I am Bored | What to do When "I am bored"

Have a wild Idea? Here are sine more:

A wild idea is one that many people think is obviously quite unlikely. I’d say at least a third of these wild ideas are likely true. (Parenthetic links are to more of my writings.)

1. Many times each day, your mind permanently splits into different versions that live in different worlds.
   

   The startling prediction of the “many worlds” interpretation of quantum mechanics is that when systems like your mind interact with small quantum systems, every possible quantum outcome actually happens in a different “world.” Quantum mechanics is our most basic theory of physics, and surveys of prominent physicists reportedly find majorities favoring this interpretation. (More here.)

2. If medicine were taxed so much that people only bought half as much, they would be just as healthy.
   

   In the 1970s, the RAND Health Insurance Experiment randomly assigned 5000 adults to free or full-price health care over 3-5 years. Free care folks got more eyeglasses and teeth filled, and spent ~30% more, but were otherwise no healthier. This result is consistent with typical time-series and cross-sectional analyses. I’m willing to extrapolate from this 30% change to a 50% cut. (More here.)

3. If we keep writing down common sense datums until 2100, we can make computers as smart as people.
   

   We learn more about brains and making smart computers, but we seem to have run out of major architectural innovations — better ones won’t make a huge difference. The big stumbling block seems to be how much “common sense” a system knows, like that things tend to fall down when you bump them. One group has been writing these down for fifteen years with moderate success; a century more effort may be plenty.

More of the 14 Wild ideas

Popularity: 3% [?]