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IDEAS

How To Think About Humanity’s Doom

If the good news is that we are doomed, the better news is that we can’t do much about it. Peter Frankopan points to the arrogance of talk of the ‘Anthropocene’, an age in which humans have replaced nature as the big influence on Earth. - Literary Review

How To Live An Epicurean Life

There’s nothing quite like recalling the rich joys of life to make us wonder why memories worth relishing can seem like a scarce resource in a world that threatens to overwhelm us at every turn. - Psyche

Fascinating: What Scientists Are Learning About Cognition In Animals

More and more scientists are realizing that animals, like people, are individuals: They have distinct tendencies, habits, and life experiences that may affect how they perform in an experiment. That means, some researchers argue, that much published research on animal behavior may be biased. - The Atlantic

In Our Distraction Maze, It May Be That Slower Art Becomes More Valuable

Paradoxically, we may come to want the things that we cannot have in an instant, that demand our time and patience before they will reveal all they have to offer: the art that demands that we slow down. - 3 Quarks Daily

Just How Important Is Identity To Who You Are?

In an identity crisis we question our purpose in life, what our role or place in society is, what values we ought to be committed to, or the meaning and significance of our activities. But having purpose, meaning, and a commitment to certain values doesn’t quite individuate us either. - 3 Quarks Daily

The Ideas About Threats To Truth That Orwell And Camus Shared

The political turbulence of twentieth-century Europe forced both Camus and Orwell to confront the question of truth as a matter of necessity, even and especially among their own colleagues and friends. - The Critic

Warning: We Need New Laws To Protect Artists From AI Creative Theft

Big Tech has successfully skated through legal matters for years, waving the banner of “permissionless innovation.” - Washington Post

Can You Copyright AI-Generated Work? Right Now It’s Complicated

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the guidance is an author’s “duty to disclose the inclusion of AI-generated content in a work submitted for registration.” - ArsTechnica

AI Is Less A Search Engine Than It Is A Librarian

The problem is that even when these systems are wrong only 10% of the time, you don’t know which 10%. People also don’t have the ability to quickly validate the systems’ responses. - Gizmodo

Is It Possible To Learn To Chef Online?

Yes, but "if your laptop isn’t being flecked with olive oil spatter during a decathlon of online cooking classes, you’re probably doing something wrong. Of course, you’re probably doing something wrong anyway." - Fast Company

As In Hollywood, Bollywood Actors Have A Complex Relationship With Paparazzi

"Stars rely on them for publicity and they depend on stars to make a living. But this relationship can also turn toxic" - and some paparazzi blame social media for "an insatiable appetite for celebrity content." - BBC

How Artists And Writers Are Pushing Back Against AI

"Collective campaigns, lawsuits, international rules and IT hacks are all being deployed at speed on behalf of the creative industries in an effort, if not to win the battle, at least to 'rage, rage against the dying of the light.'" - The Observer (UK)

Adam Gopnik And The Difference Between Knowing And Doing

“Activities that are interesting to read about (science experiments) are probably dull to do, while activities that are dull to read about (riding a bike) are interesting when you attempt them.” - Washington Post

The Fraud Of AI Generators

AI image and text generation is pure primitive accumulation: expropriation of labour from the many for the enrichment and advancement of a few Silicon Valley technology companies and their billionaire owners. - The Guardian

Why Siri And Alexa Lost Out To ChatGPT

“These products never worked in the past because we never had human-level dialogue capabilities. Now we do.” - The New York Times

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