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Anyone any thoughts as to why Yuval Noah Harari is getting such a kicking from reviewers for Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks From the Stone Age to AI?

Is it really so different from 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, or even Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind?

Sure, his work leans on making sweeping generalisations and bold pronouncements, often on subjects of which he has little knowledge or expertise

But hasn’t that same ‘infotainment’ style earned him praise and awards as a global public intellectual for almost a decade now? So why the backlash?

#books #bookreview #ai #artificialintelligence #yuvalnoahharari #infotainment #sapiens #publicintellectual

in reply to Gary Hall

a wild guess but I wonder if it's something to do with the hype and then disillusionment with genAI ... in 2024 people are now much more sensitive about being fed text which is seemingly correct and well-written but is not in fact true(!)

e.g. Are people reading more critically now because of genAI tools and the crap they can put out?

in reply to Ross Mounce

@rmounce Well, that's certainly a very 'glass half full' reading of AI and the associated hype: that's it's encouraging people to read more critically because of all the misinformation and disinformation it is putting out.

But that would only lead us to another question, surely: why is it AI that has finally resulted in people reading even books published by celebrated and best-selling public intellectuals more critically like this? Why didn't other media lead to this: not least platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and X? After all, they put out a lot of 'crap' too? And they have also been responsible for a certain amount of dislillusionment - remember when the internet was going to make society far more democratic?

So why AI and not social media? And before that perhaps even television, film, radio, print... ?



Some daytime #Valheim shots of Rivalund in a thick fog. We have a stone cutter now, and I’ve put stone paths everywhere!!

Dgar reshared this.

in reply to Dgar

I really wish they would add small movement speed increases to encourage path building. I mean, I'm still going to build paths because I'm wired that way, but a little return on my invest would be nice is all I'm saying!


Thierry Breton, the powerful European Commissioner in charge of the internal market, abruptly resigned as European Commissioner, dealing a new blow to Ursula von der Leyen's efforts to build her next team.

#europe #eu

euronews.com/my-europe/2024/09…






General view taken by drone of a flooded area by Nysa Klodzka river in Nysa, #Poland. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

@photography
#flood

photography group reshared this.




Poll Tracker – Éric Grenier of TheWrit.ca breaks down where the polls stand in the lead up to a federal election. byteseu.com/423320/ #Canada #CanadaPolitics #Politics


Vier Rechtsextreme, die auf dem Rückweg von Protesten gegen den #CSD in Wolfsburg waren, haben in #Gifhorn auf eine 38-jährige Frau eingetreten, auch gegen ihren Kopf. Die 17- bis 24-jährigen Männer konnten von der Polizei schnell festgesetzt werden. 🧵

👉 t-online.de/region/braunschwei…

in reply to ENDSTATION RECHTS.

Die Polizei konnte recht schnell eingreifen, weil sie die rechte Gruppe offenbar begleitet hatte und sich direkt hinter dem Bus befand. In einem ergänzenden Polizei-Statement ist weiterhin lediglich die Rede von einer "körperlichen Auseinandersetzung":

👉 presseportal.de/blaulicht/pm/5…

in reply to ENDSTATION RECHTS.

Die Linke Gifhorn kritisiert das Vorgehen der Polizei: „Es kann nicht sein, dass die Polizei eine Gruppe Nazis begleitet und es dennoch zu einem schweren gewalttätigen Übergriff kommt.“

👉 dielinke-gifhorn.de/aktuelles/…



Defense witness for #GeorgeFloyd’s #murderer appears in pro-#Trump ad

The retired police officer makes *misleading statements* [#lies] about #KamalaHarris’s reaction to the violence after Floyd’s death.

Preserve America #PAC, a pro-Trump group, appears to specialize in first-person accounts by people *allegedly wronged* by [lying about] Vice President Kamala Harris.

#FactCheck #TrumpLies
#HarrisWalz2024
washingtonpost.com/politics/20…

in reply to Nonilex

WaPo couldn’t find a specific stmnt by #Harris on the violence in #Minneapolis, or even the #protests, but she did have 1 tweet #ScottCreighton mischaracterized, that “She raised millions to help bail rioters out of jail.”

This cannot be verified [IOW, a #lie].

Then-Sen Harris tweeted on June 2, 2020, wks before Biden selected her as his running mate: “If you’re able to, chip in now to the MNFreedomFund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota.”

#FactCheck #TrumpLies

in reply to Nonilex

Until #GeorgeFloyd’s murder, the Minnesota Freedom Fund (#MFF) was a relatively small vehicle for assisting people who needed cash for bail. The MFF’s 2018 tax filing shows it raised only about $100,000 that year. Weeks after Floyd’s death, it raised ~$35 million.

#KamalaHarris herself never personally bailed out anyone or had any interaction w/the fund, the fund’s interim director told the Sacramento Bee in 2021.

#PoliceViolence #racism #WhiteSupremacy
#FactCheck #TrumpLies
#HarrisWalz2024



I always wanted to write a story where someone's going around killing retired 007s, so the surviving so-called "Bonds" have to band together, figure out who's behind it, and stop the killer. Sign this man up for the lead:


Rescuers work amidst flooding following the impact of Typhoon Yagi in Chiang Rai province, #Thailand, September 11. via Tubjaotak Task Force, Pha Muang Force

@photography
#flood

photography group reshared this.





Why Democracy Is Mathematically Impossible

youtube.com/watch?v=qf7ws2DF-z…

When we're talking about the flaws of democracy I think this is a big one, when our entire system of electing leaders has such fundamental flaws this will affect all aspects of politics.

#YouTube #veritasium #educational

Rokosun reshared this.



"this brave new world, polished too bright.

all this to say that in the end, the last of us will run like blood
into her oceans, that maybe we deserved it,

that if we were kinder we might be worth
saving."

#TodaysPoem #poetry @poetry
All This to Say by Natalie Lim in Watch Your Head (edited by @themockler) (2020 Coach House Books) tinyurl.com/3skf9c2m

poetry group reshared this.



Countdown to #DrupalCon Barcelona! 🚀

We’re just one week away from heading to beautiful Barcelona, and we couldn’t be more excited. 🙌🏼 We'll be there to exchange ideas, network with the Drupal community, and explore the latest innovations in the world of open-source.

Can't wait to see what's in store – see you there!

#DrupalCommunity #OpenSource #WebDevelopment #AmazeeLabs



Check it out - Listing all the the user files in the order of file size from highest to least in #Nextcloud using the new #Python app API from a Jupyter Notebook.


What better way to wrap up a play testing session of @dunderbeckgame , than a trip to "Nasty" Connor's Discount Meat Emporium?

#gamedev #InventoryManagement #meat #godotengine #godot

in reply to Godot Engine

@godotengine I assume someone is buying all the ... discount meat ... that I have been selling him.

With a smile like that how could he fail?

@dunderbeckgame