Infinite Quack

Franklin described our system as “A Republic… if you can keep it.” Any system of government only survives if it proves able to stand up to the endless series of challenges. If it fails those challenges, it doesn’t die or disappear; it mutates into something else. The Stormy Daniels case against Donald Trump isn’t about to topple America’s democratic institutions overnight, but it could, depending on its outcome, deepen some pre-existing cracks in the foundation. The details of the case aren’t terribly relevant here. It’s not about the events of January 6th. It’s not about Trump’s attempts to “find” more votes, or putting pressure on public officials whose job is to determine the outcome of an election. Nor is it about suggesting to the President of Ukraine that he “do [Trump] a favor” by digging into his political rival. All of those actions are much more central to the operation of our democracy. The Stormy Daniels case isn’t really about the porn star, or paying for sex. It’s about c...

chatGPT can never replace programmers "Never" is a long time. In a narrow sense, yes: maybe you can say that ChatGPT will never replace programmers entirely. But that's a straw man. We don't really care about the narrow statement, do we? Even if you expand it to "Large Language Models will never replace programmers entirely" (and I grok the argument that they can only ever mimic human-produced writing), that's not what we care about, either. What keeps us up at night is this: Can we never build any machine that can think well enough to replace programmers? There's no way to avoid the philosophical, with questions like this, so let's not mince words or dodge the key issue. Is there a magical component to the human brain? You, reader, can believe what you like. I can only describe my own beliefs: I'm a physicalist. I believe that matter and energy exist, the stuff that physics tries to study and understand... and that's it. If you believe t...

Based on lyrics of  Yours Truly, 2095  by Electric Light Orchestra (1981) 2025, 2025, 2025, 2025 I love you, sincerely Yours truly, yours truly I sent a message using just my mind But as the days unwind This I just can't believe I built a world inside a VR game Maybe my life's the same  But this I just can't conceive Can you see me? I ride inside the latest EV car I don't know where we are But it whisks me around the bend I met someone who sounds a lot like you She says the things you do But she is an LLM (2025, 2025, 2025, 2025 I love you, sincerely Yours truly, yours truly) She's built to answer anything I ask And she can multitask Her words always seem so wise She promises me I'm her superstar But when I go too far She spins a world of lies I parrot every phrase that she invents She wins all arguments And she doesn't break a sweat She always knows exactly where I am She aced the bar exam And her brain is the Internet Is this what you want? (Is it what you...

“Did you order this?” he called from the doorway. “I didn’t order anything. Did you?” “Can’t remember.” Alex brought the package to the kitchen table to open it, plopping the rest of the mail onto a pre-existing pile that would surely only grow. Ava let him handle the sorting, her focus fixed on her computer. “We’ve lost the scissors again,” Alex reported. Ava fished it out of a nearby drawer and tossed it to him, barely allowing her focus to waver from the screen. “It lives here now.” “Says you.” After a false start, he managed to pry open the cardboard box. Nestled in packing material was a small device, sized to fit in the palm of a hand. It was mostly gold, or at least made of a gold-colored metal, with a bright red button on top. Ava glanced over and this time, she paused her game to stand up. “Ooh, wait! I did order a new game controller. Is that it? No, that’s not it, it’s too small. What didja buy?” “Not this, I’m sure.” There was nothing else in the box: no manual, no Quick St...

Bagel, please. (Pronounce that in your head not like “Coffee, please”, but like “Bitch, please.”) The Multiverse has been in the zeitgeist lately. Notably in movies, it often happens that different films touching on similar topics will emerge around the same time. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is one. Everything Everywhere All At Once is another. Spoilers ahead, particularly for those two films, some Marvel Cinematic Universe backstory, and also – for physics. We all love a good story. Stories, as Sir Terry Pratchett was fond of pointing out, are a huge part of how we think about the world. “Fisherman catches fish. Poor man begs for fish. Fisherman refuses. Poor man turns out to be King pretending to be poor man. Fisherman begs forgiveness, learns lesson about being kind to strangers.” That sort of story sticks with us and is retold over centuries, because it encodes some basic truths. Kings are useful plot devices because they’re powerful. They allow things to happen t...