🇸🇦🇺🇸مرام

وانا وانت #سعودي_ضد_التطبيع #كويتي_ضد_التطبيع

Washington unanimously legalized scissor stairs, a building code reform that frees up to 56% more living space per floor. Less wasted space means cheaper homes on smaller lots. Most US states banned this since the 1970s for no good reason.

A major talking point for those who think AI will cause mass unemployment is the recent slowdown in junior-level hiring. Lambert and Schindler, in this new working paper, point to a different culprit: work from home policies. Using data on ~250 million hires across four countries,they show that AI exposure strongly correlates with a role being work from home. So you have to disentangle the two to get a clean estimate. Which is the driving variable? They find that the effect of exposure to AI on junior hiring ~vanishes when you control for WFH, whereas the effect of WFH remains ~unchanged when you control for AI exposure. In other words: it's WFH, not AI, that is slowing junior hiring. Why? Their theory: "WFH makes supervision, monitoring, and on-the-job learning harder, all of which hit junior-workers more. Firms less willing to invest in junior talent when these frictions rise." I think that makes sense. WFH involves a certain degree of trust and makes management harder. If an employee is less experienced, all else equal you're less likely to prefer them for a WFH position. Bigger takeaway, though: if AI is going to take all our jobs, it's sure not there in the data yet!

The truth will set you free

Human consciousness may be far more than a product of our neural wiring. It may be a quantum phenomenon occurring deep within our brain's cellular structure. For decades, scientists have viewed the brain as a biological computer where consciousness emerges from complex neural connections. However, the Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch OR) theory, developed by physicist Sir Roger Penrose and anesthesiologist Dr. Stuart Hameroff, challenges this classical perspective. The theory proposes that consciousness is actually rooted in quantum processes within tiny structures called microtubules found inside neurons. Instead of simple electrical signals, these researchers argue that our stream of consciousness is a rapid sequence of quantum collapses occurring at the most fundamental level of reality, suggesting the mind is more deeply connected to the physics of the universe than previously imagined. While once considered fringe, the science behind Orch OR is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Quantum coherence, a state once thought to be impossible in warm biological environments, has recently been observed in everything from bird navigation to plant photosynthesis. Most significantly, research published in 2025 identified microtubules as a functional target for anesthetic molecules, directly supporting one of the theory's most controversial predictions. As empirical evidence continues to align with these quantum models, we are likely witnessing a paradigm shift in neuroscience that could finally unlock the mystery of how we experience the world. source: Penrose, R., & Hameroff, S. Consciousness in the Universe: A Review of the Orch OR Theory. Physics of Life Reviews, Elsevier.

“It is not rational arguments but emotions that cause belief in the after life. The most important of these emotions is the fear of death. If we genuinely and wholeheartedly believed in life after death, we should cease completely to fear death.” — Bertrand Russell

Jeff Bezos: "If I do my job right, the value to society and civilization from my for-profit companies will be much, much larger than the good that I do with my charitable giving."

🇺🇸 A 250-acre Oracle data center in Saline Township, Michigan needs about as much power as one million homes. Michigan alone has a dozen AI data centers planned. Another is under construction. And Democrats and Republicans nationwide are growing increasingly united… in opposition. People aren't anti-tech, they're anti-ambush. Big tech companies show up in their towns, make backroom deals, and these communities don’t feel like they are being heard. These companies have spent years lobbying Washington’s elite about the future. But they seem to forget about talking to the people who live where that future is being built. Source: NYT