psi's recent activity
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Comment on OpenAI releases findings on 377 math problems, further roiling field in ~science
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Comment on The mathocalypse in ~science
psi Link ParentTo get a better sense of how messy the situation is, see also this preprint: "Navier-Stokes lost in translation: Why Lean verification of AI autoformalisation does not guarantee correct natural...To get a better sense of how messy the situation is, see also this preprint:
In particular, this preprint alleges that while the result for Navier-Stokes appears to be correct (i.e. the lean proof does in fact prove the right claim), OpenAI's paper does not match the lean proof. So in this case, we do not actually know whether the paper proof is correct, but we do know the result appears to be.
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Comment on Blue-collar effective altruism in ~society
psi LinkMy issue with effective altruism (as a philosophy, sidestepping the controversies) is that it overindexes on certain types of suffering at the expense of everything else. For example (to...My issue with effective altruism (as a philosophy, sidestepping the controversies) is that it overindexes on certain types of suffering at the expense of everything else. For example (to oversimplify for demonstrative purposes), if donating $100 were to reduce suffering in Africa by 100 units (by saving 100 lives), while the same donation to a local LGBT shelter were to reduce suffering by 1 unit (by saving a single life), that doesn't (imo) mean people should exclusively donate to the former; it just means that people should donate to the former more frequently (maybe 100 times more often). Although to be fair to the effective altruists, I suppose they would argue that traditional charity work focuses too much on the tails of the distribution as it were.
Regardless, someone has to donate to the animal shelter, the woman's shelter, your favorite github project, etc, if you want their work to continue. I suppose if I were you, I would focus on the organizations you care about that need money the most, rather than just the causes that are most cost effective.
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Comment on What is your pet peeve with language acquisition? in ~humanities.languages
psi Link ParentOh, those are some good anecdotes! I might be underestimating the ability of kids then.Oh, those are some good anecdotes! I might be underestimating the ability of kids then.
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Comment on What is your pet peeve with language acquisition? in ~humanities.languages
psi (edited )Link ParentI think you and @Narry already discussed the matter to death, so no need to repeat yourself, but maybe it's worth considering a more concrete example. Take German. In German there are three...I think you and @Narry already discussed the matter to death, so no need to repeat yourself, but maybe it's worth considering a more concrete example.
Take German. In German there are three genders and four cases, so (for a language learner) determining which article to use requires mentally loading a 3x4 matrix into your head. Except German also differentiates between weak and strong endings, so there are actually two of these 3x4 matrices you have to memorize -- unless you insert an adjective between the article and noun, in which case there are additional rules at play.
In contrast, in English we can just say "a/the cute cat". Japanese takes it even further by doing away with articles altogether.
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Comment on What is your pet peeve with language acquisition? in ~humanities.languages
psi Link ParentRight, and just to elaborate a bit: Adults have much greater autonomy and better access to resources, which allows them to learn more efficiently. Children start from no language whatsoever...Right, and just to elaborate a bit:
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Adults have much greater autonomy and better access to resources, which allows them to learn more efficiently.
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Children start from no language whatsoever (except maybe a language module), whereas adults usually use a known language to bootstrap a second language. As a consequence, the "learning to learn" phase for children is significantly restricted.
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Children are forced to use a language out of necessity. The alternative is to massively hinder their ability to communicate at all.
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Despite this, it still takes years for children to become proficient in a language, whereas an adult can become proficient (in business situational speech) in a second language in only a couple years with dedicated study.
Although there might be real physiological differences between the way children and adult learn languages, the importance of those differences is (in my opinion) largely washed out by other factors.
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Comment on What is your pet peeve with language acquisition? in ~humanities.languages
psi (edited )Link ParentI've found that there are two phases to language learning: "learning to learn" and "actual learning". Textbooks, anki, duolingo, and so on mostly fall into the first category, but you don't really...I've found that there are two phases to language learning: "learning to learn" and "actual learning". Textbooks, anki, duolingo, and so on mostly fall into the first category, but you don't really start understanding the language until you begin engaging with native content (the second category). However, it would be highly inefficient to learn a second language by trying to parse native content without any other context.
In that sense, language learning is a bit of an optimization problem: the "learning to learn" resources will help you learn more efficiently, but if you spend too much time on these resources, you will never actually learn the language. I think language learners often fall into the trap of never feeling confident enough to attempt the transition from the first to the second phase. But ironically the first phase of language learning will never get you over that hump; only by attempting to engage with native content can you actually learn to engage with native content.
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Comment on Googlebook revealed and ready for pre-order in ~tech
psi Link ParentIf I'm writing more than two paragraphs, I pretty much always write my comment in obsidian, usually starting on mobile and finishing on my desktop.If I'm writing more than two paragraphs, I pretty much always write my comment in obsidian, usually starting on mobile and finishing on my desktop.
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Comment on What is your pet peeve with language acquisition? in ~humanities.languages
psi LinkGerman: declension rules for definite articles are weirdly inconsistent. Why should der denote the nominative case for masculine nouns but also the dative case for feminine nouns? Better to drop...German: declension rules for definite articles are weirdly inconsistent. Why should der denote the nominative case for masculine nouns but also the dative case for feminine nouns? Better to drop the genders and decline everything as if it were masculine, the gender that distinguishes the most between cases. Maybe have separate declension rules for plural nouns, but die/die/den/der ain't gonna cut it.
Japanese: kanji are cool and all, but given that most languages are primarily spoken, kanji are not as dense as they ought to be -- usually the furigana has fewer strokes than the kanji. Moreover, if the purpose of mixing kanji and kana is to improve readability, then why not just drop kanji altogether and simply use spaces, as in Korean and Japanese children's books?
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Comment on Paramount settles with California, other states over Warner Bros merger in ~movies
psi Link ParentIt's too soon to know for sure, but history suggests it probably won't be very effective. "David Ellison Will Get Control of CNN After All." The Atlantic.It's too soon to know for sure, but history suggests it probably won't be very effective.
So although another major national news outlet will be under the control of a major Trump ally, at least there’ll be “a board of journalists to ensure the editorial independence”! (That this is happening while the president Ellison supports is banning all CNN reporters from the White House adds a tragicomic veneer to the story.)
If this particular move sounds familiar, that’s because such “boards” have been a part of other news-company acquisitions that have raised similar concerns about antitrust or editorial control. These boards’ effectiveness has been, to be generous, extremely limited. Two of the most prominent examples—both involving Rupert Murdoch—offer little reason for optimism.
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In practice, this did not work out. As the legendary editor Harold Evans put it in his 1983 book, Good Times, Bad Times:
[Murdoch had] guaranteed that the editors would have control of the political policy of their newspapers; that they would have freedom within fixed annual budgets; that the editors would not be subject to instruction from either the proprietor or management on the selection and balance of news and opinion; that instructions to journalists would be given only by their editor; and that any future sale of the titles would require the agreement of a majority of the independent national directors. In my year as editor of The Times, Murdoch broke all these guarantees. He put his point of view very simply to the home editor of The Times, Fred Emery, when he summoned him from holiday on 4 March to his office shortly before asking for my resignation: ‘I give instructions to my editors all round the world, why shouldn’t I in London?’
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Comment on The American religion of self-storage facilities in ~life
psi (edited )Link ParentWhen my wife and I moved to Germany, we packed all of our things into dozens of boxes and stored them with our parents. We labeled the boxes with descriptions (books, kitchenware, board games) as...When my wife and I moved to Germany, we packed all of our things into dozens of boxes and stored them with our parents. We labeled the boxes with descriptions (books, kitchenware, board games) as well as relative importance (ship now!, ship later, ship eventually). Then we flew over with four suitcases, a couple carry-ons, and one cat.
The parents never did ship over any of the boxes. We never felt the need to ask. Once we were there, we found that we didn't need most of the stuff we had packed away; instead we just acquired the things we needed as we needed them. Then, when we would visit our families back in the states, we picked up the few things that we missed.
So I would say a storage unit is probably mostly pointless. You likely have a few things worth stashing away somewhere, but that somewhere probably shouldn't be a storage unit. For the most part you're better off radically downsizing and giving away things to friends, where at least you know your items will have a good home.
(That said, moving back to the States was a real nightmare.)
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of September 14 in ~society
psi Link ParentTo quote Andy Weir, "I'm pretty much fucked. That's my considered opinion. Fucked."The only control or “guardrails” that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades! The Trump Administration has stopped AI “people” from doing bad, or potentially bad, “things,“ like Dario (Anthropic!), who is now pretending to be a “perfect little angel” - and we will continue to do so! We already have tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these companies! There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China. WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS! We are leading China, and all others, and will continue to do so. Conspiracy Theorists, Treasonists, Traitors, and Leakers, BEWARE! Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP
To quote Andy Weir, "I'm pretty much fucked. That's my considered opinion. Fucked."
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Comment on Overview of the proofs behind the Navier-Stokes $1 million millennium prize problem in ~science
psi LinkA couple dozen Fields Medal recipients have since issued a statement spurred by this development. "A Severe Misalignment of AI in Mathematics"A couple dozen Fields Medal recipients have since issued a statement spurred by this development.
Over the last few months, the mathematical capabilities of LLMs have improved dramatically, to the point that they can solve major outstanding problems in many fields of mathematics. However, the push by AI companies to solve mathematical problems as a benchmark is detrimental to the science of mathematics, and to the mathematical community. The goals of the AI companies and the goals of the mathematical community are severely misaligned. We see these as part of broader alignment issues impacting other scientific and creative professions, as well as the whole of society.
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Comment on Overview of the proofs behind the Navier-Stokes $1 million millennium prize problem in ~science
psi (edited )Link ParentBut most people wouldn't know "the right inputs". That's almost entirely the controversy. Buckman and Alpöge allege (in short) that OpenAI stole their research program and scaled it up 10000 times.But most people wouldn't know "the right inputs". That's almost entirely the controversy. Buckman and Alpöge allege (in short) that OpenAI stole their research program and scaled it up 10000 times.
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Comment on Overview of the proofs behind the Navier-Stokes $1 million millennium prize problem in ~science
psi Link ParentThere are no other computed-based tools comparable to an LLM. It's a totally different paradigm. Probably the previous largest technological breakthrough for mathematics was the internet, but the...There are no other computed-based tools comparable to an LLM. It's a totally different paradigm. Probably the previous largest technological breakthrough for mathematics was the internet, but the internet encouraged collaboration, not hoarding. I also wouldn't agree that simply having a solution is necessarily good for mathematics as a whole. As Terence Tao puts it:
[...] The incentives may now be pointing in the direction of no longer sharing any promising research directions with the broader community, which would reverse centuries of traditions of open science and do serious long-term damage to the future of the field.
In short, the indiscriminate use of powerful solution-extraction tools can achieve the immediate short-term goal of solving problems at hand, but at the cost of sustaining the ecosystem for the next wave of progress, or in understanding the progress already obtained. [...]
There is much more to doing mathematics than just having the answer. Indeed, in mathematics the journey is usually at least as important as the destination. However, LLM-steered mathematics tends towards inelegant and clunky intermediate results, meaning that one loses much of the value that would normally be gained from having a solution to a difficult problem.
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Comment on Overview of the proofs behind the Navier-Stokes $1 million millennium prize problem in ~science
psi Link ParentThese are good points, but I think you risk underselling the importance of the universal approximation theorem. For a small neural network (e.g. reproducing a 1-dimensional function), you don't...These are good points, but I think you risk underselling the importance of the universal approximation theorem. For a small neural network (e.g. reproducing a 1-dimensional function), you don't even need backpropagation; you can use whatever minimizer you'd like.
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Comment on Overview of the proofs behind the Navier-Stokes $1 million millennium prize problem in ~science
psi Link ParentThe larger issue is that OpenAI used millions of dollars of compute to scoop the researchers who were honing in on a solution. Admittedly those researchers were potentially still years away, but...The larger issue is that OpenAI used millions of dollars of compute to scoop the researchers who were honing in on a solution. Admittedly those researchers were potentially still years away, but OpenAI's behavior must be massively demotivating for mathematicians. Why spend your career working on a difficult problem if a lab will just throw 10,000 agents at that problem and solve it over the weekend? The entire episode shows that these labs are extremely capable but also not responsible stewards of their own technology.
Also, regarding the citations: even in OpenAI's most recent draft of the proof, Levent Alpöge (Buckman's collaborator) still hasn't been cited.
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Comment on US judge to baby: file an asylum application in ~society
psi (edited )Link ParentConsider this today's daily reminder that immigration judges are executive branch employees, not Article III judges. (Or as I've heard one immigration lawyer put it: immigration court is just...Consider this today's daily reminder that immigration judges are executive branch employees, not Article III judges. (Or as I've heard one immigration lawyer put it: immigration court is just traffic court but with life and death consequences.)
To be more generous than @gryfft's read (albeit perhaps less generous than yours, @skybrian), the Board of Immigration Appeals comprises almost exclusively Trump appointees (the Biden appointees having been purged), so terrible rulings like these are permitted and championed, and when immigration judges try to resist, they are often fired. (For another example of unjust policy, see the BIA's ruling on mandatory detention.) More likely, the judge either supports this administration's immigration objectives or feels obligated to rule as if they do, lest they lose their job.
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Comment on What's happening in Kansas should alarm us all in ~lgbt
psi Link ParentThe article mentions trans folk who tried to have their markers changed to the new legal requirement but were denied because they didn't bring the notice letter with them. (Indeed, many never even...The article mentions trans folk who tried to have their markers changed to the new legal requirement but were denied because they didn't bring the notice letter with them. (Indeed, many never even received the notice.)
But then there's also this:
On May 5, Kris Ripper, a trans woman, was stopped while driving home from work for failing to turn on her headlights in the rain. The police officer repeatedly asked her why her license indicated that she was male; she explained that the law required it. Almost two months later she found out that she had been charged with a misdemeanor for driving without a valid license. (Ripper talked to another trans reporter about her predicament, but declined to speak with me.) The charge was eventually dropped, but not before she was threatened with a $1,000 fine and jail time.
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Comment on What happened: OpenAI and Hugging Face in ~comp
psi Link Parent"15 attorneys general have instructed OpenAI to preserve all materials related to the Hugging Face hack." Business Insider. No consequences yet, but hacking into other people's computers is a..."OpenAI's unprecedented and alarming misconduct demands an immediate and significant response," the group wrote, adding that the company may have violated state and federal law, including consumer protection and data privacy statutes.
They instructed OpenAI to immediately preserve all materials related to the Hugging Face hacking incident, as well as any prior instances in which its agents similarly engaged in unauthorized intrusions into computer systems or databases.
No consequences yet, but hacking into other people's computers is a crime. It will at least be interesting to see how this plays out (even if, like you, I'm not optimistic much of anything will come from it).
My background is in physics (though I also have a degree in math), so take my opinion as you will.
Pure mathematics, as I understand it, is done for the love of the game. This is also true for academia in general, but non-mathematicians tend to underestimate just how abstract mathematics can be, how disconnected it is from application. Most research mathematics is going to be totally inscrutable to anyone who isn't a mathematician. So the issue isn't that AI is unfair to mathematicians by being better at proving results; it's more like: if mathematicians are the only ones who are equipped to appreciate the work, and you cut out the mathematicians, then who is the actual audience for these results (especially since AI proofs are usually inscrutable to mathematicians, too)?
Just as an example, here is a recent abstract from the arXiv, chosen at random. Good luck finding a practical application.
Okay, so you might ask: if mathematics is only done for other mathematicians, then doesn't that make mathematics a parasitic, self-indulgent pleasure? Well, no. If mathematics is the wilderness, and the applied sciences are the tourist stops, then mathematicians are the navigators who guide us between the sights. If you were to replace all human mathematicians with agent mathematicians, we humans would be lost in the wilds forever. There would never be that chance for a mathematician to encounter a biologist at a dinner party and comment that, "Ah, your particular [protein folding problem] reminds me of [obscure mathematical theory]." Who else but the mathematician is willing to get a little lost in the weeds?