infinity
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On video-conferencing and mythological scribes
One thing that I hope remains with us when we return (in 2034?) to having meetings in real life: speaking one at a time and paying careful attention not to interrupt people. And to accompany that, not talking in a nonstop way that doesn’t create gaps for people to jump into occasionally*. Video meetings are…
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On the COVID-19 Crisis
Some tentative conclusions based on my reading of epidemiological models and qualitative reports: 1. The most effective strategy so far involves a combination of widespread testing, social distancing, elevated hygiene, and tech-enhanced contact tracing. If these steps are done well, lockdowns might be fully avoidable. This has been the strategy of Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea,…
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Brinjal Curry!
I mentioned making my mother’s brinjal curry on Facebook, and some people asked for the recipe. I never really liked brinjal as a kid. Then one day my mother served this dish at a dinner party, and I saw the light. 🙂 Here is what my mother emailed me years ago, for people who already…
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A jolt to the system
A complete disruption of normality is something many people secretly (and not-so-secretly) fantasize about. So now it’s here. It’s immensely stress-inducing, but also an opportunity to really rethink how we’ve set up our economies and our cultures. In previous “shocks”, elites have forced changes that were ultimately anti-people. Can we beat these elites at their…
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Calmly preparing for the coronavirus outbreak is the rational thing to do
I wrote this on Facebook, but thought it might be useful to share it more widely. This is not a neuroscience post. Last weekend is when I started to take the coronavirus issue seriously. ‘Seriousness’ doesn’t imply panic, but it does imply taking the time to read about what is happening and to find out…
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On the neuroscience of creativity
I was asked the following question on Quora recently: What part of the brain is responsible for linear thinking? What part of the brain is responsible for creativity? Thinking [1] [2] is very poorly understood, but broadly speaking in seems to involve the prefrontal cortex (PFC), with a special role for the dorsolateral PFC. Other…