Lunch at the Labs

Items of Interest

Various web links I found to be of interest recently.

• A Nobel-Prize Winner and Astrophysicist on the Origins of Life

  Mario and Jack share five key insights from their new book, Is Earth Exceptional?: The Quest for Cosmic Life

  The fact that there may be as many as a billion such planets in the Milky Way alone has led many people to assume that extrasolar planets must exist that harbor life. This conclusion, however, is at best premature. We have not discovered any life outside of the Earth, so we have no idea what the probability for life is to emerge on a planet, even if conditions are ideal. In fact, the latest findings from origin-of-life research suggest that separate geochemical scenarios need to be linked together precisely in the right sequence to produce the building blocks of life in the same place at the same time.

• Despite its impressive output, generative AI doesn't have a coherent understanding of the world

  Researchers show that even the best-performing large language models don't form a true model of the world and its rules, and can thus fail unexpectedly on similar tasks.

• Holocaust scholar says Israel has committed genocide in Gaza

  Holocaust and genocide scholar Omer Bartov has changed his mind about the war in Gaza.
  He now believes Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians.
  

• Muslims Who Voted for Trump Upset by His Pro-Israel Cabinet Picks

  How could they be so naive?

  U.S. Muslim leaders who supported Republican Donald Trump to protest against the Biden administration's support for Israel's war on Gaza and attacks on Lebanon have been deeply disappointed by his cabinet picks, they tell Reuters.

  Also see Some Arab Americans who voted for Trump are concerned about his picks for key positions.

• Democrats Should Have Listened to Bernie Sanders, Historians Say

  Sanders, who is registered as an independent but caucuses with the Democrats, identifies as a democratic socialist and has been an outspoken critic of centrist Democratic policies, pushing for a more radical shift to the left.
  ...
  The economy, and inflation in particular, was crucial for voters this election, and in the run-up many polls showed that Trump was considered a better economic candidate than Harris. Exit polls showed that the majority of working-class voters backed Trump, who also overperformed among Hispanic voters.

• Insights from Ray Dalio's Big Cycle Framework

  Navigating Asymmetric Risks in Unstable Times

  Dalio's perspective is historical and cyclical: he believes that societal patterns repeat across centuries, and he identifies several warning signs based on historical precedents. These include increasing political weaponization of legal systems, the rise of private militias, escalating protests, and the intensification of class or group demonization, which often signals impending internal conflict. He references examples from past societies, such as the Nazi rise to power, the Roman Republic's fall, and the Weimar Republic's collapse, to underscore how seemingly stable systems can break down under certain pressures.

  Also see We Will Soon Find Out :

  • When the causes that people are fighting for become more important to them than the system, the system is in jeopardy.
  • Late in Stage 5 it is common for the legal and police systems to be used as political weapons by those who can control them.
  • Late in Stage 5 there are increasing numbers of protests that become increasingly violent.
  • People dying in the fighting is the marker that almost certainly signifies the progression to the next and more violent civil war stage, which will continue until the winners and losers are clearly determined.
  • During times of increased hardship and conflict there is an increased inclination to look at people in stereotypical ways as members of one or more classes and to look at these classes as either being enemies or allies.
  • Crossing the line from Stage 5 (when there are very bad financial conditions and intense internal and external conflict exist) to Stage 6 (when there is civil war) occurs when the system for resolving disagreements goes from working to not working.

• Put your usernames and passwords in your will

  Digital end of life planning saves your loved ones from a little extra anguish.

  • Ensuring family members can unlock your smartphone or computer in case of emergency;
  • Maintain a list of your subscriptions, user IDs and passwords;
  • Consider putting those details in a document intended to be made available when your life ends;
  • Use a service that allows you to designate someone to have access to your smartphone and other accounts once your time on Earth ends.