Rob Janoff

FYI, there is a difference between nonviolence and pacifism. Pacifism opposes violence altogether and is predicated on the idea that there is a peaceful way to settle all disputes. That is to say, it’s a philosophical or ethical position. Nonviolence is a strategy to achieve your goals without employing violence. Nonviolent protesters do not take violence off the table altogether. Rather, they believe that violent actions are not as likely to achieve their goals as violent action would be.

In general, nonviolent action is taken by groups who are opposing an oppressor that has a significant power advantage over them. By resorting to violence immediately, they play into the game that they are destined to lose. Instead, they strive to use nonviolent means to make their struggle impossible to ignore. It relies on the oppressive system being vulnerable to a change in public opinion. In general, it also involves an implication that they may someday resort to violence if things do not change. That is, it differs from pacifism in that it does not deny that violence may be necessary.

Yeah, we dissected frogs, worms, and fish in eighth grade. In high school, if you took anatomy and physiology, I know they also dissected fetal pigs.

They’re talking more about Expert Systems or Inference Engines, which were some of the earlier forms of applications used in AI research. In terms of software development, they are closer to databases than traditional software. That is, the system is built up by defining a repository of base facts and logical relationships, and the engine can use that to return answers to questions based on formal logic.

So they are bringing this up as a good use-case for AI because it has been quite successful. The thing is that it is generally best implemented for specific domains to make it easier for experts to access information that they can properly assess. The “one tool for everything in the hands of everybody” is naturally going to be a poor path forward, but that’s what modern LLMs are trying to be (at least, as far as investors are concerned).

I had an English teacher in middle school who named her son Sean, pronounced like “seen,” and she always complain about how people always pronounced it like “Shawn.”

Personally, I think it’s a tad rude to name your child with an uncommon spelling as it’s just setting then up for a lifetime of minor annoyances. But to use a fairly common variant and insist on a non-standard pronunciation is far worse.