big ideas
US Department of Energy backs five advanced nuclear reactor concepts
What great news to learn we’re once again investing in nuclear technology! | learn more
Category: big ideas
big ideas
Information Theory for intelligent people
This is certainly easier to grok than Claude Shannon’s original paper. Even this simplified version requires some thinking space, making me question at times if I qualified as intelligent! | learn more
big ideas
To fund people or projects?
Here’s a deep discussion of the merits of two different scientific funding paradigms. Are we better off funding scientists and giving them a lot of freedom, or funding specific research projects with a tight leash? | learn more
big ideas
Intersystems biology
“In every ecosystem, including the human body, life enforces both a division of labor between species and unceasing war. Organisms work together and against each other to maximize resource utilization. Biologically, this manifests as a continuous bidirectional exchange of molecules: […]
big ideas
Former CIA director on UFOs
“The major reason I take UFO reports seriously is simply the “gradient” of other people who take them seriously — the people with the very highest security clearances!” | learn more
big ideas
Six easy steps to avert the collapse of civilization
The video is gone, but the summary remains and it’s certainly more succinct. “Civilizations always think they’re immortal, Eagleman noted, but they nearly always perish, leaving “nothing but ruins and scattered genetics.” It takes luck and new technology to survive. […]
big ideas
The Great Stagnation, optimism, and critical thinking
For about a decade, there’s been a view among some sharp thinkers that innovation is slowing. There’s plenty of detailed evidence to support this view. But this week, among that same group, there is been optimism. Cracks in the Great Stagnation and Techno-optimism […]
big ideas
How stories last
If we want information to last longer than 3 generations, stories are the only way to go. “Stories are alive. The ones that last, Gaiman said, outcompete other stories by changing over time. They make it from medium to medium—from […]
big ideas
Markets work because of dumb luck and inefficiency
“But this efficiency obsession [among economists] also leads conservatives to defend free market capitalism on fallacious grounds. In truth free markets are not really efficient at all. Admiring capitalism for its efficiency is like admiring Bob Dylan for his mellifluous […]
big ideas
The big lessons from history
“The second kind of history to learn from are the broad behaviors that show up again and again, in multiple fields and different eras. They are the 30,000-foot takeaways from events that hide layers below the main story, often going […]