The hottest Information processing Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top World Politics Topics

unitary presidentialism as a collective cognition design flaw

Brain Pizza • 595 implied HN points • 14 Jun 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Government Systems Cognition Decision-making Political theory Information processing
  1. Unitary presidential systems focus power in one person, making them prone to too much pressure and stress. This can lead to poor decision-making and inefficiency.
  2. Having just one person making important choices can create problems because they can't handle all the information alone. It’s better to share decisions among many people.
  3. When a single leader has too much responsibility, it can cause delays and mistakes. Spreading the workload can help improve decision-making and outcomes.

⚡✨🕸️ The computational power of complex societies: A Quick Q&A with … physicist and computer scientist David Wolpert

Faster, Please! • 1188 implied HN points • 08 Oct 24
🔬 Science Computational Theory Energy Systems Information processing
  1. Societies grow in size and complexity when they get better at using energy and processing information. More energy and better information help societies do more things and support more people.
  2. Job specialization plays a key role in a society's complexity. When people focus on different jobs and communicate well, it allows for innovation and better organization.
  3. Viewing societies as computers can help us understand how they evolve over time. It highlights how energy use and information processing are closely linked in driving societal growth.

How much effort is it to create software?

Bite code! • 1590 implied HN points • 06 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Coding Information processing Tech Tools Human Interaction
  1. Creating software has become easier due to resources and tools available, but it still requires dedication, time, and energy.
  2. Writing software demands perseverance and continuous learning, akin to mastering a musical instrument or a sport.
  3. Working on software involves dealing with humans, extracting requirements, navigating social dynamics, and recognizing the importance of human interaction in the development process.

goodhart in the youth club

Dan Davies - "Back of Mind" • 216 implied HN points • 26 Apr 23
💼 Business Decision-making Government Systems Information processing
  1. Decisions about people will always involve unique cases that don't fit neatly into data sets.
  2. Industrializing decision-making processes can be efficient but may introduce bias and fail to capture complex information.
  3. Including qualitative data like the impact of funding youth clubs in accounting systems requires careful consideration to avoid distorting measurements.

How to process news of the Israel-Hamas conflict

The Ruffian • 301 implied HN points • 01 Nov 23
🌍 World Politics Conflicts Global relations Information processing
  1. Processing news about the Israel-Hamas conflict can be challenging due to its complex moral aspects and historical context.
  2. The conflict is rooted in decades and centuries of contested history that many people may not fully understand.
  3. Global polarization and misinformation make it difficult to get an accurate picture of the Israel-Hamas situation.
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Nonobody's Mathematical Bio-Pianolas

Cybernetic Forests • 19 implied HN points • 09 Jul 23
🔬 Science AI Data interpretation Information processing Ethics
  1. The story explores the disconnect between data produced by the body and how machines interpret it, highlighting the complexities in translating and calibrating data.
  2. It questions the dangers of misinterpreting brain activity as a linear flow of information, emphasizing the importance of understanding gaps when reconstructing signals.
  3. The narrative offers a prescient warning about the misuse of automated statistical analysis systems to determine societal control based on physical characteristics, urging critical examination of the tools and notions used.

7. The 3-floor hospital of 21st century medicine

Insight Axis • 19 implied HN points • 25 Nov 22
🏥 Health & Wellness Information processing Transhumanism
  1. Physicians have evolved over the ages and now work in the realm of modern medicine, which is just a century old.
  2. The future of medicine lies in 3 key areas: Biotechnology for advanced personalized treatments, Informatics for better decision-making through data, and Transhumanism for a shift towards peak performance and individual responsibility.
  3. A new paradigm shift is needed in the medical field to focus beyond disease treatment to achieving peak health, ushering in a more holistic approach.

6. Dancing between the physical and digital; big tech and macroeconomics

Insight Axis • 19 implied HN points • 03 Nov 22
🕹 Technology Digital Macroeconomics Tech Companies Information processing Big Tech
  1. Digital innovation is faster and more flexible than physical innovation, making digital iteration more efficient.
  2. Translating between the physical and digital worlds is essential, requiring 'on-ramps' for data input and 'off-ramps' for implementation.
  3. Information processing is crucial, with 'ramps' serving as gatekeepers between physical and digital realms in big tech and macroeconomics.

It was the best of RLHF, it was the worst of RLHF

Gradient Ascendant • 11 implied HN points • 30 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Human feedback Information processing Data Training
  1. RLHF, or Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback, is essential for ensuring AI models generate outputs that align with human values and preferences.
  2. RLHF can lead to outputs that are more homogenized, less insightful, and use weaker language, which may limit diversity and creativity.
  3. There is growing discussion in the AI community about making RLHF optional, especially for smaller models, to balance the costs and benefits of its implementation.

Yes, AIs ‘understand’ things

Nonzero Newsletter • 5 HN points • 22 Feb 24
🕹 Technology AI Philosophy Information processing Neural Networks Understanding
  1. The classic argument against AI understanding, the Chinese Room thought experiment, is challenged by large language models.
  2. Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT demonstrate elements of understanding by processing information similarly to human brains when it comes to understanding.
  3. LLMs show semantic understanding by mapping words to meaning, undermining the belief that AIs have no semantics and only syntax as argued by Searle in the Chinese Room thought experiment.