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Coolest Things I Learned in 2018

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Re: Coolest Things I Learned in 2018

#11

Post by Kurtz79 »

"To survive a Northern winter, bees change the composition of the swarm by shrinking the overall population, caulking the hive, getting rid of the deadweight males (i.e., ALL of the males), and laying just enough eggs to preserve a minimal survivable population through the winter and into spring.

They cluster together in the center of the hive, keeping the queen in the center, shivering their wings to create kinetic energy, occasionally sending out suicide squads to retrieve honey stores from the outer combs. They lower their metabolism by creating a cloud of carbon dioxide in the hive."

Thanos would approve of bees' survival strategies.

Jokes aside, what I always found really impressive is how bees deal with hornets, which are way bigger and their natural predators:

https://www.livescience.com/19078-bee-ball-cooks-enemies.htm...

Re: Coolest Things I Learned in 2018

#13

Post by n4r9 »

> In a Big Craze, Be the Arms Dealer

This is clearly true but I wonder how much it's an artefact of the Western economic model. I came to a similar insight in the last couple of years, which was "the companies skimming the most cream off the top, are often the most abstracted away from providing a concrete benefit to society".

It's like there's this inherent recursive aspect to shareholder capitalism. The profitable businesses are those which provide a service to businesses which provide a service to businesses which... which provide a service to the public.

Re: Coolest Things I Learned in 2018

#14

Post by whalesalad »

n4r9 wrote: post #13

> In a Big Craze, Be the Arms Dealer This is clearly true but I wonder how much it's an artefact of the Western economic model. I came to a similar insight in the last couple of years, which was "the companies skimming the most cream off the top, are often the most abstracted away from providing a concrete benefit to society". It's like there's this inherent recursive aspect to shareholder capitalism. The profitable…

You say artifact of western economic model like it’s a bad thing.

Re: Coolest Things I Learned in 2018

#15

Post by yitchelle »

weliketocode wrote: post #4

Old Status Symbols: Luxury goods Position of authority Busy-ness Endorsed by establishment New Status Symbols: Fitness Position of influence Flexible schedule Creative Output Self-actualization Independent --> First time I've read this, but great incite that I've certainly seen as well.

However, this is totally based on its cultural context.

Re: Coolest Things I Learned in 2018

#16

Post by n4r9 »

whalesalad wrote: post #14
n4r9 wrote: post #13

> In a Big Craze, Be the Arms Dealer This is clearly true but I wonder how much it's an artefact of the Western economic model. I came to a similar insight in the last couple of years, which was "the companies skimming the most cream off the top, are often the most abstracted away from providing a concrete benefit to society". It's like there's this inherent recursive aspect to shareholder capitalism. The profitable…

You say artifact of western economic model like it’s a bad thing.

I think that was a fairly neutral statement, actually. No value judgement was intended.

Re: Coolest Things I Learned in 2018

#18

Post by charlietango92 »

twodave wrote: post #3

> Instead of arbitrarily memorizing things, look for the explanation that makes it obvious. This is a higher learning method that I’ve always found most natural. I don’t memorize stuff, I try to understand it instead. That said, there is still great value in the classical learning model—if you don’t know the terminology of the subject it’s difficult to reason about that subject.

I function better when learning like this, but also feel that it's one of those 'easier said than done' ideas. Understanding can come with time, and doesn't always even then guarantee retention.

That being said, if anyone has study/memory tips, I'm all ears :)

Re: Coolest Things I Learned in 2018

#19

Post by wpq0 »

melling wrote: post #2

I see that he has “sell shovels to the gold miners” on his list. https://www.ciscoinvestments.com/eureka-shovels-jeans-iot-go...

Reminds me of the graphic card vendors and ASIC manufacturers who profit off people who rush into cryptocurrency.

Re: Coolest Things I Learned in 2018

#20

Post by beat »

fb03 wrote: post #7

I really enjoyed: World GDP animation by country: - it is insane how near japan got to us even being such a small country - kudos to china for falling way out of the race to the top and then "out of the blue" reaching #2 at the very end -- shows exponential growth How camera lenses change the way we look: - at the first shot with the 20mm or so lens, the guy's nose looks huge and funny compared to the rest of the pic…

Reading Factfulness got me to pay attention to per capita GDP growth rates over decades, as opposed to static comparisons at the moment. China blew my mind. Their per capita GDP has increased around 130x (in constant dollars) since 1960, from the $60/year range to over $8000/year. I now use it as a rebuttal to the stock assumption that Western-style democracy, capitalism, and individualism are the only route to prosperity.

It also got me thinking of the "developing" nations relative to the history of western nations. We sneer at the impoverished slums of the "Third World", without recognizing that was what America and Europe looked like, not that long ago. It's just a phase between an illiterate agrarian society and a modern prosperous middle class.

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