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Retric commented on Why haven't quantum computers factored 21 yet?   algassert.com/post/2500... · Posted by u/ingve
lisper · 5 hours ago
No, LLMs are a real breakthrough even if they are not by themselves reliable enough to produce a commercially viable application. Before LLMs, no one knew how to even convincingly fake a natural language interaction. I see LLMs as analogous to Rodney Brooks's subsumption architecture. Subsumption by itself was not enough, but it broke the logjam on the then-dominant planner-centric approach, which was doomed to fail. In that respect, subsumption was the precursor to Waymo, and that took less than 40 years. I was once a skeptic, but I now see a pretty clear path to AGI. It won't happen right away, but I'd be a little surprised if we didn't see it within 10 years.
Retric · 4 hours ago
> no one knew how to even convincingly fake a natural language interaction.

There was some decent attempts at the turing test given limited subject matter long before LLM’s. As in people looking at the conversation where unsure if one of the parties was a computer. It’s really interesting to read some of those transcripts.

LLM’s actually score worse one some of those tests. Of course they do a huge range of other things, but it’s worth understanding both their strengths and many weaknesses.

Retric commented on New research reveals longevity gains slowing, life expectancy of 100 unlikely   lafollette.wisc.edu/news/... · Posted by u/XzetaU8
brabel · 18 hours ago
How do you know that you could? That’s the question! If we did understand biology perfectly it may be that we would then prove no organism can live forever and reproduction is the only way.
Retric · 14 hours ago
Some cells are literally hundreds of millions of years old.

That’s not forever and it required a very specific environment, but biological degradation on that timescale can be effectively zero.

Retric commented on Scottish brothers finish mammoth row across Pacific Ocean after 139 days   abc.net.au/news/2025-08-3... · Posted by u/e2e4
rietta · a day ago
I am confused. How can they be the first when there is an existing record? So fastest time but not first? An absolutely awe inspiring accomplishment!
Retric · a day ago
I think it’s the first unsupported team. Where someone else did an (unsupported?) solo trip.
Retric commented on Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything   wsj.com/business/retail/t... · Posted by u/JumpCrisscross
Retric · a day ago
How do you come to that conclusion? It seems wildly inaccurate.
Retric commented on 15-Fold increase in solar thermoelectric generator performance   nature.com/articles/s4137... · Posted by u/bookofjoe
rich_sasha · 2 days ago
They aren't passive but only dump heat into ambient temperature. Which I thought is the bit you objected to.
Retric · a day ago
Actually they use evaporation not just ambient temperature.

Explanation starts at ~minute 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmbZVmXyOXM

Retric commented on 15-Fold increase in solar thermoelectric generator performance   nature.com/articles/s4137... · Posted by u/bookofjoe
rich_sasha · 2 days ago
I don't entirely follow. A lot of existing nuclear plants use ambient temperature for cooling, via cooling towers, no? They use pumped coolant to get the heat out of the reactor, sure, but the cold end is just air.

Also, I guess you could have the hot end very hot too..? This improving efficiency. Especially if, by virtue of cooling being safer, you could run it at a higher temperature (less safety margin needed).

Retric · 2 days ago
Cooling towers are active not passive cooling. They don’t work without pumps.
Retric commented on Tesla said it didn't have key data in a fatal crash, then a hacker found it   washingtonpost.com/techno... · Posted by u/clcaev
Someone · 3 days ago
> Data retention is legal's bread and butter.

As is deleting data. Also, for, say, training data for Tesla’s software, I don’t see legal requirements for keeping it around,

> There's no chance such a decision is accidently made by reusing code.

At Tesla? I know about nothing about their software development practices, but from them, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if this were accidental.

Edit: one scenario to easily introduce this bug is if the “delete data after upload” feature were added after the “on a crash, upload all data you have, in case the car burns down” feature.

Retric · 3 days ago
> I don’t see legal requirements for keeping it around,

If you selectively delete data, courts can assume that data is the worst possible thing for a court case against you.

Retric commented on AI adoption linked to 13% decline in jobs for young U.S. workers: study   cnbc.com/2025/08/28/gener... · Posted by u/pseudolus
pessimizer · 3 days ago
The AI most certainly does not care, because it is a computer program. It also doesn't want to buy a boat.
Retric · 3 days ago
It also doesn’t care if the company goes bankrupt tomorrow without paying out their bonus.
Retric commented on Temporary suspension of acceptance of mail to the United States   post.japanpost.jp/int/inf... · Posted by u/Kye
arghwhat · 5 days ago
> Regular people also commit fraud which can make some differences here.

Yeah, but it's hard for a regular person to under/overreport a property by, say, 200 million USD, and most people do not have the power to negotiate with or bribe municipalities to get different tax treatment like big companies and the rich people owning them do.

> Unpaid property taxes result in forfeiture

Avoided taxes are not unpaid taxes - we're not speaking of people on the run from debt collectors, but people who cheat their way out of having to pay anything.

> So do regular people

What regular people own properties in foreign countries selected for their tax benefits, for investment or recreational uses?

Most regular people own between zero and one property. Granted, they could move, but it takes extra riches to be able to casually straddle multiple borders.

Retric · 5 days ago
> What regular people own properties in foreign countries

Expats often chose their location based on such factors.

> people who cheat their way out of having to pay anything.

Good luck finding someone who actually pays zero property tax on US land they own. You’re assuming loopholes exist that don’t.

> it's hard for a regular person to under/overreport a property by, say, 200 million USD

Comparing wealthy taxation is only meaningful based on percentages. There’s definitely people who avoid property taxes by failing to disclose they built a house on undeveloped land thus avoiding 50+% of their tax bill.

Retric commented on Undisclosed financial conflicts of interest in DSM-5 (2024)   bmj.com/content/384/bmj-2... · Posted by u/renameme
zeckalpha · 5 days ago
Not in my understanding. The line between neurological and psychiatric is more about history than about anatomy.

Instead, I would point to the physical trauma of a concussion as the differentiating factor.

Retric · 5 days ago
There’s underlying physical causes for psychiatric conditions including in some cases physical trauma.

u/Retric

KarmaCake day59043September 21, 2007View Original