ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

IDEAS

The Reason Small Noises May Drive You Nuts

Trigger sounds might be triggering only when they’re made by your spouse, or when you’re already upset. The reason, according to new research, is that misophonia is about more than just the irritating sounds. - Psyche

Does Our Language Really Shape Our World View?

Each language seemingly compels us to talk in a certain way and to see things from a particular perspective. But is this just an illusion? Does each language really embody a different worldview, or even dictate specific patterns of thought to its speakers? - Aeon

Does AI Mean The End Of Intellectual Property?

My right of ownership of some piece of intellectual property bars everyone else from using that property without my consent. I.P. rights have an economic value but a social cost. Is that cost too high? - The New Yorker

Artists Worldwide, Including Annie Ernaux, Pledge To Boycott Germany For Its Attitude Toward Gaza

Their petition reads, "The German state has intensified the repression of its own Palestinian population and those who stand against Israel’s war crimes. ... Palestine solidarity protests are mislabeled as anti-Semitic and banned, activist spaces are raided by police, and violent arrests are frequent." - Hyperallergic

How Writer Octavia Butler Foretold The Future

This is a skill many science fiction writers would like to possess - but it wasn't uncomplicated. "Through the noise of late-20th-century America, Butler heard a clear signal: The future would not be like the present; it would, instead, be a techno-juiced doppelgänger of the past." - The Atlantic

Why It’s So Difficult To Spot Liars

One reason we are such poor lie detectors may be because we tend to believe others are telling the truth more often than we think that others may be lying to us. This is called the “truth bias”: that is, a bias towards believing what others say. - The Conversation

Why Scientists Can’t Give Up Their Chalkboards

No one appreciates the power of this venerable technology better than physicists and mathematicians, who infinitely prefer the humble blackboard to its high-tech rivals. The question is, why? What does slate-and-chalk offer, which cannot be simulated by paper or plastic? - Nautilus

Why You Need To Learn To Think In Probabilities

One of the most important conceptual developments of the past few decades is the realisation that belief comes in degrees. We don’t just believe something or not: much of our thinking, and decision-making, is driven by varying levels of confidence. - Psyche

Britannica Once Published “The World’s 102 Great Ideas.” Ambitious, Yes, But Also A Flawed Fascinating Exercise

Devised at a time before computers were widely available, the index was certainly an impressive achievement. It had taken 24 researchers some five years to complete by hand and had cost nearly a million dollars to produce. - The Conversation

Generative AI Is Still In Its Infancy. We Need To Treat It Like A Child

A.I. is in the phase when kids live like tiny energetic monsters, before they’ve learned to be thoughtful about the world and responsible for others. That’s why I’ve come to feel that A.I. needs to be socialized the way young children are... It needs, in short, to be parented. - The New York Times

When AI Comes For Culture (Who Cares Who Gets Hurt?)

If A.I. is the key to a gleaming utopia or else robot-induced extinction, what does it matter if a few poets and painters got bilked along the way? - The New Republic

Sam Altman: The Unexpected Leaps AI Will Make In 2024

Chatbots will expand well beyond digital text by handling photos, videos, diagrams, charts and other media. They will exhibit behavior that looks more like human reasoning, tackling increasingly complex tasks in fields like math and science. - The New York Times

The First “Influencer” And The Quest For Reality

Beau Brummell’s a really interesting figure. He’s often called the first influencer, the inventor of sponcon (sponsored content). He was a Regency-era (early nineteenth century) London social figure who was not an aristocrat. - The Public Discourse

And Now: The AI Elvis Experience

"The AI generates an authentic version of Elvis, born of original material, but it allows you to do new things with him." - BBC

How Non-Fiction Imagines An “Audience Of Imagined Idiots”

This stance toward the reader as a peer is ultimately, I think, what differentiates good nonfiction from the dross. All the sins of lazy thinking and immature writing I’ve discussed here follow from the author writing for “an audience of imagined idiots." - 3 Quarks Daily

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