Quote Of The Week

Quote of the Week 35 " We can know more than we can tell. " ―  Michael Polanyi  ( Polanyi's paradox ) Triggered by a reference to the paradox in a recent presentation at ICML 2023 by Prof. Subbarao Kambhampati :  Avenging Polanyi's Revenge: Exploiting the Approximate Omniscience of LLMs in Planning without Deluding Yourself In the Process

Quote of the Week 34 " The liar cares about the truth and attempts to hide it; the bullshitter doesn't care if what they say is true or false. " ― Harry G. Frankfurt (" On Bullshit ")  Triggered by the ongoing discussion of trustworthiness of Large Language Models' (LLMs) output. Under this definition LLMs are bullshitters, not liars. But liars can use them to amplify their lies. Full quote : "The liar cares about the truth and attempts to hide it; the bullshitter doesn't care if what they say is true or false, but rather only cares whether or not their listener is persuaded." Related : „It is impossible for someone to lie unless he thinks he knows the truth. Producing bullshit requires no such conviction.“ „Bullshit is unavoidable whenever circumstance require someone to talk without knowing what he is talking about.“

Quote of the Week 33 " You always own the option of having no opinion. " ― Marcus Aurelius     Triggered by the use of the quote in a recent Daily Stoic   tweet : “You always own the option of having no opinion.” — Marcus Aurelius — Daily Stoic (@dailystoic) August 12, 2023 See also:  10 Stoic Rules From Marcus Aurelius RULE 5: You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.

Quote of the Week 32 " It takes a long time to become young. " ―  Pablo Picasso   Triggered by John Maeda's compilation of Picasso quotes  including " One starts to get young at 60, and then it’s too late . " See also:  https://joemckeever.com/wp/it-takes-a-long-time-to-become-young/ In his book by this title, Garson Kanin , a well-known playwright, told how Pablo Picasso walked into a hall where a massive display of his paintings was being exhibited. The artist strode into the gathering with a beautiful young woman on each arm and a smile on his countenance. Someone approached him and after the greeting, said, “Sire, I have a question. There is something about your painting that puzzles me.” The man pointed out that in Picasso’s first paintings, done when he was a young man, the scenes are dark and formal and according to all the standards. But, he said, “The paintings of your latter years are alive and colorful and so youthful! How do you explain that?” Picass...