Words Vocabulary
- idempotent - a property of an operation such that applying it multiple times has the same effect as applying it once (e.g., in mathematics or computing, running an idempotent function repeatedly yields the same result after the first execution)
- Prosthetic knowledge - information a person doesn't know by memory, but can access as needed using technology
- Myopic - nearsighted, lacking imagination or intellectual insight
- Anthropomorphizing—mistakenly attributing human characteristics to an object or animal. “Many researchers are considering the long-term possibility of sentient or general AI, but it doesn't make sense to do so by anthropomorphizing today’s conversational models, which are not sentient.”
- Petulant - childishly sulky or bad-tempered (person or their manner)
- Luddite - a person opposed to new technology or ways of working (derogatory). Historical context: a member of the bands of English workers who destroyed machinery (cotton and woolen mills) bc they believed it was threatening their jobs (1811-16)
- Apocryphal - (of story or statement) of doubtful authenticity although widely circulated as being true
- Weltschmerz - a feeling of melancholy and world-weariness
- Avant-garde - new and unusual or experimental ideas, especially in the arts or people introducing them
- Teetotaler - non-drinker, abstinent from alcohol consumption
- Ameliorate - to improve, make better
- Dilettante - dabbler, tinkerer
- Copacetic/copasetic - in excellent order (North American informal adjective)
- Autostereogram - 2D image that can create the optical illusion of 3d when viewed properly, popular in the 90s
- Ersatz - artificial, substitute, imitation, synthetic
- Misanthrope - hater of mankind
- Ostentatious. Vulgar or pretentious display, designed to impress
- Opulence. Ostentatiously rich and luxurious or lavish
- Syndication - transfer of something for control or management by a group of individuals or organizations
- Solar geoengineering
- Stochasticity. Randomly determined, random probability distribution
- Ambivalent - having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas
- Erudite - having or showing great knowledge or learning
- Proclivity - a tendency to choose or do something regularly
- Supplant - supersede and replace
- Anthropophagous - eating if human flesh by humans
- Dichotomy. a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different.
- Capitulation - the action of surrendering or ceasing to resist an opponent or demand
- Impasse - situation in which no progress is possible, especially because of disagreement; a deadlock
- Dependency infrastructure
- Aphorism - a concise observation that contains a general truth ("if it ain't broke, don't fix it")
- Occam's razor - the principle (attributed to William of Occam) that in explaining a thing no more assumptions should be made than are necessary. References the razor "cutting away" of unnecessary material. Invoked to defend reductionism or nominalism.
- Decrepit - elderly person, not physically or mentally strong
Symbiotic - involving interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association. Denoting a mutally beneficial relationship between different people or groups.
- Diaspora - dispersion or spread of a people from their original homeland
- Euphemism - mild or indirect word/expression substitute for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing
- Scowl - an angry or bad-tempered expression
- Lamented - passionated expression of grief or sorrow for something that has died, been lost, or ceased to exist
- Semantic satiation
- despotism - exercise of absolute power
- hydraulic despotism - social or government structure which maintains power and control through exclusive control over access to water. It arises through the need for flood control and irrigation, which requires central coordination and a specialized bureaucracy.
- Apophatic - things which cannot be explicitly said or sufficient described in our current vocabulary.