“Our new engines of prediction are able to make more accurate predictions and to make predictions in domains that we used to think were impervious to them because this new technology can handle far more data, constrained by fewer human expectations about how that data fits together, with more complex rules, more complex interdependencies, and more sensitivity to starting points.” But with that benefit, we need to give up on our belief in stories and the theory of mind, not to mention our reliance on always being able to uncover knowable laws. – Medium
Tag: 04.24.19
“The Dark Ages” Sound So Bleak. The Reality Was Likely Very Different
The default way of thinking about the long, complex era that lasted from the final decades of the Roman Empire to somewhere around the Battle of Hastings is to assume it all looked like the cover of a heavy metal album… – Lithub
After Newspaper Feature About Young Cellist With Troubled Past, $141,000 In Donations Pour In
“Eddie Adams didn’t have the money to buy college textbooks this semester, so he had to rely on his classmates at George Mason University to loan him theirs. He is the principal cellist in the school orchestra, but he couldn’t afford to buy or even rent a cello. That, too, he had to borrow. That was two weeks ago.” – The Washington Post
Despite Controversy, Edinburgh’s New Concert Hall Gets Final Go-Ahead
The Dunard Centre, with a 1,000-seat main auditorium and a 200-seat chamber hall/recording studio, will be the home venue for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and an additional performance space for the Edinburgh International Festival. – Edinburgh Evening News
Author Susan Choi Says ‘Harmful Stories Are On The Rise’
The author of The Trust Exercise was doing research about cults, Scientology, and some of the power of repetition in molding disparate people into one focused group. But, she says, that wasn’t her intention in writing her book: “I never outline in advance and most of the time I have no idea, in advance, how something is going to end.” – The Millions
Scientists Make Progress On Decoding Speech Inside The Brain
Although still a long way from restoring natural speech, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, have generated intelligible sentences from the thoughts of people without speech difficulties. – Scientific American
The Culture Of Competitive Masculinity At The Iowa Writers’ Workshop
This “masculinist logic” infected the classroom. Criticism had always been central to the Workshop experience, and it was harsh by design. Engle believed “that young writers overestimated their creative powers, a flaw that only astringent criticism could overcome.” Cisneros put it more simply: “There was no love.” The poet Robert Bly described how “the aggression went against each other,” as students tore apart works in progress. Praise was uneven, and favoritism was everywhere. – The New Republic
Mark Medoff, Playwright Of ‘Children Of A Lesser God’, Dead At 79
“Medoff wrote 30 plays and wrote, produced or directed 19 movies. He found his greatest success with Children of a Lesser God, the tale of a troubled love affair between a speech teacher and a deaf woman who struggle to overcome the communications gap between their two cultures.” – AP
Major Study: Worldwide, People Are Angrier, Sadder Than Ever Before
In 2018, about 4 in 10 people said they experienced a lot of worry the day before the interview, while a third said they were stressed and nearly 3 in 10 said they felt a lot of physical pain. A quarter experienced sadness, and 22% were angry. – CNN
Fitness Companies Are Becoming Entertainment Companies. Publishers Have Sued Peloton Over Music And Customers Are Noticing
It may seem silly to lament over music selections in an exercise class, but it’s an issue that fitness companies may increasingly face as they transform from traditional health companies into media publishers. Let’s face it: working out can be boring, and people are willing to pay top dollar to have someone yell at us while sweating to the latest Migos track. – The Verge