Elias Schmied looks to chickens as the analogy for what AI takeoff might do to humans: chickens around 1700 had a ~100x population gain, supplemental feed, and free-range coops, which was an unprecedented increase in chicken welfare. And then factory farming happened. Why I am not as impressed by human progress as I used to be — Elias Schmied
Jud Brewer argues lifestyle medicine has the right pillars but the wrong delivery model: willpower-and-education breaks because the prefrontal cortex is the first region to go offline under stress, and a worry loop reinforced thousands of times has stored worry as carrying reward in the orbitofrontal cortex. Instead he advocates for awareness based practices, where you simply start by calling attention to the entire cycle of behavior and fully feeling it. Doing Everything Right and Still Anxious — Jud Brewer
Thomas Insel on small interventions in mental health, and I find myself wondering, do I believe these? 20 minutes of Tetris after a traumatic memory cuts intrusive thoughts by ~70%, hearing aids beat antidepressants for older-adult depression, and Zimbabwe’s Friendship Bench has grandmothers delivering problem-solving therapy. Science is like a pointillist painting -- it’s beautiful from afar but up close it looks like a lot of smudges. I was talking to a professor this week who was lamenting being a killjoy. I feel this constant specter of skepticism too. And yet there’s faith too. The faith I feel is painting-like too; I don’t take any particular phenomenon as real there, but the overall picture is divine. A Video Game, a Postcard, and a Grandmother — Thomas Insel
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