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Peter Thiel on the Global Economy, Technology, Artificial Intelligence [video]

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Re: Peter Thiel on the Global Economy, Technology, Artificial Intelligence [video]

#32
post #7

OK, the big theme here is "innovation has slowed down, but this is being masked by all the activity around computers". So let's take a look at that. Way too many smart people are tied up doing rather banal things with computers, or in finance. That's capitalism in action. What isn't being worked on? Thiel is bothered by lack of progress in medicine. Medicine is now working on really hard problems, most of which are c…

The average IQ will always be 100. It will also always be perfectly normally distributed. Because it's designed that way. http://www.michna.com/iq.htm > In truth the IQ is a purely statistical measure. It has no direct relation to brain performance, is not proportional to it, and doesn't even have any linear or otherwise straightforward relation to it. The only thing you can say is that somebody with a higher IQ will…

There is an interesting TED lecture about the gradual rise in intelligence, how children are usually smarter than their parents.

Re: Peter Thiel on the Global Economy, Technology, Artificial Intelligence [video]

#33
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the hardest, but also the most pressing issues is regarding population growth. Should we artificially limit population growth? Can it be done in a way that isn't forceful, but perhaps with the right incentives? Should humanity, as a global society push for quality over quantity in reproduction? Is basic income still feasible in this scenario? It's an ethical and ideological mess and frankly, it'll require some…

Should humanity, as a global society push for quality over quantity in reproduction? Is basic income still feasible in this scenario? This is an unpopular suggestion but simply ending the massive state-sponsored subsidization and propagandization of the opposite (e.g. glorification of single motherhood, third-world immigration) would be a great place to start.

Unpopular because there is overwhelming evidence that the low hanging fruit on reducing population growth is decreasing child mortality and increasing economic opportunity for the huge percentage of the world that is worried they will be alone and destitute in their old age.

Re: Peter Thiel on the Global Economy, Technology, Artificial Intelligence [video]

#34
post #28

Very interesting talk. I'd love for him to write a history of capitalism type book. "The History of Innovation and Globalization". Start it off with the x-axis=globalization and y-axis=innovation model and go from say 18th century to now. I always enjoy history of economics books. I like the mainstream books but really enjoyed the perspective and research that went into "An Austrian Perspective on the History of Econ…

Zero to One actually has some good material in this vein.

Re: Peter Thiel on the Global Economy, Technology, Artificial Intelligence [video]

#35

after Trump nomination, o to -1, sorry Thiel, you are not welcome

This is also my first instinct. But be careful, people who do things you find wrong might still have intelligent things to say. Evaluate ideas on their own merit.

Re: Peter Thiel on the Global Economy, Technology, Artificial Intelligence [video]

#36

after Trump nomination, o to -1, sorry Thiel, you are not welcome

Your comment is not useful, but nevertheless his endorsement is worth discussing. It's obvious that trump is more aligned with his world view of a more risk taking, long-term planning and less people-pleasing leadership.

You should also not assert yourself as a representative or gatekeeper of the community. It's this mindset that should not be welcome here.

Re: Peter Thiel on the Global Economy, Technology, Artificial Intelligence [video]

#37
He reiterates many of the things he 's been saying for a while and written in his book. It's worth reiterating them, probably because things have not changed.

He makes a distinction of computers as the "one field that has progres", but, is it really true that IT is not stuck in a rut as well? What are the new paradigms developed recently? Computer vision, machine learning were established in the 80s , despite only becoming commonplace nowadays. There is little progress in theory since then. Engineers obsess over the rediscovery of functional languages, a relic of the 50s.

Commercial success should not be taken as an indicator of real progress.

Re: Peter Thiel on the Global Economy, Technology, Artificial Intelligence [video]

#38
post #5
post #4

Is there a transcript anywhere? I much prefer reading over watching/listening

Youtube has an auto-generated transcript feature. In the video description, click More->Transcript. Edit: actually don't use the YouTube transcripts, there's a human-curated transcript here http://conversationswithbillkristol.org/transcript/peter-thi...

> Edit: actually don't use the YouTube transcripts, there's a human-curated transcript here

How very meta.

Re: Peter Thiel on the Global Economy, Technology, Artificial Intelligence [video]

#39
post #37

He reiterates many of the things he 's been saying for a while and written in his book. It's worth reiterating them, probably because things have not changed. He makes a distinction of computers as the "one field that has progres", but, is it really true that IT is not stuck in a rut as well? What are the new paradigms developed recently? Computer vision, machine learning were established in the 80s , despite only be…

[deleted]

Re: Peter Thiel on the Global Economy, Technology, Artificial Intelligence [video]

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The average IQ will always be 100. It will also always be perfectly normally distributed. Because it's designed that way. http://www.michna.com/iq.htm > In truth the IQ is a purely statistical measure. It has no direct relation to brain performance, is not proportional to it, and doesn't even have any linear or otherwise straightforward relation to it. The only thing you can say is that somebody with a higher IQ will…

There is an interesting TED lecture about the gradual rise in intelligence, how children are usually smarter than their parents.

Well, our parents invented things like nuclear energy and semiconductor physics, while we invented, what, social media?
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