Navin Kabra
@ngkabra.bsky.social
Founder at ReliScore.com, Visiting Professor of Practice at IITBombay (CSE dept/TrustLab), Instructor at GenWise.in, and a wannabe YouTuber https://www.youtube.com/@TheFutureIQ/). Erdős–Bacon number 7.
Reposted by Navin Kabra
Some hot stuff from Yeats on writing poetry:
January 31, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Some hot stuff from Yeats on writing poetry:
Reposted by Navin Kabra
You start with innocent stuff like why the sky is blue and relativity and next thing you know you’re in a truck stop bathroom begging for obscure mathematical paradoxes just to feel normal for a few hours
January 31, 2025 at 9:36 PM
You start with innocent stuff like why the sky is blue and relativity and next thing you know you’re in a truck stop bathroom begging for obscure mathematical paradoxes just to feel normal for a few hours
How do igloos keep people warm? Involves basic physics beyond just the "snow is a bad conductor of heat" that we were taught in school
www.mentalfloss.com/how-igloos-s...
www.mentalfloss.com/how-igloos-s...
January 20, 2025 at 10:41 AM
How do igloos keep people warm? Involves basic physics beyond just the "snow is a bad conductor of heat" that we were taught in school
www.mentalfloss.com/how-igloos-s...
www.mentalfloss.com/how-igloos-s...
What conclusions do you draw from this?
(via Bryan Caplan)
(via Bryan Caplan)
January 16, 2025 at 5:14 AM
What conclusions do you draw from this?
(via Bryan Caplan)
(via Bryan Caplan)
Is Maharashtra's "Ladki Bahin Yojana" UBI, someone asked me. (For those who don't know, this is a government scheme where women in Maharashtra, age 18 to 60, with household income <₹2.5L, get ₹1500 every month from the government).
My answer: yes and no. Details below...
My answer: yes and no. Details below...
January 16, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Is Maharashtra's "Ladki Bahin Yojana" UBI, someone asked me. (For those who don't know, this is a government scheme where women in Maharashtra, age 18 to 60, with household income <₹2.5L, get ₹1500 every month from the government).
My answer: yes and no. Details below...
My answer: yes and no. Details below...
Reposted by Navin Kabra
The surface of Venus is a lethal crushing inferno BUT about 50km up in the atmosphere you have:
* Earth-like temperatures
* 1 Bar pressure
* sunlight for power
Aerostats filled with breathable air would float! We could live in cloud cities and even go *outside* wearing little more than scuba gear!
* Earth-like temperatures
* 1 Bar pressure
* sunlight for power
Aerostats filled with breathable air would float! We could live in cloud cities and even go *outside* wearing little more than scuba gear!
January 12, 2025 at 2:10 PM
The surface of Venus is a lethal crushing inferno BUT about 50km up in the atmosphere you have:
* Earth-like temperatures
* 1 Bar pressure
* sunlight for power
Aerostats filled with breathable air would float! We could live in cloud cities and even go *outside* wearing little more than scuba gear!
* Earth-like temperatures
* 1 Bar pressure
* sunlight for power
Aerostats filled with breathable air would float! We could live in cloud cities and even go *outside* wearing little more than scuba gear!
Reposted by Navin Kabra
Interesting thing reading a bit about 19th century cooking is that, even for very expensive fine dining, the ingredient set is tiny. So a lot of the "fancy" is derived from labor-intensive presentation, e.g. patiently whipping things, or shaping the food in various ways.
January 12, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Interesting thing reading a bit about 19th century cooking is that, even for very expensive fine dining, the ingredient set is tiny. So a lot of the "fancy" is derived from labor-intensive presentation, e.g. patiently whipping things, or shaping the food in various ways.
How to solve "spot the differences" puzzles in a few seconds... I tried the examples in the post and got them. I even got the impossible mode one:
danielwirtz.com/blog/spot-th...
danielwirtz.com/blog/spot-th...
I’ve acquired a new superpower
Yesterday, I was browsing Reddit. Midway through my feed, I stumbled upon a video from a German TV show, where a 9-year-old girl demonstrated her ability to ...
danielwirtz.com
January 11, 2025 at 4:00 AM
How to solve "spot the differences" puzzles in a few seconds... I tried the examples in the post and got them. I even got the impossible mode one:
danielwirtz.com/blog/spot-th...
danielwirtz.com/blog/spot-th...
Reposted by Navin Kabra
Do what's right for you, agitate for regulations, call out Zuck, help your friends and family discovwr new social tools. Focus your ire on the systems rather than the individuals. Asking people to blow up their entire social and professional lives to spite a rich bigot isn't going to work.
January 11, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Do what's right for you, agitate for regulations, call out Zuck, help your friends and family discovwr new social tools. Focus your ire on the systems rather than the individuals. Asking people to blow up their entire social and professional lives to spite a rich bigot isn't going to work.
Reposted by Navin Kabra
strong argument that this bit from Satre's Anti-Semite and Jew is the key to understanding Trumpism: it is a joke, and the joke is precisely that you are required to take them seriously
January 10, 2025 at 5:05 AM
strong argument that this bit from Satre's Anti-Semite and Jew is the key to understanding Trumpism: it is a joke, and the joke is precisely that you are required to take them seriously
Reposted by Navin Kabra
I think about the conversation between these two posts a lot as an example of how this stuff is pretty counterintuitive sometimes
x.com/RyanRadia/st...
x.com/RyanRadia/st...
January 6, 2025 at 2:04 PM
I think about the conversation between these two posts a lot as an example of how this stuff is pretty counterintuitive sometimes
x.com/RyanRadia/st...
x.com/RyanRadia/st...
Reposted by Navin Kabra
Top quality opening sentence
January 6, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Top quality opening sentence
Out of context Mahabharata 😂:
"The wise know that a Brahmana is more to be avoided than an angry snake of virulent poison, or a blazing fire of spreading flames" —Yayati (on why he can't marry Devayani)
"The wise know that a Brahmana is more to be avoided than an angry snake of virulent poison, or a blazing fire of spreading flames" —Yayati (on why he can't marry Devayani)
January 6, 2025 at 5:34 AM
Out of context Mahabharata 😂:
"The wise know that a Brahmana is more to be avoided than an angry snake of virulent poison, or a blazing fire of spreading flames" —Yayati (on why he can't marry Devayani)
"The wise know that a Brahmana is more to be avoided than an angry snake of virulent poison, or a blazing fire of spreading flames" —Yayati (on why he can't marry Devayani)
Interesting take: you can't fight negative PR by denying it. You should replace bad PR with good PR
Similar to: it is much easier to replace a bad habit with a good one, rather than directly breaking a bad habit
And: Best way to get rid of an irritating earworm is to replace it with a better song
Similar to: it is much easier to replace a bad habit with a good one, rather than directly breaking a bad habit
And: Best way to get rid of an irritating earworm is to replace it with a better song
As a PR pro, we used to tell people to get ahead of various online controversies by making statements that refute them. It turns out this is the absolute worst way to respond to criticism or correct errors of any kind. Social media has made this worse. When you respond, it kick-starts issues again.
January 5, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Interesting take: you can't fight negative PR by denying it. You should replace bad PR with good PR
Similar to: it is much easier to replace a bad habit with a good one, rather than directly breaking a bad habit
And: Best way to get rid of an irritating earworm is to replace it with a better song
Similar to: it is much easier to replace a bad habit with a good one, rather than directly breaking a bad habit
And: Best way to get rid of an irritating earworm is to replace it with a better song
Reposted by Navin Kabra
In high school, my social studies teacher took me aside and told me that "cynicism was the easy path" and that I needed to resist it. It's probably the most important thing I learned in school.
January 4, 2025 at 4:04 PM
In high school, my social studies teacher took me aside and told me that "cynicism was the easy path" and that I needed to resist it. It's probably the most important thing I learned in school.
Reposted by Navin Kabra
In art and literature, "criticism" doesn't mean "pointing out flaws." It's something bigger and more interesting than a referee calling fouls. I think we should have the same ambitions for data visualization criticism!
January 3, 2025 at 7:32 PM
In art and literature, "criticism" doesn't mean "pointing out flaws." It's something bigger and more interesting than a referee calling fouls. I think we should have the same ambitions for data visualization criticism!
Reposted by Navin Kabra
One thing I've discovered is it's really enjoyable to listen to music in a language you are learning but not fluent in, mostly because (at least in my case) you tend to imagine the lyrics being much better than they are! I often regret really coming to understand a song.
January 2, 2025 at 4:45 PM
One thing I've discovered is it's really enjoyable to listen to music in a language you are learning but not fluent in, mostly because (at least in my case) you tend to imagine the lyrics being much better than they are! I often regret really coming to understand a song.
Reposted by Navin Kabra
Sufficiently motivated reasoning is indistinguishable from lying
January 2, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Sufficiently motivated reasoning is indistinguishable from lying
Reposted by Navin Kabra
for the potato fears not death
December 31, 2024 at 1:55 PM
for the potato fears not death
Reposted by Navin Kabra
Hilarious story on the economics of bribes and the downstream impact. In 2007, ~$700M worth of sales were put on hold thanks to a Russian supplier not wanting to optimize how they pay bribes to customs officers when shipping to Germany.
From Focus: The ASML Way by Marc Hijink
From Focus: The ASML Way by Marc Hijink
December 31, 2024 at 11:21 AM
Hilarious story on the economics of bribes and the downstream impact. In 2007, ~$700M worth of sales were put on hold thanks to a Russian supplier not wanting to optimize how they pay bribes to customs officers when shipping to Germany.
From Focus: The ASML Way by Marc Hijink
From Focus: The ASML Way by Marc Hijink
Reposted by Navin Kabra
And, in general, that it's worth being careful about who your "enemies" are. Pick good ones - the ones you deserve!
Ofc, I don't literally mean enemies, but rather "who stimulates you, who you respond to". That's why I'm here more than on X, now - you're a more stimulating bunch!
Ofc, I don't literally mean enemies, but rather "who stimulates you, who you respond to". That's why I'm here more than on X, now - you're a more stimulating bunch!
December 27, 2024 at 8:41 PM
And, in general, that it's worth being careful about who your "enemies" are. Pick good ones - the ones you deserve!
Ofc, I don't literally mean enemies, but rather "who stimulates you, who you respond to". That's why I'm here more than on X, now - you're a more stimulating bunch!
Ofc, I don't literally mean enemies, but rather "who stimulates you, who you respond to". That's why I'm here more than on X, now - you're a more stimulating bunch!
Reposted by Navin Kabra
this is a pretty interesting way of looking at collatz
math.stackexchange.com/questions/26...
math.stackexchange.com/questions/26...
December 27, 2024 at 6:38 PM
this is a pretty interesting way of looking at collatz
math.stackexchange.com/questions/26...
math.stackexchange.com/questions/26...
The loss-aversion theory of why people seem unhappier in the modern world...
A few posts here about why people feel so badly off when in material terms they are better off than almost all of human history. Rousseau asked the same question in 1750. His answer: innovation increases pleasure only for a short time but causes huge discontent if it fails or lets us down.
December 31, 2024 at 8:52 AM
The loss-aversion theory of why people seem unhappier in the modern world...
Reposted by Navin Kabra
Odd how useless TVs have become in most hotels.
You have a nice and big screen that has a few TV channels - which I never want to watch.
And yet no streaming apps (that I’d use). Screen mirroring from iPhone doesn’t work (that I’d also use).
Wonder when this will change.
You have a nice and big screen that has a few TV channels - which I never want to watch.
And yet no streaming apps (that I’d use). Screen mirroring from iPhone doesn’t work (that I’d also use).
Wonder when this will change.
December 24, 2024 at 4:18 AM
Odd how useless TVs have become in most hotels.
You have a nice and big screen that has a few TV channels - which I never want to watch.
And yet no streaming apps (that I’d use). Screen mirroring from iPhone doesn’t work (that I’d also use).
Wonder when this will change.
You have a nice and big screen that has a few TV channels - which I never want to watch.
And yet no streaming apps (that I’d use). Screen mirroring from iPhone doesn’t work (that I’d also use).
Wonder when this will change.