Notes
LLM writes low-level code and improves performance by 2x
An incredible mise en abyme happened yesterday. A developer managed to get 2x improvement by letting DeepSeek-r1 write code for a specific part of llama.cpp.
Surprisingly, 99% of the code in this PR is written by DeekSeek-R1. The only thing I do is to develop tests and write prompts (with some trials and errors)
According to the prompts shared by the developer, the model spent thinking 3 to 5 minutes per response.
DHH's absurd rant on ADHD
I got pissed off a bit too easily reading one more absurd take on ADHD. This time, it comes from DHH who blessed us with his weakly-informed opinion. Apparently, we ADHDers aren't crippled enough in our daily life that we have to suffer arrogant apes throwing feces blog posts at us. ADHD is a serious condition and society at large must face it instead of dismissing it.
ADHD is a subject of research since at least 1775
In 1775, Melchior Adam Weikard, a prominent German physician, published the textbook Der Philosophische Arzt. Weikard's text contained a description of ADHD-like behaviours, possibly the first ever such description in medical literature (source)
ADHD is associated with an increased mortality rate.
ADHD was associated with significantly increased mortality rates. People diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood had a higher MRR than did those diagnosed in childhood and adolescence. Comorbid oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and substance use disorder increased the MRR even further. However, when adjusted for these comorbidities, ADHD remained associated with excess mortality, with higher MRRs in girls and women with ADHD than in boys and men with ADHD. The excess mortality in ADHD was mainly driven by deaths from unnatural causes, especially accidents. (source)
ADHD is associated with alcohol and substance abuse disorders
Substance use disorders are a frequent comorbidity in adult ADHD. This review discusses the relationship between adult ADHD and substance use disorder, including use of licit and illicit substances such as nicotine, alcohol, cocaine and cannabis. (source)
ADHD is way more prevalent is prisons than in the general population.
Compared with published general population prevalence, there is a fivefold increase in prevalence of ADHD in youth prison populations (30.1%) and a 10-fold increase in adult prison populations (26.2%) (source)
It took me 5 minutes to search for this information. Granted, it's not easy as opening X and reducing this disorder to popping pills for morning's productivity routine. To be honest, if there was a pill to avoid reading dumb shit on the internet, I would take twice the recommended dose everyday.
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History of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
en.wikipedia.org
The Style Council - The Whole Point Of No Return
I was wrong about Prediction Markets
Donald Trump just got elected, and while polls showed a very close race, prediction markets such as Polymarket were confident he would win. But why? I couldn't understand how they could be so certain when regular polling showed such unclear results.
I watched an interview with a French trader who invested millions of dollars betting on Trump's victory. This helped me understand what was really happening. Instead of writing about his research like a journalist would, this trader did careful analysis and put his money behind his findings. He spotted the difference between public perception and reality – and made a lot of money for his work.
This case reveals some worrying issues. How could pollsters produce such incorrect polls? And why were these polls published without proper verification? There's clearly a problem with how information is gathered, analyzed, and shared. Prediction markets create a financial reward for people who do thorough fact-checking. Whether this is good or bad is a larger discussion for another time.
Going forward, I'll definitely use prediction markets as one of my tools to get beyond the limited perspectives that social media algorithms and news outlets might be showing me. They can help us think more critically about what's really happening.
Jenny Holzer's Truisms
Discovered at Arles' Rencontres de la Photography, Jenny Holzer's Truisms are life-lessons collected as impactful short sentences.
Some of my favorites:
Abuse of power comes as no surprise
A lot of professionals are crackpots
A strong sense of duty imprisons you
Action causes more trouble than thoughts
All things are delicately interconnected
Always store food
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Truisms (Jenny Holzer) - Wikipedia
wikipedia.org