Nick Grossman's Exobrain @nickgrossman-blog - Tumblr Blog

Companies across the planet are competing for the best people. Not exactly a news flash to anyone, is it? People aren’t aiming to join companies for life anymore. A fellow CEO recently told me, “Ten years ago, when I told a young person that in five years they could become a manager, their eyes lit…

"It’s about time for governments to realize that the race for talent is actually their race. Because an organization can pack up and move just as easily as an individual. Countries that insist on being walled off from the rest of the world will see their talent pools become stagnant, murky ponds overrun by yes-men and stale thinking. Countries that invest in their UX will reap the rewards. Innovation breeds innovation."

As the job loop became successful, widespread confusion started to set in around consumption. People in advanced economies became obsessed with material progress. Buying more material goods was seen as positive and healthy because it supported more employment, which in turn allowed more people to buy things. All consumption became desirable consumption and policymakers and consumers alike gave up on any distinction between needs and wants. [Reference to “how much is enough?” by Skidelskis here] Worse yet, we started to engage in so-called positional consumption. If your neighbor bought a new car, you wanted to buy an even newer and more expensive model — whether you needed it to survive or not. Such consumption behavior emerged not just with respect to goods but also to services—think of the $xxxx hair cut or the $xxxx dinner at Michelin starred restaurant.

Psychological Freedom | World After Capital

Interesting to think that a break with the “job loop” (basic income) could have wider impacts, such as environmental impacts as desire for material items decreases, and therefore manufacturing etc declines. And that that could theoretically be less of an issue because the economy doesn’t rely on jobs the same way.

If we can accept that privacy has become obsolete and even harmful in a knowledge society, the question remains: How will we get to a post privacy world? One way will be inadvertently through hacks and data breaches that abruptly expose data on millions of people. Another — and better way — will be through individuals opting into disclosing more of their information. For instance hundreds of people have already posted their Genome online and I am planning to do the same soon — I already have the files.

Informational Freedom | World After Capital

Interesting to think that the solution to the security problem could be opening up more data (preemtively), not locking it down

we are already so dependent on technology, and, what’s more, we are dependent on future advances. We cannot simply stop here and last it out—that won’t work. We need new advances. And my problem, philosophically, with that is that it means that the human cautionary instinct kicks in.” He went on, “We say if it’s risky we just shouldn’t do it. And that’s fine, so long as you’re standing on firm ground. But that’s the thing: we’re not standing on firm ground. And the greatest danger we could face is to assume that not doing anything to nature is the safest course.”

Kevin Esvelt, Rewriting the Code of Life

With CRISPR and gene-drive technology, it might be possible for just one engineered mosquito, or fly, or any other animal or seed, to eventually change the fundamental genetics of an entire species. As Esvelt puts it, “A release anywhere could be a release everywhere.” Recognizing the possibility of an irreversible error, however, he and Church, in their earliest experiments, began to build drives capable of restoring any DNA that had been removed. Both say that if an edit cannot be corrected it should not be attempted. They also suggest retaining, in its original form, some part of any population that has been edited—a kind of molecular Noah’s Ark. Esvelt and his colleagues have developed a system to keep gene drives from spreading where they are not wanted. The plan, which he calls a daisy drive, separates the components of any gene drive into discrete parts—a genetic version of a multistage rocket. Each component contains one or more genes that contribute to the whole drive. For the system to continue to propagate, all parts need to be present. If they are not, the trait would vanish after a prescribed number of generations. The approach, which is still in early development, could prove essential. Regulatory approvals and government licenses would have no effect on the migratory patterns or the mating habits of a mouse or a mosquito. Without some system of control, a conventional gene drive would keep spreading across state lines and international borders. If daisy drives work, they might prevent that.

Rewriting the Code of Life

An estimated 94 percent of motor-vehicle accidents involve some kind of a driver error. As the number of vehicles with human operators falls, so too will the preventable fatalities. In June, Christopher A. Hart, the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said, “Driverless cars could save many if not most of the 32,000 lives that are lost every year on our streets and highways.” Even if self-driving cars only realize a fraction of their projected safety benefits, a decline in the number of available organs could begin as soon as the first wave of autonomous and semiautonomous vehicles hits the road—threatening to compound our nation’s already serious shortages.

Self-driving cars will exacerbate organ shortages.

"I am in the camp that is concerned about super intelligence," Gates wrote. "First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent. That should be positive if we manage it well. A few decades after that though the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern. I agree with Elon Musk and some others on this and don't understand why some people are not concerned."

Bill Gates on dangers of artificial intelligence: ‘I don’t understand why some people are not concerned’ - The Washington Post

With CRISPR and gene-drive technology, it might be possible for just one engineered mosquito, or fly, or any other animal or seed, to eventually change the fundamental genetics of an entire species. As Esvelt puts it, “A release anywhere could be a release everywhere.” Recognizing the possibility of an irreversible error, however, he and Church, in their earliest experiments, began to build drives capable of restoring any DNA that had been removed. Both say that if an edit cannot be corrected it should not be attempted. They also suggest retaining, in its original form, some part of any population that has been edited—a kind of molecular Noah’s Ark.

Rewriting the Code of Life

as a single scientist, I can alter an organism in a laboratory that will have more of an effect on all your lives than anything the legislature across the river can do.

Rewriting the Code of Life

“The idea that nature is the essence of goodness, is purity and truth, is so foreign to my perception of the world that I can’t even conceive of how people can think that way,” he said. “There is such a fantastic degree of suffering out there.”

Kevin Esvelt, Rewriting the Code of Life

He also insists that he will work with absolute openness: every e-mail, grant application, data set, and meeting record will be available for anyone to see. Intellectual property is often the most coveted aspect of scientific research, and Esvelt’s would be posted on a Web site. And no experiment would be conducted unless it was approved in advance—not just by scientists but by the people it is most likely to affect. “By open, I mean all of it,” Esvelt said, to murmurs of approval. “If Monsanto”—which, fairly or not, has become a symbol of excessive corporate control of agricultural biotechnology—“did something one way,” he said, “we will do it the opposite way.”

Rewriting the Code of Life

foursquare

Meet the New, Simplified Foursquare

Foursquare 10 is here, and our newest release showcases a sleeker, streamlined design. Update your app to get the same smart, personalized recommendations you’ve come to rely on, even faster.

Richer Foursquare notifications for iOS 10

Have you ever had the magical experience of getting the perfect recommendation, before you even start looking for a place to go? We’ve taken advantage of the new features in iOS 10, with notifications that give you even more details and information on recommended venues without having to unlock your phones. If you don’t have your Foursquare notifications turned on, now’s a good time to do so.

continuations

My Book: World After Capital (Rough Draft)

After frequently mentioning in person and here on Continuations that I am working on a book, I am excited to announce that a first rough draft version is now ready! You can head over to World After Capital to read and comment.

What you will find there is still very much a rough draft but one I feel covers the essential arguments that I want to make. So far I have done one round of bug fixes to correct typos and other blatant mistakes. But a lot of work still remains to be done including finding a more uniform voice and adding missing references and data.

I want to thank everyone who has contributed over the years through comments on posts here and in person discussions. A big shoutout also to the in-depth feedback I have already received from early readers. I have yet to address much of what has been proposed but am planning to do so in future revisions.

I am using gitbook to write World After Capital and you can track the changes I am making on github. I retain final “commit rights” for changes and as such take responsibility for any and all errors.

There is also a separate FAQ which I will be updating periodically. If you want to, you can download a version in PDF, ePub or Mobi. The contents of the book will always be freely available at worldaftercapital.org under a Creative Commons license.

I look forward to any and all feedback.

They hope their young participants will be more comfortable telling a faceless app about personal health matters — a slump of depression, gross blood clots, irritated bowels — than telling a doctor. And it’s not just teenagers; most of us are willing to be much more honest with our phones than with professionals, or even with our spouses and partners

We’re More Honest With Our Phones Than With Our Doctors - The New York Times

Amazing video

(via The long tail of the subway's history of deferred maintenance - Second Ave. Sagas :: Second Ave. Sagas)

There is a self-dramatizing tone of false heroics in Penn’s narrative. If he wants to know the real danger in covering the cartels, maybe he should get a job at any paper in Sinaloa or Durango and work the crime beat on a daily basis, along with dozens of brave reporters and editors. There may be fewer charter flights involved, and he might even have to learn to use a laptop. While he wouldn’t have to submit his final draft for murderers to review, he’d live every day with the fear that one of his stories might provoke the wrath of some cartel boss somewhere. And suddenly, he’d be just another statistic.

The drug cartel that protected Sean Penn also terrorizes Mexican journalists - The Washington Post

When confronted with the fallout of childhood trauma, why do some children adapt and overcome, while others bear lifelong scars that flatten their potential? A growing body of evidence points to one common answer: Every child who winds up doing well has had at least one stable and committed relationship with a supportive adult.

The Science of Resilience | Harvard Graduate School of Education

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