I posted this story on Medium about a year ago titled “Why Wait for A.I.? Algorithms May Already Be Hurting Us.”
In it, I speculate on ways our ideological biases may impact the algorithms that are supposed to be making our lives better.
This is a story in two parts. One part is fact, and the other is... not quite. Mostly, this is a story about how our memories can be unreliable and that it can be healthy, and emotionally healing, to verify your memories with friends and family (or a professional as necessary)...
Read MoreEl Paso was a strange place to grow up. Amongst the numerous peculiarities about the city, one is that housing is relatively cheap. While there are apartments, there also always seemed to be housing developments on the edge of town, expanding the city's footprint and providing a wealth of low cost houses to purchase or rent.
When I was in high school, several new neighborhoods were being built just a few minutes drive from my school. At night, when there was nothing for teenagers to do, we'd often drive around these neighborhoods and sometimes explore the new houses.
One night, while cruising around one of these construction sites, we came upon the portable bathroom that served the workers by day. After a moment of joking and egging-on by my friends, I decided to tip over the porto-john...
The world is full of anecdotal examples of heredity influencing behavior. Separated twins that drink the same beer and hold the cans the same way. Father and son that share the same nervous tick...
Read MoreThis exchange took place between my 2 1/2-year-old son and I while driving.
Son: "Daddy, you're a boy and a daddy?"
Me: "That's right. And you're a boy and a son."
I once tried to write a joke. Not a "what's the deal with airline food" joke, but a "two guys walk into a bar" type joke. The former is the true art form. Stand up requires thinking of something funny, then trying different phrasing and iterations to get the precise wording of the joke. The comedian then has to make choices around timing, delivery, pauses, attitude, mannerisms and a plethora of other details before it's complete. As Jerry Seinfeld points out, memorizing the words is step one of a hundred steps to make a joke work.
Read MoreSeveral years ago, I don't know exactly when because this event is not important enough to have registered that detail in my mind, I was at my sister's house in Georgetown about a week or so before Halloween. It was on this evening that we decided to find a witches' grave.
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Currently Reading:
The bounty hunters - elmore leonard
