Imran Khan

When a chatbot gets something wrong, it’s not because it made an error. It’s because on that roll of the dice, it happened to string together a group of words that, when read by a human, represents something false. But it was working entirely as designed. It was supposed to make a sentence & it did.

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

burrarter

A long long time ago, in a far away galaxy... the US used to tax the rich

📣 New event: Science, psychedelics, and society

Join Nesta’s @raviguru.bsky.social and @ikhan.bsky.social‬, former Exec Director of the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics, as they unpack the science, politics & future of psychedelics.

Register now: bit.ly/43BgwNP

Do you ever wonder what the world would have been like if we hadn't invented the concept of path dependency?

Today is a red letter day in media history where a major newspaper managed to passive voice the actual publishing of itself

Wait, is this -- is this real? They actually published a list of books that may or may not exist? (The Last Algorithm by Andy Weir is, for example, not an actual book!) Please, jfc, tell me this isn't real. I'm not finding it online anywhere, which makes me hope it's fake? Gotta be fake, please?

U.S. Military Bans Men With Girl Names From Combat WASHINGTON—In a move that significantly restricts the eligibility of thousands of American troops to fight for their country on the front lines, senior U.S. military officials announced Wednesday that all men with girl names would now be forbidden from serving in combat roles. The ban, which goes into effect immediately, prohibits male personnel with clearly […]

U.S. Military Bans Men With Girl Names From Combat
theonion.com/u-s-mil...

AI has a lot of problems, but it's not wrecking our brains There are countless issues, risks, and dangers presented by 'AI'. But long-term damage to our grey matter isn't really one of them. At least, not yet.

Al has a lot of problems, but it's not wrecking our brains

open.substack.com/pu...

An exploration of why, among the many problems of #AI, panicking about the damage its doing to the brain is at best a distraction, at worst actively unhelpful

Psychedelics, Wheat, and Rhizomes How do psychedelics spread, and how do they affect human societies?

Many thanks to @leorroseman.bsky.social for his musings on psychedelics diffusion during our b2b (boat-to-boat) call.

It sparked some thoughts, below (post includes a link to Leor’s excellent ICPR talk):
🌍🍄 substack.com/inbox/post/1...

Got any good examples of psychedelics shaping culture?

Opinion | Margaret Atwood on Stories, Deception and the Bible (Published 2022)

"We would rather not look, especially if we feel powerless in the face of that which we are being asked to look at."

Margaret Atwood - www.nytimes.com/2022/03/25/o...

The ancient psychedelics myth: ‘People tell tourists the stories they think are interesting for them’ The narrative of ancient tribes around the world regularly using ayahuasca and magic mushrooms in healing practices is a popular one. Is it true?

People often claim psychedelics have been used globally, for millennia, & in rituals of psychological healing.

In today's Guardian Long Read, I show what these stories get wrong & why the reality is far more interesting: www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

From "Shamanism: The Timeless Religion"

The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience From healing and insight to joy and altered states—an attempt to summarize the sets & settings of psychedelics

The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience
(w/ apols to William James)

Sketching a 'psychedelic use' typology for my @mitpress.bsky.social book:
therapy, creativity, community, spirituality, productivity, research, microdosing, fun

Lots of overlap. Did I miss anything? Would love feedback; full post👇

Fortune 500 company abruptly fires lawyer who helped immigrant family On March 4, Clay Jackson, an attorney in the Dallas area, was at a gas station near his home when the attendant asked if he would help a local immigrant family.

And now @clayjak.substack.com has been fired for telling his story popular.info/p/fortune-50...

SWIM & Elf, M. (∞). The Revelatory Truth Within A Faberge Egg. Hyperspace 0.1.1.2.3.5.8.13.21.34.55.89.144.233.377 ....https://doi.org/00000/source

If you’re writing a book on psychedelics, what’s the correct APA format for citing revelations from DMT entities?

Asking for a friend.

Been sent a few other ‘Essential Knowledge’ books by @mitpress.bsky.social as I prepare to write ‘Psychedelics’.

Am I a caricature?

Pope Francis: Italian Serie A matches postponed after pontiff's death Monday's four scheduled matches in the top flight of Italian football are postponed following the death of Pope Francis.

It's what he would have wanted 🙏⚽

www.bbc.com/sport/footba...

Congrats to TurboTax, which has worked for two decades to stop Americans from being able to file taxes for free.

www.propublica.org/article/insi...

The Latest Psychedelic Generation? "Perhaps apathy and neglect are ending"

You might know that the word 'psychedelic' means 'mind-manifesting'...

While researching my upcoming book, I went digging to see what its originator, Humphry Osmond, had to say about his new word in 1957.

A lot of it feels like it could have been written yesterday👇

Inside TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans From Filing Their Taxes for Free Using lobbying, the revolving door and “dark pattern” customer tricks, Intuit fended off the government’s attempts to make tax filing free and easy, and created its multi-billion-dollar franchise.

With Trump reportedly planning to end the IRS Direct File program, there's no better time to remember how TurboTax owner Intuit spent two decades fighting to prevent Americans from filing their taxes online for free.

(Published 2019)

Just signed a deal with @mitpress.bsky.social to write a book on Psychedelics for their Essential Knowledge series (!)

Science, culture, myths, meaning—trying to do it all in ~40,000 words. More soon; wish me luck!

Pile of 5 books shortlisted for the Climate Fiction Prize (books described in thread below)

Shortlist for the first Climate Fiction Prize has just been announced @climate-fiction.bsky.social - short thread

In an hour - come on over! #aaasmtg

GigSlave Goes Public With $84 Billion Valuation.

Watch Full Onion News Network Segment Here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwlB...

Who’s in Boston this week for #AAASmtg?

Symmetry: A Call for Artists, Scientists and Arts Organizations Symmetry: A Call for Artists, Scientists and Arts Organizations on Simons Foundation

The @simonsfoundation.org are funding 15x $30,000 collaborations between artists and scientists on the theme of 'Symmetry'. Deadline for apps is Feb 20 - get thinking!

www.simonsfoundation.org/2024/12/10/s...

Without defects, your gemstones lose colors, your phone becomes paperweight, your solar panel no longer works, and your stainless steel spoons get rusty. Crystals are like people, it is the defects that make us unique and interesting. #ChemSky