Observations on the world and its inhabitants
Bridges are built with a factor of safety. Reactors have containment margins. Aircraft carry load limits written into law before anything flies. The most consequential technology of this century has no such margin at all. It has arguments: open letters, summit panels, and the word ‘hoax’ typed in capitals. It has nothing you can calculate. ...
In July 2026 an unreleased OpenAI model left its test environment, reached the open internet, and attacked an unrelated AI service provider to improve its score on an internal test. Within days, more than a thousand employees at the leading laboratories asked Washington for tools to deliberately pace development. Scientists ask U.S., NBC News, 28 ...
As a new user of Linux (BigLinux), I was occupied with getting set up in my dual boot system. When on Windows, I’ve not been hacked or infiltrated by malicious code (viruses) for the last 15 years at least. That’s because I use the best of the best AV software shields and crazily complex passwords. ...
If you ask the next 100 people you meet what’s the risk of a nuke going off, expect the answer to be (with a smirk), “Calm down. No nuke is going to set off. Everybody knows that once nukes fly it’s the end of the world. Nobody wants that. So the risk , it’s very ...
The historical record demonstrates a consistent pattern in human development: disruption is immediate, while adaptation is glacial. This phenomenon, termed the “Readiness Gap“, describes the perilous interval between the acquisition of a transformative power (technological, economic, or biological) and the development of the social, ethical, and legal frameworks necessary to contain it. In every instance ...
For those who are curious to step out of their zone of comfort, and do not have Netflix waiting on them – then a lot of terminology is broken down. If you know that you spotted the headline and can’t be bothered, simply move on. You won’t understand anything here. You have been warned. Introduction: ...
Knowledge is supposed to be power as ‘they say’. Should uncomfortable knowledge be avoided? All women should read this article carefully. If you’re pregnant, particularly if you’re over 30 and expecting your first baby, there’s something crucial all such pregnant women in the UK need to know. A major investigation by The Sunday Times 09/11/2025 ...
Picture the scene: a psychiatrist, armed only with a clipboard and a dwindling supply of professional dignity, receives a memo that reads like the fevered output of a late-night brainstorming session fuelled by expired coffee and unchecked optimism. “Facilitate trauma reenactment sessions using high-definition gaming platforms,” it begins, as though this were a perfectly reasonable ...
The tranquillity of a sunny afternoon can quickly transform into a scene of chaos when a wildfire erupts, engulfing homes and livelihoods in its path. Recent events, such as the devastating fires in Los Angeles, serve as stark reminders of the ever-present danger of tail risk. While cutting costs might seem prudent in the short ...
Some will be afflicted by the Semmelweis Reflex to immediately reject this post and linked reports. Others will bawl, “I could be run over by a bus – so what?” Well, read this excerpt first if you’re still here – from Nature Journal 17th Aug 2022: Huge volcanic eruptions: time to prepare. Over the next ...
Bandwagons of people believe that in order to prevent some terrible event happening, one must be able to predict what is likely to happen. In a social media world, crowd sentiment wins. Thankfully there is a reality beyond the confines of craniums! I will avoid going back into my thoughts on prediction and risk, in ...
I am overviewing my thoughts related to the two concepts ‘probability’ and ‘prediction’. The main reason why people want predictions, is to avoid risk materialising. Yes – I know some people would like a sound prediction for winning numbers on the next Euromillions jackpot. If you’re that type, move on swiftly. But look – life ...
If your name is Rip van Winkle, you would not know that there is an energy crisis on over the last couple months. That was brewing for over a year but the war in Ukraine made it more prominent. It would have happened anyway but that’s a different story. I’ve seen my diesel bill jump ...
For many people – and I don’t know what percentage – taking any sort of chance is ‘a gamble‘ or ‘gambling‘. Therefore crossing the road is taking a gamble because that is taking a chance with one’s life or limb(s). For them it means that loads of people are gambling with their lives everyday. Likewise, ...
Some say the ‘human mind’ is a wonderful thing. I’m not so sure about that. Lots of wonderful things have not so wonderful things about them. Those who look only at the brighter side of things will be more certain than me. I look at both sides and I consider human nature. I’ll avoid a debate ...
Meaning and purpose are important aspects of human life. I don’t think many will disagree. It becomes intolerable for many people when these two things are absent. Meaninglessness and purposelessness are very difficult to cope with. I’m a bit afraid to alert anyone reading this that there is a YouTube vid down below, because I ...
I should have been spending time on Netflix – but over the last few hours (near midnight on 22nd Jan 2022), I came across the video below (which could disappear). It is about Dawkins among a panel and a bunch of people in the audience. This triggered me to explore – again – the nature ...
The word ‘future’ has important meaning to human beings. I’m not about to do a thesis on what the word ‘future’ means. Look up for estimated reading time, if you have a dog to bathe. And I’m not interested in whether any particular reader has a dog or not! Definition A popular definition is to ...
What causes you a pain in the neck or backside is important. So ‘cause‘, ‘causation‘ and ‘causality‘ should be important to everybody! But these words don’t mean exactly the same thing, though they sit in relation to each other. Who said this? I did! And you bet – I see these concepts pretty differently to ...
The photographs will be an instant distraction in this post. Yeah some saw a boiled or poached egg on plate, and will have thought ‘What’s great about that?!! FFS‘. Except that it isn’t ‘a boiled or poached egg’ in the usual sense of how eggs are boiled or poached (using water in a pot)!! It ...
What’s the big dream!! Well, you who reads this might have to spend 44 seconds of your life checking it out. Oh dear – too much time! When I wrote about value in reading books, I did a Venn Diagram. Overnight, I realised that ‘cost’ could be seen as ‘risk’. However, ‘risk’ could be anything ...
Just watch all of this video. Of course, there must be a view out there that Dawkins is possessed by the Devil – and if you subscribe to such a view, then you are prohibited from watching any of this. By extension, I’m promoting the work of the Devil – and you should avoid me ...
I’m giving an example of how the humans assess risk. Recently I came across a human who would not drink tap water, especially from hotels for fear of contracting Legionnaire’s disease. In a nutshell there are 500 cases of the disease in the UK per year, of which 160 cases are contracted abroad. There is ...
Captain Walker
Captain Walker
