The Test

> These are – for actual human beings – very embarrassing things to admit.

It's actually a bit more subtle than that. Many (possibly even most) humans are deviant and put a lot of effort into hiding that to conform with the herd. The more power and status they have, the more insulated they are from the risks of the herd turning on them and the more willing they become to just let their weaknesses shine through. So these are embarrassing things to admit, they're probably uncommon in themselves. But most people have different embarrassing things they would admit if they had lots of money and power.

Random but fun tangent, I learned about Crown Prince Sado [0] the other day. Historically there have been some true lunatics walking among the halls of power. The modern crop are actually pretty tame compared to the historic examples of how powerful people lived before it became intolerable.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Prince_Sado

I'm always surprised by statements about "things we don't need to learn anymore" with AI.

It's sort of a litmus test for how little someone understands how learning in humans works or AI itself even. "Agentic" AI acts as a mirror: the more insight have yourself, the more powerfully you can pull the distribution ... the more you get out of it. (there's a bloodborne-inspired parable in here somewhere ...)

I think it's why the software from AI companies has "garbage" qualities. They are assuming that AI is going to fill in skills ... when it is a reflective amplifier.

But back to the discussion of "things we don't need to learn anymore": do we go to the gym, and say ... oh I don't need to do pull ups anymore, because there's an assisted pull up machine and I can just set it to my weight ...

Utterly idiotic.

> Jensen Huang, the NVIDIA CEO and wearer of the most midlife crisis looking leather jackets in the world, was on Ezra Klein’s podcast. Now I don’t really want you do go through all of what was being said in that recording/writeup. It’s painful. You feel your mental capabilities decaying with every minute of listening … kinda like using a Chatbot. But worse... Outrageous. But he needs to go on and top this statement with an even worse one... So Huang is not the only person making these kinds of strange statements.

It just goes on like this. No argument, just mockery. Doesn't address any of the statements, just jeers at them and meta analyzes and expects the reader to nod along. Reminds me of the family guy clip where Peter meets someone at crossfit.

Jayce (crossfit owner): whats your favorite kind of food

Peter: Pizza

Jayce: Oh, man. What? You, uh... y-you can't eat pizza.

Peter: Why not?

Jayce: It's, uh... it's... Uh, it's... it's bad.

Peter: Why?

Jayce: Because, uh, it's, like, uh... pretty bad for you.

Peter: But what makes it bad?

Jayce: Oh. Yeah, no, it's, like, uh... like, probably one of the worst things you can eat.

Peter: How come?

Jayce: Uh, uh, because, of, like, the ingredients in it.

Peter: Which ones?

Jayce: Uh, I mean, yeah, like, basically, all of them.

Peter: Name one.

Jayce: Yeah, I... yeah, I mean... you said... your-your words, uh... pizza.

Peter: All right, I'm cutting this off right now. It's clear you're an idiot and deserve no more of my time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peMtoUVZC5w

At one point in most of our lives, we have had everything provided for us. When we wanted something, we took it or pointed at it and it was usually brought to us. Not getting a whim indulged was the most horrible thing ever, and we screamed and yelled and sulked when that gross injustice happened.

I speak of toddlerhood.

Billionaires act like toddlers because toddlers have most of the experience of being billionaires.

Most toddlers grow out of it. As far as I can tell, no billionaire who has sunk that low ever has.