Share this page!

Maybe Scrolly?
Noah Smith 🐇 Profile picture
Twitter logo
8 Jun, 8 tweets, 3 min read
People who think science is slowing down should take a look at these charts of AI-related publications.

Science slows down *in specific fields* as easy discoveries get mined out. But we're always inventing new fields!!

noahpinion.substack.com/p/why-do-peopl…
The field of neuroscience basically didn't exist before 1960.
The field of computer science did exist before 1960, but it was pretty esoteric and small.
People talk about how Moore's Law is slowing down, or getting more expensive to maintain.

But before 1970, no one would even have LOOKED AT Moore's Law as a barometer of innovation!
Synthetic biology is a field that basically didn't exist before 2000.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
This is my theory of innovation and discovery. It's like mining for veins of ore. Old veins get exhausted, but we keep striking new veins.
I plan to write in much greater detail about this "mining" theory of discovery.

But for now, I used it as a way to explain why many people feel like their academic fields are at an impasse.

noahpinion.substack.com/p/why-do-peopl…
cc @JvNixon

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Noah Smith 🐇

Noah Smith 🐇 Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Noahpinion

Noah Smith 🐇 Profile picture
7 Jun
Don't really agree with this assessment. Solar panels are a commoditized product; it's not like China has a technological edge here. Meanwhile electric cars are a super high-tech high-margin product, and Tesla has managed to stay even with its Chinese competitors, which is great.
In other words, Tesla is an industrial policy success, and as for "lining Musk's pockets", welcome to industrial policy! Wait til I tell you how many Chinese billionaires got rich off of their industrial policy...
Tesla is a huge success for America (and for the environment), we learned from our mistakes in the 70s and 80s (support new companies instead of old ones).

Read 4 tweets
Noah Smith 🐇 Profile picture
6 Jun
1/Here's a post about a difficult and sensitive topic: How to criticize China without exacerbating anti-Asian racism.

noahpinion.substack.com/p/how-to-criti…
2/Some of the people who say that criticism of China = racism are just trolls...Cold Warriors who are on the anti-American side and want an excuse to defend a rival of America.

But for many, the worry is real and legitimate.
3/There is no denying that there's a wave of racist hate against Asian Americans right now. And there's no denying that attitudes toward China (esp. about coronavirus) have something to do with it.

This is really, really bad.

noahpinion.substack.com/p/is-conflict-…
Read 20 tweets
Noah Smith 🐇 Profile picture
6 Jun
Though I think voting rights are very important, I also think that "Democrats win every election forever" is not a viable strategy for dealing with the insanity of the GOP. That simply will not happen, voting rights bill or no voting rights bill.
It's bad for Manchin to oppose the voting rights bill.

But let's not trick ourselves into thinking that if that bill would only pass, Democrats would win every election forever and the Republic would be saved.

Republicans are going to win some, no matter what.
In particular, Republicans are highly lilely to win the 2022 congressional elections, with their current ideology, no matter what bills we pass now.
Read 4 tweets
Noah Smith 🐇 Profile picture
5 Jun
This! I feel like queerness has been standardized and regulated by youth movements, to a degree that it wasn't when I was young. I feel like a curmudgeon, missing the old ways. They've plowed and fenced my cattle range, etc. etc.
It's more than just pure curmudgeonly-old-guy-ness, though.

That "old queerness" felt like the harbinger of a world where everyone was free to be unique, make up a whole culture just for themselves, and be accepted anyway.

Instead, we got new, nicer rules and regulations.
I don't just miss old subcultures or slang.

I miss the idea of freedom, individualism, personal uniqueness.

Today's culture feels like it was invented by a bunch of kids who spent their youth studying way too hard for their NAEP tests.
Read 5 tweets
Noah Smith 🐇 Profile picture
4 Jun
Hell yeah Bangladesh!! Classic labor-intensive export-oriented manufacturing-based development model STILL WORKS!! 🇧🇩🇧🇩🇧🇩
Look at that damn growth curve. That is the Platonic ideal of a growth curve. You could teach kids precalc with that growth curve. Image
I'm kidding, by the way. Bangladesh's growth is actually accelerating, not constant. Image
Read 4 tweets
Noah Smith 🐇 Profile picture
3 Jun
"Short, thin Asian dude with vaguely L.A. fashion and short, thin very cute blonde girl" is a type of couple I keep seeing more of, and yet I feel that their story is not being told in popular media...
The guy wears skinny dark jeans and tends to hold his hands halfway in his pockets and slightly hunch his shoulders like a private detective on a case, while the girl looks a bit like a Lord of the Rings elf and smiles a lot...

Don't tell me you haven't seen this couple!!
The first couple of this type I can remember meeting was sitting next to me at a Medieval Times event in NYC in 2015. They were very into swordfighting, and told me many details about how swordfighting would work in the real world.
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @Noahpinion has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @Noahpinion!

Read all threads by @Noahpinion

:(