Inquiry, Similitude, Post-Theory Science, and Brazilian Soul Rock
Tech questions for 2022
Benedict Evans | January 2, 2022 | No paywall
As the center of gravity in tech shifts, Benedict Evans raises difficult-to-answer questions spanning crypto, the metaverse, gaming, regulation, privacy, cars, China, and more.
Pick a few and philosophize with your friends. (2,724 words)
Are we all converging into the same online persona?
Tobias van Schneider | October 19, 2021 | No Paywall
What was once considered niche, obscure, unique, or underground can now go rapidly mainstream with just a few taps, reaching millions of eyeballs. Online, are we all starting to look the same? And what about the carry over offline?
"The internet, once a place for the undefinable misfits, is now a temple to social norm."
Are we witnessing the dawn of post-theory science?
Laura Spinney | The Guardian | January 9, 2022 | No paywall
Mystery + machine learning.
The gold standard of hypothesis, predict, test could be replaced with theory-free prediction engines, shifting our acceptance of strict causation to possible correlation.
The concept of “explainable AI” may be the new scientific method.
"So much data had accumulated...and computers were already so much better than us at finding relationships within it, that our theories were being exposed for what they were – oversimplifications of reality. "
The Best Books on Tech
Recommended by Azeem Azhar | interviewed by Benedict King | Five Books | No paywall
For when you want to explore the impact of improving technologies on the choreography of society.
Azeem Azhar, entrepreneur, investor, and the creator of Exponential View, a highly-regarded newsletter on the future, shares his top 5 books on tech.
🎧 For listening: Nobody Can Live Forever (The Existential Soul Of Tim Maia)
Read about Brazilian Cult Soul-Rocker Sebastiño Rodrigues Maia aka Tim Maia in this bio by Luaka Bop here.
“Tim Maia was large, in charge and completely out of control. He was the personification of rock star excess, having lived through five marriages and at least six children, multiple prison sentences, voluminous drug habits and a stint in an UFO obsessed religious cult. Tim is also remembered as a fat, arrogant, overindulgent, barely tolerated, yet beloved man-child who died too young at the age of 55.”
– Allen Thayer, Paul Heck and Nelson Motta of Luaka Bop
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Renee Hunt, Founding Editor