Notebook: Higgs, Gym, Beta-level Simulation

Amazon

Higgs field/boson popular science book

I recently read Matt Strassler's book, "Waves in an Impossible Sea" which aims to explain the Higgs field and Higgs boson to non-physicists. It's probably as good as you can expect for such a book. Strassler is a clear writer and doesn't shy away from difficult questions.

For example, he tackles the question of whether light, which travels through a vacuum, needs a (very strange, 'impossible') medium to carry the electromagnetic field. He makes a clear distinction between a medium and a field which is crucial here.

The explanation of the Higgs field "stiffening" quantum fields for particles with mass isn't perfect, but it's perhaps the best analogy available. It encouraged me to revisit the maths - I have some books which are gentler than this.

Exercise Routine

This morning at the gym I continued my aerobic workout: five minutes on the exercise bike, then the stepper, and finally, the treadmill. My goal is to improve my fitness, especially after a bad case of what was likely COVID last June. The breathlessness lingers, but I believe exercise can help. The idea is to use the gym for 15-20 minutes of high-intensity aerobic exercise, complementing my Tai Chi sword form, Tai Chi form and Heian kata (shotokan karate) practice.

With summer approaching I can move some of the latter exercises outdoors, freeing up gym time for equipment-based aerobic work.

Your very own beta-level simulation

An article in The Times recently discussed the use of large language models to create "Grief-Bots" or "Dead-bots" – terms that could use some marketing work! The concept involves feeding a large language model with information about a deceased person, including appearance, voice recordings, conversation samples, and even their style of communication. The system then essentially "reincarnates" the departed, allowing a simulated interaction with a spouse, parent, or other loved one.

One suggestion was to leave such a "beta-level simulation" (as Alastair Reynolds termed it) for your descendants. This could be an alternative to traditional ‘letters cast into the future’, which naturally lack context and specificity.

However, the question arises: what's the purpose of such a simulation? It wouldn't be an information source, as better systems exist and will continue to develop. It wouldn't be the first choice for advice either.

Perhaps it's for emotional support – someone who responds in a way that resembles a spouse, grandparent, or ancestor, acting more like a friend than a resource. Science fiction often explores this theme, sometimes with a Far-Eastern cultural context: ancestor-worship.

While I understand the concept, I suspect most people wouldn't be interested in frequent interaction with such an "archaic entity" when daily life offers so much.

Practically, leaving an operational large language model to your descendants is impossible. Technology advances rapidly, rendering the software outdated and unusable within a year.

A better solution might be to leave training data – biographies, transcripts, and other relevant information. This way, future generations could train a model using the latest software, essentially "reincarnating" you or anyone else.

Forward-thinking individuals might consider this approach for the future. Or perhaps they’ll wonder why on earth they should bother: one’s sprawling digital estate will have all the data any future AI system could ever require, whether you like it or not.