links, thinkies
Apr. 10th, 2018 09:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flamingswordHere is a long read on the Neanderthals, the Denisovans, and how modern humans interbred with both of them. I like the fact that at the end it talks frankly about the genetic difference in some population traits without linking those to moral concepts or weird ideas about nationalism or racism. It's a hard line to walk.
And then they recreated the DNA of ancient icelanders using math which I have to admit is pretty cool as a use for math. Way to go, computers!
Humans have a long history of seeing something and either eating it, destroying it, or trying to fuck it, sometimes all three. So it's good to know that our ancient ancestors started that way before anyone could blame it on Millenials or the West or decaying social mores. Not that that's going to stop the people who already do it.
In other news, I've found a way to combine meditation with worrying to get my background brain noise to churn out solutions and useful observations. You figure out what your assumptions and situations are that are generating a problem, then one by one you flip them around to see what would be true if you were wrong about something or changed one of the behaviors that was generating the problem.
It is really useful to look at life that way, because it gets you used to being wrong and changing your mind about things. It helps you let go, while solving your problems. It feels like a cross between Buddhism and rationality.
And then they recreated the DNA of ancient icelanders using math which I have to admit is pretty cool as a use for math. Way to go, computers!
Humans have a long history of seeing something and either eating it, destroying it, or trying to fuck it, sometimes all three. So it's good to know that our ancient ancestors started that way before anyone could blame it on Millenials or the West or decaying social mores. Not that that's going to stop the people who already do it.
In other news, I've found a way to combine meditation with worrying to get my background brain noise to churn out solutions and useful observations. You figure out what your assumptions and situations are that are generating a problem, then one by one you flip them around to see what would be true if you were wrong about something or changed one of the behaviors that was generating the problem.
It is really useful to look at life that way, because it gets you used to being wrong and changing your mind about things. It helps you let go, while solving your problems. It feels like a cross between Buddhism and rationality.