Current fascination: disinformation & trust. Prior fascinations include Horse Slaughter
South West, England
Joined February 2009
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Alex Brown retweeted
Please read this. It's literally been 8 years in the writing.
The first wave of tech disruption of democracy 2016-2024 is over. What starts now is something much, much worse: the age of information chaos.
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theguardian.com/commentisfre…
Search era to knowledge era. My take on a transformational shift alexbrownracing.com/2024/08/…
Just started this book, Rulers, by @noUpside Renee DiResta. The intro is fascinating & fantastic.
I’ve written a 20k word detailed essay on disinformation and the information wars. Really looking forward to getting into the rest of this book, to see how well my essay resonates.
Regarding LLMs, I read a lot of what @GaryMarcus says, which may bias my thoughts. I am also doing a lot of “research” on #trust
is there a precedent in the history of commerce where a product has been launched & it’s designers/owners don’t understand, completely, how it works?
4 hours of great conversation!
I made it out of the jungle alive ❤
This was an adventure of a lifetime, from getting lost in dense unexplored wilderness to taking very high doses of ayahuasca.
I'll post videos about some of these adventures in a week or so. First, here's a 4 hour podcast conversation with Paul Rosolie that we recorded deep in the jungle.
This time in the jungle has deepened my gratitude for getting to exist on this beautiful planet with all of you. I love you all ❤
The podcast conversation is here on X and is up on YouTube, Spotify, and everywhere else. Links in comment.
Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
2:07 - Amazon jungle
4:25 - Bushmaster snakes
15:51 - Black caiman
34:11 - Rhinos
37:25 - Anacondas
1:07:42 - Mammals
1:19:48 - Piranhas
1:30:38 - Aliens
1:48:23 - Elephants
1:56:21 - Origin of life
2:09:40 - Explorers
2:22:57 - Ayahuasca
2:31:22 - Deep jungle expedition
2:45:29 - Jane Goodall
2:48:00 - Theodore Roosevelt
2:58:56 - Alone show
3:08:42 - Protecting the rainforest
3:24:55 - Snake makes appearance
3:33:06 - Uncontacted tribes
3:46:30 - Mortality
3:47:58 - Steve Irwin
3:55:38 - God
Alex Brown retweeted
Here's my conversation with Edward Gibson (@LanguageMIT), a linguist and psychologist at MIT, heading the MIT Language Lab. We talk all about the human language: syntax, grammar, structure, theories of language, evolution of language, how it reflects culture, and of course LLMs, both their amazing power and their limitations.
It's here on X in full, and is up on YouTube, Spotify, and everywhere else. Links in comment.
Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
1:13 - Human language
5:19 - Generalizations in language
11:06 - Dependency grammar
21:05 - Morphology
29:40 - Evolution of languages
33:00 - Noam Chomsky
1:17:06 - Thinking and language
1:30:36 - LLMs
1:43:35 - Center embedding
2:10:02 - Learning a new language
2:13:54 - Nature vs nurture
2:20:30 - Culture and language
2:34:58 - Universal language
2:39:21 - Language translation
2:42:36 - Animal communication
Alex Brown retweeted
Steve Bannon isn't wrong: for his brand of nihilistic politics to win, all he has to do is "flood the zone with shit," demoralizing people to the point where they no longer even *try* to learn the truth.
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ALT A lab-coated scientist in a chem lab filled with retorts, glassware, etc. The image has been modified. The scientist's head has been replaced with the head of the Trix rabbit, and his labcoat now has a General Mills logo patch stitched onto the shoulder. The contents of his main beaker have been replaced with a floating Cocoa Puffs logo.
Alex Brown retweeted
The man of the year.. Respect 🙏
xitter.cf/YourTwitFace3/status/1…
Alex Brown retweeted
Life is so hard sometimes , winners totally insignificant compared to what has happened today . Sadly Keagan Kirby one of our best , hardworking lads lost his life today riding in a point to point . All at team ditcheat are mortified . Thoughts with all his friends and family.
Alex Brown retweeted
Here's the debate I hosted between @BenShapiro and Destiny (@TheOmniLiberal), two of the most skilled political debaters in the world. They each arguably represent the right & left of American politics, respectively. The topics include Trump vs Biden, Jan 6, Israel-Palestine, Russia-Ukraine, wokeism & DEI, marriage/relationships, and more. This was intense, fascinating, and fun.
It's here on X in full and is up on YouTube, Spotify, and everywhere else too. Links in comment.
Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
1:36 - Liberalism vs Conservatism
6:49 - Education
23:06 - Trump vs Biden
43:31 - Foreign policy
56:28 - Israel-Palestine
1:11:25 - Russia-Ukraine
1:23:04 - January 6
1:39:03 - Abuse of power
1:49:01 - Wokeism
1:55:42 - Institutional capture
2:09:36 - Monogamy vs open relationships
2:14:29 - Rapid fire questions
Alex Brown retweeted
Death of A Racehorse. Or, Was It Murder? 💔
Once upon a time he was one of the fastest Thoroughbreds in the world. In 1990 he was put down after breaking his leg—in an accident, it was assumed, until last year, when federal investigators linked the animal’s death to the failure of one of Houston’s biggest banks.
On a chilly November night in 1990, the great stallion was found in shock in his stall, his coat glistening with sweat, his right hind leg hanging by tendons, a shaft of white bone jutting through his skin. J. T. Lundy, the rotund, blustery head of the farm, told veterinarians that Alydar had shattered his leg by kicking his own stall door. He had kicked it so hard, Lundy said, that he had knocked loose a heavy metal roller that had been bolted into the floor just outside Alydar’s sliding door.
Full Article - texasmonthly.com/true-crime/…
📸 David Perry/Lexington Herald-Leader
