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Michel Talagrand wins Abel Prize for work wrangling randomness

quantamagazine.org

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Re: Michel Talagrand wins Abel Prize for work wrangling randomness

#31

Post by juliusdavies »

tptacek wrote: post #28
wslh wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you saying that Wikipedia doesn't need to innovate and just leave their organization as it is? I follow Wikipedia since its inception and it seems part of its processes, as in major organizations, amplifies bureaucracy more than process innovation. Any organization is not only their throughput but their processes, including resources as humans.

I'm sure there's any number of things they can do better, but revisiting their entire premise isn't just a suggestion, it's a request that they become a completely different thing. Wikipedia is probably the single most successful human knowledge project of the last 100 years. It sounds crazy saying that out loud! Maybe it's not true! But that it's even a colorable argument speaks to how little software engineers have…

Last 5000 years.

Personally I don't care about AI, but there would be no AI without Wikipedia.

Re: Michel Talagrand wins Abel Prize for work wrangling randomness

#32

Post by wslh »

tptacek wrote: post #28
wslh wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you saying that Wikipedia doesn't need to innovate and just leave their organization as it is? I follow Wikipedia since its inception and it seems part of its processes, as in major organizations, amplifies bureaucracy more than process innovation. Any organization is not only their throughput but their processes, including resources as humans.

I'm sure there's any number of things they can do better, but revisiting their entire premise isn't just a suggestion, it's a request that they become a completely different thing. Wikipedia is probably the single most successful human knowledge project of the last 100 years. It sounds crazy saying that out loud! Maybe it's not true! But that it's even a colorable argument speaks to how little software engineers have…

I agree with you with the importance of Wikipedia but it should be noted the acceleration of technology (not talking about singularity!) that will impact them. It is the acceleration of the means in the relationship of humans with technology. This is a fact.

The innovation dilemma is always present, even for NGOs.

Re: Michel Talagrand wins Abel Prize for work wrangling randomness

#33

Post by mturmon »

What an amazing output.

Reading his papers, he manages to connect basic geometric ideas (like the notion of "isoperimetry", i.e., enclosing the maximum volume within a given perimeter) to probabilistic notions like convergence of averages. It links together stuff you learn in information theory (the probability mass of the "typical set"), and in machine learning (deviations of an training-set error rate from a true error rate), and in probability theory (empirical processes).

His papers typically had an introduction that related the main theorem to some of these basic geometric notions. The introduction would reveal a whole new, very intuitive and geometric connection between a very abstract theorem to basic geometry, like the volume of a spherical shell. It would routinely blow my mind.

Re: Michel Talagrand wins Abel Prize for work wrangling randomness

#34

Post by matsemann »

> fell in love with his future wife, a statistician, at first sight (he proposed to her three days after meeting her)

Was that after sampling 1/e prospects?

(The "marriage problem" is applied statistics on when it's optimal to stop searching for something https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_problem )

Re: Michel Talagrand wins Abel Prize for work wrangling randomness

#35

Post by kwhitefoot »

epgui wrote: post #30
yau8edq12i wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because I'm not going to put in the work just to see it deleted by zealous editors.

There is no basis in your purported belief that quality contributions that follow the rules will get deleted. Wikipedia editors are not out there to suppress women— The fact that this de facto happens is more likely a reflection of systemic social issues.

Surely Wikipedia editors are part of society? So

> is more likely a reflection of systemic social issues.

contradicts

> Wikipedia editors are not out there to suppress women

Re: Michel Talagrand wins Abel Prize for work wrangling randomness

#40

Post by sn9 »

esafak wrote: post #36

> He recalls with delight that he once used a cab service whose owner recognized his name, having learned the inequality during a probability class in business school. The taxi drivers in France are cut from different cloth!

As well as their business students, apparently.
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