’s not. It’s an important state to be comfortable with to think better, and be less stressed about the world around us. It’s not easy, but it is worth it.
Do this: Embrace boredom.
4. “The smartest people in the world”
On Thoughts and Thinking Better – Darius Foroux – (Blog)
Honestly, the (short) essay seems somewhat fluffy, boiling down to “Calm your mind, clear your mind, meditate”. While I agree, it’s also pretty trendy advice these days. However, it contained a quote that positively sung to me:
The smartest people in the world are those who are the best at simplifying things.
Which is a restatement of one of Albert Einstein’s quotes:
If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.
It’s something I aspire to, and I truly admire in those who can pull it off.
Do this: Think deeply, explain simply.
5. “Most advice isn’t followed.”
Why doesn’t advice work? – (Dynomight newsletter)
I suspect this applies in so many situations. Sure, internet advice (or advice-adjacent) writers, but I suspect parents would love an answer as well. (Though I suspect they’d much prefer an answer to “how do I get my kids to follow my advice?” Not sure there’s an answer to that one.)
The fact is advice is easily and frequently given, and rarely taken. Dynomight lists several reasons that might be at play, including the dynamic behind each.
I think it’s great to understand how advice does and doesn’t work. We all are full to the brim with things we’d love other people to learn, do, change, or become. Proactively sharing it as advice is rarely the way to go about it. Sometimes just writing a blog and posting it online, hoping they’ll come across it, is the best I … er, you … can do.
Do this: Share your wisdom appropriately.
6. “Society seems to be polarising along every possible axis”
Why friends are always right – no matter their views – Tim Harford – (Blog)
An interesting piece on not just the divisions in society and why they’re growing, but why at least one expected solution seems to only make things worse. Tribalism and self selection by any other name would divide as much.
He also touches on the most commonly mentioned scapegoat: social media.
But we shouldn’t blame algorithms steering us away from serious and thoughtful exposure to different points of view. We are quite capable of choosing that for ourselves.
Capable, yes. But willing?
Do this: Make better choices.
7. “The soundest fact may fail or prevail in the style of its telling”
The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. Le Guin – (ebook)
I started re-reading this classic this week, and it didn’t take long for me to run across the quote above.
What I find interesting is that it would be easy to mistake this for a fact/misinformation observation, but it’s not. It illustrates that factual information has an even higher bar to pass than anything else. It’s not enough for a fact to be a fact, it has to be expressed properly. Not even accurately, but properly, conveying the information in a way the listener will accept, or at least consider.
It’s getting harder and harder every day.
Do this: Consider your audience. Deeply.
More links
What I’m Reading
In progress:
- The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. Le Guin
- Blood Bound – Patricia Briggs
- Where Good Ideas Come From – Steven Johnson
- Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman (audio)
Daily:
- A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Selected from the World’s Sacred Texts – Leo Tolstoy
A full list of my common sources is on the sources page, and I list the books I’ve read on my Reading List page.
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-Leo