There's a compelling hypothesis in the field of machine learning called 'overfitting,' where systems become so tuned to recognizing patterns that they falter when faced with new, unexpected scenarios. Interestingly, some computer scientists are exploring ways to inject noise into computational models to keep them adaptable.
— Rahul Jandial“There's an innate tendency in human-beings to sort ourselves by how much we want power. Some of us don't want it at all, some of us are absolutely obsessed with it. The interaction between the individual and the system is therefore critical.”— Brian Klaas
Political scientist & author specializing in authoritarianism and democracy
The quote archive
Science
A growing archive of 3,000+ moments, drawn from every interview.
Similar to the 'use it or lose it' principle that applies to muscles, our brains engage in a nightly routine that stimulates thoughts and ideas not typically relied upon during the day. This built-in process keeps our thinking adaptive and nimble, fostering divergent thoughts and offering an evolutionary advantage.
— Rahul JandialUnlike the waking brain, the dreaming brain shows reduced executive function, specifically in areas like logic and mathematical reasoning. Instead, areas like the default mode network, which I'd argue functions as an imagination network, along with emotional centers, are highly active. This configuration makes the dreaming brain less logical but more emotional, visual, and imaginative.
— Rahul JandialIf dreams are brain-generated, then understanding brain activity during sleep becomes crucial. This continuous activity during certain sleep phases, especially those associated with vivid dreams, is so intense it resembles waking brain activity, a phenomenon dubbed paradoxical sleep. It challenges the notion that the brain 'rests' during sleep.
— Rahul JandialPeople have been told that asthma is an incurable condition, that they'll need to rely on a bronchodilator every few hours for life. But that's just not true. The way you breathe is deeply connected to asthma symptoms.
— James NestorAuthor of "Breath" & Investigative Journalist on Respiratory Science
We get more energy from air than from food or drink. So, if we're absorbing that energy inefficiently, it's bound to catch up to us.
— James NestorAuthor of "Breath" & Investigative Journalist on Respiratory Science
About 65% of the population mouth breathes at night. If you're breathing through your mouth for eight hours, you increase your susceptibility to respiratory illnesses, sleep apnea, snoring, and allergies. You get less oxygen and overwork your body.
— James NestorAuthor of "Breath" & Investigative Journalist on Respiratory Science
Habituation is a very basic mechanism. It's something we find in every neuron and every system of our brain, including our fundamental abilities like perception. Essentially, we stop responding to and perceiving things that are not changing or are changing very gradually.
— Tali SharotNeuroscientist known for research on optimism bias and decision-making
STS-93, the mission where we launched the Chandra telescope, was conceived 25 years before we launched it. Someone had that vision long before it became a reality. This long-term perspective is essential.
— Cady ColemanNASA Astronaut & Space Shuttle Mission Specialist
We now have all the tools to do it. Computers are a billion times more powerful, the data is vastly better, our understanding of psychology is vastly better – we have all the elements we need now to do these things and to do them well.
— J. Doyne FarmerComplexity scientist & founding director of Santa Fe Institute's Complexity Economics program
A complex system is one where the properties of the building blocks, when they interact, can create phenomena that are very different from the building blocks themselves. You take a neuron, which is a cell – you put an electrochemical signal in, electrochemical signal comes out – but somehow you hook 80 billion of them together and you get a brain.
— J. Doyne FarmerComplexity scientist & founding director of Santa Fe Institute's Complexity Economics program
I often joke that disproving quantum computing sceptics is the primary application of a quantum computer, with everything else being a bonus.
— Scott AaronsonTheoretical computer scientist specializing in quantum computing and computational complexity
Quantum computing is thus not just a technological pursuit, but a deeply philosophical one, aiming to probe the very foundations of our world.
— Scott AaronsonTheoretical computer scientist specializing in quantum computing and computational complexity
Quantum computing can be seen as a monumental effort to fully confront this exponential scaling that lies at the heart of quantum mechanics. By building and testing quantum computers, we are conducting an experiment that should either indisputably confirm this exponential nature, or overturn a century of established quantum theory.
— Scott AaronsonTheoretical computer scientist specializing in quantum computing and computational complexity
This exponential scaling reveals the immense complexity lurking beneath the surface of reality. Taking full computational advantage of these quantum laws is the essence of quantum computing.
— Scott AaronsonTheoretical computer scientist specializing in quantum computing and computational complexity
The surprising consequence is that amplitudes can interfere with each other. If an event can happen in two different ways, one with a positive amplitude and one with a negative amplitude, the contributions can cancel out, leading to zero probability of the event occurring. Decreasing the number of paths can paradoxically increase the likelihood of an outcome.
— Scott AaronsonTheoretical computer scientist specializing in quantum computing and computational complexity