In any team, the roles people play are not as rigid as they seem. Over time, people naturally settle into "soft roles" that are not explicitly defined but are crucial for a team's success. This is a look at the organic, and often unsung, ways that successful teams actually work.

Intellectual catchment areas are collaborative ecosystems between universities and industries that attract talent and ideas. The United States became a hub of intellectual capital after World War II, thanks to a combination of industrial growth around universities, significant research funding, and favorable immigration policies.

The current political climate is jeopardizing these ecosystems. Continued threats against universities and immigration could undo a century of progress, ultimately depleting the nation's source of creativity and innovation.

The map is not the territory. A picture of a flame is not a flame. A description of a neural network is not a brain. A simulation of thought is not a consciousness.

Language builds meaning by combining your inner experiences.

Hate can be suppressed temporarily, but cannot be contained for too long.

A very gentle introduction to how large language models almost capture human experience through language.

Intrinsic motivation is always better than extrinsic motivation. But not as good as it is when one is motivated both intrinsically and extrinsically.

In networking, adding too much buffering to intermediate network devices introduce unnecessary delays. The trade-off is that bursty traffic will have the appearance of getting through faster. But in reality, the speed of the network is still the same. Data just takes longer to get through.

More reflections from foureteen years at Google.

At long last, this blog "outgrew"^[1] Hugo and I had to go looking for a new static site generator.