Archive - The Waterfront

#49: You're Taking the Unabomber's Position

For the past few months, AI safety and accelerationism have taken the center of technical discourse. Some people are advocating for AI safety, doing…

May 2, 2023 •

February 2023

#48: The Very Simple e/acc Thesis

There’s a ton of noise about AI these days. Existential Risk this, ChatGPT Woke Bias that. Real artificial intelligence is on the horizon, and it’s…

Feb 13, 2023 •

#47: The Forum Never Advances its Discourse

4chan has a handful of safe-for-work discussion forums that are pretty good. 4chan is not just (in)famous because of its raucous not-safe-for-work…

Feb 7, 2023 •

December 2022

#46: The Algorithm dictates my love for Norm Macdonald

The Canadian comedian Norm Macdonald died just over a year ago, in September 2021. As is often the case for public figures and entertainers, upon the…

Dec 11, 2022 •

#45: Conviction in the Self: Kanye West

For the first time in two decades, Kanye is on an island. It’s not a nice island. He’s hanging out with Nick Fuentes, praising Hitler, and going so far…

Dec 3, 2022 •

November 2022

#44: Base Rates of Error

Whenever you have some key measurement that you try to optimize, it is almost always the case that the optimal measurement is not quite 100%. Take the…

Nov 16, 2022 •

#43: No More Tipping

Here’s a crazy prediction: tipping is going to go away in the United States. It’ll be uncommon outside of high-end service experiences within five to…

Nov 12, 2022 •

July 2022

#42: Against Food

Imagine this: you’re blessed with opposable thumbs and breathtaking mental faculties. You have a notion of object permanence. You can use language, do…

Jul 17, 2022 •

March 2022

#41: Covid Policy Killed my Grandmother

In February 2020, my grandmother was 95 years old. She lived in a nursing home. As Covid flared up, policymakers around the world struggled to align on…

Mar 6, 2022 •

December 2021

#40: The City of Palliative Care

Where the rational drug addict goes to die

Dec 4, 2021 •

November 2021

#39: Pornography is Boring

Let's talk about how we interact with the most taboo of all media.

Nov 27, 2021 •

October 2021

#38: Brands are Dead, Long Live Ghost Brands

What's all this stuff on Amazon?

Oct 31, 2021 •

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