First Blog

 A recent paper,  The Illusion of Thinking , seems to prove that AI is not thinking at all, but is a very sophisticated pattern recognition algorithm. We speak here of LRMs, Large Reasoning Models. Among the many findings are  • We question the current evaluation paradigm of LRMs on established math benchmarks and design a controlled experimental testbed by leveraging algorithmic puzzle environments that enable controllable experimentation with respect to problem complexity. • We show that state-of-the-art LRMs (e.g., o3-mini, DeepSeek-R1, Claude-3.7-Sonnet-Thinking) still fail to develop generalizable problem-solving capabilities, with accuracy ultimately collapsing to zero beyond certain complexities across different environments. • We find that there exists a scaling limit in the LRMs’ reasoning effort with respect to problem complexity, evidenced by the counterintuitive decreasing trend in the thinking tokens after a complexity point. The full article i...

  A.   For most of us, receiving a bit of wisdom appears like a stroke of genius. For those with wisdom, it is little more than a simple conclusion. B.   Beliefs come in two forms, spiritual and material. Survival requires humans to have the capacity for material beliefs, though many are incapable of spiritual beliefs.   C.   Experience is a form of wisdom that serves as a crucial damper for the acceptance of quick, ready, and wrong solutions.

Suppose you are looking for a new job, but you’re not fresh on the market, or from college, or like twenty-something. You have years of experience in the workplace.  You will need to explain your value to a prospective employer.  Actually, experience has great value, when you express it in the right terms. Especially, experience serves as a crucial damper for the validity of quick, ready, and amateur solutions for several key reasons. Reveals Nuance and Complexity. Beyond the Surface: Inexperienced individuals might only see the most obvious aspects of a problem, leading them to jump to a straightforward solution. Experience, however, teaches you that most real-world problems are rarely simple. There are often hidden variables, interdependencies, and long-term consequences that aren't immediately apparent. Context Matters: What worked in one situation might not work in another, even if they appear similar on the surf...

A.   If all you want is money, attention, and approval, you’ll spend your life chasing them, never having enough. B.   You will never know the gifts of love, affection, and friendship unless you first give them to another. C.   Thinking is the nursery of great ideas. You never, ever hear of the “accidental” genius.

A.     "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." --Aristotle B.     Progress is fueled by persistence.  C.     Snippet from a future history book about AI, “At first AI seemed like a performance-enhancing drug. Then, side effects were noticed. Spreading like a disease, it began as a reliance, rapidly moving to dependence, and finally, helplessness set in. Something had to be done. … “

  What is Genius? 1. Introduction. Genius is one of those ephemeral items in the human inventory of gifts together with skills and talents, abilities and intelligence, proficiency and cleverness. Hard to define, genius is both specific and contextual. It is not generally abstract. Genius can reveal itself anywhere, in science, business, politics, war, and literature though often along separate channels. Some of our greatest philosophers were challenged by the concept and addressed it with notably interesting, though somewhat obscure interpretations. Immanuel Kant in Part I of his Critique of Judgment tells us "Genius is a talent for producing something for which no determinate rule can be given, not a predisposition consisting of a skill for something that can be learned by following some rule or other." In his Twilight of the Idols , Nietzsche writes, "Great men, like great epochs, are explosive material in whom tremendous energy has been accumulated; their prer...

A.     It is probable that life on Earth began multiple times before it sustained. This is only because it finally emerged as adaptable. B.     One day not long from now, we may regard the Atomic bomb (big) and gain-of-function research (bigger) as small fry threats next to the damage potential of AI. AI could be a later-day allegory of the  Golden Goose . C.     Persistence is the bridge between vision and reality. It transforms potential into progress and intention into impact. P.S. This is my 1000th blof on blogspot

  A.     On bumper stickers, you sometimes see, “If you can read this, thank a teacher.” However, 21% of adult Americans cannot read, while 54% of American adults read at below the sixth-grade level. Who do we thank for that? B.     What is the crowning achievement of sustained life on earth? Intelligence? Resourcefulness? Aggressiveness? Speed? No. It is adaptability, a property undetectable under the microscope. 

  Top Ten Wars – listed by total casualties, civilian and military 1. World War II (1939–1945)   Estimated deaths: 70–85 million 2. Mongol Conquests (13th century)   Estimated deaths: 30–60 million 3. Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864) Estimated deaths: 20–30 million 4. World War I (1914–1918) Estimated deaths: 15–20 million 5. Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) Estimated deaths: 15–20 million 6. An Lushan Rebellion (755–763) Estimated deaths: 13–36 million 7. Qing Conquest of the Ming Dynasty (1616–1662) Estimated deaths: 25 million 8. Dungan Revolt (1862–1877) Estimated deaths: 8–12 million 9. Russian Civil War (1917–1922) Estimated deaths: 7–12 million 10. Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) Estimated deaths: 3.5–6 million ------------------------------ For comparison, the American Civil War (1861–1865) resulted in an estimated total of 620,000 to 750,000 deaths , making it the deadliest conflict in U.S. history. Key points: Union deaths: ~360...

  Here are some markers for having a good memory.        Quickly learning, retaining, and recalling new information. Remembering dates, numbers, and events comes naturally, without struggle.        Recalling past events with vivid detail.        Rarely needing reminders for tasks or commitments. For example, you can recall your shopping needs without writing them down.        Remembering past event details when your peers cannot.        You easily create mnemonics* to help recall events. Also, there are memory tests you can take, like the Wechsler Memory Scale or online tools such as MemTrax, Cambridge Brain Sciences. These measure short-term, long-term, and working memory by recalling sequences or patterns. Luck does not seem to be a factor involved with memory. Of course, you can get a test answer correct be...

A.   “It’s good not to be boring.” --- Nobel laureate Gary Ruvkun B.   When teachers have mediocre or poor students, they get sloppy, careless, or pedantic; they don’t teach; they preach. C.   It’s very rare that things work the first time. --- Nobel laureate Pierre Agostini

Tips for Retirement - Redux Y ou’re going to retire, plan to retire, or you are retired.  What to do? First, I’m retired and seem to be doing okay. I’d like to offer a few tips – generally from my working plan. 1.       Know yourself, and especially the little tricks you play on yourself. If you say you don’t know the tricks you play, that is one of your tricks. 2.       Save money. Build your nest egg while you’re still working. This takes years of discipline, self-denial, and self-limitations. Examples: Limit new car purchases and fancy vacations. 3.       To have any level of comfort, you’ll probably need at least a million stashed in some funds that earn interest. Assume about 3% annual inflation long into the future. Plan to live on the interest and hopefully dividends. Try not to draw down the principal. Finally, living only on Social Security cannot be fun. 4....