Lars P. Syll

Machine learning — getting results that are completely wrong Machine-learning techniques used by thousands of scientists to analyse data are producing results that are misleading and often completely wrong. Dr Genevera Allen from Rice University in Houston said that the increased use of such systems was contributing to a “crisis in science” … The data sets are very large and expensive. But, according to Dr Allen, the answers they come up with are likely to...

 [embedded content] This satirical film is not far from reality today. Most of us working within the universities have for a long time been aware of what the degradation of teaching and research do to both students and teachers. [h/t Steve Keen]

Why I am not a Bayesian What I do not believe is that the relation that matters is simply the entailment relation between the theory, on the one hand, and the evidence on the other. The reasons that the relation cannot be simply that of entailment are exactly the reasons why the hypothetico-deductive account … is inaccurate; but the suggestion is at least correct in sensing that our judgment of the relevance of evidence to theory depends on the perception...

I dessa tider, när ljudrummet dränks i den kommersiella radions tyckmyckentrutade ordbajseri och pubertalflamsande tjafs, har man nästan gett upp. Men det finns ljus i mörkret. I programmet Text och musik med Eric Schüldt — som sänds på söndagsförmiddagarna i P2 mellan klockan 11 och 12 — kan man lyssna på seriös musik och en programledare som har något att säga och inte bara låter foderluckan glappa. Att få höra någon med intelligens och känsla tala om saker som vi alla går...

Der Überirdische ist tot [embedded content] Bruno Ganz (1941-2019). RIP.

In complete subjection to the ego The illusion that egoists will be pleased, or flattered, by interest taken in their habits persists throughout life; whereas, in fact, persons like Widmerpool, in complete subjection to the ego, are, by the nature of that infirmity, prevented from supposing that the minds of others could possibly be occupied by any subject far distant from the egoist’s own affairs. A Dance to the Music of Time Guess we all have our​ own...

Jag avskyr människor med dålig ekonomi och gör mitt bästa för att undvika dem … Höjdpunkten är när de faller i gråt vid anblicken av den samlade mängden obetalda räkningar och skyhöga räntor på lättvindiga lån. När jag ser dessa dagdrömmande våp, längtar jag efter de riktiga människorna, de fattiga och de rika, som vet vilka de är och lever utan illusioner. Horace Engdahl

Fat arms science … Over human evolutionary history, upper-body strength has been a major component of fighting ability. Evolutionary models of animal conflict predict that actors with greater fighting ability will more actively attempt to acquire or defend resources than less formidable contestants will. Here, we applied these models to political decision making about redistribution of income and wealth among modern humans. In studies conducted in...

The statistical crisis in science  [embedded content] Such a great guy. If only more academics could be like you, Andrew!