Why the world gets weird; the Doomsday invention; talking to AIs; self-driving cars and improving cities; our attention and why we should protect it; privacy, wealth & the biocode.

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Special note: I have been ill & bed-bound this week with a strep throat and accompanying fever. During a brief moment of lucidity, I’ve compiled 12 of the top 1000 or so stories featured in EV.

Hope this gives you something approximating good service for a Sunday; and apologies, again. I’ll try to get back to regular programming next week.

If you are a new subscriber to EV, check out the archive of past issues. (Last week’s issue is particularly good.)

Dept of the best-of-the-best

😮 Why the world is getting weirder by Steve Coast (founder of Open StreetMap). Excellent explanation: technology and experience leaving only bizarre edge cases unaddressed. The weirding will continue.

🌟 The Doomsday invention: the New Yorker on Nick Bostrom, artificial intelligence and existential risk. STUNNING LONG READ (est 40 mins, make the time, you deserve it)

👾Stephen Wolfram on how we should talk to AIs. (Moderately technical).

⏱Time capital is our most scarce commodity: time to accept it and adapt; argues EV reader, Albert Wenger. EXCELLENT

😫“I’m so tired of this shit”: the Internet needs an off switch. Maciej Ceglowski’s blistering plea on the Internet, privacy, ads and business models. Unmissable, must read

🚗Networked intelligence and the self-driving car, by me.

🌆 Imagining the driverless city: less traffic, more walking, better housing or longer commutes & streets buzzing like video games. What does the driverless city look like?

🙊How to protect your privacy. EXPERT advice from Edward Snowden. (Also the Fernstein photo essay on the history of privacy is quite cool.)

💰The origin of wealth: Eric Beinhocker brilliantly applies complexity theory and network theory to economic design. Strongly recommended.

🍃 Understanding the biocode. Human genomics is just the beginning. What about the rest of the planet’s DNA?

➰The future of the Web looks like bitcoin.

🐣Consciousness, here, there and everywhere. Tononi and Koch’s new theory of consciousness. This is the hardest piece ever featured on Exponential View.

End notes

Again, a huge apology for not being able to get out a proper EV this week. I was just too sick to do much but sleep & watch 1980s movies for the past 2-3 days (Airplane, Trading Places & Coming to America, if you were wondering).  Thanks for sticking with me!

See you next week!!