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All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

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Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#31

Post by jeffreygoesto »

mlsu wrote: post #12

I think Tao correctly sees the problem with AI. It’s not that it is ineffective or has weaknesses. It’s that it’s not human. Like, it ought to be enough to say that the problem with AI is that it’s not human. Unfortunately, we live in a world where many (most?) people have willingly put away the childish things, so as to achieve some goal. The problem is that the point of life is to explore and have fun and have huma…

To be human is like being the training so much more than the execution. Like the parallel post's game where the speed of light is 5km/h, we always try to but never reach true "perfection" (setting aside the discourse what that even would be). Some overfit, some stop short of being good...

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#32

Post by TonyStr »

hutattedonmyarm wrote: post #20
Markoff wrote: post #9

the post has unreadable font in Vivaldi

Might be a Vivaldi problem. It has "Computer Modern Sans" in Firefox which seems to be perfectly legible

I found Computer Modern Sans quite unpleasant to read. Disabling it and reading Mastodon Sans Serif was much more pleasant

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#33

Post by CalRobert »

burticlies wrote: post #3

I see this clearly at kids birthday parties whenever there is a piñata. Adults hate them. All they see is the goal and the incredibly inefficient path the kids are taking towards it. But the kids love it, they don’t care when they miss, they are just enjoying hitting something with a stick. And every miss heightens the excitement for the eventual lolly scramble.

What?!?!? Piñatas are awesome! And as people who emigrated from California it’s usually a fun novelty for the local Dutchies to see (though I see them in local stores now too!)

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#34

Post by thaumasiotes »

hutattedonmyarm wrote: post #20
Markoff wrote: post #9

the post has unreadable font in Vivaldi

Might be a Vivaldi problem. It has "Computer Modern Sans" in Firefox which seems to be perfectly legible

In Firefox, all text outside the headline post, including the name and username that begin the headline post, appears to be in some kind of shrunken state which ruins its appearance. Zooming in solves the problem and causes the letters to appear correct rather than grotesquely malformed.

I don't know how the site was allowed into production like this.

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#35

Post by tripledry »

palmotea wrote: post #19

> But modern AI tools, when directed without such expert supervision, can now be aimed all too easily at the ostensible goals of the field, without any incentive to take the slow, whimsical path. IMHO, that's the whole point of AI: automate the fun, to leave people with more drudgery. Worker! Spend less (ideally no) time doing creative things like coding, spend your time instead doing code review!

classic, now I can have AIs make my games for me while I still have to cook and wash the dishes! Maybe AI can soon start playing the games for me, can't wait.

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#36

Post by baliex »

sublinear wrote: post #15
galaxyLogic wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The British rock-band Traffic said it in their "Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys" : "... we were children once, playing with toys". I wonder if it's true that people don't remember. People maybe remember but don't want to talk about it. It is such a cognitive dissonance.

Everyone remembers, but ADHD is overrepresented in the high-level positions of leadership.

I can’t tell if you’re implying that those with ADHD are more likely or less likely to think and act in a childlike way. Or whether doing so or not is what causes the over representation in high level positions.

Could you please elaborate?

My understanding is that ADHD would make you more likely to behave in childlike ways as an adult, but not that that would necessarily lead to holding leadership positions.

I’m genuinely very interested in your thoughts.

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#37

Post by cbolton »

burticlies wrote: post #3

I see this clearly at kids birthday parties whenever there is a piñata. Adults hate them. All they see is the goal and the incredibly inefficient path the kids are taking towards it. But the kids love it, they don’t care when they miss, they are just enjoying hitting something with a stick. And every miss heightens the excitement for the eventual lolly scramble.

It never occurred to me to consider efficiency in piñata, but I dislike them because it's making a game out of violence.

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#38

Post by lynx97 »

apt-apt-apt-apt wrote: post #23
mlsu wrote: post #12

I think Tao correctly sees the problem with AI. It’s not that it is ineffective or has weaknesses. It’s that it’s not human. Like, it ought to be enough to say that the problem with AI is that it’s not human. Unfortunately, we live in a world where many (most?) people have willingly put away the childish things, so as to achieve some goal. The problem is that the point of life is to explore and have fun and have huma…

I think everyone wants the experience of living, but it's not a great one without money, and money commonly requires full-time work until financial freedom. But that point usually comes at 65. So it's not that only children appreciate life, it's just that adults have to deal with that whole money problem, while children don't.

I take a 8 hour work day over being subjected to more or less random weirdness from "adults" every day. IOW, not everyone has this rose-tinted view of their childhood. I still remember adults saying "you will once look back at your childhood and miss the times". Turns out that was totally and utterly wrong. I even have bad dreams about my school/childhood time every few months. I am sooooo glad that time of being subjected to the will of others is over.

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#39

Post by Computer0 »

cbolton wrote: post #37
burticlies wrote: post #3

I see this clearly at kids birthday parties whenever there is a piñata. Adults hate them. All they see is the goal and the incredibly inefficient path the kids are taking towards it. But the kids love it, they don’t care when they miss, they are just enjoying hitting something with a stick. And every miss heightens the excitement for the eventual lolly scramble.

It never occurred to me to consider efficiency in piñata, but I dislike them because it's making a game out of violence.

As a child I did not see it as violent

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#40

Post by pred_ »

He also just published this one: https://terrytao.wordpress.com/2026/09/07/finite-time-blowup...

While his concerns expressed here aren't new, it looks like the recent cases of scientific misconduct were enough to push for urgency:

> But in the immediate term, the most pressing issue is for the entire mathematical community to unite around our core values and objectives, and reject irresponsible and unsustainable usages of AI technology that only serve to advance nominal goals rather than the true underlying goals of the field.

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