Humanitarian Unknown 054.
1. The Last Decision by the World’s Leading Thinker on Decisions
"Around March 22, Daniel Kahneman, who had turned 90 that month, started emailing a personal message to several dozen of the people he was closest to. On March 26, he left his family and flew to Switzerland. His email explained why: 'This is a goodbye letter I am sending friends to tell them that I am on my way to Switzerland, where my life will end on March 27.'
How did the world’s leading authority on decision-making make the ultimate decision? How closely did he follow his own precepts on how to make good choices?"
By Jason Zweig .
2. The Necessity of Nussbaum
"Martha Nussbaum’s philosophy is dynamic and challenging, but also elegant and lucidly written: she is the thinker of our time".
Great reminder of the importance of M. Nussbaum, Amartya Sen, and the capabilities approach.
From Nigel Warburton .
3. Shooting an Elephant in Botswana
"Trophy hunters make easy villains, and African elephants are easy to love. The world’s largest land animals, they stick together in multi-generational matriarchal herds. They call each other by names, and when one dies, they linger over their bodies, seeming to mourn each other. But in Botswana, home to more elephants than any country in the world, the picture is more complicated."
From Anthony J. Wallace .
4. Preparing for the Intelligence Explosion
"The intelligence explosion demands not just preparation, but humility: a clear-eyed understanding of both the magnitude of what's coming and the limits of our ability to predict it. Careful preparation now could mean the difference between an intelligence explosion that empowers humanity and one that overwhelms it. The future is approaching faster than we expect, and our window for thoughtful preparation may be brief."
Will MacAskill has a new (and very long) white paper on AI future(s).
5. A Genocidal Militia in Sudan Controls a Key Ingredient in Coke and Pepsi
"For two years, Hisham Salih Yagoub has fielded calls from frantic drivers across wartorn Sudan asking him to pay thousands of dollars to the genocidal paramilitary group that has torn the country apart – extortion to get his truckloads of gum arabic to the port. Gum arabic?acts as an emulsifier in consumer goods and household brands around the world. A Sudanese militia that the US has accused of committing genocide controls essential parts of?the supply chain."
Great piece from Simon Marks .
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6. What the Rise of AI-Powered Weapons Reveals About the State of Modern Warfare
"Lethal autonomous weapons are still in their infancy. However, geopolitical imperatives, bottomless defense budgets, and the lack of multilateral agreement on acceptable use make it likely that the deployment of AI on the battlefield will grow rapidly over the coming years. It has been argued that AI weapons will constitute the third revolution in warfare, after gunpowder and nuclear arms."
Super interesting from Christopher Summerfield.
7. North Korea Becomes Third-Largest Government Bitcoin Holder After Bybit Hack
North Korea is now the third-largest government Bitcoin holder, thanks to a $1.5 billion Bybit hack by its Lazarus Group. With 13,562 BTC, it surpasses Bhutan and El Salvador.
Reported by Rebecca Denton .
8. Why Invest in Fundamental Research? A Former Nazi Explains.
"Back in 1970, Sister Mary Jucunda wrote NASA, decrying large investments in science. Former Nazi scientist Ernst Stuhlinger, brought to the US at the end of WWII, penned a now-famous letter detailing precisely why these investments are essential. It’s a lesson we all must remember in today’s world."
From Ethan Siegel.
9. Could Conquest Return?
"It’s only a century since US diplomats first persuaded the world that it’s wrong for countries to annex their neighbours".
From Kerry Goettlich .
10. Just Another Liberalism – The Strange Persistence of Economic Man
"If critique could kill, neoliberalism would long be dead. So far, however, neither decades of intellectual opposition from the left and right nor the past decade of populist politics has done more than erode some measure of neoliberalism’s ideological preeminence."
By Blake Smith.