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François Chollet Profile picture
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26 Dec, 5 tweets, 1 min read
I keep coming back to the importance of self-image in one's life trajectory. You become who you believe you are. You do what you believe you can do.
Belief is a greater determinant than ability or environment.
"Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it...."
"...on the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning." -Gandhi.

Also echoes a similar quote from the Bhagavad Gita
"Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is."

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More from @fchollet

François Chollet Profile picture
16 Dec
Having to figure things out by yourself is extraordinarily inefficient (plus, risky). The primary benefit of civilization is curriculum optimization: getting you to the right destination while expending the least amount of experience. Civilization is integral to human cognition.
To caricature, you could say that the human brain is merely a short-lived mirror of what constitutes the main body of human cognition: the thought patterns, behaviors, and systems we've collectively evolved over thousands of years.
Your mind reflects the civilization that shaped it -- it wouldn't amount to much without it.
Read 4 tweets
François Chollet Profile picture
16 Dec
I believe cultural wealth is more important than material wealth, i.e. it's better to have a house full of books than to have marble in your bathroom. Holds true for nations as well
Lots of misinterpretations of this tweet. It does not imply that these two things are opposites, nor that they're independent. It simply means that a rich cultural life enhances your lifestyle (and, in a strong sense, "makes your life worth living") more than material luxury.
While it is necessary to be financially comfortable to have a rich cultural life (in particular because you need free time), it's often much cheaper than funding the sort of lifestyle that society would normally associate with "being rich".
Read 6 tweets
François Chollet Profile picture
15 Dec
The lack of awareness of AI ethics issues by AI practitioners has been an ongoing source of very real problems. On the other hand, I have yet to hear of any harm caused by making AI practitioners think about the implications of their work.
Awareness of human consequences is a necessity in all scientific & engineering disciplines. It's even more important in fields that are "high leverage", where a very small team consisting entirely of engineers can make a big impact. Like CS, and in particular AI.
If your work has "impact", then by definition it is changing the world. You must then ask *how* the world is changing -- in which direction does your impact point? Who benefits and who loses out? Technological impact always has a moral direction.
Read 5 tweets
François Chollet Profile picture
14 Dec
Humans develop their full cognitive potential in an environment that is complex & challenging, without being overwhelming. Similarly, the big technological leaps of past civilizations have occurred in response to environmental constraints that were challenging, but not too harsh.
A lack of challenges and hardships is just as big an obstacle to the realization of one's potential as facing hardships so tough they cannot be overcome. This applies to individuals and cultures alike.
In the first few millennia of the history of civilization, natural environmental constraints were the main driver of (and limit to) human ingenuity. New technology arose from the need to survive in challenging environments.
Read 6 tweets
François Chollet Profile picture
13 Dec
The way one uses language at home is extremely narrow compared to the range of ways one may use language in the outside world. Hence kids who grow up bilingual but don't use their parents' language outside tend to have a very limited command of it
Speaking a language is not a binary, it's a multidimensional spectrum. Not only that, but speaking, understanding speech, reading, and writing are all distinct skills, and while they're highly synergistic, they overlap a lot less than one may think
One may be able to read without being able to speak, or even without being able to understand speech. And inversely. It's also a lot easier to passively understand than to express oneself
Read 5 tweets
François Chollet Profile picture
6 Dec
Deep learning for auto-captioning 👍👍👍
This said "abstraction and reasoning in AI systems", but the alternative version is actually more interesting
The *Ice systems* is the name of an extensive network of galleries on the icy moon Europa, built eons ago by a long-gone culture. In the cavernous tunnels, a mere whisper can echo over incredible distances...
Read 4 tweets

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