💡 Warp News #256
🐷 AI interprets pig sounds to improve their well-being. 🎓 People worldwide have high trust in scientists. 🍦 The age of miracles is not over - McDonald's ice cream machine crisis gets a solution.
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📚 Steven Pinker's bestseller formula
I recently interviewed Steven Pinker for my new book on AI. It was NOT easy. 😅 He's not one to simply accept the premise of a question and answer. Having to immediately reformulate, argue, and simultaneously ask relevant questions to one of the world's smartest people (in English)... my brain kind of got hot and I was sweaty afterwards.
I know him a bit from before, as he's a Premium Supporter at Warp News and I'm very happy he took the time to talk with me. The result turned out well though.
I also took the opportunity to ask how to write a bestselling book (he has written several, after all). Here is his answer:
"It's often a book gets traction, if it's main idea or thrust can be summarized easily, in a sentence or two. So people know whether they're interested in picking it up, and someone who hasn't read it can know what its main contribution claims to be. It should be timely—an idea that people are ready for but aren’t already too familiar with. There should be some degree of surprise and some degree of relevance to current concerns."
Now I'd like to get your help in formulating these two sentences about my book.
You just need to answer one question where you get to choose between three alternative descriptions. All of them fit with the content of the book, but which one is most enticing?
It would be super kind if you would answer. Takes a maximum of 19 seconds.
--> Answer here
Mathias Sundin
The Angry Optimist
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🌏 The best things happening for humanity right now
It is easy to think of bad things happening right now, but what are the best ones? The list can be made very long, but here are my favorites.
💡 Fact-based optimistic news of the week
🎓 People worldwide have high trust in scientists
A new comprehensive study shows that the majority of people in 68 countries have high trust in scientists and their methods.
💓 Heart failure mortality has steadily decreased over 25 years
Deaths from heart failure have decreased by two percent annually between 1997 and 2022. New medications and improved medical technology help patients live longer after diagnosis.
🍦 The age of miracles is not over - McDonald's ice cream machine crisis gets a solution
The US government is tackling one of the greatest crises of our time - McDonald's broken ice cream machines. Franchise owners can now repair the machines themselves without depending on the manufacturer.
🤝 Google's AI succeeds in uniting people better than human mediators
DeepMind's new AI system achieved 56 percent acceptance for joint statements, compared to 44 percent for human mediators. Agreement increased in five out of nine discussed issues.
🐷 AI interprets pig sounds to improve their well-being
A team of researchers has developed an AI algorithm that can translate different pig sounds into emotional states. The algorithm can distinguish between positive and negative emotions in pigs by analyzing their grunts, screams, and other sounds.
🌎 Buy time: How we can reduce global warming by 0.5 degrees in the short term
Methane is 86 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide but disappears from the atmosphere after just 12 years. By focusing on reducing methane emissions, we can have a rapid effect on global warming.
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