Marshall Sutherland

Mon, 14 Oct 2024 19:41:05 -0400

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^Misinformation and the Three Languages of Politics (with Arnold Kling) - Econlib

How big a problem is misinformation for a democracy? How do we arrive at the truth? Listen as economist and author Arnold Kling talks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about how we should think about truth-seeking. The conversation also revisits Kling's classic work, The Three Languages of Politics, and the relevance of its framework for the current moment.

#podcast #free_speech

podcast free speech

Mon, 14 Oct 2024 19:53:37 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

Kling's essay that is discussed:

#^Social Epistemology: Process vs. Outcome

The disinformation fighters, perhaps including B.P.S., would argue that there is such a thing as truth. So we should censor falsehood. From an outcomes perspective, that makes sense.

From a process point of view, are attempts to censor misinformation a useful tool? I would argue that, on the contrary, giving some elite group the authority to silence other points of view is not a process that improves social epistemology. As a process, it breaks down, ultimately failing to achieve the desired outcome. Where you have viewpoint suppression, you end up with the triumph of dogma and the loss of truth.

The Enlightenment norms and institutions which have been so valuable do not include viewpoint suppression. Instead, they emphatically reject it. Let all viewpoints be heard, and let them be contested.

Mon, 16 Sep 2024 18:31:14 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^What Modern Medicine Gets Wrong (with Marty Makary) - Econlib

Johns Hopkins surgeon Dr. Marty Makary talks about his book Blind Spots with EconTalk's Russ Roberts. Makary argues that the medical establishment too often makes unsupported recommendations for treatment while condemning treatments and approaches that can make us healthier. This is a sobering and informative exploration of a number of key findings in medicine that turned out to be wrong and based on insufficient evidence.

#podcast #health #science

podcast health science

show all 5 comments

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 08:06:23 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

A different interview about the same book that also came out yesterday. Not really a coincidence as the book was released this week.

#^#317 ‒ Reforming medicine: uncovering blind spots, challenging the norm, and embracing innovation | Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H. - Peter Attia

Marty Makary, a Johns Hopkins surgeon and New York Times bestselling author, returns to The Drive to discuss his latest book, Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong, and What It Means for Our Health. In this episode, Marty explores how a new generation of doctors is challenging long-held medical practices by asking critical new questions. He discusses the major problems of groupthink and cognitive dissonance in the medical community and delves into several of the “blind spots” raised in the book, including treatments for appendicitis, the peanut allergy epidemic, misunderstandings about HRT and breast cancer, antibiotic use, and the evolution of childbirth. He explains the urgent need for reform in medical education and the major barriers standing in the way of innovative medical research. Throughout the conversation, Marty offers insightful reflections on where medicine has succeeded and where there’s still room to challenge historic practices and embrace new approaches.

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 10:49:25 -0400

JRMat

jrmat@the.talesofmy.life

Reminded the Missus earlier today that we have to forget pretty much everything traditional medicine/gov told us was true about health and diet.

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 12:30:08 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

By "traditional", do you mean 50 years ago or 200 years ago? When it comes to diet, I'd argue that 200 years ago is better than 50 or less years ago.

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 12:48:07 -0400

JRMat

jrmat@the.talesofmy.life

What we've heard for the last several decades.

You're probably right.

My grandfather lived to a hundred, and ate everything cooked in lard. :)

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 18:32:24 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

I don't want to take anything away from the EconTalk interview, but The Drive interview (which I am now 3/4 through) is even better because the interviewer is also a doctor (and they have twice as long to discuss the issues). You, of course, might prefer the shorter interview with less jargon.

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 17:52:21 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^Is Israel Winning the War in Gaza? (with Andrew Fox) - Econlib

British Army major and Sandhurst lecturer Andrew Fox recently spent a week with the Israel Defense Forces including a day inside Gaza. He was struck by the IDF's control of Gazan territory and shocked by the level of physical devastation. Listen as Fox and EconTalk's Russ Roberts discuss Fox's analysis of Israel's performance in the Gazan war, why Fox believes that Israel is succeeding, and what he thinks Israel's critics get right and wrong.

#podcast #war

podcast war

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 18:57:26 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

This old episode was re-released this week. It got me thinking about analyzing my skeeball performance.

#^#60 - Annie Duke, decision strategist: Poker as a model system for life—how to improve decision making, use frameworks for learning, and apply ‘backcasting’ to boost your odds for future success - Peter Attia

In this episode, former World Series of Poker champion and author, Annie Duke, explains how poker is a pertinent model system for decision making in the real world, a system which blends imperfect information with some unknown percentage of both luck and skill. We go through the decision-making matrix, and how we spend most of our energy focusing on just one of the four quadrants at the expense of the learning opportunities that come from the other 75% of situations. Annie also shares how this evaluation of only the bad outcomes (and our tendency to judge others more harshly than ourselves in the face of a non-status quo decision), leads individuals, leaders, and teams to avoid bad outcomes at all costs. This avoidance is at the cost of the types of decisions which lead to progress and innovation both personally, and societally, across many realms from poker to sports to business to medicine. We also dive deep into a framework for learning, and the levels of thought required to rise to the top of a given domain. Finally, we talk about something that resonated deeply with me in terms of how I think about extending healthspan, which is the concept of “backcasting”.

#podcast

podcast

Sun, 25 Aug 2024 19:11:02 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^Price Gouging or Price Information? - The Answer Is Transaction Costs

Can high prices during emergencies actually save lives? Using North Carolina as an example, we dissect the economic and legal implications of these laws, exploring the ambiguities in terms like "unreasonably excessive" and the chilling effect on commerce. Discover how artificially low prices can lead to resource misallocation, discourage stockpiling, and hinder the transportation of vital supplies during crises. Allowing higher prices is, perhaps surprisingly, the only way to get low prices soon.

This week's economics joke:

There's been a hurricane and people are desperately searching for things that they need. The owner of a convenience store has set aside some cases of bottled water in advance, knowing that people would need it. He knew the storm was coming and so he filled up his storerooms with as many cases of bottled water as he could get. Now he puts out the cases of bottled water and they're $40. So 24 plastic bottles of drinking water for $40, which is quite expensive.

A customer comes in, immediately becomes angry, and complains, "You know, the price down the street is only $12 per case. Why are you price gouging?"

The owner is puzzled. "Well, that's fine, why don't you go buy your water down there? It's up to you."

Customer says, "Well, they're out, the shelves are empty, but their price is $12. You shouldn't be charging $40."

The owner says, "Oh, oh, I see. I tell you what. As soon as I run out, I promise I'll drop my price to $10. An even lower deal!"

#economics #podcast

economics podcast

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 12:43:15 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^How Do You Capture the Tragedy of War? (with Sabin Howard) - Econlib

A soldier goes off to war. Damaged in combat, he returns home, forever changed. Master sculptor Sabin Howard captures this tragic and powerful journey in bronze, for the new World War I Memorial that will be unveiled in Washington, D.C. on September 13, 2024. Howard talks about his craft with EconTalk's Russ Roberts as they discuss Howard's hatred of war, his love for humanity, and what makes art great.

#podcast #war

podcast war

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 12:46:57 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^THE ARTISTS GRAND REVEAL

Master Sculptor Sabin Howard's Grand Reveal of A Soldier's Journey in Stroud, UK.

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 12:50:09 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^Sabin Howard's A Soldier's Journey 5' Maquette

This is the 5' maquette (model) in bronze of Sabin Howard's A Soldier's Journey. The 58' sculpture will be installed in Washington DC as the National WWI Memorial in 2024.

Sun, 21 Jul 2024 12:43:09 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^#309 ‒ AI in medicine: its potential to revolutionize disease prediction, diagnosis, and outcomes, causes for concern in medicine and beyond, and more | Isaac Kohane, M.D., Ph.D. - Peter Attia

Isaac “Zak” Kohane, a pioneering physician-scientist and chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School, has authored numerous papers and influential books on artificial intelligence (AI), including The AI Revolution in Medicine: GPT-4 and Beyond. In this episode, Zak explores the evolution of AI, from its early iterations to the current third generation, illuminating how it is transforming medicine today and unlocking astonishing possibilities for the future. He shares insights from his unconventional journey and early interactions with GPT-4, highlighting significant AI advancements in image-based medical specialties, early disease diagnosis, and the potential for autonomous robotic surgery. He also delves into the ethical concerns and regulatory challenges of AI, its potential to augment clinicians, and the broader implications of AI achieving human-like creativity and expertise.

#podcast #health #AI

podcast health AI

Tue, 09 Jul 2024 18:19:25 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^SCOTUS, Loper Bright, and no regulation without representation - Gracearchy with Jim Babka EP103

On June 28, the Supreme Court handed down its most significant decision since Dobbs. Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ended a 40 year-old, court-created doctrine "Chevron deference." Around the same time and on top of that, there were two other decisions both trimming the vast powers of the administrative state.

And by listening to just this one episode, you'll likely know more about these SCOTUS decisions than any critic you meet.

Understandably, progressives were hysterical. But we practice the Steelman here. Jim Babka reacts point-by-point to three progressives making their case (against the Court and for Chevron deference) in an MSNBC program. We go into the exercise presuming that they're making their best arguments. But we show, that's not what they did. In keeping with Grace, Jim improves two of their arguments. Even better, Jim provides provides a constitutional solution that allows them to keep the experts involved.

Jim Babka has been nationally-quoted on the issue of bureaucrats "writing the laws" because he co-authored the Write the Laws Act, presently introduced in the Senate. Plus, his Downsize DC organizations filed an amicus brief in the Loper Bright Enterprises case. In it, they called for an end to Chevron deference. If you listen to this show...

YOU'LL get quick yet profound insight on three SCOTUS decisions, YOU'LL learn how congress and the regulatory state have worked up till now, and YOU'LL discover why this decision was good news instead of bad. YOU'LL ALSO learn why Tainted Meat is a myth and Leaded Paint is a shibboleth.

#podcast #video #law #regulation #USA

podcast video law regulation USA

Sun, 07 Jul 2024 12:50:51 -0400 last edited: Sun, 07 Jul 2024 12:52:06 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^The A.I. Bubble is Bursting with Ed Zitron

Big tech is betting tens of billions of dollars on AI being the next big thing, but what if it isn't? ChatGPT burns obscene amounts of cash daily with little return, Google's AI dispenses useless and sometimes dangerous advice, and a recent study showed that tech companies will soon run out of new training data to improve their AI models. If AI is really so costly, unreliable, and limited, what happens to the industry that has bet so big on it? This week, Adam talks with journalist and influential tech critic Ed Zitron of wheresyoured.at to discuss the impending burst of the AI bubble, the hubris of Silicon Valley, and how we suffer under big tech's "Rot Economy."

#podcast #AI

podcast AI

Sun, 07 Jul 2024 12:53:43 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

Maybe it is just confirmation bias, but I thought this was a great assessment of AI and the tech industry in general.

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 02:23:20 -0400 last edited: Mon, 08 Jul 2024 03:05:58 -0400

phanisvara (streams)

phani@streams.phanisvara.com

perhaps i'm making it too easy for myself, but i never really tried to get into the whole AI-thing. from the beginning i thought this was rubbish: using an enormous amount of if...elseif...else chains to go thru tons of rubbish won't create "intelligence" but sieved, sorted rubbish -- never mind the probability of this or that rubbish turning up first.

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 08:04:13 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

I could see LLMs stringing together bits of existing knowledge that had never been connected before, but it has no mechanism to create new knowledge or even evaluating if what it has strung together is insightful or nonsense.

Mon, 01 Jul 2024 21:02:33 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

I'm currently reading A Hunter-Gather's Guide to the 21st Century by Bret and his wife, Heather. By sheer coincidence, I hit the chapter on children on the same day as I was listening to this podcast. I got to both listen to and read the same story about a child in Quito, Ecuador, within hours of each other.

#^More Than One Way to Skin a Knee: Lenore Skenazy on DarkHorse

Lenore Skenazy is “America’s Worst Mom”, founder of Free Range Kids and President of Let Grow. Bret talks to her about parenting in an era of zero risk.

#podcast #kids #video

podcast kids video