Jonathan Bartlett

Gold coins in the form of bitcoin on a bag with dollars

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 10, 2022

Categorized
Cryptocurrency, Law

Tagged
Featured, Heather Morgan, Ilya Lichtenstein}

DOJ Arrests Couple for Huge Bitcoin Heist — Who Are They?

_{Cryptocurrency doesn’t depend only on technology; it depends on trust, and trustworthiness} _{Jonathan Bartlett

February 10, 2022

4

Cryptocurrency, Law}

On the morning of February 8, DOJ announced that they had made an arrest in the $3.6 billion Bitcoin heist from Bitfinex from 2016. They arrested Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan. However, little information was conveyed about the pair. Some digging, however, revealed two individuals by those names who worked together in a variety of technology startups, at least one of which is cryptocurrency-based. While we don’t know for certain if these are the same individuals, the profiles are very similar, and other media seem to be reporting that they are the same. The profile here is on the two individuals we were able to identify, and have not confirmed they are identical to the ones in the Read More ›

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 7, 2022

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance

Tagged
Autopilot, full self driving, Tesla}

Driving Technology Needs Public Scrutiny

_{It is not good enough for safety-related data to be made available to regulators. They must be made available to the public at large} _{Jonathan Bartlett

February 7, 2022

4

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance}

As more and more automation is added to automobiles, the need for public review and scrutiny becomes ever more clear. Unlike other technologies, cars are used on public roads at high velocities, so everyone has an interest in understanding the safety implications of decisions made by car manufacturers. As such, it is important that all safety-related data be made publicly available and subject to public scrutiny. It is not good enough for these things to be made available to regulators. They must be made available to the public at large. To see why, let’s look at the history of Tesla claims about the safety of its Autopilot system. Note that the Autopilot system, despite the confusing name, is not the same thing Read More ›

Robot hand making contact with human hand on dark background 3D rendering

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
January 31, 2022

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance

Tagged
Elon Musk, Moravec's Paradox, Optimus, Robots, Tesla}

Musk Goes All-In on the Tesla Robot

_{Musk puts all other projects on hold to pursue the dream of eliminating human labor, despite the reality that humans are irreplaceable} _{Jonathan Bartlett

January 31, 2022

5

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance}

In August, during Tesla’s “AI Day” presentations, Musk unveiled the “Tesla Robot.” Or, in reality, a dancing person in a robot costume, along with some made-up specifications about the robot. Many (including the present writer) found this idea for a product line ludicrous, and a mere headline grab. However, in a recent conference call with investors, Elon Musk has doubled down on the Tesla Robot, now named “Optimus,” as being the foundation for the future of the company. In fact, it looks like Tesla has put all of its other development projects on hold in order to work on the robot. The Cybertruck (announced 2019, originally expected in 2021), Semi-truck (announced in 2017, originally expected in 2020), and Roadster 2.0 (announced in 2017, Read More ›

Portrait of a Beautiful lion, lion in the dark

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
January 25, 2022

Categorized
Peer Review, Science

Tagged
Nature (journal), predatory journals, Scholarly Publishing}

Will the Real “Predatory Journal” Please Stand Up?

_{Large publishers serve themselves by painting "predatory journals" with a broad brush} _{Jonathan Bartlett

January 25, 2022

5

Peer Review, Science}

The scientific publishing industry has been on a hunt for what it calls “predatory journals.” They want to make sure that all scientific publications occur in “legitimate” and “reputable” journals. Additionally, they encourage scholars to avoid “predatory” journals which are there merely to enrich themselves by having you pay for access. While I agree with these ideas in principle, I’ve noticed more and more that the way that these principles are applied has been, well, incredibly self-serving for the journals. To begin with, let’s look at a commentary on predatory journals published in 2019 in the journal Nature: Predatory journals are a global threat. They accept articles for publication — along with authors’ fees — without performing promised quality checks for issues such Read More ›

Programming source code abstract background

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
January 3, 2022

Categorized
Programming

Tagged
NoSQL databases}

NoSQL Databases are the Problem, Not the Solution

_{NoSQL means that you will be continually rewriting your code} _{Jonathan Bartlett

January 3, 2022

4

Programming}

It’s amazing how much we forget about our own history. Many people think that NoSQL databases are the “next big thing” in technology, and that we should write all of our core applications using them. However, NoSQL databases actually predate relational databases, and common relational databases were established to solve the problems that NoSQL brings. What are the advantages of NoSQL databases? There are essentially two — they are fast, fast, fast, and they can scale, scale, scale. This much is true. However, if you aren’t building the next Facebook, you probably don’t need that much speed and scale. The fact is, this much speed and scale comes at a cost, and, even in the 1970s, with the limited computers Read More ›

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
December 29, 2021

Categorized
Economics

Tagged
Featured, Government spending (and transparency), Government spending (checkbook model), Models (mental models), Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), Taxation (and transparency), Thomas Sowell (on the goal of economics), Transparency (and government spending)}

Mental Models for What Government Does With Our Money

_{Models used by pedantic experts, even if more accurate, confuse instead of clarify the key difference between taxation and government debt} _{Jonathan Bartlett

December 29, 2021

6

Economics}

We live by mental models. Although we rarely take the time to think about it, any time we reason about something we are using a mental model. Sometimes those models are close to reality, and sometimes they are not. When you turn your steering wheel, it does in fact turn your tires — but power steering adds quite a bit of assistance. So the mental model is close to correct but not exactly true. Similarly, in chemistry, multiple models of the atom are usually taught. In the widely used Rutherford model (also called the “planetary model”), electrons “orbit” the nucleus at different distances. However, this model was not found to be precisely true. A more precise view of the atom Read More ›

Many assorted old books lays in the stacks as background front view close up

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
December 13, 2021

Categorized
Peer Review

Tagged
Sokal hoax}

Will the Sokal Hoaxes Worsen the Academic Echo Chamber?

_{When only mainstream thinking is allowed, insularity and echo chambers are the result} _{Jonathan Bartlett

December 13, 2021

4

Peer Review}

The latest spate of academic hoaxes, which includes not only the latest Sokal hoax, but also fake papers being published in journals such as the Arabian Journal of Geosciences, is a major cause for concern. While the hoaxes themselves are problematic, what is likely to be worse is the ongoing fallout for researchers and new ideas. Academics has long had a problem of being insular. Many papers are published on the basis of your status in academics, not the quality of the paper itself. This is not to say that the papers didn’t legitimately pass peer review (though that is questionable in some cases), but rather that the editor decides which papers are “worthy” of peer review based on the editor’s knowledge Read More ›

Bull's eyes and head close-up, black and white photo of a bull.

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
December 6, 2021

Categorized
Peer Review, Science

Tagged
Alan Sokal, Sage Owens, Sokal hoax}

Be On the Lookout for More Sokal Hoaxes

_{If you spot a Sokal hoax, let us know by tagging @cnaintelligence on Twitter} _{Jonathan Bartlett

December 6, 2021

4

Peer Review, Science}

In a previous article, we noted that a group of researchers have been testing the rigor of social science journals by submitting fake articles and data in order to demonstrate problems in these branches of academics. These hoaxes, known as Sokal hoaxes (named after the original hoaxer, Alan Sokal), have now begun their third round, with the first detected paper in the journal Higher Education Quarterly. The paper, “Donor money and the academy: Perceptions of undue donor pressure in political science, economics, and philosophy,” has now been retracted, but it looks like this is not quite the end of the matter. The Chronicle of Higher Education managed to get in contact with the Sokal hoaxers. While their identities are anonymous, they responded to emails sent to the Read More ›

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
December 2, 2021

Categorized
Peer Review, Science

Tagged
Academic hoaxes (value questioned), Alan Sokal, Featured, Higher Education Quarterly (Sokal hoax 2021), Michael Crichton, Sokal hoax, Sokal Squared (2017ff), Steven Hayward}

Are Sokal Hoaxes Really Helping Reform Science?

_{The evidence is mixed. The current prank on Higher Education Quarterly prompts some questions} _{Jonathan Bartlett

December 2, 2021

6

Peer Review, Science}

It happened. Again. In 1996, physicist Alan Sokal submitted a mostly-nonsense paper to the journal Social Text. The purpose? To show that the social sciences, especially the critical theorists, were not intellectually rigorous. His paper, “Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity,” was written so that anyone who was familiar with quantum gravity would know that it was a joke. Therefore, when it was accepted, it was obvious that no rigorous review process was in place. The journal apparently just accepted anything that sounded “intellectual-ish” and conformed to the editors’ idea of what scholarship looked like. It became known as the Sokal hoax. In 2017, a group of researchers began a similar hoax, later tagged as Sokal Squared. The goal, again, was to show that what the authors call “grievance studies” are undermining real scholarship by allowing nonsense to pass as scholarship. They managed to get several of their fake papers published, for example, Human reactions to rape culture and queer performativity at urban dog parks in Portland, Oregon (May 22, 2018). In fact, for some of the papers that hadn’t been published by the time the experiment ended, the reviewers requested more outlandishness. That brings us to the present day. The education journal Higher Education Quarterly,” which is run by Wiley (a major academic publisher), published a new paper titled “Donor money and the academy: Perceptions of undue donor pressure in political science, economics, and philosophy.” If you take the alleged names of its authors, who cannot be traced to any institution of higher education, “Sage Owens” and “Kal Avers-Lynde III,” the initials spell out: S.O.K.A.L. III It is unclear at this writing what this third iteration of the Sokal Hoaxes is trying to prove. At Power Line, Steven Hayward suggests that the overall goal is to show that any paper can be published if it stokes the biases of leftist editors. If so, the hoaxers have pushed the right buttons: the Koch Brothers, the Federalist Society, right-wing interference… The problem? As search has demonstrated, the funders they study don’t actually fund the research they are studying and some of the organizations have been defunct through the entire period of study. One of them appears entirely fictitious. While we still don’t know who wrote “SOKAL III” or why, I think it is good to take a moment and reflect on academic hoaxes in general, and what they indicate. The goal of the hoaxers is to demonstrate that critical theory and “grievance studies” journals are only pseudo-academic. They want to show that obviously wrong papers get through as long as they conform to the style and expectations of the journal. So did these hoaxers succeed in their aim? To begin with, I should say that it is not the job of an editor or reviewer to catch falsified data. Journals assume that data associated with an article is legitimate and was legitimately obtained. Now, there are times when data is obviously wrong, and a worthwhile editor or reviewer should catch that. However, it is not the job of the reviewers to verify or repeat the experiment. They trust the reporting and merely make sure that the reasoning about the data is correct. Therefore, a proper hoax must illustrate more than just acceptance of falsified data. It has to illustrate acceptance of wrong reasoning about that data. Or, at minimum, the data must be so obviously wrong that any worthwhile reviewer would be able to spot it. However, there are other requirements of a proper experiment that the “Sokal squared” hoaxers seem to have left out. In order to show that the social science journals they targeted are more problematic than science journals, they would have needed a control group. Note that none of the Sokal hoaxers tried submitting nonsense to a science journal. Even other Darwinists often complain about “just-so” stories in evolutionary biology, and especially in evolutionary psychology. So why did the hoaxers not dream up an equivalently outrageous just-so biology story to see if it would pass peer review? Were they afraid to know the results? History says that, as long as you are proposing an evolutionary “just so” story, there is almost no idea that is too absurd to be published in even the topmost journals. The original Sokal hoax, too, had problems. The journal it was submitted to, Social Text, was not a peer-reviewed journal. In other words, the journal was not even claiming to have the same scholarship standards as science journals. In fact, they were relying on Sokal himself to provide the expertise on physics, which was the primary reason for including him. So, while I am in basic agreement with the hoaxers about the general quality of critical theory and “grievance studies” journals, I find it odd that the hoaxers, so certain of their proposition, seem to be unscientific in their approach to finding out the answers. In fact, we don’t even need to go into hoaxes to see that the same sort of implicit bias can infect ordinary science journals. As noted by Michael Crichton and followed up on here at Mind Matters News, science journals have been ready to publish whatever the latest trendy topic is for decades, no matter how bad the science content. Then, for topics that are less trendy, they will sometimes retract legitimate papers which have been properly reviewed simply because the topic is out of favor. If an idea is in favor, then, as we’ve seen, the requirements for rigor are relaxed significantly. So, while I appreciate the attempts of the Sokal hoaxers to demonstrate biases and poor scholarship in the social sciences, I fear that those in the harder sciences will use this as an excuse to ignore their own problems with bias and poor scholarship. Note: “SOKAL III” has now been retracted. You may also wish to read: Twenty years on, aliens still “cause global warming” Over the years, the Jurassic Park creator observed, science has drifted from its foundation as Read More › Read More ›

Multimedia video concept on TV set in dark room

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 15, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

Tagged
Nasir Ahmed, This Is Us}

Culture Watch: “This is Us” Recognizes Limits of Machines

_{Let's hope that this becomes a trend of popular culture dealing with the realities of technology and its limitations} _{Jonathan Bartlett

November 15, 2021

3

Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture}

Most people do not recognize the inherent limitations of machines and algorithms. This is true even more in popular culture, which seems to be fixated on a narrative of machines becoming sentient and taking over. However, in a recent episode of the popular TV show “This is Us,” the limitations of computer algorithms came to the forefront, with the show not only recognizing the outlines, but getting the details correct. You might wonder why a TV drama is getting involved in the technical details of a discussion on the limits of computation. “This is Us” is a TV show which emphasizes the connections between generations — how the altruism and selfishness as well as the accomplishments and failures of each Read More ›

Ghostwriter In Office. Creative Ghost Writer

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 15, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Economics

Tagged
Artificial Intelligence (AI), ghost work, Ghost Work (book)}

Book Review: “Ghost Work” Flops in Economic Understanding

_{"Ghost workers" are those unseen workers behind artificial intelligence} _{Jonathan Bartlett

November 15, 2021

7

Artificial Intelligence, Economics}

Here at Mind Matters, we have often covered the way that humans are used to supplement Artificial Intelligence. Artificial intelligence has generally been misunderstood as replacing human effort in society, while, in reality, it is usually leveraging it, instead. Whether using humans to find good training data, mining content for intentionality, or even using humans directly within machine learning algorithms, today’s most prominent “AI” systems are actually strange hybrids of humans and computers. As a matter of fact, the market for human supplementation of AI is so large that Amazon has an entire service built around it. While much of this work is done either for free (oftentimes through games on the Internet) or through traditional paid office work, a growing amount is being done through “microtasks,” through systems Read More ›

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 8, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Military

Tagged
"Big Dog" robot, "Spot", Boston Dynamics, National Grid, Pet Man, reconnaissance machines, robotics, semi-autonomous weapons}

Boston Dynamics’ Famous Robot Dog Being Put to Work

_{Long stalled in the area of research and development, "Spot" is now being prepared for its first job} _{Jonathan Bartlett

November 8, 2021

2

Artificial Intelligence, Military}

Boston Dynamics is a robotics innovation company that has been best known for “converting capital into viral YouTube videos.” Their first sensation was over a decade ago, when they released the legendary breakthrough “Big Dog” robot video. What was unique about the robot dog was its ability to traverse a diverse array of terrain. Additionally, as can be seen in the video, it even handled sudden impacts well. Boston Dynamics continued to develop these multi-terrain walkers, coming up with a more humanoid design with “Pet Man.” While Boston Dynamics’ robots have long been an area of research and development, they have recently been put to work. The current incarnation, known as “Spot,” is currently being outfitted for doing what it Read More ›

white marble statue of man with beard in detail

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 1, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence

Tagged
classical logic, Jonathan Bartlett, Logic}

Coming to the Defense of Classical Logic

_{Classical logic belongs to everyone and can be equally wielded by anyone} _{Jonathan Bartlett

November 1, 2021

4

Natural Intelligence}

It seems odd that classical logic would need defending, but, in modern times, this seems to indeed be the case. Many modern scholars see the need for demoting the place of classical logic and viewing it as an aspect of western cultural imperialism. In reality, classical logic is a gift to civilization. It was created in the classical west, but its benefit is that it belongs to everyone and can be equally wielded by anyone who chooses to do so. Many critics of classical logic, like critics of mathematics, have both problematic and justifiable complaints. It is true that many people use classical logic incorrectly, and then use the authority of classical logic as the justification for problematic statements. In Read More ›

Close-up image of coder typing on computer

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
October 18, 2021

Categorized
Programming

Tagged
ai-limits, Alphabet Inc., AlphaGo, AlphaZero, DeepMind, George Montanez, Google, Machine learning (limitations), No Free Lunch theorems, perpetual motion machines, The Famine of Forte, Turing's Halting Problem, universal algorithm}

The Search for the Universal Algorithm Continues

_{Why does machine learning always seem to be rounding a corner, only to eventually hit a wall?} _{Jonathan Bartlett

October 18, 2021

3

Programming}

DeepMind, a part of Alphabet (i.e., Google), has made many headlines in the past. The biggest was its development of AlphaGo, which used reinforcement learning to beat the number one Go player at the time (2017). DeepMind generalized this into AlphaZero, which is supposedly able to solve any two-player game of perfect information. DeepMind has come back into headlines recently with the attempt to build an AI which can generate any algorithm. While they are starting with map data, the goal is to generalize this and generate any desired algorithm. The search for such a “universal algorithm” has been essentially equivalent to the search for a perpetual motion machine in physics. The allure of both is obvious. In physics, if you Read More ›

Bright light Developer programming and coding technology. Website design Safety of tahe social world Cyberspace concept.

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
October 11, 2021

Categorized
Programming

Tagged
code debt, computer code, computer programming}

Code Debt is not Real Debt

_{Equating code debt with monetary debt can lead to strategic technology mistakes} _{Jonathan Bartlett

October 11, 2021

5

Programming}

The term “code debt” in computer programming refers to the idea that certain decisions in writing computer code will lead to future consequences which have to be dealt with. By saving time now, the programmer is setting himself up for the need to take more time later. In other words, he is “borrowing” from the future. While this metaphor is helpful to use in many situations, there are some significant differences between code debt and real debt, and those differences need to be included more often in software development discussions. First, for those who are not familiar with the concept of code debt, let me give a simplified example. Let’s say that I need to deliver a project next week, Read More ›

Smart cars with automatic sensor driving on metropolis with wireless connection

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
October 4, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
Autonomous Vehicles, DeNA, Easy Ride, Levels of autonomy (self-driving cars), Nissan, NTT DoCoMo, self-driving cars, William Dembski}

Nissan Develops Autonomous Taxi Service in Japan

_{Nissan recently chose to advance their pursuit of an autonomous vehicle by developing a taxi service to work in limited locations} _{Jonathan Bartlett

October 4, 2021

4

Artificial Intelligence}

One of the quieter players in the development of autonomous technology over the last decade has been Nissan. They originally announced the development of their autonomous technology in 2013, claiming that it would be fully ready to bring to market by 2020. While Nissan had a more realistic timeline than other companies touting autonomous development, it fell prey to the same failure to realize the actual complications that are inherent in truly autonomous scenarios. A graphic developed by Nissan in 2017 (shown below) shows the naïveté that was rampant during that time period. Nissan imagined that there were four stages to the development of autonomous vehicles— (1) single-lane highway, (2) multi-lane highway, (3) city driving, and then (4) full autonomy. The problem, as we have noted Read More ›

Confused businessman with stressed and worried about working mistake and problems.

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
September 27, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Programming

Tagged
Code, Donald Knuth, entrepreneurship, optimization, software development, tech startups, Technology}

The Entrepreneur’s Worst Mistake In New Technology Ventures

_{As a new entrepreneur, you won't make it to 100,000 users unless the product works well for your customers} _{Jonathan Bartlett

September 27, 2021

5

Business and Finance, Programming}

I’ve worked with many tech startups over the years. By and large there has always been one overriding factor that has caused tech startups to falter — trying to build their application to handle too much traffic upfront. The goal of every tech entrepreneur is for everyone in the country to use their next product. Everyone is going to make the next star application, like Facebook. In order to accomplish this, tech entrepreneurs give a command to their tech team that is probably their worst mistake: “Make the application able to scale to millions of users.” That might sound like a reasonable request, but I can assure you that it is absolutely the worst possible plan of attack. Programming legend Read More ›

Developing programmer Team Development Website design and coding technologies working in software company office

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
September 13, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Programming

Tagged
Outsourcing, software development}

The Two Most Common Problems with Outsourced Code

_{And how to mitigate against them} _{Jonathan Bartlett

September 13, 2021

5

Business and Finance, Programming}

I have had many opportunities to work with developers outside the United States in a variety of capacities. To begin with, let me assure readers that there are great developers all over the world. The sun never sets on the current team I work with. The great thing about software development is that you can find great talent wherever the Internet is. There are great individual developers in every country, but I have found that, in many countries, the culture of software development has not evolved to where it is in America. When hiring individual developers, this rarely matters. The proper developers tend to gravitate to whatever level you are hiring at (or, alternatively, you can have a headhunter screen Read More ›