Alexander Lamb

@ArtemisConsort @Plinz The next step is to show that such a graph can be created without recourse to the use of a surface as a starting point. There are algorithms that do this. 2D is relatively easy. 3D is harder.

@ArtemisConsort @Plinz The easiest way to show this is doable is to take a sprinkling of random points on a surface and connect nodes to newest neighbors. Then look at notions of distance over larger numbers of hops from a chosen point.

Nonconstructive mathematics is the claim that there exist mathematics that can do more than computation. In other words, there is a mathematical universe in which you might build a machine that can traverse an infinite graph in a finite amount of steps, that can splice a 3D ball into two 3D balls of the same size and that can simulate Hilbert's hotel.

I wrote an article about reversible physical laws. @alex.lamb/reversible-physics-is-stopping-us-move-forward-a1ae50e501d8" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">medium.com/@alex.lamb/rev… I welcome any and all feedback.

We face an epochal, unthinkable prospect: of perhaps the two greatest existential threats – environmental breakdown and food system failure – converging, as one triggers the other. Yet the media concentrates on celebrity gossip. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

In the last few decades, the SUV market in America has exploded. Automakers say the reason for this growth has been "changing consumer preferences." But that's not the full story. One of the main reasons for the growth is the "SUV loophole." 🧵

@Peter_Turchin In that case, social media *would* be creating polarization, but not through the obvious direct mechanism. I wonder if anyone has tried looking at whether cultural backlash indicators anti-correlate with social media.

@Peter_Turchin It strikes me that one possible interpretation of that paper is that social media usage increases the rate of cultural drift for users. This might then increase the degree of cultural backlash experienced by non-users.

Everybody says that social media is a major driver of political polarization in the US, but apparently data don't support this received wisdom. Unless there are more recent articles saying otherwise? pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pn…

@DjangoWexler @paulkrugman Also Kurt Vonnegut's if I remember rightly.

@alex_lamb @paulkrugman's proposed solution was a fake alien invasion, requiring massive spending and heavy taxes to thwart, thus closing the wealth gap and giving people something to unite around.

I wrote an article about capitalism, markets, and autocracy. Despite what the title might imply, it is not anti-Elon. @alex.lamb/elon-musk-is-a-waste-product-dd9c2a978421" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">medium.com/@alex.lamb/elo…

@DjangoWexler A fair concern. For a system like this to work, it would have to retain some of the volatile opportunism of war, without the bloodshed.

@alex_lamb I would expect a rule like that to be postponed, extended, and never actually implemented as its originator envisioned.

@DjangoWexler The solution? Perhaps create the right incentives around the mechanism. Turn it into something that feels like a get rich quick scheme, but one that's only available to those who don't already hold power. I admittedly am not yet sure how one would do this.

@DjangoWexler This means elites looking to protect their wealth likely wouldn't bother investing in eroding the mechanism in the same way. The real question is how you keep the mechanism for enacting social repair in good condition while it's not being used.

@DjangoWexler Lol! Yup.

@DjangoWexler Right. Though this is just another symptom of the social entropic decay. It feels like a direct manifestation of Turchin's 'elite overproduction'

@alex_lamb Unfortunately, this isn't above the left-right spectrum, at least in modern politics, where the right has become both anti-democratic and openly pro-autocrat.

@DjangoWexler Thank you for the feedback. And I'm not sure my solution tracks either. Clearly war resets the machine. I think it's an open question as to what might else do the job. It's got to be worth us trying.

@alex_lamb This is a pretty good summary of the problem! I'm not sure your solution tracks though. Progressive taxation is *supposed* to be the answer, but elites with systemic power can break it. We could impose another redistributive solution through government power --

New paper! Here's the one-minute version. There's a puzzle I've been thinking about for a long time. Wealthy countries tend to be happier...

Seems like HSBC lack a moral center. Imagine that.

@PeteMC666 @MichaelMammay @gavingsmith My Roboteer trilogy has a relatively heavy Mil element.