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Best of Twitter: Creators of the Future, In Support of Imitation, Microbiome, and more...

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Best of Twitter: Creators of the Future, In Support of Imitation, Microbiome, and more...

Navin Kabra
May 11, 2021
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This is my weekly list of the most interesting tweets I found—with a little commentary from me.

Is computer science the only degree worth studying for?

Twitter avatar for @IAmSamFin
Sam Finlayson @IAmSamFin
Imagine if the humanities tried to claim CS as a sub-discipline because people had to do writing to conduct and communicate their work.
Twitter avatar for @fchollet
François Chollet @fchollet
Within 10-20 years, nearly every branch of science will be, for all intents and purposes, a branch of computer science. Computational physics, comp chemistry, comp biology, comp medicine... Even comp archeology. Realistic simulations, big data analysis, and ML everywhere
11:17 PM ∙ May 3, 2021
227Likes29Retweets

Software is eating the world. If you’re not familiar with this phrase or don’t really understand what exactly it means, read the linked article.

The inner tweet above is interpreting this phrase to mean that computer science is the only subject worth studying because all other disciplines will be eaten by it. Or at least, programmers will rule the world and others will simply exist to help the programmers. So more and more people are rushing to major in computer science.

The outer tweet is more interesting and points out that probably the opposite might be true. Programming might get commoditized, just like reading and writing. Don’t forget that before the renaissance, reading and writing were advanced skills that only a few people learnt. So, the more sensible course might be to say that take up whatever discipline you’re interested in, and the good colleges will teach you the programming and/or software tools needed to do well in that discipline. The only extra advice would be: if you have electives, take the ones that are heavy on programming/tools.

What do you think?

Visualizing battles

Twitter avatar for @SonerCagaptay
Soner Cagaptay @SonerCagaptay
Every recored battle in history --also why the EU was such a a good idea
Image
1:14 AM ∙ May 4, 2021
7,110Likes1,563Retweets

My first reaction to this tweet was: This is such a cool visualization. In one glance I can see interesting patterns. Take a look. Think about the map and the point made in the tweet.

Do you notice any problems?

Twitter avatar for @finnonthegin
Finn @finnonthegin
This is a map of archive density, not the history of war
Twitter avatar for @SonerCagaptay
Soner Cagaptay @SonerCagaptay
Every recored battle in history --also why the EU was such a a good idea https://t.co/RC0BLt2mye
5:39 AM ∙ May 4, 2021
11,354Likes997Retweets

As this tweet points out, the visualization isn’t of all the battles in history. It is a visualization of the records that they had access to. The map just shows which areas have more recorded data and which areas have less recorded data (as accessed by the map creator). That’s all.

People assume that if a conclusion is based on data then it must be true. But they forget that the data itself can have lots of problems.

The celebrity isn’t dumb: You don’t have the complete information

Twitter avatar for @david_perell
David Perell @david_perell
The best thing I learned from @benthompson is that the biggest mistake people make when they analyze a business is they assume the key actors are dumb. Better to assume they’re brilliant instead.
3:28 AM ∙ May 5, 2021
178Likes12Retweets
Twitter avatar for @david_perell
David Perell @david_perell
Yes, the people who run big companies can be out of touch. But usually, if they make a decision you disagree with, they know something you don’t. Feel free to disagree with them. But do so from a place of curiosity and respect, instead of pride.
3:31 AM ∙ May 5, 2021
108Likes8Retweets

I had written a full article about this point: “If Kabil Sibal is such an idiot, how come you’re not the prime minister” (this was during Congress rule; replace Kapil Sibal with whichever leader you think is an idiot.)

Creators and art of the future

Twitter avatar for @rex_woodbury
Rex Woodbury @rex_woodbury
This is Miko. She's a virtual streamer who is controlled by a real-life woman known only as The Technician. The Technician uses the Unreal Engine and a $30,000 motion-capture suit to create Miko. Thread 👇
Image
10:33 PM ∙ Apr 30, 2021
6,393Likes1,460Retweets

Technology always enables new forms of creation and art.

And this is why that’s important. People learn by watching the experts do it:

Twitter avatar for @sarthakgh
Sar Haribhakti @sarthakgh
“Designers say they learned by sitting next to designers, not by going to design school as much. We just need to enable that on a massive scale. It also makes our products viral.” - @scottbelsky Super cool
theverge.comAdobe is building live-streaming into Creative Cloud appsAt its annual Adobe Max creativity conference, the company announced plans to bring a live-streaming feature to its Creative Cloud apps, similar to Twitch. The feature is currently available to a small group of users on Adobe Fresco.
11:44 PM ∙ Nov 7, 2019
183Likes13Retweets

Also see: MeghanPlays who makes millions streaming herself playing Roblox, and Kat Norton ($) who makes 6-figures posting excel tips on social media. (Last two links via the excellent Exponential View newsletter.)

Innovation is overrated

Twitter avatar for @TrungTPhan
Trung Phan 🇨🇦 @TrungTPhan
If you ever feel bad about repurposing content, remember Disney regularly re-used animations to save money
Image
4:57 PM ∙ May 1, 2021
2,977Likes488Retweets

Copying is not necessarily bad. If you want a serious detailed long read about why imitation might be better for business than innovation, check out this ribbonfarm post: Down with Innovation, Up with Imitation.

Twitter is great. Also, Twitter sucks.

Twitter avatar for @NGKabra
Navin Kabra @NGKabra
"Twitter is a beautiful village at the edge of a giant sinkhole" Your job is to stay in the village without falling into the sinkhole. https://t.co/AWflMOJi7z
Twitter avatar for @MrHonner
Patrick Honner @MrHonner
I love @benorlin's characterization of Twitter as "a beautiful village on the edge of a giant sinkhole." I'd add: 1) Politics isn't the only sinkhole. 2) Sinkholes expand and multiply. 3) Actually it's mostly sinkholes really. 4) Also people try to push you into the sinkholes. https://t.co/JGe8j14JFS
4:14 AM ∙ May 5, 2021
18Likes3Retweets

Which Twitter are you in? The beautiful village or the giant sinkhole? Here are tips on how to live in the village without falling into the sinkhole.

Quote of the Week

Twitter avatar for @w3ll_adjusted
socialite @w3ll_adjusted
I think Sisyphus would be much happier if they had a big number at the top of the mountain that incremented with each successful rock push, and also if they let him spend those points on fun stickers for the rock
10:21 PM ∙ Apr 29, 2021
24,829Likes5,459Retweets

I wonder how many people this describes.

New to Some

This section contains tweets where there’s an interesting concept that many might know but it would be new to at least some people. Last week the New to Some had an image of an airplane with red dots. If you didn’t understand it, click here for the detailed explanation.

Twitter avatar for @ZachWeiner
Zach Weinersmith @ZachWeiner
Book Idea: A plague wipes out humanity's gut microbiome. The world is in digestive peril. Only one place in the universe houses a microbiome that never endured the plague: the Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 poop bags, left on the Moon. cc: @andyweirauthor
2:49 PM ∙ May 4, 2021
2,028Likes251Retweets

This tweet is a joke. But do you understand what is it talking about? You should find out more about our gut microbiome (the microbes living in our stomach and intestines, and who play a very important role in our digestion and immunity).

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