Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Bear, writer boy—what have you been writing? Rosner: The novel I’ve been writing begins with something close to a murder. Jacobsen: Dark? Rosner: Yes. I’ve been going through that chapter again, ensuring the logistics and the action make physical and medical sense. Because it’s not as simple as putting a bullet in …
Rick Rosner: Speaking of the future, let’s talk about 2026. Right now, the Trumpers have a trifecta—they own the Presidency, the House, and the Senate. That means they can pass a lot of shit with simple majorities. Not everything, though. Some stuff still needs 60 votes in the Senate, and they only have 53. But …
Continue reading Ask A Genius 1286: 2026 U.S. Elections, Trump’s Influence, and Global Power Shifts
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, they’re considering merging ChatGPT models this coming year, or what Sam Altman is posing as AGI. If that’s the case, we’re looking at a total re-evaluation of human analytic abilities. High-level analysis is the most valuable thing humans bring to the table right now. In the future? It’ll be more about …
Rick Rosner: In physics, there are many conservation laws or principles that are generally supported by experimental evidence. For example, energy is conserved, and momentum is conserved. The conservation of information is a more complex and debated topic, particularly in quantum mechanics and cosmology. While there are arguments that information is conserved in quantum mechanical …
Rick Rosner: A simple reason to suppose that an action potential is not the atomic action of cognition is that biological systems evolve toward the thermodynamic limit of sensitivity across every domain. And an action potential is a million times larger than the Landauer limit. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: That’s the thermodynamic lower theoretical limit of …
Rick Rosner: So, Trump announced that he’s drafting an executive order to abolish the Department of Education. Which is fucking ridiculous. Education got its own department under Carter, in 1979. Before that, it was part of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Now, the people arguing to get rid of it only look at …
Continue reading Ask A Genius 1282: Educators, Anonymous, Ratings
Rick Rosner: So… I looked it up. It was methylene blue. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Why do you want to bring up fish tank stuff? Is this to take stuff out of your brain? Rosner: Methylene blue is used to keep fungus from growing in fish tanks. Is RFK using it as a euphemism for his …
Rick Rosner: I was trying way too hard. I’d sell a few people donuts on a Sunday morning, and I was allowed to eat as many day-old donuts as I wanted—so I limited myself to four. So, donut shop. Then I decided to return to high school and switch families, moving to Albuquerque. My dad—my …
Rick Rosner: They never showed James Bond working out. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: He’s got all these skills. Rosner: It’s true. He doesn’t practice. Jacobsen: You never see him practicing anything. Rosner: Many of his skills are improvisational—he takes advantage of things in his environment. But he still has to fight people and dodge bullets. Jacobsen: …
Continue reading Ask A Genius 1279: What about James Bond working out and training?
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I will play the Addams Family song in my head, and you’ll tell me about your L.A. day. How was your L.A. day, Rick? Rick Rosner: So first, I drove through a movie set, and then a murder scene. A real one. Jacobsen: Was there a murder scene at the movie set …
Rick Rosner 