Play is our future

Skill is measurable w/ two resources 1) time, 2) energy

Players whose actions make better use of these resources can be defined as optimal. This is not subjective

Time (faster)/overload/conscious/stress
Energy(easier)/underload/unconscious/low anxiety

I have been a Substack and Patreon user for a few years now. And though more than one social media giant has, in recent months, expressed the desire to help writers and journalists monetise their audience, there are very good reasons to take these SOPs with a pinch of salt.

Because the reason Patreon and Substack came into existence was not the need for a new business model. It was as a cure for the old business model - an algorithm-driven ad revenue system that powered the attention economy. The attention economy turned audiences into scrollers...

...who were in it for the next viral hit. Quality of information suffered, the nature of discourse suffered, and as a result, democracy itself suffered. Much of this was enabled by the social media giants who are trying to copy the Substack and Patreon model right now in an...

...attempt to "put creators first". But what we must not lose sight of is that the Substack / Patreon model only emerged as a result of the bad practices the social media giants enabled. The algorithm made a toxic internet possible and they were what hit back. Today, multiple...

...podcasting tools video streaming services have donation buttons built in. But it was not always so. I applaud all attempts that anyone makes to help independent media not have to rely on ad money, but I am not going to ever be able to see Facebook's newsletter tool as a...

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Thread on @signalapp:

28th Nov 2011: A deal is made.

Security researcher @Moxie Marlinspike and Roboticist Stuart Anderson's brainchild, Whisper Systems, will be sold off to Twitter for a nice sum of money. It comes as a surprise because all of Whisper System's services

Lemme know of your thoughts on this entire story of the Signal App! Also help dispel the rumors surrounding it!

Cc: @UnSubtleDesi @swati_gs @rahulroushan @bhootnath @PrinceArihan @BefittingFacts @disclosetv @TheWolfpackIN @VertigoWarrior @WarHorizon @ExSecular @RDXThinksThat

Chess may be a good analogy for explaining the difference between a descriptive model of reality and a generative model of reality.

A descriptive model of chess will describe the rules (i.e. initial setup, allowed moves, points per piece, objectives). This tells you how a chessboard might evolve and also narrows the combinations of realistic chess positions.

In contrast, a generative model involves the actual gameplay between competing players that follow the rules. It generates new styles and patterns. It establishes new strategies and tactics. It generates new openings, middle gameplay, and end game tactics.

A generative model is an evolutionary model that leads to emergent behavior. As a consequence, a master of chess is able to recall the layout of chess positions in a real game in an instant, yet is unable to remember pieces placed in random positions.

That is because causality is present in the movements of pieces in a chessboard. An intuitive system like the human mind is able to capture that causality as a means to understanding and recall.

Data drop! Some numbers, nuggets and trends for bowl season which I find interesting...

Miami has lost 9 of its last 10 bowl games and is 2-10 ATS in its last 12 bowl games. Oklahoma State has covered each of its last four bowl games, three coming as an underdog.

This is the first time since 2011 Texas is favored in a bowl game...

Wisconsin has won five of their last six bowl games with the only loss in that span a one-point loss to Oregon last year in the Rose Bowl. Each of Wake Forest’s last five bowl games have been one-possession games (6, 3, 3, 8, 6)...

Mike Leach coached teams are 1-9 ATS in their last ten bowl games (4-6 SU). Included in those ten games are four outright losses and a 1-7 ATS mark as a favorite. In the last five years, Leach’s teams have averaged 19.6 PPG in bowl games (28 is the high in that span)...