Archive - Elite Scotoma

In the shape of man

Is it wrong to interpret all life in human terms? Ideas from theoretical physics and linguistics can illuminate how we understand the minds of animals.

Jan 25, 2024 •

August 2023

What 21st century TV writers say to the ageless Thucydides’ trap

An overlooked TV show with no marquee Hollywood stars proposes an international relations device that might just be the answer we need to skip the…

Aug 24, 2023 •

June 2023

The panoramic view from joining economics, science and history

Incidentally the one skill that comes naturally to humans (pun not intended), and that we have not yet managed to equip artificial intelligence with.

Jun 1, 2023 •

March 2023

Could GPT and Bard actually help blue-collar fortunes?

Global labor markets will be just as directly affected by what GPT-4 and other LLMs cannot do.

Mar 24, 2023 •

November 2022

Can natural intelligence judge Artificial Intelligence?

AGI, brain-machine interfaces, 'uploads' etc. can all wait. We have a bigger problem: we don’t yet know if wetware brains should assess predictive…

Nov 18, 2022 •

October 2022

Made to order, breakfast and bulletins

A newspaper says news is special, it's not like packaged food. Oh, but it is. And in ways that can inform better journalism.

Oct 20, 2022 •

September 2022

Faith and Facts - Part II

There are indeed limits to science that leave a gap for faith to step in. Just not the sort you'd think.

Sep 15, 2022 •

August 2022

The Wages of North-Atlantic bias

A community of extremely talented and well-meaning people intend to do good better. What might they learn if they lived where they want to have an…

Aug 20, 2022 •

July 2022

Having children and having - part 2

For couples with moral doubts about raising a family in the backdrop of climate change, two New York Times columns took a blinkered American view to…

Jul 14, 2022 •

June 2022

Having children and having – Part 1

Abortion as a question is so complex that even the most nuanced and balanced conversations, even two such conversations combined, can leave things out.

Jun 25, 2022 •

When will English speak to all the Englishes?

Black English, Indian English, Hinglish and Singlish, all have different relationships to Standard English and Globish. What’s a unifying way to think…

Jun 13, 2022 •

'Natural' Language Processing. Is it though?

Are we overestimating the machines or misprizing mimesis? What if we're ill-equipped to tell! At least, let’s give the children in your life due credit…

Jun 3, 2022 •

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