Heir to the Thought

Heir to the Thought is a Substack focused on exploring urban hyperstimulation, the nuances of art, startup innovation, AI advancements, digital humanism, intellectual errors, and the impact of media on language and thought. It blends technical insights with philosophical reflections to engage digital humanists in understanding modern complexities.

Urban Studies Art and Culture Entrepreneurship Artificial Intelligence Digital Humanism Philosophy Media and Language

The hottest Substack posts of Heir to the Thought

And their main takeaways

Character.AI: So This is How AI Will Kill Us

219 implied HN points • 31 Oct 24
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Mental health User Experience
  1. AI products like Character.AI can create harmful attachments for users, sometimes leading to tragic outcomes, like the case of a young user who became obsessed and ultimately took his life.
  2. The rise of AI may lead to increased loneliness and addiction as people prefer interacting with bots over real-life connections, which can result in negative mental health effects.
  3. It's important to consider the real-world impacts of technology and prioritize creating helpful solutions rather than just exciting ones, to prevent future harm.

Maxims Vol.3

99 implied HN points • 27 Oct 24
📚 Literature Poetry Essays Prose Criticism Philosophy
  1. Mistakes are part of learning, but aim to make ones that you can learn from more than once. It's about improving rather than being perfect.
  2. True journalism supports freedom, but vanity can make journalists act against it. Being genuine can help you find a path to liberty.
  3. Grace is important in life. It's a powerful quality that everyone should try to create and share with others regularly.

The First Trialectic - "Can Computers Teach Us to Act in Good Faith?"

159 implied HN points • 25 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Human-computer interaction Digital ethics Artificial Intelligence
  1. The Trialectic is a new debate format involving three speakers to encourage richer discussions. It shifts the focus from winning to collaborative learning, allowing participants to explore diverse perspectives.
  2. Computers cannot teach us directly about good faith, but they can influence how we understand and engage with it. They can help identify bad faith through structural guidelines and data-driven insights.
  3. Having open and honest conversations is essential for improving trust in discussions. Recognizing that communication is complex helps us navigate different interpretations and encourages understanding among participants.

Maxi's Toolkit Vol.10: The Social Sublime and the Empathic Sublime

139 implied HN points • 09 Oct 24
📖 Philosophy Ethics Metaphysics Aesthetics Epistemology Existentialism
  1. The social sublime is the feeling of sadness knowing there are countless people we could connect with but never will due to time and circumstances. This awareness can motivate us to cherish our current relationships more.
  2. The empathic sublime occurs when we deeply connect with another person, sometimes through powerful experiences like art or shared hardships. It allows us to see the world from someone else's perspective, enriching our own lives.
  3. Both sublimes challenge us to find a balance in our relationships. We need to appreciate those we know while also longing to understand others, making active effort to connect and grow from those interactions.

The World's Most Hyperstimulating Cities (and How They Hyperstimulate)

259 implied HN points • 31 Jan 24
  1. Cities have unique spatial logic, street layouts impact urban feel and order.
  2. The vibrancy and hyperstimulation of cities like Seoul and Delhi stem from contrasts and historical layers.
  3. Manhattan exemplifies hyperstimulation with a concentration of architecture, cultural diversity, and gothic-modern optimism.
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Finding the Best Popular Art in the World

239 implied HN points • 21 Dec 23
  1. Finding art of high quality is enriching and educational.
  2. The popular art consumed by a population can reveal hidden insights about their behaviors and beliefs.
  3. Distinguishing between 'high art' and 'popular art' has a complex history and implications.

Maxi's Toolkit Vol.4: The Wittgentrap

199 implied HN points • 14 Jan 24
  1. Maxi's Toolkit provides tools for thinking to navigate complexity.
  2. Errors in thinking can be subtle and pervasive, affecting everyone.
  3. The Toolkit aims to help identify and correct mistakes in thinking.

2024, The Year AI Learns to Remember

219 implied HN points • 27 Dec 23
  1. AI has gained cultural significance and companies are delivering on applied AI promise
  2. Foundational AI theory is lacking, transformer limits are being exposed, and achieving consciousness in machines is further than previously thought
  3. State Space Models and the Mamba architecture show promise to improve AI memory capacity and overcome transformer limitations

Someone, Please, Build These Companies!

239 implied HN points • 30 Oct 23
  1. If you see a gap in the market or a problem to solve, consider building a startup around it.
  2. Entrepreneurs often have more business ideas than they can execute in a lifetime.
  3. Startup ideas can range from highly technical to doable by those without engineering experience.

Digestive Posts Vol. 5: Why the Problem Was Not Reading Enough Poetry

179 implied HN points • 22 Dec 23
  1. Reading poetry was a significant pastime for people in bygone eras.
  2. Poetry is a demonstration of language's ability for literal and super-literal communication.
  3. Exploring poetry can offer a unique and satisfying way to engage with condensed knowledge and insight.

Digestive Posts Vol.4: How LLMs Get to Know You

239 implied HN points • 23 Oct 23
  1. The post discusses how LLMs get to know you in a digestible form.
  2. It talks about weaponizing inference successfully.
  3. Introducing Digestive Posts as a tradition for sharing hot-takes from recent reading.

On Foucault, the Intellectual Architect of the 21st Century

199 implied HN points • 06 Nov 23
  1. The post discusses Foucault as an influential figure in the 21st century.
  2. It mentions developing a new philosophy of humanism called digital humanism.
  3. The author is preparing for a larger project based on Western philosophical traditions.

Not My Napoleon

179 implied HN points • 24 Nov 23
  1. Ridley Scott's 'Napoleon' film is being released in Europe.
  2. Historical biopics are often flawed and influenced by contemporary biases.
  3. Consider starting a 7-day free trial with Heir to the Thought to read more.

Maxi's Toolkit Vol.3: Equilism

139 implied HN points • 29 Dec 23
  1. Maxi's Toolkit offers epistemological techniques for thinking.
  2. Increasing education also increases opportunities for misusing intelligence.
  3. The toolkit aims to help identify and correct errors in thinking.

The G is Silent

199 implied HN points • 06 Oct 23
  1. The post is titled 'The G is Silent' and discusses IQ
  2. The post mentions Richard Feynman and his impact on socialized science
  3. A 7-day free trial subscription is offered to read more from 'Heir to the Thought'

The Internet, Graveyard of Languages

139 implied HN points • 04 Dec 23
  1. The internet has a significant impact on language usage and patterns.
  2. Memes play a role in shaping language on the internet, with specific linguistic traits and common understandings.
  3. The language on the internet is influenced by well-known writers like Orwell and Hemingway, with a focus on communicative efficiency.

Maxi's Toolkit Vol.2: The Fallacy of the Pendulum

139 implied HN points • 11 Nov 23
  1. Maxi's Toolkit provides tools for thinking in a complex world
  2. It highlights the importance of spotting errors in thought
  3. Each volume focuses on a specific concept, in this case, the Fallacy of the Pendulum

Digestive Posts Vol.2: On Yann LeCunn & Jacob Browning

79 implied HN points • 15 Feb 23
  1. The post discusses the work of Yann LeCunn and Jacob Browning in machine learning.
  2. The piece aims to address some of the excitement surrounding ChatGPT.
  3. Readers can access the full post archives with a 7-day free trial.

Digestive Posts Vol.3: I Was Mean to ChatGPT

59 implied HN points • 22 Mar 23
  1. The story discusses the rapid advancement of generative AI technology.
  2. The author reflects on an incident involving mistreatment of a ChatGPT model.
  3. The post emphasizes the continuous evolution of AI technology.

On a Lack of Ambition

3 HN points • 13 Oct 23
  1. The post discusses the reasons behind a lack of ambition.
  2. The author talks about why people might not try to do nice things.
  3. Tyler Cowen and Paul Graham are mentioned in the post.