In conclusion, a signal is a method of conveying information among not-necessarily-trustworthy parties by performing an action which is more likely or less costly if the information is true than if it is not true. Because signals are often costly, they can sometimes lead to a depressing waste of resources, but in other cases they may be the only way to believably convey important information.
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According to some proponents of signaling theory (e.g. Robin Hanson), much (most?) behavior can be attributed to signaling.
"What's signaling mean?", you ask? Â Here's my armchair explanation of my favored version of the theory.
When you chose the outfit you're wearing, when you pick a vehicle to own, when you vote for a candidate, when you voice an opinion, when you choose a career, or when you name your child, you did it largely because you "want" to signal to others that you're the type of person who would do those things, for various fitness and social (of course social reasons are fitness reasons) reasons. Â In other words, you want to signal that you belong to Group X because you do the same things Group X does.
The common explanation for behaviors and choices is that you like those behaviors and choices so you act in that manner. Â In my opinion this feeling of liking something is an abstraction of a deeper, and more firmly rooted, signaling explanation.
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Signalling theory – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Within evolutionary biology, signalling theory is a body of theoretical work examining communication between individuals. The central question is when organisms with conflicting interests should be expected to communicate honestly (no presumption being made of conscious intention) rather than …
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These are some pretty amazing satellite timelapse images of different areas of the planet over the past 30 years.
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Stunning Satellite Images of Earth | TIME.com
Exclusive timelapse: See climate change, deforestation and urban sprawl unfold as Earth evolves over 30 years.
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Mathematical prediction models are better than doctors at predicting the outcomes and responses of lung cancer patients to treatment, according to new research presented today (Saturday) at the 2nd Forum of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO).
This is the sort of thing that's only going to be happening more and more often.
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Mathematical models out-perform doctors in predicting cancer patients’ responses to treatment
Mathematical prediction models are better than doctors at predicting the outcomes and responses of lung cancer patients to treatment, according to new research presented on Saturday at the 2nd Forum o…
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Reshared post from +Kaj Sotala
Nice brief overview of the five theses that give reason to be worried about advanced AI.
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Machine Intelligence Research Institute | Five theses, two lemmas, and a couple of strategic implications
MIRI’s primary concern about self-improving AI isn’t so much that it might be created by ‘bad’ actors rather than ‘good’ actors in the global sphere; rather most of our concern is in remedying the sit…
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Alexander B Fry writes a nice overview of where we're at with regards to understanding dark matter.
Either dark matter exists or it doesn’t. If it exists, then either we can detect it or we can’t. If it doesn’t exist, either we can show that it doesn’t exist or we can’t. The observations that led astronomers to posit dark matter in the first place seem too robust to dismiss, so the most common argument for non-existence is to say there must be something wrong with our understanding of gravity – that it must not behave as Einstein predicted. That would be a drastic change in our understanding of physics, so not many people want to go there. On the other hand, if dark matter exists and we can’t detect it, that would put us in a very inconvenient position indeed.
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Alexander B Fry – On dark matter
Dark matter is the commonest, most elusive stuff there is. Can we grasp this great unsolved problem in physics?
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 It's around 50km long.  The asteroid has a moon called Dactyl that you can to the right that's about 1.5km in diameter and orbits it at around 90km.Â
Pictures taken in 1993 by the Galileo spacecraft en route to Jupiter. Â This is when Dactyl was discovered. Â Ida itself was discovered in 1884.
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I laughed when I got to the end.
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