markjgsmith

2024/07/19 #

• I’ve been able to write quite a few blog posts the past few days. One thing I changed in my routine is I started drinking a hot cup of coffee in the morning, and occasionally one in the afternoon. It definitely helps with getting focussed and into gear as far as writting goes, at least it has done for the past few days. The downside is that I’m not too into how it makes you feel afterwards when the coffee wears off. It’s not terrible, but I find I’m perhaps somewhat more irritable.

  The world of course gas noticed my slight change in routine, and has been doing it’s best to royally f it all up. Manufactured situations where people in cafes / shops are setting themselves up to sleep for the entire day, yet if I so much as put my feet up on a chair I get in trouble with the shop staff. It’s basically impossible to change anything without it causing enormous problems, as the malicious types try to find all the holes in the new configuration. It’s absolutely madenning.

  I call it what it is which is theft. Theft of your life is the worst kind of theft. It’s basically slow murder IMO.

  I've continued trying to do the podcast reviews as I listen to podcasts, creating links on the linkblog. When it works it feels good, but the world constantly getting in the way so it feels like a struggle. Somehow it’s easier to do that all in one go, rather than after each episode. I wish that wasn’t the case. It would be great to have all the reviews done when I start writing each issue.

  I'm a few reviews behind, so I’ll hopefully get those done today, world willing. Overall I kind if like this new way of doing it, but I’m not sure it’s very practical given my circumstances. Unfortunately.

  Anytime I start typing for more than a few minutes, it‘s like I trigger some sort of immune response from the hive mind, and the world starts yah’ing me, trying to hurry me up, and of course that has the opposite effect. Oh well, one must persevere regardless as they say. #

• cat << EOF > GenZ vs evolutionary biology

  Really interesting interview with writer Jonathan Haidt on the All-in podcast. It’s a very well structured and interesting discussion, that looks at how humans have evolved to be how we are, and how we are adapting to the modern world. They put forward the thesis that there is a crisis with Gen Z onwards because society is still getting to grips with the introduction of digital technologies.

  The discussion around the evolutionary biology topics is fantastic and a must listen for all. Same goes for the recent developments in social media and how this is intersecting with our core biology. I’m not fully convinced by their thesis though. I think there’s a fair amount of our generation did it betterism that creeps in, though I don’t think it’s malicious, it’s just that the world is changing so much it’s difficult to ground oneself.

  If you are GenZ definitely worth listening, get the data, learn about your body etc but you decide on your direction. You’re the first generation to be fully digital so many things will be possible that us olds will find difficult to imagine.

  Having said that there is much wisdom hidden away within the path that humanity has taken to get where we are today. I’m finding as I get older that the philosophical and political thought from eras past, is more relevant than I previously realised. It’s not always obvious how to translate it into a modern context though, and takes quite a lot of time to fully appreciate it’s lessons. Often you can only see the lessons once you’ve lived through challenges and successes yourself.

  There’s a lot of stuff that could help you avoid long periods of stagnation and spinning your wheels as you try to get to a better future. Be informed by the past but wary about being controlled by it.

  EOF

• I wonder if in the distant future governments will eventually just consist of AI brain trainer specialists. In this world a change of government, would essentually be a national brain transplant. The turn up with the new brain, plug it in, then everything just gets put through the new brain. #

Today’s links:

• Andrew O'Hagan goes up the Caledonian Road in search of Truth, Justice & a Man in Blue Ep#2027 (Keen On Podcast) - I really enjoyed this interview, on many levels. The fact it’s about a novel written about a place in London I’d spent some time in, the fact that the novel is a rich tapestry, weaving together stories and characters from different walks of life, and class, together with contemporary topics, and even the diverse real life cast of the podcast interview itself. It’s like some sort of giant living jigsaw puzzle, where the interesting pieces find each other and intertwine like a patch of garden in a bigger patch of a larger garden. Fascinating waters in which to go for a swim, with so many different cultural topics intersecting, the novel really gives a sense, a multi-dimensional snapshot of a place in time. Local pubs, politics, austerity, Brexit, migrants, fake news, fake life, global vs local, renters vs home owners, big city, urban vs country side, art, perspective, concreteness, optical illusions, capitalism, englishness, the working class, unions, working men’s clubs, the miners strikes, russian oligarchs, aristocrats, crypto utopianism, landlords, paying your taxes, beaurocracy, gangsters, Balzacian & Kafkan nightmares, Britain, the similarity of father & sons relationships across classes, all with the backdrop glow from a distant US culture. The complexity of modern life in all it’s imperfect glory. Seems like a really wonderful example of the art and stories the technologies we build everyday now make possible. podcastindex.org #

• The Jonathan Haidt Interview (All-in Podcast) - New interview format for the All-in pod. They interview writer and evolutionary biology and psychology specialist Jonathan Haidt. All sorts of interesting topics covered, including the origins of sociology, a somewhat dubious social media drugs analogy but kind of interesting comparison nonetheless, how the human brain and mind evolved, the dopamine reward system, hacking evolutionary biology, Boomers vs GenX vs Millennials vs GenZ, Buddhism, the alleged perils of desire and dualistic thinking, influencer culture, collective action traps, oppressor / oppressed mindset, the 3 great untruths, how the political left has changed since the 70s, traditional liberalism and conservatism, boredom & creativity, and some things to be aware about video games. Very much recommended if you spend a lot of time thinking about the future. podcastindex.org #

• New Post: GenZ vs evolutionary biology markjgsmith.com #

• Resisting a Surveillance Technocracy with NVK (What Bitcoin Did Podcast) - Great discussion with always in a good jovial mood NVK, all about the future of society with AI, language models, cryptography, and bitcoin, focusing on how it will affect government surveillance. Topics including talking with AI, natural language translation, non carbon based alien intelligences, open source models, creating business AIs using your own data with really good privacy, how AIs "think" using vector maps, AI in government and politics, pattern matching and pre-crime, anyone being able to fake anything, digital signatures, Nostr and private keys, data sharing between agencies, and chain analysis using AI. Worth the listen to get a reslistic idea of where we are heading, while trying to not get too depressed about it all. www.whatbitcoindid.com #

• Is SOL Undervalued? 83% discount to ETH? | Michael Nadeau (Bankless Podcast) - Solana is generally considered to be the 3rd most popular blockchain after Bitcoin and Etherium. Micheal comes from a TradFi background but has been into crypto for a number of years. He’s identified some interesting things about Solana by doing a classic TradFi analysis of core fundamentals. He presents his findings. He looks at things like total value locked, number of active users, number of transactions, number of developers, fees, to where investment capital is flowing, DEX trading volumes and more. It would seem to still be somewhat undervalued. He makes some predictions for the future. Good solid episode. www.bankless.com #