The top 15 stories curated by editors and fellow readers!
Editor's Pick
You don't know how bad most things are nor precisely how they're bad. LessWrong
 TL;DR: Your discernment in a subject often improves as you dedicate time and attention to that subject. The space of possible subjects is huge, so on average your discernment is terrible, relative to what it could be. This is a serious problem if you create a machine that does everyone's job for them.
I loved the rehearsal, and heard nothing at all wrong with the piano, but immediately afterwards, the conductor and piano soloist hurried over to the piano tuner and asked if he could tune the piano in the hours before the concert that evening. Annoyed at the presumptuous request, he quoted them his exorbitant Sunday rate, which they hastily agreed to pay.
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WorkWhy CEOs Stay in Tim Walz's MinnesotaSonnenfeld is a Lester Crown Professor of Leadership Practice and President of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute. Henriques is a senior fellow at the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute. WorkThe staggering death toll of scientific liesPoldermans was a prolific medical researcher at Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, where he analyzed the standards of care for cardiac surgery, publishing a series of definitive studies from 1999 until the early 2010s.
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WorkResearch: Consumers Spend Loyalty Points and Cash Differently - Harvard Business Review (No paywall)Do consumers treat loyalty points the same way that they treat traditional money? And, how do they choose to spend one versus the other? The authors of this article present research findings from their analysis of data describing over 29,000 unique loyalty points earning and spending transactions made during two recent years by 500 airline loyalty program consumers. They found that points users fell into four distinct categories: 1) Money advocates, who prefer cash over points, even when their value is identical in terms of purchasing power; 2) Currency impartialists, who regard points and cash interchangeably, valuing them equally based on their financial worth; 3) Point gamers, who actively seek out the most advantageous point redemption opportunities, opting to spend points particularly when their value significantly surpasses that of cash; and 4) Point lovers, who value points more than money even if their purchase power is the same or lower. This article explores the strategic implications of these findings for companies that manage loyalty programs. WorkA harm-reduction approach to eating out - STAT (No paywall)Several years ago, while on a road trip, I ordered the now-discontinued spaghetti and meatballs during a pitstop at Denny’s. When the plate came out, I thought there was no way I could finish the massive platter, but then I did because it was right in front of me — even though I knew exactly what was going on.
WorkWorkWhy Was It So Hard for the Democrats to Replace Biden? - The New Yorker (No paywall)The buttons said “Frat Bros for Harris” and “Hillbillies for Harris” and “Banned Book Readers for Harris” and “Unity 2024.” The stickers said “demo(b)rat” and “Existing in Context” and “F*ck Project 2025” and “Hotties for Harris.” The Washington State delegation wore “Cowboy Kamala” sashes and cowboy hats fringed with flashing lights. (“The Smithsonian already came by to collect one,” Shasti Conrad, the head of the delegation, told me.) Some pieces of merch seemed to have been printed in June—a T-shirt with images of Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter, but no Kamala Harris—and others were designed sometime between late July, when Biden left the race, and mid-August, when people started arriving in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention. It surely wasn’t spontaneous when Biden finished his keynote speech and Harris told him, within view of the cameras, “I love you so much.” Still, stagecraft and all, it did feel a bit like Unity 2024. “Two months ago, it was impossible to contemplate that anyone other than Biden could unite the Party,” Peter Welch, the junior senator from Vermont, told me. “Then it was people tiptoeing around, going, ‘O.K., he’s not the best messenger, but we can’t address that without tearing the Party apart.’ Now that’s all ancient history.”
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WorkWorkDon't Trust AI for Important Things Such As Investment Decisions - Scientific American (No paywall)Entrepreneur and software engineer Marc Andreessen described ChatGPT in a post on X (formerly Twitter) as “pure, absolute, indescribable magic.” Bill Gates told Forbes that ChatGPT was “every bit as important as the PC, as the internet.” If that hyperbole was not enough, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, proclaimed in a 60 Minutes interview that artificial intelligence “is the most profound technology that humanity is working on—more profound than fire.” Turing Award winner Geoffrey Hinton told CBS News, with no apparent sense of irony, “I think it’s comparable in scale with the Industrial Revolution or electricity—or maybe the wheel.”
WorkWorkOn Truth Social, Donald Trump Tries to Refashion Himself as Supportive of Abortion Rights“I believe America cannot truly be prosperous unless Americans are fully able to make their own decisions about their own lives, especially on matters of heart and home,” Ms. Harris said. “But tonight, in America, too many women are not able to make those decisions. And let’s be clear about how we got here. Donald Trump handpicked members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom. And now he brags about it.”
WorkThe Big Number: 818,000The Federal Reserve, which is poised to cut interest rates when it meets next month, is attuned to such signs of economic slowdown. Fed officials may also be taking note of a shift in consumer behavior, as Americans hurt by years of high inflation have turned to bargain hunting. WorkWhy Mpox Vaccines Aren't Flowing to Africans in Desperate NeedWhile high-income nations rely on their own drug regulators, such as the Food and Drug Administration in the United States, many low- and middle-income countries depend on the W.H.O. to judge what vaccines and treatments are safe and effective, a process called prequalification. WorkWorkPeace Talks at Swiss Resort Beckoned. Sudan's Divided Generals Wouldn't Go.At one point this week, Tom Perriello, the United States envoy to Sudan, broke away from the talks and flew to Cairo to meet an official Sudanese delegation, hoping to coax its members to attend. But the Sudanese sent delegates who the Americans and Egyptians thought were not interested in peace. Egypt’s intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, who had brokered the meeting, called it off at the last minute, according to two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. WorkOpinion | Luckily for Kennedy, Trump Has Low Hiring StandardsKamala Harris: The biggest speech of her life. She’s been on a roll on the campaign trail, but a lot of Americans are still getting to know her as a possible president. No matter your party, it’s intriguing to see what Harris makes of the moment — whether she tries to be all things to all people or tries to make a few indelible points. Not many presidential nominees give the best speech of an entire convention — it would be one for the ages if she did. WorkWorkRobert F Kennedy Jr suspends US presidential campaign and endorses Trump“We want an America filled with hope and bound together by a shared vision of a brighter future, a future defined by individual freedom, economic promise and national pride,” they said. “We believe in Harris and Walz. Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story.” WorkWorkWorkWorkWorkWorkWorkAbortion Rights, on Winning Streak, Face Biggest Test in NovemberThe ballot amendment in Florida alone will pose a test no other abortion proposal has faced: State law sets the threshold for passage at 60 percent, rather than a simple majority. In other red states, abortion rights groups have won with percentages in the high 50s. WorkWorkIn Las Vegas, Trump Calls Harris a 'Copycat' Over 'No Tax on Tips' PlanBefore President Biden withdrew from the race in late July, Mr. Trump had appeared to be on a trajectory to end his electoral drought in the desert — where one of his hotels towers over the Strip. Mr. Biden, whose campaign called the “no tax on tips” overture a “wild campaign promise,” had been trailing Mr. Trump by an average of seven percentage points in Nevada. WorkA Campaign That Just Started Is Almost OverHarris is heading home to Washington this weekend, my colleagues Reid Epstein and Katie Rogers report. Trump, who is campaigning today in Las Vegas and Glendale, Ariz., also has no campaign rallies planned for Saturday and Sunday. That might be all the peace and quiet we get before … WorkWorkProsecutors Unlikely to Seek 'Mini-Trial' in Trump Jan. 6 CaseWhile Judge Chutkan could in theory still order such a hearing to be held, Mr. Smith’s prosecution team is leaning against asking her for an expansive proceeding where witnesses would provide live testimony about the case, the people familiar with the matter said. WorkWorkThe Next GenerationAs Ms. Harris began her speech, Amara peered up at the vice president. In a small buffer zone behind the girl, a photographer for The New York Times took a picture that captured the power of the moment. It quickly went viral. WorkKamala Harris, Hoping to Build Momentum, Plans Battleground State Tour Next WeekPresidential candidates typically come out of their conventions trying to build momentum with bus tours or rallies. Ms. Harris’s choice to delay the traditional barnstorming reflects the supercharged pace of the last few weeks and the changed nature of modern campaigns, where social media posts can be as important as speeches. It also is evidence of a shift from a sprint to more of a middle-distance effort that requires endurance and speed in equal measures. WorkWorkWorkInside the Democratic Schmoozefest, Where Hotel Lobbies Are 'Prime Territory'It has long been this way on the sidelines of political conventions, where powerful relationships are born and nurtured far from K Street lobbying offices or boardrooms. But there are still 74 days left — at least — until anyone will know whether it is important to get in good with the people wielding authority in a President Harris administration. It may yet be another four years of wooing President Trump and his associates. WorkGuant
WorkAs Ukraine Pushes Into Russia, Its Next Steps Are Unclear“What the war has shown us so far is that the way to slow a military down is through ‘defense in depth,’” said Seth G. Jones, a senior vice president with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in a reference to the strategy of using multiple layers of defensive positioning. “If they are not defending territory with a mixture of trenches and mines, it is going to be virtually impossible to hold territory.” WorkWorkWorkHarris Faces Challenge of Translating Convention Joy to Fall MomentumMs. Scholten knows of what she speaks. She captured a Republican seat in 2022 that had not gone for a Democrat in 32 years. She understands what it takes to win in a closely divided battleground state that may be critical to victory for Ms. Harris. And she remembers when Mr. Trump surprised the world by overcoming Hillary Clinton eight years ago. WorkWorkTesla cut down half-a-million trees for a factoryThe moves were, obviously, met with disdain from company boss Elon Musk, who took to X to describe protesters at the site as “either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or they’re puppets of those who don’t have good environmental goals.” WorkWorkBitcoin tops $63,000 after Jerome Powell's speech at Jackson Hole signals interest rate cuts are comingIn contrast, investors have shown little interest in spot Ether ETFs over the past week. Unlike Bitcoin ETFs, spot Ether ETFs have only seen outflows, with no days of positive inflows. Combined, spot Ether ETFs have witnessed $459 million in outflows, as per Farside data. Among them, BlackRock’s (BLK) ETHA managed to attract $1 billion in inflows, while Grayscale’s ETHE has fared the worst, suffering $2.5 billion in outflows. WorkSubway will sell $6.99 footlongs as the fast foot value wars heat upThe chain’s Friday announcement is just the latest entry into the increasingly competitive fast-food value meal wars. McDonald’s has been running its $5 meal for most of the summer and Starbucks (SBUX) surprised customers with its own value deal as it too grapples with declining sales. TradeBriefs Publications are read by over 100,000 Industry Executives About Us | Advertise | Privacy PolicyUnsubscribe (one-click) You are receiving this mail because of your subscription with TradeBriefs.
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