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Misplaced concretenes
May. 30th, 2025 05:43 pmMost discussions about AI, especially AGI, suffer from what Whitehead would call the Fallacy of Misplaced Concreteness. That is, people assume that Intelligence is something concrete existing in Nature that can be easily pointed to and described. Instead, we have a broad range of definitions covering various bundles of human and/or computer capabilities.
By contrast, discussions about industrial robots, including drones and autonomous cars, are usually much more productive because their roles are well specified in terms of tasks and accomplishments.
By contrast, discussions about industrial robots, including drones and autonomous cars, are usually much more productive because their roles are well specified in terms of tasks and accomplishments.
A complete sellout
Apr. 23rd, 2025 01:50 pmhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/04/22/trumps-plan-to-let-putin-keep-land-seized-from-ukraine/
Donald Trump will let Vladimir Putin keep almost all the territory he has seized from Ukraine under the terms of a proposed peace deal.
The condition is part of a seven-point plan to end the war that leaves Ukraine with no clear US security guarantee.
The Trump administration’s peace proposal involves the US offering formal recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea and implies de facto recognition of other occupied territories.
A source with knowledge of the plan’s contents said that its points one and two cover an immediate ceasefire and direct talks between Ukraine and Russia, which Mr Zelensky has already accepted in principle.
Point three requires Ukraine to refrain from seeking membership of Nato, though the country would still be free to join the EU.
European countries could deploy an assurance force to deter Putin from invading again, but The Telegraph understands that the plan does not commit the US to guarantee the security of any such deployment.
Point four covers territory, with America offering de jure recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea, the region of Ukraine which Putin illegally annexed in 2014.
Recognising Russian control of Crimea would violate a central principle of international law – and of the post-1945 world order – that no country can annex the territory of another. If land is seized then no nation is supposed to recognise this change.
As well as some territory switching hands to Ukraine, the nuclear power station at Zaporizhzhia, the largest in Ukraine and currently held by Russian forces, would be transferred to American control.
Under point six, Ukraine would sign the minerals deal allowing US companies access to the country’s natural resources.
Point seven raises the possibility of a new relationship between America and Russia, saying that all US sanctions would be lifted and the two countries could begin to co-operate on energy.
The plan contradicts several of Britain’s stated policy objectives. As recently as Feb 14, the Prime Minister told Mr Zelensky that Britain was committed to “Ukraine being on an irreversible path to Nato” membership. This proposal would block that path indefinitely.
(no subject)
Mar. 9th, 2025 12:22 pm...part of Trump’s psychological abuse is wearing down opponents so they stop repeating themselves, and give in to the lies. I will not be worn down. Truth matters.
Here it is: We have a sociopathic president in total command of a cult-like party; a Congress that, as long as the GOP controls it, is a rubber-stamp version of the Russian Duma under Putin; a court balanced precariously between a modest defense of the unitary executive and an Alito wing bent on empowering an American Caesar; and a Justice Department openly planning persecution of the president’s political opponents.
https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/the-bully-in-his-pulpit-0e5
Good point. We should not become numb to the basic truths of the situation. Rather, we should take Canada as an example of a society united against shameless assholes abusing their power in the US.
Here's an interesting way to make a connection between Peirce's pragmatism/logic and the category theory
Link to the paper https://ncatlab.org/davidcorfield/files/Peirce200225.pdf
Link to the paper https://ncatlab.org/davidcorfield/files/Peirce200225.pdf
Apropos of nothing
Mar. 4th, 2025 08:52 pmЧитаю уже второй том биографии Сталина, написанной проф. Коткиным. Заодно, посмотрел его "дуэт" с Славоем Жижеком.
Запишу несколько впечатлений:
1. Из двух книг Коткина я узнал об истории России/СССР больше, чем за годы учебы в советской школe.
2. Сталин построил диктатуру в диктатуре, т.е. диктаторский режим внутри партии, которая была инструментом диктатуры в СССР.
3. В окружении Сталина не было людей, которые бы устроили коллективизацию ценой смерти миллионов крестьян и голода среди десятков миллионов.
4. Личность диктатора играет огромную роль, и его убийство может быть вариантом ее серьезного смягчения, т.е. спасением миллионов жизней.
Here, Zizek gives his recommendations on best fictional depictions of the Soviet System (Shalamov & Platonov). Funny, how he calls Akhmatova "an endlessly pretentious bitch."
upd. at the 1:26:27 mark Zizek makes a deep point that is quite relevant in today's America. First, he notes that modern communists/authoritarians, e.g. in China and Vietnam, are much more efficient capitalist managers than democracies. Then, he adds, "the problem is that for me global capitalism is approaching a stage where it less and less needs democracy."
Few years ago, Peter Thiel remarked that freedom wss incompatible with democracy; for him freedom meant its libertarian version for billionaires. He felt that democratic institutions were constraining his freedom and he set out to destroy them, using Vance, Trump, Musk, etc.
Запишу несколько впечатлений:
1. Из двух книг Коткина я узнал об истории России/СССР больше, чем за годы учебы в советской школe.
2. Сталин построил диктатуру в диктатуре, т.е. диктаторский режим внутри партии, которая была инструментом диктатуры в СССР.
3. В окружении Сталина не было людей, которые бы устроили коллективизацию ценой смерти миллионов крестьян и голода среди десятков миллионов.
4. Личность диктатора играет огромную роль, и его убийство может быть вариантом ее серьезного смягчения, т.е. спасением миллионов жизней.
Here, Zizek gives his recommendations on best fictional depictions of the Soviet System (Shalamov & Platonov). Funny, how he calls Akhmatova "an endlessly pretentious bitch."
upd. at the 1:26:27 mark Zizek makes a deep point that is quite relevant in today's America. First, he notes that modern communists/authoritarians, e.g. in China and Vietnam, are much more efficient capitalist managers than democracies. Then, he adds, "the problem is that for me global capitalism is approaching a stage where it less and less needs democracy."
Few years ago, Peter Thiel remarked that freedom wss incompatible with democracy; for him freedom meant its libertarian version for billionaires. He felt that democratic institutions were constraining his freedom and he set out to destroy them, using Vance, Trump, Musk, etc.
(no subject)
Mar. 2nd, 2025 09:53 pm
The conventional view of Mr. Trump is that he’s above all transactional. He wants deals, at home and abroad, that he can sell as great successes. But the way his second term is unfolding, this may undersell his ambition. Mr. Trump’s strategy seems to be moving toward that of Tucker Carlson and JD Vance, who view America as in decline and no longer able to lead or defend the West.
All of this would amount to an epochal return to the world of great power competition and balance of power that prevailed before World War II. It’s less a brave new world than a reversion to a dangerous old one.
Mr. Trump hasn’t articulated this, but some of the intellectuals surrounding him have. Elbridge Colby, nominated for the chief strategy post at the Pentagon, has argued that the U.S. must leave Europe and the Middle East to their own devices to focus on the Asia-Pacific. But Mr. Colby has also said that South Korea might have to fend for itself, and he said in a letter to us last year that “Taiwan isn’t itself of existential importance to America.”
Mr. Vance is the most vigorous promoter of the abandon Ukraine strategy, arguing that the war with Russia is little more than an ethnic dispute.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trumps-brave-old-world-foreign-policy-ukraine-blow-up-china-russia-trade-allies-7e32b02a
WSJ video on Fox News
https://www.wsj.com/video/series/journal-editorial-report/wsj-opinion-trump-and-zelensky-go-off-the-rails/F9E63C17-7A56-47FB-A8A4-3DADC3B10112
Categorical Algebra with Segal Conditions
Feb. 18th, 2025 11:44 amAmong other things, the ant solution to the grain sorting problem given to Psyche by Aphrodite can be modeled as a replacement of an Inert with an Active. The same applies to the Trasnsformer solution of the translation problem, etc.
upd. the Odysseus solution to the Sirens problem also fits the pattern
(no subject)
Feb. 2nd, 2025 11:18 pmI keep coming back to this video about the relationship between (pre-)sheafs and cohomology. Here he says that "the number one technique in mathematics is turning any problem into a linear algebra problem.
More generally, Lawvere often talks about mapping geometry to algebra.
https://youtu.be/RPuWHN0BTio?si=U0h7YM-3GlcyvnS5&t=1890
D --> J <-- T ( c: D --> T is the solution to a choice problem, per Lawvere).
d: D --> J
e: T --> J
c: D --> T
This diagram is a regular Kan extension problem, with a cohomology twist, i.e. assigning values to both objects and arrows.
More generally, Lawvere often talks about mapping geometry to algebra.
https://youtu.be/RPuWHN0BTio?si=U0h7YM-3GlcyvnS5&t=1890
D --> J <-- T ( c: D --> T is the solution to a choice problem, per Lawvere).
d: D --> J
e: T --> J
c: D --> T
This diagram is a regular Kan extension problem, with a cohomology twist, i.e. assigning values to both objects and arrows.
Happy New Year! С Новым Годом!
Jan. 3rd, 2025 06:42 pmThis is my new meditation song. As the ancients believed, chanting prayers/poems in their original form, even if you don't understand them, carries a greater power than a translation.
Iz di goldene pave gefloygn, gefloygn.
Un di nakht hot geefnet di goldene oygn,
Likhtiker mayner, shlof ayn.
Di nakht hot geefnet di goldene oygn,
Bin ikh fidl gevorn un du der boygn,
Umruiker mayner, shlof ayn.
Bin ikh fidl gevorn un du der boygn,
Un doz glik iber undz hot farlibt zikh geboygn,
Tsertlekher mayner, shlof ayn.
Un dos glik iber undz hot farlibt zikh geboygn,
Gelozt undz aleyn un farfloygn, farfloygn,
Troyeriker mayner, shlof ayn.
--- Anna Margolin (1887 - 1952)
Iz di goldene pave gefloygn, gefloygn.
Un di nakht hot geefnet di goldene oygn,
Likhtiker mayner, shlof ayn.
Di nakht hot geefnet di goldene oygn,
Bin ikh fidl gevorn un du der boygn,
Umruiker mayner, shlof ayn.
Bin ikh fidl gevorn un du der boygn,
Un doz glik iber undz hot farlibt zikh geboygn,
Tsertlekher mayner, shlof ayn.
Un dos glik iber undz hot farlibt zikh geboygn,
Gelozt undz aleyn un farfloygn, farfloygn,
Troyeriker mayner, shlof ayn.
--- Anna Margolin (1887 - 1952)
