Falling in love with math while being stuck in a rigid schooling system is tough As Ben Orlin explains: "Huge bureaucracies are not known for exciting people's sense of wonder and curiosity..." And so it falls on teachers to excite student's curiosities...and unleash their inner fuel Here's why that's so…
88 years ago, a leading national magazine committed a major statistical blunder that ultimately caused it to go bankrupt. Since we're in the full swing of election season, here's a cautionary note on the power of sample bias... The year is 1936. FDR is up for reelection, and the Literary…
What do the best investors (and the smartest Infinite Loops guests) have in common? They fundamentally grok base rates. And yet, understanding base rates and statistics is almost unnatural for our HumanOS. Ben Orlin explains why. Watch our full episode right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4GgOBeXISk
In teaching mathematics, a simple six-sided dice is a powerful tool Why? Because it contains within it the seed for infinite discovery Ben Orlin explains why finding concrete instances like dice can lead explorers to rich abstractions. Watch the full episode right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4GgOBeXISk
As a former quant with six grandkids, my spidey-senses started tingling as soon as I heard about Ben Orlin’s mission to make math fun. A native of St.Paul, Ben is a math educator and popularizer who is known for his “Math With Bad Drawing” blog and book series. Today’s conversation…
Truth is predictive. The more accurately you perceive the world, the better you should be able to anticipate the future. Like a whetstone sharpens a blade, prediction markets can hone your model of reality. Check out our S*bstack for our full episode with Gurwinder Bhogal, plus a heuristics cheat sheet…
Having skin in the game incentivizes truth-seeking over fashion-following. Gurwinder Bhogal explains... Read or listen to the full episode: https://newsletter.osv.llc/p/gurwinder-bhogals-guide-to-modern Watch the full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukSAt3zk3YU
When confronted by an inconvenient truth, our humanOS defaults to delusion. @G_S_Bhogal explains why. Read or listen to the full episode: https://newsletter.osv.llc/p/gurwinder-bhogals-guide-to-modern Watch the full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukSAt3zk3YU
Are you playing games that work FOR or against you? Read, or listen to the full episode: https://newsletter.osv.llc/p/gurwinder-bhogals-guide-to-modern Watch the full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukSAt3zk3YU
“We have created for ourselves a world that we didn't evolve for.” Gurwinder Bhogal is, for my money, one of the most independent, original and insightful thinkers you’ll find in our corner of the internet. He returns to discuss how willpower and good old-fashioned human agency can help us reclaim…
Conducting political business on entirely new stages of interaction, preferably those controlled by the politician rather than media intermediaries, is a key component of political charm. As Julia explains, Jacinda Ardern exemplified this approach, regularly communicating via seemingly impromptu, intentionally unpolished Facebook live videos. Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRn4KFnzhAs&t=22s Transcript: https://newsletter.osv.llc/p/charming
"There is, I think this suspicion about seduction [...] if you think about the Bible and important mythologies internationally, seductive people or figures are dangerous very often in these stories. So there is this kind of skepticism, somewhat religiously, I would say, of distancing yourself from charming people..." -- Julia…
The paradox of political authenticity: We demand politicians be "themselves" in highly artificial media settings. Political leadership once meant embodying Greatness. Now it means coming across as being fun to have a beer with. How did this happen? Julia Sonnevend explains... Catch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/QRn4KFnzhAs?si=jOgvFfo3pHiIxLGt For the full…
Charm: a spell suspending critical thinking, prompting instant emotional responses. Julia Sonnevend's antidote? When emotions bubble up - STOP. Ask: "Who benefits from my quick response?" Practice this habit. Over time, your rational brain will learn to engage automatically.
Professor Julia Sonnevend believes that charm is one of the defining political trends of our era. In her latest book, she argues that charm will do no less than “shape the future of democracy worldwide,” exploring how it is weaponized by politicians ranging from Jacinda Arden to Kim Jong Un.…
The simple secret to creative success? . . . . . ...stop wasting your time fighting with the Kaiju of doom, and go find a spot in the grass to play with that golden retriever instead🐶 Not simple enough yet? Here's Bilawal Sidhu breaking it down - Catch the full…
"Maybe it'll take a younger generation that is far more acclimatized to these types of capabilities to start taking advantage of those signals...the experts are always the most averse to adopting this tech." Bilawal Sidhu on AI and the rise of...Underdog Tech Catch the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxVJ_k-Fzyg
If you replaced every brushstroke with an algorithm, would it still be art? Here's Bilawal Sidhu making sense of the "romanticism for doing things the old-fashioned way that seems to persist" Catch the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxVJ_k-Fzyg
The billion dollar question for media in the age of AI - "what is going to be the breakup of people putting a huge premium on fully organic human-generated content?" vs "straight-to-the-vein fast food content"? Bilawal Sidhu weighs in on the latest episode of Infinite Loops Catch the full episode…
As a proud owner of the exceedingly rare “two-digit” designation on CompuServe (the internet’s precursor), I’ve always been an early adopter of new tech. I was, therefore, particularly excited to speak to Bilawal Sidhu, a one-man corporation whose prolific output outpaces many creators put together. Since he was 11, Bilawal…
You already know that learning from mistakes is critical for success. But there's a catch. To learn from a mistake, you've got to be able to spot it in the first place. It's tempting to overlook errors that don't cause immediate pain. Like a driver praising their "quick reflexes" after…
“So maybe I lift 10 kilos, I injure myself. I lift five kilos, it's not enough. But there is that seven weights, seven kilos weight, which produces some gain, and those gains make me stronger.” Beware false dichotomies. When facing a new challenge at the gym, your work, or your…
“If you antagonize the population that doesn't like you vandalizing things, you cannot achieve that much […] What would be more effective would be if the activist group ask themselves, "How can we solve the climate change problem in 20 years?" That opens so many better options." Here’s Luca Dellanna…
During the heady days of the space race, President Kennedy visited NASA headquarters. There, he bumped into a janitor. Ever mindful of a PR opportunity, the President started chatting with the broom-wielding worker. “What’s your job here?” JFK inquired. Without missing a beat, the janitor responded: “I'm helping put a…