Aether Mug
Aether Mug
Marco Giancotti
Hello! I write on Aether Mug, a weekly blog about a great number of things, like science, philosophy, design, psychology, and Japan—or rather, not about *any* of them in particular, but about the things that connect them all.
Latest Posts
A long time ago, in what now feels like a galaxy far, far away, large language models were next-word predictors. You gave them an unfinished chunk of text, and they continued from where it left off with plausible-sounding sequences of...
Words have always had a way with me. They find me if and when it suits their fancy. If they do find me, they usually find me between thirty minutes and thirty days after they would have been just perfect to tell someone... (This post...
There was, a long time ago, a small kingdom, and in that small kingdom was a prince who deemed himself just. This Prince reveled, above all else, in subjecting his people to the most peculiar trials. In his Princely youth, he enjoyed...
TL;DR: I've updated the Plankton Valhalla Bestiary. Did you know that Aether Mug has an older sister website? It's called Plankton Valhalla and I publish my essays there (go check it out!). I started it back in 2022 as a repository of...
People are using large language models more often and on more complex tasks than ever. Social media and marketers hammer us with the (real or dreamed-up) benefits of this uptake from all sides, but there are also voices pointing out the...
Following the success of the first installment (thanks for all the succulent comments!), here is another tough thinking question for you. Before that, a couple of updates. Last week I had a lot of fun being interviewed by Jay Springett...
In this post I'm trying something different. Instead of writing about my ideas, I'm asking you a question—a tough, Aether-Mug-style question!—for you to discuss with other readers in the comments section below. Several people have told...
This post is part of my List of Introspective Descriptions. I'm always accepting "curious introspection" links and submissions from everyone, regardless of the kind of inner experience covered. Also: This blog now has comments! You can...
1 If you descend onto the Marunouchi Line platform in Ikebukuro Station on any weekday morning, you will witness an unusual train-boarding ritual. Like in any other Japanese station, people wait in line at the two sides of where each...
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Roughly three years and three months ago I executed what I call my Master-Switch Plan: I resigned from my stable, well-paid position at an excellent up-and-coming Japanese startup and hired myself. That same company immediately became my...
This is the final episode in the series of curated quote collections "Darwin in His Own Words". Darwin the Fun-Loving Young Fellow Darwin the Voyager Darwin the Man of His Times Darwin the Witness Darwin El Naturalista At last, it's time...
It should be clear by now that Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle is much more than a log of scientific notes. Descriptions of nature and its mysteries abound—we'll see them in the next episode—but his book is also a window into his...
This is the third installment in a series of curated quote collections I've gathered while reading Darwin's famous travel book. You can also read episode 1 and episode 2. If you've read the previous two posts, you might have formed the...
This is the second installment in a series of curated quote collections I've gathered while reading Darwin's famous travel book. Read episode 1 here. Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle was more than a series of fun episodes. It was,...