https://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mzbet5736c23Here it is now -- my stake in the ground for "what is consciousness?": It's the present limit of meta-attention. It means that people and cats are conscious, and drosophila are not, while honeybees - maybe. Robots and agentic AI's could be conscious, although current designs aren't. #neuroskyence01 Nov 2026 17:52 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mzbet5736c23https://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mz7m5pawzc2wStill thrashing about in incoherent pretheorization: "it is what goes away with dreamless sleep or under general anaesthesia, and what returns after waking up or while dreaming." -- anesthetized AIs?!! Three reasons why AI is not conscious and perhaps never will be https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03313-701 Nov 2026 00:58 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mz7m5pawzc2whttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3myfj66v3ws2lIn their need to justify their sins of today, effective altruists make a fundamental math error. Ultimate possible futures are uncountable, and assigning a risk to any particular outcome involves dividing by infinity, i.e. p(anything) = 0, e.g. p(doom) https://www.marketplace.org/episode/2026/10/05/inside-the-mindset-of-ai-safety-workers21 Oct 2026 15:55 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3myfj66v3ws2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mxwqjbjf7c2x"Compositional control" is a dynamical foundation for higher order theories of conscious action. Assia Chericoni and associates have concluded that it works on control theory rather than microeconomic principles. Nature 658, pp.163-173 (2026) https://postlab.psych.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2238/2026/08/Chericonietal2026.pdf #neuroskyence15 Oct 2026 18:57 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mxwqjbjf7c2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mxennjxcbs2lDeb Olin Unferth's "Earth 7" makes the Jackpot of @greatdismal.bsky.social seem optimistic. A short, yet meandering novel of a few socially disabled people on a planet whose top species has lost the will to survive. Building arks without recognizing ecosystems. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/241125684-earth-708 Oct 2026 14:18 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mxennjxcbs2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mwognifx2c2tCan't get to economic utopia if you don't say what it is. Karl Marx described one -- seems like nobody else has since him. Here's mine: - High median per capita GDP - Low GINI inequality index - Universal healthcare - Universal baseline housing - Universal baseline income (1/2) #econsky29 Sep 2026 18:14 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwognifx2c2thttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mv3tu6fn3c2rThe cat is out of the bag, and it's going to take a Y2K-scale effort to get it back in. Specifically, an AI Large Language Model with no guardrails that can run on a high end PC has been released. The defense program is the same as it was in 2000, except with AI red teams. https://jyn.dev/a-year-to-fix-security/09 Sep 2026 15:24 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv3tu6fn3c2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mtz3vminkk2rCan the US Constitution be repaired? The short answer is "no". But times can change. Priorities: - Term limits & revised selection for the Supreme Court - Make the Senate "one person, one vote" - Eliminate the Electoral College - Term & Age Limits for everyone https://medium.com/@GMcKCypress/the-four-worst-defects-in-the-us-constitution-4c3da2abb3a2?sk=a3914bbad59e64ed4f62442ca49672c026 Aug 2026 19:45 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtz3vminkk2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mtwh54aphc2g"Robot beats Usain Bolt's record". How long until "Robot beats 4 minute mile"? Maybe longer than you might think. Self-powered robots suffer from a "robot equation". To run farther, they need bigger batteries, whose extra weight demands even more power, etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsiolkovsky_rocket_equation25 Aug 2026 18:28 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtwh54aphc2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mtcbdci23c2vThe next social support frontier after #medicareforall is Social Security for Everyone. We already have SS for retirees and SSI for the disabled and others who can't work. Simply fill in the gap between with SS-W for all workforce members. Try to ignore AI bros' nonsense. And don't call it #UBI17 Aug 2026 17:51 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtcbdci23c2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mst6a6tgw22z"There is no Antimemetics Division" boldly goes into realms forbidden to Platonist philosophers: reified autonomous memes with (retro)active mental camouflage. Avoid this story if you're susceptible to existential paranoia. It's an entertaining read otherwise, though weak in characterization.11 Aug 2026 17:46 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mst6a6tgw22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3msopbpgz322vBuilding a high-speed railroad through Grimes County was prohibited because it would destroy the rural lifestyle, yet this behemoth is approved without a peep of resistance. For the math impaired, the fab is supposed to be 10,000,000 m^2, which is 10 square kilometers. https://electrek.co/2026/08/06/tesla-spacex-terafab-grimes-county-16-8-billion/09 Aug 2026 23:08 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3msopbpgz322vhttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mrpuwcceds2tMicrobiologist Jane Cook tells a good story of pasteurization and probiotics, & almost misses the most important fact: There are over *800 different families* of bacteria in the gut, & we don’t know which are important. Marketing a single strain is vastly premature https://taxa.substack.com/p/how-to-survive-boiling-water28 Jul 2026 16:56 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrpuwcceds2thttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mrfowhjqgc2jWhere I live, I can't even see the North Star on some clear nights. Even in "dark sky" cities like Albuquerque the stars are not that visible. "Bad decisions have turned efficient technology into a driver of light pollution." Paris may have the fix. https://spectrum.ieee.org/led-light-pollution https://spectrum.ieee.org/led-light-pollution?utm_source=techalert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=techalert-07-23-26&utm_content=httpsspectrumieeeorgledlightpollution&mkt_tok=NzU2LUdQSC04OTkAAAGjLngOP0U0zr4jFJAajQRy6-SI83JEs4xhYeK06bcPPPv_stk3Xn1SiCanG9gxXdc88uqt-vsI-R_nzoaY9R5k6ShEsg-c0J1vaj6lUMUj7v9LyQ24 Jul 2026 15:42 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrfowhjqgc2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mqxfhud6z22oI think we’ve entered a new stage of capitalism. The goal of late stage capitalism was to consider customer-abusive monopoly or oligopoly as normal rather than pathological. The new model has abandoned making money entirely, accumulating wealth without need for profitability. Promises are enough.18 Jul 2026 23:16 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqxfhud6z22ohttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mqferixhic27Saw a Tesla robotaxi on FM 1960 in Houston yesterday, 20 miles from downtown, in the middle lane of 3, driving smoothly in traffic, with a steering wheel and a safety driver. I was somehow surprised to see it’s as small as a 2-seater sports car Fun fact: it had no rear window. Legal here, I guess11 Jul 2026 19:15 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqferixhic27https://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mqcsa3uccs2t@marketplace.org & many other news outlets, including Marketplace's own Elizabeth Trovall are reporting many World Cup visitors are astounded by Costco & other giant supermarkets. They should be aware that the hypermarket was invented by Auchan, a French company. Ours had an awesome cheese section10 Jul 2026 18:38 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqcsa3uccs2thttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mqcqoj3b3c2gAge verification for apps and websites creates enormous, probably irresistable temptations for government surveillance. Zero knowlege proofs could provide the assurance that politicians claim to want, without spurious leaks. Too bad they have so many problems in reality. https://brave.com/blog/zkp-age-verification-limits/10 Jul 2026 18:10 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqcqoj3b3c2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mq45f34rq222Genome-wide association studies have identified 100s of loci for mental illness: major depression - 635 schizophrenia - 378 Parkinson’s disease - 134 Alzheimer’s disease - 127 autism spectrum disorder - 185 Conservative activists’ worst nightmare: no single group to blame; no silver bullet cure.08 Jul 2026 03:09 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mq45f34rq222https://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mptoptn6cc2rBenjamin Franklin might have said, when asked what kind of government we built, "A republic, if you can keep it." According to historians, at that time, 40% of the population preferred a King, 40% were for an independent republic, and 20% were undecided. 250 years later, not much has changed. 🧨💥🇺🇸04 Jul 2026 18:25 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mptoptn6cc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mpom7klpyk2pOn July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted a resolution "That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States". The Declaration signed on July 4 was just a formality. Happy Independence Day! https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/lee-resolution02 Jul 2026 17:57 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpom7klpyk2phttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mpgyokwt2c2eWhen urbanists talk about robotaxis, someone always pipes up with the assertion that "robotaxis are bad, they will cause traffic congestion." So, why don't human-driven taxis (Uber, Lyft, or heaven forbid, conventional taxis) cause congestion? It's like they can't imagine demand displacement.29 Jun 2026 17:19 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpgyokwt2c2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mpbyklbejc2nIt's like a Conservative prototype of the Turing Police in William Gibson's @greatdismal.bsky.social Neuromancer. Dangerously smart AI's aren't regulated universally, just allowed for some privileged group of companies and withheld from everyone else. https://www.semafor.com/article/06/27/2026/us-releases-powerful-anthropic-model-mythos-to-some-us-companies27 Jun 2026 17:33 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpbyklbejc2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mp5s533jb22mIn scifi shows like "The Expanse", handheld devices are often semi-transparent. This could be simulated in current-day #iphones or #ipads by geometrically mapping the background view from the back-facing camera with face tracking data from the front-facing camera. Why isn't this happening already?26 Jun 2026 01:28 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mp5s533jb22mhttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3movoedtmec2tAlmost missed it: Two-phase review is the way to solve the “publication bias” crisis of only publishing positive results. Review goals and methods; commit to publication; collect & analyze data; review-2 to confirm faithful execution of plan; publish. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01629-y22 Jun 2026 19:59 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3movoedtmec2thttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mnzvxmc7uc2wI love baked potatoes, but can't eat them because with my Type 2 diabetes, they trigger a hypoglycemic episode a few hours later. There's a solution: homemade low-carb potatoes! Bake, refrigerate, bake again. It's like magic, thanks to "resistant starch". https://hopkinsdiabetesinfo.org/what-is-resistant-starch/11 Jun 2026 19:01 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnzvxmc7uc2whttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mmz2qoqonk2pTo understand why AI will not inevitably destroy humanity, consider this: if two heads are better than one, there’s already a superintelligent, inhuman, amoral entity on this planet whose explicit mission is to maximize production of paper clips, named Acco Brands, and it’s failed.29 May 2026 17:28 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmz2qoqonk2phttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mmufvwraac2hThe hate for the new electric Ferrari Luce is amazing, but nobody should be surprised. Fans want a car that has big power bulges for a howling V12. Jay Leno called it years ago, when he predicted that gasoline powered cars would become like horses, owned for hobby purposes, not for transportation.27 May 2026 21:05 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmufvwraac2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/gmckcypress.bsky.social/post/3mmm7pfhf322wIn Ursula K. LeGuin's 1971 novel The Lathe of Heaven, while they were struggling out of various dystopias, people drove battery powered "batcars". My next automobile is likely to be an electric one: it's absolutely going to be called the Batmobile.24 May 2026 14:52 +0000at://did:plc:mkpwook7mmicmpeclydpyl4e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmm7pfhf322w