#knowledge synthesis

[chiefastro]

Idea Frontier #2: Dynamic Tool Selection, Memory Engineering, and Planetary Computation

Welcome to the second edition of Idea Frontier, where we explore paradigm-shifting ideas at the nexus of STEM and business. In this issue, we dive into three frontiers: how AI agents are learning to smartly pick their tools (and why that matters for building more general intelligence), how new memory frameworks like Graphiti are giving LLMs a kind of real-time, editable memory (and what that…

[shisasan]

John Dee, Monas Hieroglyphica (The Hieroglyphic Monad) Originally published: 1564

[camzverse]

DOING MY LAST AP EXAM OF THE TESTING SEASON TMR

[code31-onthedancefloor]

hm. stebuli head bonks as displays of casual affection...

[revvethasmythh]

every time i see someone suggest the destroy ending being red colored doesn't mean it's renegade I do have to wonder if like. they've engaged with the renegade dialogues in me3 at all. because the destroy ending is really a full culmination of renegade beliefs that come up in-game (the ruthless calculus of war, kill ten billion over there so twenty billion other people can live, valuing organic life above synthetic, etc). like control vs destroy is even a direct retreading of rewrite vs destroy from legion's loyalty mission in me2. rewrite/control are paragon aligned options. choices that value synthetic lives as equal to organic and sacrifice one life (shepard) for the continued survival of an entire race are paragon aligned. destroy eliminates the geth and EDI, it has to or it would cost nothing. and the game is very much trying to make a point about synthetic life being just as valid and worthy as organic, flubbed execution or not, so any option that gets rid of them is ideologically renegade because renegade is the only ideology okay with getting rid of them. of course, the morality system in the game is often confused and many choices from all the games could arguably be flipped, but i do find it interesting that people will defend choosing destroy by calling it a paragon choice despite the fact that it, well, clearly isn't, at least within the moral framework of the game. I think too many people think paragon = good and renegade = evil, neither of which are true. paragon is often fruitlessly naive and renegade is belligerent and unkind, but they're not good and evil. they're just different personalities and ideologies, in extreme ways sometimes, but still. and frankly it would make a paragon shepard far more interesting if they embraced making a renegade decision at the end than it would to try and retcon a way for destroy to be paragon when it isn't

[thedreadvampy]

GOD I love my career path BUT ok like. I spent today at an academic conference on epistemic injustice and I LOVE ACADEMIC CRITICISM. I LOVE ACADEMIC THEORY. The problem is I don't want to BE an academic, it looks like it sucks and also I like to have work with clear material impact. but today has scratched an itch I rarely TRULY get to hit and I want ittttttt. I love PHILOSOPHY I love SEMIOTICS I love EPISTEMOLOGY I love THE PRODUCTION AND COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS it is 90% of what I am thinking about at any given time and nobody outside academia is nearly as interested in it as I am, or if they are then we're using mutually incomprehensible frameworks/language.

academia is like welding, wrestling or bricklaying. I want the opportunity to learn the skills and do it as a hobby but I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT want a career in it and the only ways to get at these things seem to be as vocational paths 😭

[zomb13s]

Fundamentum Fundamentorum

The Foundation of Foundations: The Core Symbiosis of Singularities Abstract This essay lays out the core foundation of Fons’ life work: the unique …Fundamentum Fundamentorum

[manmishra]

🚀 Exciting news! Google has launched Gemini 2.0 and AI Mode, transforming how we search. Get ready for faster, smarter responses to complex queries! Explore the future of AI in search today! #GoogleAI #Gemini2 #AIMode #SearchInnovation

[omegaphilosophia]

The Philosophy of Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis

The philosophy of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis is a triadic structure that represents a process of dialectical reasoning often associated with the work of German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. This dialectical method is a way of understanding the development of ideas, historical progress, and the resolution of contradictions.

Key Concepts in Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis:

Thesis:

The thesis is the initial idea or proposition. It represents an affirmative stance or a state of being that forms the starting point in the dialectical process.

For example, a thesis could be an existing social structure, a philosophical concept, or a political ideology.

Antithesis:

The antithesis arises in response to the thesis and stands in opposition to it. It challenges the thesis by revealing contradictions, limitations, or opposing viewpoints.

The antithesis serves as a negation or critique of the original position, creating a tension or conflict between the two ideas.

Synthesis:

The synthesis is the resolution of the conflict between the thesis and antithesis. It reconciles the two by incorporating elements of both while transcending their contradictions.

The synthesis is not a mere compromise but a higher unity that integrates the opposing forces into a more advanced or complete understanding. This new synthesis can become the thesis in a further dialectical process, starting the cycle again.

Hegelian Dialectic:

Hegel used this triadic method to describe the development of ideas and historical change. He believed that human thought, culture, and history evolve through a process of dialectical progression where each stage emerges from the contradictions of the previous one.

Spirit (Geist), for Hegel, moves through this dialectical process, advancing toward self-realization and freedom. Each historical epoch represents a synthesis of prior contradictions, moving humanity closer to absolute knowledge and freedom.

Example of Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis in Action:

Thesis: Feudalism – A rigid hierarchical social system in medieval Europe.

Antithesis: The Enlightenment – A challenge to the rigidity of feudalism, advocating for equality, individual rights, and democracy.

Synthesis: Modern liberal democracy – A new system that attempts to balance individual freedom (antithesis) with social order (thesis), creating a more evolved form of governance.

Application Beyond Hegel:

While Hegel is most closely associated with this dialectical model, the concept of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis has been applied by other philosophers and theorists:

Karl Marx adapted Hegel's dialectic to form his materialist conception of history, where the dialectic manifests as class struggles, with socialism being the synthesis of capitalism (thesis) and the proletarian revolution (antithesis).

In philosophy, Immanuel Kant's exploration of the antinomies of reason also engages with dialectical thinking, addressing how conflicting propositions can be reconciled through higher reasoning.

Criticisms of the Triadic Structure:

Simplicity: Some critics argue that the thesis-antithesis-synthesis model oversimplifies the complexity of dialectical processes, reducing nuanced debates to binary oppositions.

Determinism: Others suggest that the model implies a deterministic view of history or thought, where progress is inevitable and linear, ignoring the unpredictability and diversity of human development.

Misinterpretation of Hegel: Interestingly, Hegel himself never explicitly used the terms "thesis," "antithesis," and "synthesis" in the systematic way that later interpreters, particularly Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Marxist theorists, did. Hegel's dialectic is more fluid and complex, involving many sublations (Aufhebung) rather than a strict three-step formula.

The philosophy of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis offers a dialectical framework for understanding the progression of ideas, resolving conflicts, and synthesizing opposing viewpoints into higher truths. Whether applied to philosophy, history, politics, or even personal growth, the triadic structure reveals the dynamic and evolutionary nature of thought and human development.

[chipped-chimera]

3 things about this:

Making it opt out is always an asshole move whenever it's anything that's appropriating other's content in any way (unless it is warranted critique - e.g. whatever Hbomberguy feels like doing, but that is 'transformative').

This is actually super good for accessibility and we shouldn't throw that baby out with the bathwater like we always do as soon as someone says "AI".

AI is a tool. It is morally neutral.

I am not against this idea, it's the equivalent of a screen reader condensed into a specific app. This would let people who have not been able to access fanfic access. Accessibility is never a bad thing.

Text To Speech (TTS) has been around for years and honestly I am super hyped that TTS now sounds coherent and realistic instead of stilted and robotic! That opens up a lot of content for those with vision issues! It's great!

Also in MOST legally licensed uses of AI generated voices for TTS, it has been consented to by the individual to have their voice reconstructed. They did work, they were paid for it. The only time TTS is morally bad is when the voice source has been approximated from stolen content. So anyone user-making AI voice TTS from audio clips that have been ripped from anyone non-consentually. This is not a rocket science take, y'all gotta stop knee-jerk reacting to AI being bad immediately. You've been using AI for years. A lot of the shit on your phone technically falls under the 'AI' umbrella (face tracking in photos, algorithmically enhancing pictures when you've zoomed past the physical threshold, text prediction etc.)

That said, yes, the legality grounds are extremely grey-area here. But at the same time I don't think we'd be making the same noise about this if we were talking about someone's desktop screen-reader program which is functionally doing the same thing. This is just that but with internalized bookmarks.

That said, grey area. If lore.fm plans on releasing this completely free, in spirit of what Ao3 is as just a way to increase accessibility for users - great. However any attempt to monetize it, off content they do not own - that is 120% in the 'probably illegal' area and I'm pretty sure is against Ao3's TOS. That's when someone needs to be held accountable.

Take that as you will, but I'm begging people to remember as more things like this are developed that accessibility is a good thing and AI is a tool that is morally neutral. It's all about how it's a. developed and b. used.

Anyway that's today's AI TED talk everybody, as you were.

Hey I don’t know if this is being talked about on Tumblr but thankfully the AO3 subreddit has a conversation going about this app that just went live.

TikTok user unravel.me.now has just launch an app (lore.fm) she is calling “Audible for AO3”. It’s an app that uses AI voices to read out fics.

🚨She is requiring any authors who do not want their fics to be on this app to OPT OUT by emailing team@lore.fm 🚨 🚨She has not given an actual template or how you’re supposed to prove you’re the author or said how her team will process this or how she will keep these requests secure🚨

I do not have this app. I haven’t seen anyone use it yet. According to Reddit users, unravel.me.now’s earlier TikToks stated she envisions the app being able to create libraries stored on that app and to have version of “Spotify wrapped”. That implies that eventually data collection must happen, if it’s not happening currently.

I don’t know the actual capabilities of this app. I don’t know the legalities. I do know that it personally feels like this app is trying to turn AO3 into a content generation source and I haven’t heard of the app allowing you to leave a comment or kudos or interact with the original work.

I’m just sad about this.

[chemistrycongressblog]

chemistry congress

[cutehoons02]

Fast Hearts: Hyung Line F1

In a world where speed and competition are everything, the members of ENHYPEN's Hyung Line are ready to conquer the tracks and win the hearts of the crowd. With an unwavering love for racing and a passion that pushes them to surpass their limits, they face impossible challenges and fierce rivals at every corner of the globe. Between breathtaking travels, podiums earned through sweat and sacrifice, and world championships won with determination, their story is an explosive mix of adrenaline, friendship, and, above all, a love that grows with every turn, under the sign of victory.

Heeseung:

See you on the podium, sweetie!

*pairing: Lee Heeseung F1 Ferrari driver x PR

*trope: only one bed-bad boy Heeseung?

*driver: Lee Heeseung=Charles Leclerc

*synopsis: Being the PR of Ferrari has always been one of your biggest dreams but you would never have expected to find yourself working with Lee Heeseung, the representation of the driver that no sports PR would want to have: flirts with all the girls, is always paparazzato to parties around the world from MonteCarlo to Bali, breaks the heart of his fans miliary both because it is really beautiful and knows that he is but also for his aura untouchable because he is the chosen in house Ferrari. But there is a secret that is coming more and more to the surface, he can't sleep peacefully for months now both because of the countless haters he has in social media but also because he doesn't win a race for almost 6 months and from a driver Ferrari everyone expects more from him. What if the PR of Ferrari was the only one to calm him and put him to sleep? a shared bed, various hotels to travel around the world, beautiful tracks and countless podiums to win...

Sunghoon:

We don’t pray for love,we just pray for cars!

*pairing: Park Sunghoon F1 Red Bull driver x sports Journalist

*trope: Enemies to lovers

*driver: Park Sunghoon=Max Verstappen

*synopsis: Sunghoon is the synthesis of the journalist hater. He respects their work but when a young girl without fears and a little cheeky enters the world of F1 and Sunghoon for him is a disaster. This journalist loves to tease him, sometimes ask inappropriate questions just to make fun of him and drive him crazy. Sunghoon every time he sees her would like to put it in his place because he hates her but at the same time is attracted by her but the problem is that he should not be distracted by anything because he is fighting for the world championship for his first time with Red Bull.

Jay:

We're the Romeo and Juliet of the paddock!

*pairing: Park Jongseong F1 Mercedes driver x daughter of the Red Bull team principal

*trope: Rivals to lovers

*driver: Park Jongseong= Carlos Sainz

*synopsis: Being the daughter of the Red Bull team principal has a lot of advantages: luxury, travel from all over the world, knowledge and free invitations to events. There’s only one rule between you and your dad not to fall in love or go wild with F1 or F2 drivers, but your dad doesn’t know that Jay his former junior driver is now a rookie in Mercedes and has set his sights on the perfect daughter that no one should touch with a finger. Jay and Y/n are part of a romantic story set in the F1 racetrack, go-karts and wonderful places like Monaco, Miami or Singapore as in the Romeo and Juliet story but in 2025.

Jake:

Did i fall in love with Layla's dog sitter?

*pairing: Sim jake F1 Mclaren driver x dogsitter

*trope: opposites attract

*driver: Sim Jake= Lando Norris

*synopsis: Jake loves his dog Layla as if she were his daughter but he is an F1 driver for the McLaren and can not afford to be distracted during the race weekends so look for a perfect candidate among hundreds of girls and boys who send their CV but when he sees your is surprised why you study veterinary then it is perfect. You and Jake always tease because you do not understand anything about F1 and he always has the ready line and is the favorite to bring the title in the future at home mclaren, between fun games with Layla and there will be victories to conquer both on track but also in love.

Hello my friends! I am a huge fan of F1 and on Tumblr I did not find many one-shot inherent in the world of K.pop/F1 so I thought to write 4 stories x the Hyung line meanwhile Enhypen.. You can already find the first one-shot that is focused on Heeseung and if you are interested in the other stories I will continue:)

Write your @ if you want to be tagged under the stories and if you have questions or requests write me below, in private or in messages!

[vistovii]

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐅 𝐍𝐀𝐗 𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐘 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐒!

📌hey there! Anaxanation speaking. today I’ve brought a… typical setup? maybe. but it’s still plenty hot.

𝐩.𝐬. english isn’t my first language, the translation of this text may not be accurate.

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬 & 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 18+ only, student fem!reader x professor Anaxa, smut! (blow job)

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 1,9k

𝐢𝐟 𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭: your karma just got a +1000 boost, cheers❤️‍🔥

Academy of the Grove of Epiphany, sprawled beneath the boughs of the wise Cerces, was renowned not just for cutting-edge research, but also for its... challenging faculty. Professor Anaxagoras was a living legend and a living nightmare. Young, brilliant, with pale green hair pulled into a flawless tail, one eye hidden under a patch, the other a pale aqua with a violet glint – fathomless, utterly devoid of warmth. His course was a filter, sifting out the weak and lazy. He demanded perfection. Uncompromisingly. Sharp-tongued as he was sharp-minded, Anaxagoras shattered the confidence of even the brightest students.

You were far from a weak student – quite the opposite. A genuine star. Popular, charismatic, with a rare knack for grasping complex concepts on the fly. Many professors genuinely valued you, classmates envied you, younger students adored you. You soared in the academic stratosphere... until you collided with Anaxa's gravitational pull.

Submitting your first major paper for his course, you expected top marks, confident in your mastery. Instead, shockingly, you got only a 'Pass' with a curt comment: "Insufficient analytical depth. Superficial." Utterly perplexed, you approached him after class.

"Professor, I cited every key paper on the subject, including your latest dissertation. Where's the superficiality?"

"Citing isn't understanding, Miss Y/N," he replied, not even gracing you with a look. "You listed facts. I expected synthesis. Expectations unmet." Anaxa moved towards the door, leaving you simmering.

Your next papers were even more meticulous. You dug deeper, found obscure connections, consulted other professors. While others cheered a 'Pass', your efforts earned 'Good' marks, but still not 'Excellent'.

Meanwhile, you started catching Anaxagoras's gaze on you more often during your answers – that same analytical, cold, dissecting stare. But sometimes... was that a flicker of... satisfaction? When you stumbled on a tricky question? Or when you brilliantly parried his barb?

After one particularly stellar seminar, he seemed stranger than ever. Packing up, you lingered. Professor Anaxa stood by the lectern, examining some yellowed manuscripts. A chill ran down your spine. You felt his gaze. Long and heavy. But when you turned, he was looking at his notes as if nothing happened, only the corner of his lip was slightly raised. Not a smile. Something closer to a smirk.

However hard you tried to ignore Anaxagoras's quirks, the day came when you couldn't take it anymore. The final straw was your project. You'd poured your soul, your knowledge, and a month of lost sleep and social life into it. Victory and top marks were inevitable. Yet... Bold red ink screamed 'Fail' with another comment: "Misinterpretation of data. See basic textbook, Chapter 3."

"Basic textbook?! Chapter 3?!" Your hand clenched the thick project binder with white-knuckled fury, ready to incinerate every page.

It was an insult. You knew it was flawless; you'd painstakingly cross-referenced the latest research, including his own unpublished data – accessed thanks to your friendship with Hyacine, who couldn't bear your perpetual suffering. Professor Anaxagoras was deliberately marking you down. Why?

Standing in the empty lecture hall, you stared at the cursed paper. Fury boiled inside, mixed with hurt. But suddenly, the pieces clicked. That lingering gaze on your back. That smirk. That interest, carefully masked by icy detachment. Not professional interest. Personal.

Your eyes ignited with the fire of challenge. Did Anaxagoras think he was an impenetrable fortress? An infallible judge? Did he want to play cat and mouse, demeaning your intellect?

"Alright, Professor," a dangerous smile played on your lips, "You want analytical depth? I'll show you depth... you won't expect. Let's see whose ice melts first."

You didn't confront Anaxa immediately. You gave him a day. A day for him to see your unnerving calm after another "failure". A day, perhaps, to let him feel a flicker of disappointment that you hadn't come running to complain. A day for his own tension, his hidden anticipation of something, to build. You knew men like him. Control was everything. And what could be sweeter for such a man than breaking someone else's control? Or... losing his own?

And so, after another lecture, as most students left and shadows lengthened, you headed to his office. Not to plead. Armed. Your weapons were beauty, intellect, and the absolute certainty you'd found his weak spot. You knew you risked everything – your reputation, your place at the academy. But the thrill outweighed the fear. Knocking firmly, you entered the lion's den of Anaxagoras's office without waiting for an answer, ready to ignite the blaze.

The door creaked shut behind you, cutting off the world's noise. Anaxagoras's office was like the man himself: impeccably organized and cold. Tall shelves groaned under ancient scrolls and crystalline specimens, the desk buried under schematics and bubbling flasks. He stood over it like a general surveying a battlefield map, gaze fixed on papers.

"Miss Y/N," Anaxa didn't look up, "Lectures are over. Office hours are posted. Leave." His voice sliced the silence like a scalpel.

You didn't move. The air thickened with tension, crackling like pre-storm ozone.

"I'm not here for consultation, Professor," your insides trembled, but your voice held firm, "I'm here for justice."

Finally, he raised his eyes. In the visible one, like the flicker of a distant star, burned a spark of irritation.

"Justice? Knowledge of theory and the ability to apply it are distinct, Y/N. Your approach lacks sufficient rigor. The mark stands."

"Lacks rigor, does it?" You took a step forward, your shadow falling across his desk, "Or... lacks personal attention?"

Anaxa's brow furrowed. Knuckles whitened around his pen.

"Veiled hints and emotional manipulation are signs of intellectual weakness, Y/N, not strength. They won't help you pass the exam."

"Then what will, Professor?" You circled the desk, closing the distance. The scent of old paper and ink assaulted your senses, "Extra tutorials? A deep dive into... nuances?"

"You're crossing a line." His voice lost some detachment, gaining an edge of steel.

"A line?" Your hand rested lightly on the back of his chair as you leaned in, your lips inches from his ear. Your breath brushed his skin. You saw his jaw tighten, "You're the one blurring it, Professor Anaxagoras. By deliberately marking me down. Why?"

He snapped his head around. Your eyes locked point-blank. A storm raged in his visible eye – anger, warning, and... something else. Scorching. That very hidden interest you'd suspected.

"Leave. Now."

"Or what?" You smiled slowly, predatorily. The hand on the chair slid onto his shoulder. Muscle tensed beneath the dark fabric, "You'll give me another 'Fail'?" Your fingers squeezed lightly, "But what if I offered... an alternative form of knowledge compensation? Guaranteeing an excellent result."

Anaxa didn't look away. His breathing, usually so measured, hitched slightly deeper. He saw your resolve, your challenge. He saw your beauty, usually dismissed with contempt. And he saw the chink in his own supposedly impregnable armor.

"You're playing with fire, Y/N," his voice was low. A warning? Or an invitation?

"Perhaps," you breathed, your lips almost grazing his cheek, "But aren't the purest elements forged in fire, Professor?" Your hand slid down his chest, over his belt buckle, "What do you say? Top marks... for top effort."

He didn't answer with words. Anaxa's hand shot out, grabbing your wrist as your fingers brushed his zipper. But it wasn't rejection. It was a dominant, unyielding grip forbidding retreat. Then, almost imperceptibly, it softened, becoming a guiding touch. His thumb stroked the sensitive skin inside your wrist.

The challenge was accepted.

You sank to your knees on the cool stone floor before him. The high-backed chair made him an observer, the sovereign of this scene. His posture remained impeccable, but tension vibrated through him like a drawn bowstring. His unblinking gaze pinned you.

You took your time. Your fingers found his zipper again, meeting no resistance this time. The fabric parted. Every movement was deliberate theater; you were both actress and director. When the final barrier was removed, and Anaxagoras's arousal stood revealed in all its impressive, pulsing rigidity, a sharp intake of breath hissed above you.

His organ was perfect, like everything about him. Strong, straight, with a delicate tracery of bluish veins beneath smooth skin. The scent of clean linen mingled now with the musky tang of male desire. Heat flooded your own body at the sight.

You leaned forward. The first brush of your lips against the hot skin at his base was feather-light. Anaxa flinched, fingers digging into the armrests. Your tongue traced a slow path up the rigid shaft, unhurried, exploring every ridge, every throb of a vein. The professor responded with a choked groan, stifled deep in his throat.

While one hand encircled his base, applying gentle but firm pressure, your lips closed around the sensitive head, giving it a soft, experimental suck. After a moment's play, you began to move. Slowly down, taking more of his length into the warm, wet depths of your mouth. Your jaw relaxed, your throat opening with each descent. Your free hand rested on his thigh, feeling the powerful muscles clenched tight.

The professor's mask was cracking. His head was thrown back, the eyelid above the patch trembling violently. Sweat beaded on his forehead, strands of hair escaping the tail. His fingers no longer gripped the chair – one hand tangled in your hair, not painfully, but commandingly, guiding the rhythm; the other rested against your neck, his thumb feeling the flutter of your throat muscles with each deep intake.

"Y/N..." It was the voice of a man on the edge, utterly unfamiliar, "Enough... This... experiment..."

But you didn't stop. His loss of control was your victory, your 'A'. The rhythm quickened, your head movements became more confident, deeper. You applied more suction, your tongue working relentlessly against the underside of his shaft. The sounds grew louder: your ragged breaths through your nose, the wet, intimate sounds of connection, the professor's guttural groans escaping through clenched teeth.

The hand in your hair tightened. He involuntarily lifted his hips, meeting your mouth. The pulsing against your tongue became almost unbearable. The moment came. His body jerked sharply, pulling your head flush against him in one final, deep thrust. A hot, salty surge flooded your mouth, pulsing in time with powerful waves of release. You took it, swallowing, tasting the essence of absolute surrender, the broken infallibility of Professor Anaxagoras.

He slumped in the chair, utterly spent, chest heaving. His face was a mixture of blissful exhaustion and profound shock. His hand slowly loosened its grip on your hair, sliding down to cup your cheek.

Slowly pulling back, you looked up at him – this fallen god of intellect – and felt a heady rush of power. Standing, you felt the tremble in your knees; your lips felt swollen. Walking silently to his desk, you placed your project before Anaxa.

"Terms fulfilled, Professor," your voice was slightly hoarse, "I trust you found my... diligence... sufficient?"

The corner of his mouth, usually set in a disapproving line, twitched into something more complex than a smile. Acknowledgment of defeat? Or the opening gambit in a new, far more dangerous game?

"This experiment yielded... unexpected results," his gaze, still heavy and dark, held yours, "The mark is amended. For now."

What happened was only the beginning. You'd breached his fortress, acquiring the key. The path to top marks was open. And far more importantly – the path to Professor Anaxa himself, this complex, unyielding element who had proven capable of a volatile, uncontrolled reaction. And you intended to study him... to the very end.

[glowettee]

hi there! im a fan of your page 💕

can you give me the best studying techniques?

hi angel!! @mythicalmarion tysm for asking about study techniques 🤍 i'm so excited to share my secret methods that helped me maintain perfect grades while still having a dreamy lifestyle + time for self-care!! and thank you for being a fan of my blog, it means everything to me. <3

~ ♡ my non-basic study secrets that actually work ♡ ~

(don't mind the number formatting)

the neural bridging technique this is literally my favorite discovery!! instead of traditional note-taking, i create what i call "neural bridges" between different subjects. for example, when studying both literature + history, i connect historical events with the literature written during that time. i use a special notebook divided into sections where each page has two columns - one for each subject. the connections help you understand both subjects deeper + create stronger memory patterns!!

here's how i do it:

example:

left column: historical event

right column: literary connection

middle: draw connecting lines + add small insights

bottom: write how they influenced each other

the shadow expert method this changed everything for me!! i pretend i'm going to be interviewed as an expert on the topic i'm studying. i create potential interview questions + prepare detailed answers. but here's the twist - i record myself answering these questions in three different ways:

basic explanation (like i'm talking to a friend)

detailed analysis (like i'm teaching a class)

complex discussion (like i'm at a conference)

this forces you to understand the topic from multiple angles + helps you explain concepts in different ways!!

the reverse engineering study system instead of starting with the basics, i begin with the most complex example i can find and work backwards to understand the fundamentals. for example, in calculus, i start with a complicated equation + break it down into smaller parts until i reach the basic concepts.

my process looks like:

find the hardest example in the textbook

list every concept needed to understand it

create a concept map working backwards

study each component separately

rebuild the complex example step by step

the sensory anchoring technique this is seriously game-changing!! i associate different types of information with specific sensory experiences:

theoretical concepts - study while standing

factual information - sitting at my desk

problem-solving - walking slowly

memorization - gentle swaying

review - lying down

your body literally creates muscle memory associated with different types of learning!!

the metacognition mapping strategy i created this method where i track my understanding using what i call "clarity scores":

level 1: can recognize it

level 2: can explain it simply

level 3: can teach it

level 4: can apply it to new situations

level 5: can connect it to other topics

i keep a spreadsheet tracking my clarity levels for each topic + focus my study time on moving everything to level 5!!

the information architecture method instead of linear notes, i create what i call "knowledge buildings":

foundation: basic principles

first floor: key concepts

second floor: applications

top floor: advanced ideas

roof: real-world connections

each "floor" must be solid before moving up + i review from top to bottom weekly!!

the cognitive stamina training this is my absolute secret weapon!! i use a special interval system based on brain wave patterns:

32 minutes of focused study

8 minutes of active recall

16 minutes of teaching the material to my plushies

4 minutes of complete rest

the specific timing helps maintain peak mental performance + prevents study fatigue!!

the synthesis spiral evolution this method literally transformed how i retain information:

create main concept spirals

add branch spirals for subtopics

connect related concepts with colored lines

review by tracing the spiral paths

add new connections each study session

your notes evolve into a beautiful web of knowledge that grows with your understanding!!

these methods might seem different from typical study advice, but they're based on how our brains actually process + store information!! i developed these through lots of research + personal experimentation, and they've helped me maintain perfect grades while still having time for self-care, hobbies + fun!!

sending you the biggest hug + all my good study vibes!! remember that effective studying is about working with your brain, not against it <3

p.s. if you try any of these methods, please let me know how they work for you!! i love hearing about your study journeys!!

xoxo, mindy 🤍

glowettee hotline is still open, drop your dilemmas before the next advice post 💌: https://bit.ly/glowetteehotline

[not-terezi-pyrope]

AI continues to be useful, annoying everyone

Okay, look - as much as I've been fairly on the side of "this is actually a pretty incredible technology that does have lots of actual practical uses if used correctly and with knowledge of its shortfalls" throughout the ongoing "AI era", I must admit - I don't use it as a tool too much myself.

I am all too aware of how small errors can slip in here and there, even in output that seems above the level, and, perhaps more importantly, I still have a bit of that personal pride in being able to do things myself! I like the feeling that I have learned a skill, done research on how to do a thing and then deployed that knowledge to get the result I want. It's the bread and butter of working in tech, after all.

But here's the thing, once you move beyond beginner level Python courses and well-documented windows applications. There will often be times when you will want to achieve a very particular thing, which involves working with a specialist application. This will usually be an application written for domain experts of this specialization, and so it will not be user-friendly, and it will certainly not be "outsider-friendly".

So you will download the application. Maybe it's on the command line, has some light scripting involved in a language you've never used, or just has a byzantine shorthand command structure. There is a reference document - thankfully the authors are not that insane - but there are very few examples, and none doing exactly what you want. In order to do the useful thing you want to do, they expect you to understand how the application/platform/scripting language works, to the extent that you can apply it in a novel context.

Which is all fine and well, and normally I would not recommend anybody use a tool at length unless they have taken the time to understand it to the degree at which they know what they are doing. Except I do not wish to use the tool at length, I wish to do one, singular operation, as part of a larger project, and then never touch it again. It is unfortunately not worth my time for me to sink a few hours into learning a technology that you will use once for twenty seconds and then never again.

So you spend time scouring the specialist forums, pulling up a few syntax examples you find randomly of their code and trying to string together the example commands in the docs. If you're lucky, and the syntax has enough in common with something you're familiar with, you should be able to bodge together something that works in 15-20 minutes.

But if you're not lucky, the next step would have been signing up to that forum, or making a post on that subreddit, creating a thread called "Hey, newbie here, needing help with..." and then waiting 24-48 hours to hear back from somebody probably some years-deep veteran looking down on you with scorn for not having put in the effort to learn their Thing, setting aside the fact that you have no reason to normally. It's annoying, disruptive, and takes time.

Now I can ask ChatGPT, and it will have ingested all those docs, all those forums, and it will give you a correct answer in 20 seconds about what you were doing wrong. Because friends, this is where a powerful attention model excels, because you are not asking it to manage a complex system, but to collate complex sources into a simple synthesis. The LLM has already trained in this inference, and it can reproduce it in the blink of an eye, and then deliver information about this inference in the form of a user dialog.

When people say that AI is the future of tutoring, this is what it means. Instead of waiting days to get a reply from a bored human expert, the machine knowledge blender has already got it ready to retrieve via a natural language query, with all the followup Q&A to expand your own knowledge you could desire. And the great thing about applying this to code or scripting syntax is that you can immediately verify whether the output is correct but running it and seeing if it performs as expected, so a lot of the danger is reduced (not that any modern mainstream attention model is likely to make a mistake on something as simple a single line command unless it's something barely documented online, that is).

It's incredibly useful, and it outdoes the capacity of any individual human researcher, as well as the latency of existing human experts. That's something you can't argue we've ever had better before, in any context, and it's something you can actively make use of today. And I will, because it's too good not to - despite my pride.

[mosstrades]

it is so meaningful to me that the Beloved Child of the House chooses to go back to our world, and has to be reborn anew as a wholeness of who he was (Matthew, brought up in this world of Cartesianism detached and lonely but surrounded by others) and of who he became (the Beloved Child, Piranesi, in communion with the House, representing the ideal of humanity in harmony, but alone). Raphael points out towards the end: so long as there are people in its halls then there will be Ugliness (murder, imprisonment, etc) alongside its Beauty, and likewise in the very last moments of the book the man who is no longer only M.R.R nor Piranesi seems to see the House's beauty inside the people who surround him (recognizing in them the statues; the way the prose, for the very last breaths of the book, turns into a careful description of the world, mirroring Piranesi's descriptions of the House). They not only mirror one another, but flow from and into one another. One could literally not exist without the other.

And it is the same with his change. He is one and the same, but he is also separate. He will never go back to who he was, but he cannot become who he is without being who he was. The man who is not M.R.R nor Piranesi— the Beloved Child— will always long for the House, because he is Piranesi and he is human and so he belongs there; and if he returned to the House he would long for our world, because he is M.R.R and he is human and so he belongs here. So he must see one in another, and in that find his home.

And it is bittersweet, because this means loss is inevitable, and so is longing. Means one must walk across worlds, and make the walking home. To be complete one must be many separate parts. but that is being human.

His time in the Halls allowed him to experience the bliss of pure existence, to understand the world, to access the beautiful, distilled essence of everything; he accessed the realm of Ideas, and understood them deeply, in complete unobstructed connection with them. And now that he must remember, now that he must be here, that he must bear the grime and smoke of the inharmonious world, contend with what was done to him, contend with what was lost and its consequences-- he has not forgotten the House. It is a knowledge he brings with him: what it is to be the Beloved Child of the world, what it is when the world is whole and he fits perfectly inside it. So he reaches, in the very last moment, what to me reads like synthesis. to get lost in the realm of Ideas is not our task, as getting lost in the rejection of it is not our task. People cannot get back the world where men turned into birds (and it perhaps never even existed, being only a misinterpretation born of the modern academic's myopic gaze; as Piranesi says, the world speaks to him all the time). he cannot get back the version of himself rid of the trauma and grief of what happened to him. Yet: the House is still always within and around him. He may not be able to be just Piranesi anymore, but once the grief of is soothed, he sees that he never left it behind. He is still its Child, and he remains Beloved.

the House is born from the world and the world is born from the House in an infinite loop, one and the same: it is our task to be part of it. To bear witness. To be in communion and conversation with it. It is our task to live. it is our home.