A contrarian isn’t one who always objects - that’s a confirmist of a different sort. A contrarian reasons independently, from the ground up, and resists pressure to conform.

  • Naval Ravikant
  • 11 Posts
  • 521 Comments
Joined 6 months ago
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Cake day: January 30th, 2025

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  • Plumber by training, but these days I work as a self-employed general contractor / handyman.

    My thinking is that companies looking for employees get flooded with nearly identical applications, so it’s hard to stand out. I’d rather just email, call, or even show up in person and ask for work - whether they’re actively hiring or not. It shows initiative.

    Honestly, I didn’t even want the position - I only applied to keep my unemployment payments going. I spent maybe five minutes writing the application and still got the interview.










  • Opinionhaver@feddit.uktoShowerthoughts@lemmy.worldIf I had a hammer …
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    4 days ago

    Ironically, I had to use AI to figure out what this is supposed to mean.

    Here’s the intended meaning:

    The author is critiquing the misapplication of AI—specifically, the way people adopt a flashy new tool (AI, in this case) and start using it for everything, even when it’s not the right tool for the job.

    Hammers vs. screwdrivers: A hammer is great for nails, but terrible for screws. If people start hammering screws just because hammers are faster and cheaper, they’re clearly missing the point of why screws exist and what screwdrivers are for.

    Applied to AI: People are now using large language models (like ChatGPT) or generative AI for tasks they were never meant to do—data analysis, logical reasoning, legal interpretation, even mission-critical decision-making—just because it’s easy, fast, and feels impressive.

    So the post is a cautionary parable: just because a tool is powerful or trendy (like generative AI), doesn’t mean it’s suited to every task. And blindly replacing well-understood, purpose-built tools (like rule-based systems, structured code, or human experts) with something flashy but poorly matched is a mistake.

    It’s not anti-AI—it’s anti-overuse or misuse of AI. And the tone suggests the writer thinks that’s already happening.









  • It means Artificial General intelligence and the term has been around for almost three decades.

    The term AGI was first used in 1997 by Mark Avrum Gubrud in an article named ‘Nanotechnology and international security’

    By advanced artificial general intelligence, I mean AI systems that rival or surpass the human brain in complexity and speed, that can acquire, manipulate and reason with general knowledge, and that are usable in essentially any phase of industrial or military operations where a human intelligence would otherwise be needed. Such systems may be modeled on the human brain, but they do not necessarily have to be, and they do not have to be “conscious” or possess any other competence that is not strictly relevant to their application. What matters is that such systems can be used to replace human brains in tasks ranging from organizing and running a mine or a factory to piloting an airplane, analyzing intelligence data or planning a battle.___