Category: quotes

“The real problem is trying to formulate a question for something we do not know already”

https://mindmatters.ai/2024/01/the-theory-that-consciousness-is-a-quantum-system-gains-support/

In short, it says that consciousness arises when gravitational instabilities in the fundamental structure of space-time collapse quantum wave functions in tiny structures called microtubules that are found inside neurons – and, in fact, in all complex cells.

In quantum theory, a particle does not really exist as a tiny bit of matter located somewhere but rather as a cloud of probabilities. If observed, it collapses into the state in which it was observed. Penrose has postulated that “each time a quantum wave function collapses in this way in the brain, it gives rise to a moment of conscious experience.”

Hameroff has been studying proteins known as tubulins inside the microtubules of neurons. He postulates that “microtubules inside neurons could be exploiting quantum effects, somehow translating gravitationally induced wave function collapse into consciousness, as Penrose had suggested.” Thus was born a collaboration, though their seminal 1996 paper failed to gain much traction.

https://climatelabbook.substack.com/p/mapping-changes-in-temperature-every

Capitalism is the root cause of our ecological crisis and the key barrier to solving it.

There are two reasons for this. Firstly, capitalism cannot exist without economic growth, and economic growth is the main reason why our emissions have been increasing over the last 30 years and further growth will make it impossible to decarbonise in time to avoid activating tipping points.

Secondly, our minds have been shaped by capitalism and it is stopping us from seeing both the role capitalism plays in the cause of climate change and the full scope of solutions available to address the crisis. Social psychologist, Professor Harald Welzer, sums this up well, describing economic growth of industrial societies as “enshrined in business and politics, but also in the psychological structure of the people who grow up in such societies.”

https://erinremblance.substack.com/p/decapitalising-our-minds-the-key

There are six key ways in which capitalism shapes our minds. Under capitalism we, collectively, believe:

1. Nature is nothing more than a ‘resource’ to be exploited
2. Our power lies in either our consumption habits or our employment
3. Success lies in evermore material items and novel experiences
4. People are a ‘resource’ and must earn their living
5. Money is scarce and the government must make choices
6. We must compete with others

This ‘capitalisation’ of our minds creates a barrier to solving the climate crisis in many ways, including:

• denial that the crisis exists because the solutions don’t fit one’s capitalistic ideology;
• disinterest and disengagement with the crisis because nature is for others to focus on;
• unconscious of how our minds are shaped by capitalism, we:
  • champion solutions that are well-intentioned but inadequate because they assume mythical ‘green-growth’;
  • implement targets that aren’t supported by policies to achieve them, instead relying on technology that doesn’t currently exist to cover the gap.

Unsurprisingly, the mindset we need to address the climate crisis is the exact opposite of the mindset described above.

A young statistician saved their lives.

His insight (and how it can change yours):
During World War II, the U.S. wanted to add reinforcement armor to specific areas of its planes.
Analysts examined returning bombers, plotted the bullet holes and damage on them (as in the image below), and came to the conclusion that adding armor to the tail, body, and wings would improve their odds of survival.

But a young statistician named Abraham Wald noted that this would be a tragic mistake. By only plotting data on the planes that returned, they were systematically omitting the data on a critical, informative subset: The planes that were damaged and unable to return.

• The “seen” planes had sustained damage that was survivable.
• The “unseen” planes had sustained damage that was not.

Wald concluded that armor should be added to the *unharmed* regions of the returning planes (the areas without bullet holes on the image below).
His profound logic: Where the survivors were unharmed was actually where the planes were most vulnerable.

Based on his insight, the military reinforced the engine and other vulnerable parts, significantly improving the safety of the crews during combat and saving thousands of lives.

Abraham Wald had identified a cognitive bias called “Survivorship Bias“: The error resulting from systematically focusing on survivors (successes) and ignoring casualties (failures) that causes us to miss the true base rates of survival (the actual probability of success) and arrive at flawed conclusions.

We see examples of Survivorship Bias all around us:

1.  We read books on the common traits of successful people, but fail to consider all of the unsuccessful people who possessed those same traits.
2.  We applaud the belief when we hear that an entrepreneur took out a second mortgage and succeeded, but fail to consider all of the entrepreneurs who did the same and went bankrupt.
3.  We study the cultural strategies of the most successful companies, but fail to consider all of the companies that followed those same strategies and fell apart.

When we fail to consider the range of outcomes and the hidden evidence, we develop a skewed (and often incorrect) view of reality.

It cannot be avoided altogether, because the vast majority of books and history are written by and about the survivors and victors, but wherever possible, consider the unseen evidence. What is unseen often has just as much value as what is seen.

Credits:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias

Wald, Abraham. Archived 2019-07-13 at the Wayback Machine. Center for Naval Analyses.

Wallis, W. Allen (1980). “The Statistical Research Group, 1942-1945: Rejoinder”. Journal of the American Statistical Association.

“Bullet Holes & Bias: The Story of Abraham Wald”. mcdreeamie-musing

“AMS :: Feature Column :: The Legend of Abraham Wald”. American Mathematical Society

‘How Not to Be Wrong’ by Jordan Ellenberg (released in 2014)

https://www-hollywoodreporter-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/oppenheimer-mission-impossible-vfx-1235579422/amp/

Visual effects make the impossible possible and thrill audiences, but the artists who toil over delicate and groundbreaking work don’t always get to take a bow—or in some cases, even acknowledge the existence of their work.

The source adds that sometimes there’s a blatant directive that “there will be no discussion of VFX. … We don’t want to overshadow the actors [or] we don’t want to break the mythology that somebody did all of these stunts.”

I’m very lonely: not terribly lonely. Because I love being alone. I need to be alone: ​​to contemplate, to think. Sometimes even the people I love bother me: my daughter, my wife. And when it happens, quietly, I get up and go to my room. Yes, it’s difficult to live with me: this is a reproach that my mates have always addressed to me, and that Franca also addressed to me at the beginning. Now Franca has become accustomed to it, she finds this life normal even though she is very young.

I understood it, you know? I understood that she would like to go to places, to nightclubs. But I don’t like it, I never have. When I see that false amusement, I can’t help but think that behind each of those people there is a drama: the pianist perhaps has broken shoes, the industrialist has bills that are due, the hostess has her son. sick… I told them: I am a misanthrope, the basis of my life is the house.

The house, for me, is a fortress, almost a person. When I enter I always greet you like a person: “Good evening, home.” Today, for example, Franca is in Lugano and I am alone at home. Well: I’m fine with it.

Antonio de Curtis, Totò

Original version

• Working out consistently
• Personal Finance Skills
• Meditation
• Communication
• Waking up early
• Public Speaking
• Be honest within
• Leadership
• Decision Making
• Listening