Viewing profile — joelegner

Is that really how these layoffs go? The HR person is belittling ("I need you to focus") and the employee passively takes the belittling. Here's a script the employee could have us…

The human body seems to be designed to talk. Talking is generally learned automatically. Reading and writing are not automatic. Talking also has nuances that are lost in transcript…

Each incident also likely boosts their numbers, justifying why they need budget for their SWAT program. Or as Upton Sinclair put it, “It is difficult to get a man to understand som…

I started on version 10 on DOS around 1991 or 1992. I think version 12 was the last one on DOS, and it was so snappy! Never been the same since.

I think the brain is designed to free up memory holding information that is not useful. Memory associated with a technical term like phrasal verb seems to be something it would gar…

I prefer "to go" over "takeaway" for two essentially meaningless reasons: First, _go_ is older than _away_. According to Etymology Online, go dates back to Old English ("gan"), whi…

Alternative reinforcement is an area of ongoing research. There are issues with cost and stiffness of the more exotic types. Research is probably slower because of the need to at a…

Where did you hear that reinforced concrete has a lifespan of 100 years? As a structural engineer, I can tell you this is not correct as a general rule, but is true for structures …

What do you use in its place? Are your alternatives meeting your needs?

Even if you never intend to attempt a project like this, there is something valuable to be gained by reading narratives like this: humility. Not many folks could pull this off. I s…

I did not ask the learned resilience claimant for evidence, because I take resilience training to be orthodox for the psychological community, and I believe the person I responded …

Do you have any citations that support your claim, which seems to be that “resilience,” is unhelpful or harmful?

Let there be some ants. Let each individual ant act according to local rules. None of the individual ant’s rules say “build an anthill,” yet after a few days there is an anthill. I…

High childcare costs universally generates outrage. But should it? Perhaps this is how the population eventually flattens. Maybe it is okay that the marginal cost of another human …

I think this is the right view of success. Great success requires both talent and hard work. It’s most obvious in domains like sports and music. I noticed that in my teens by watch…

Another interpretation is that the portraits communicate essentially zero information about the subject. No information means no way to differentiate beyond the absolute basic fact…

Isn’t predicting what we want out of a science, more so than explaining?

In my field communicating with other English-speaking people is probably 80% of the job. Someone who cannot read and write clear English prose will not be successful. Serious quest…

May Stockton Rush become a synonym for dangerous hubris, for the benefit of future generations.

I have this vague idea that a person’s beliefs are not truly known until they use them as the basis to bet something of value. This guy bet his own life, so I agree with you. He be…

Are you talking about life safety or some other kind of safety? “Safety” is a word having many different senses. Your mentioning of promotions and competing ideas makes it seem to …

Simone wielding AI nefariously will eventually use this tidbit about human nature to terrible effect.

This is great advice, thanks. I have the means to pay someone instead, if that's the way the market works. I should clarify: I bet a high caliber person would consider it a hobby p…

Bottom line up front: As a non-“hacker” how can I connect with people to collaborate and build an app or website? This might seem like a silly question but bear with me for a momen…

Individuals and businesses received direct payments in the form of stimulus checks. I have to think also money got into people’s hands by lending as the banks are how the new money…