AFAIK, two things come together to give birds small but powerful brains, and better mass/compute scaling:
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Cell size can vary between species, and birds have pressure to miniaturize to reduce weight.
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Smaller bodies have less stuff (skin, muscles, etc) that need a nervous connection and a part of the brain to process data from and/or issue commands to. See Encephalization quotient. Eg. Women have the same IQ as men, despite having, on average, 90% of the brain size.
EDIT: This post by Scott might be of interest.
LCEnzo
1yr ago
If my response is to claim the fire I'm talking about is invisible, doesn't produce any smoke, and doesn't trigger any fire alarms, you'd be right to dismiss what I'm saying as complete fucking nonsense because I'm not conveying any useful information to you.
I understand the example was made to illustrate a point, so it's unfortunate that invisible, smokeless fires do exist.
E.g. Methanol is used as a fuel for racing cars, and burns without being visible or producing smoke.
LCEnzo
1yr ago
The fact that they're made up of humans doesn't seem to be all that relevant, because the corporation itself is not human despite humans being the "material" from which it is made.
The problem with corpos being made up of humans is similar to trying to make ever better computers without changing transistor size. You can optimize the layout, cooling, etc, but you'll forever be bound by the size. Corpo capabilities and architecture are chained by their components. They would be a lot more dangerous if they could produce better humans at scale (compare the performance of Jane Street vs retail investors, or special forces vs green Army grunts), or produce a new part to do mental and social work (AI).
LCEnzo
1yr ago
In theory, they have cracked 14nm. In practice, using DUV means they will, and already do, have very poor yield. Without access to ASMLs EUV machines, they might eek out a symbolic advance in some lab, but will not advance in any way that matters (ie, producing chips at scale, economically, which is what matters). ASML makes the most advanced lithography machines, and they are deeply dependent on a global supply chain, including firms from America, Germany, etc. AFAIK SMIC has followed Intel in doing 14nm with DUV, and is also having problems with it. Intel eventually started using EUV, though it's now lagging behind TSMC, and even having some CPUs fabbed by TSMC because they lag behind in their process. SMIC now doesn't have the option to buy EUV machines to even try transitioning to them. ASML is something of a system integrator like Boeing and Airbus. Replicating it means replicating all their suppliers, including leaders in optics, robotics, etc. How long will it take? And when they manage, how far will have the West advanced? China will not only be competing with the USA, but all the nations which in some form or another contribute to making the chip industry function. The USA, EU, Japan, UK, SK, India, Israel, and Taiwan, together have almost 2x population, are far richer, and have a good head start.
LCEnzo
1yr ago
Firstly, afaik China does not have EUV machines, but I'm not sure. What they surely lack is support from ASML. The machines are somewhat custom built for each customer, and companies don't just buy the things. They also buy maintenance, support services, etc.
Secondly for the same reason that if Putin had the design docs for 5th gen fighters and an intact model, Russia would be building 5th gen fighters any time soon. It's bloody hard, and requires a lot of rare expertise and tacit knowledge in multiple domains. It's not impossible, China has after all built things like planes. But it's really hard. And, as is, companies do not have state support for such a venture. The West won't stand still.
For a historical example, let's take Japan. Their government in the mid 70s organized it's 5 big players in the so called VLSI project, and granted them state support. They also had both a large domestic and export market for it's chips. They became a leader, at least for DRAM, for a time. Unlike China, where Xi is no mood to support anything related to computers, and I'm unaware of any big companies which might be able to pull it off on their own. Maybe the industry self organizes, and deals with this on their own. I would bet that they don't, at least for 4 years.
LCEnzo
1yr ago
AI has been noted as a priority in the most recent 5 year plan, but that is talk.
Chinese tech companies have been corralled and restrained, starting with Jack Ma and the Ant group. You might say that they aren't AI companies. This would be mostly right. AI hasn't had great success in being monetized in it of itself. Companies like Google and Meta can pay for research and large amounts of compute which need not be profitable by the way of their other businesses. Even OpenAI, is getting investment from Microsoft (as a former employee, I've talked to an intern working on fine tuning GPT3). The real estate bubble popping and the zero covid policy put more strain on tech companies in the midst of their humbling.
Let's look on the three things needed for AI R&D (besides money): data, compute, and human talent/capital.
China as a society gathers a ton of data. The state and companies collect a lot. The question is how much of that is available to researchers. Despite the Chinese advantage in data collection, most of human genetics research uses the UK biobank dateset. Researchers in firms like Alibaba and Tencent are bound to have some good stuff.
China has received a ban on buying advanced compute. It's domestic industry has been hard hit, and received no state support to keep them propped up. YMCA didn't get it's billion dollar deal with Apple to supply memory. On the design front, China has some companies. Their electronics industry in general is good and that includes design. I'm aware of Moore Threads designing GPUs, but haven't looked into other compute hardware (there was a x86 CPU a couple of years back, but that was in partnership with AMD, so it might be dead now).
China has a lot of good engineers, being an AI researcher and engineer is one of the most sought after careers due to the high compensation. That said, a lot of them, especially the very talented, head over to the USA.
As for money, tech companies are hurting right now, and I don't know the state of funding in academia.
you need computers for AI hence they're going to be supporting indigenous chip production.
Yes, AI needs compute. Where you're wrong is that the support for domestic chips ain't here. The companies are bleeding money and can't wait forever for state help. They're conducting layoffs as we write.
LCEnzo
2mo ago
Almost certainly cherrypicked, but sam a. has been sharing videos of people's prompts on X.
https://x.com/sama/status/1758220311735181384?s=20
https://x.com/sama/status/1758218820542763012?s=20
https://x.com/sama/status/1758218059716939853?s=20
https://x.com/sama/status/1758206987094147252?s=20
https://x.com/sama/status/1758200420344955288?s=20
Some of 'em are bad, some are decent. Still an improvement over what came before.
LCEnzo
1yr ago
It has a SFW section, and some authors put their SFW stories in the NSFW since it's more popular (which leads to frustration among readers). E.g. Beware of Chicken and Virtuous Sons are also posted on QQ, as does Ack.
LCEnzo
1yr ago
I enjoyed Why The West Rules - For Now by Ian Morris a few years back, though I think it's not exactly what your looking for. It is a overview of global history, but it's in service of the titular topic with a focus on geography and environment. Recommended by /r/askhistorians, for what it's worth.
LCEnzo
1yr ago
Is the job worth the risks, and can you afford the fallout if this goes sideways? If yes, go for it, and be honest (or not, can't force you). If not, send them a email that you aren't interested in the position anymore.
LCEnzo
1yr ago
There is a contiuum of people in Russia (and other nations using Cyrillic). Those who know and are comfortable with English you won't generally notice as any different from the mean player. They're filtered out from this perception. Those who are left have some combination of tribalistic sentiment, anti social inclinations, and youthful immaturity which stops them from engaging normally.
LCEnzo
1yr ago
The volunteer/janitor page has a link for the rules which should https://www.themotte.org/rules instead of localhost/rules.
LCEnzo
1yr ago
not all birds fly, and anyway birds have slop similar to those of reptiles.
Nor do species lose adaptations the moment the original reason they got them disappears, but I concede the point.
larger bodies have about same number of components as smaller ones [...] And the only parts which larger bodies have more complex are gastrointestinal tract and lungs
'Components' is an artificial category. The number of cells which sense are what matters (since the collected data needs to be processed, otherwise the cell is worse than useless). If you need to sense with the same precision on 1 mm^2 of skin and on 5 mm^2, you'd need more neurons for transport and processing for the larger patch of skin. Not necessarily 5 times more, you can compress the data or whatever, but you definitely need more than for the 1 mm^2 patch.
LCEnzo
2mo ago
People will get back alley abortions, their family, friends, and neighbours will cover them. You'd see a rise in Infant Sudden Death Syndrome, and babies being given up for adoption.
You can't force people into being parents, or at least not so overtly. You need to convince them by making it more high status, virtuous, convenient, and cheap.
LCEnzo
3mo ago
In light of this, the idea that there is something bad about 20% of men sleeping with 80% of the women seems a bit contradictory. Isn't that just evolution in action?
You minsunderstand the point of eugenics. It's not to promote what is most evolutionary advantagious. That requires no action and no ideology. The point to improve the next generation in acordance to out values. That generally means we want them to be healthier, happier, selfless, and more intelligent. That is why people didn't want poor (which are generally lower IQ), or criminals to have children, and is the reason for the Nobel sperm bank.
That said, ofc people use this kind of thing to argue their own genes and children are great. People are universally biased towards themselves. That applies for both eugenics and intersectionality.
LCEnzo
4mo ago
I've had those moments occasionally, when I was younger. Now my daydreams are filled with AGI.
LCEnzo
4mo ago
It's not about literally one women, or how many women commit violence im absolute terms. Per capita, men commit more violent crimes.
If you want to argue that there are a lot of female masterminds that have male minions commititng crimes on their behalf, that still implicates at least an equal number of men and women, besides being pure conjecture.
LCEnzo
5mo ago
It's sad, and off-putting as someone who likes CS and programming, but needs must. There is a need for programmers, so supply emerges. We can't expect most profession to be filled by the passionate, the wants and needs of people are not aligned.
LCEnzo
5mo ago
A hopefully working link: https://i.redd.it/1mlmfcn816f81.jpg
LCEnzo
9mo ago
Human populations don't (only) cluster genetically based on skin color. Race is a bad, lossy, over used heuristic. Grab a group of 130+ IQ Serbs, or Arabs, or Nigerians, and you'd have a much performance along most metrics we value. Indians in the US e.g.
LCEnzo
10mo ago
Fuck Sam Harris, all my homies listen to the Bailey.
On a more serious note; why like random archaeology videos about how to make stone tools? Predictive coding -> the system optimizes for (besides good predictions) for interesting stuff (ie. unpredictable). Otherwise, you could stare at paint drying (or the sky as the case may be for our ancestors) until hunger/thirst/horny strikes.
LCEnzo
1yr ago
What's the cost in trying it out? Jumping ship after 6 to 12 months is not uncommon for a SWE, especially one early in his career. My advice would be to take the offer, and see if you find it fun or tolerable. If so, great. If not, the extra cash will allow you to take 6 - 12 months of vacation, soul searching, and job hunting, and still end up net zero in terms of income. The firm will, presumably, also be good for your CV, meaning you'll find the next job hunt even easier. Just be wary of life style inflation if you plan on switching jobs to something less lucrative.
LCEnzo
1yr ago
It's exciting news, and we should give time to effort posters to collect and organize their thoughts on the matter.
Singapore and Korea? They're not welfare states, are amongst the richest places on Earth, and have the lowest fertility in the world.
The problem is the middle road between patriarchy and equiality. Either don't give women access education and work, or equalize social expectations and have husbands to take an equal share of chores, housework, childcare, etc.
The middle ground puts too much stress on women, and pushes the most agentic out of the country.
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