Skip to content
  • Home Home Home, current page.
  • About

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Language: English
    • Bahasa Indonesia
    • Bahasa Melayu
    • Català
    • Čeština
    • Dansk
    • Deutsch
    • English UK
    • Español
    • Filipino
    • Français
    • Hrvatski
    • Italiano
    • Magyar
    • Nederlands
    • Norsk
    • Polski
    • Português
    • Română
    • Slovenčina
    • Suomi
    • Svenska
    • Tiếng Việt
    • Türkçe
    • Ελληνικά
    • Български език
    • Русский
    • Српски
    • Українська мова
    • עִבְרִית
    • العربية
    • فارسی
    • मराठी
    • हिन्दी
    • বাংলা
    • ગુજરાતી
    • தமிழ்
    • ಕನ್ನಡ
    • ภาษาไทย
    • 한국어
    • 日本語
    • 简体中文
    • 繁體中文
  • Have an account? Log in
    Have an account?
    · Forgot password?

    New to Twitter?
    Sign up
michael_nielsen's profile
michael_nielsen
michael_nielsen
michael_nielsen
@michael_nielsen

Tweets

michael_nielsen

@michael_nielsen

Searching for the numinous @YCombinator Research

San Francisco, CA
michaelnielsen.org
Joined July 2008

Tweets

  • © 2019 Twitter
  • About
  • Help Center
  • Terms
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies
  • Ads info
Dismiss
Previous
Next

Go to a person's profile

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @

Promote this Tweet

Block

  • Tweet with a location

    You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more

    Your lists

    Create a new list


    Under 100 characters, optional

    Privacy

    Copy link to Tweet

    Embed this Tweet

    Embed this Video

    Add this Tweet to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Add this video to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Hmm, there was a problem reaching the server.

    By embedding Twitter content in your website or app, you are agreeing to the Twitter Developer Agreement and Developer Policy.

    Preview

    Why you're seeing this ad

    Log in to Twitter

    · Forgot password?
    Don't have an account? Sign up »

    Sign up for Twitter

    Not on Twitter? Sign up, tune into the things you care about, and get updates as they happen.

    Sign up
    Have an account? Log in »

    Two-way (sending and receiving) short codes:

    Country Code For customers of
    United States 40404 (any)
    Canada 21212 (any)
    United Kingdom 86444 Vodafone, Orange, 3, O2
    Brazil 40404 Nextel, TIM
    Haiti 40404 Digicel, Voila
    Ireland 51210 Vodafone, O2
    India 53000 Bharti Airtel, Videocon, Reliance
    Indonesia 89887 AXIS, 3, Telkomsel, Indosat, XL Axiata
    Italy 4880804 Wind
    3424486444 Vodafone
    » See SMS short codes for other countries

    Confirmation

     

    Welcome home!

    This timeline is where you’ll spend most of your time, getting instant updates about what matters to you.

    Tweets not working for you?

    Hover over the profile pic and click the Following button to unfollow any account.

    Say a lot with a little

    When you see a Tweet you love, tap the heart — it lets the person who wrote it know you shared the love.

    Spread the word

    The fastest way to share someone else’s Tweet with your followers is with a Retweet. Tap the icon to send it instantly.

    Join the conversation

    Add your thoughts about any Tweet with a Reply. Find a topic you’re passionate about, and jump right in.

    Learn the latest

    Get instant insight into what people are talking about now.

    Get more of what you love

    Follow more accounts to get instant updates about topics you care about.

    Find what's happening

    See the latest conversations about any topic instantly.

    Never miss a Moment

    Catch up instantly on the best stories happening as they unfold.

    michael_nielsen‏ @michael_nielsen 7 Nov 2018

    This is a little over-simplified. But I find the core question fascinating - why do our society's supposed innovation systems often fail to create the most valuable innovations, which instead come from the fringe?pic.twitter.com/OTYgdAfhGq

    10:52 AM - 7 Nov 2018
    • 52 Retweets
    • 244 Likes
    • bourbakis Sharat Satyanarayana The Element Group Dorian Nakamoto Mark Wilcox Martin Szarski Hemanth G Pol Torrent Pasi
    35 replies 52 retweets 244 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. michael_nielsen‏ @michael_nielsen 7 Nov 2018

        Pretty sure part of the answer is that the most valuable ideas create new narratives that are completely outside (& eventually redefine) the mainstream. But to get funding - in either academia or tech - you need a somewhat plausible starting narrative.

        5 replies 4 retweets 70 likes
        Show this thread
      3. michael_nielsen‏ @michael_nielsen 7 Nov 2018

        Groucho's Law: never work on any project for which you can get funding.

        4 replies 36 retweets 165 likes
        Show this thread
      4. End of conversation
      1. New conversation
      2. David Deutsch‏ @DavidDeutschOxf 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @michael_nielsen

        FWIW public-key cryptography was invented at GCHQ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Cocks …

        2 replies 2 retweets 17 likes
      3. michael_nielsen‏ @michael_nielsen 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @DavidDeutschOxf

        It's close enough to academia I'm willing to give academia much of the credit: the useful (because public) parts came from Diffie, Hellmann, Merkle and RSA, as well as the inventors of ideas like hashing. And Cocks (& to some extent Ellis) were in any case a product of academia.

        1 reply 0 retweets 5 likes
      4. michael_nielsen‏ @michael_nielsen 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @michael_nielsen @DavidDeutschOxf

        Incidentally, this earlier letter of John Nash's is rather remarkable: https://www.gwern.net/docs/cs/1955-nash …

        0 replies 1 retweet 9 likes
      5. End of conversation
      1. New conversation
      2. Danny Iskandar‏ @diskandartweet 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @michael_nielsen

        They are overfitting ...could not think outside the box. That's what happen if you are optimized only for one/few things in life. Look at the great scientist of our time ... Einstein ..he didn't come from academia ... If fact he has a rather boring job at that time

        2 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
      3. michael_nielsen‏ @michael_nielsen 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @diskandartweet

        He got his PhD in 1905 and had had a rather conventional academic life up to that point.

        1 reply 0 retweets 4 likes
      4. michael_nielsen‏ @michael_nielsen 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @michael_nielsen @diskandartweet

        It does speak poorly of academia at the time that he wasn't able to secure an academic job in 1905. But as his biographers make clear, it was a near thing, and he certainly was trying to get such a job.

        1 reply 0 retweets 8 likes
      5. Danny Iskandar‏ @diskandartweet 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @michael_nielsen

        Look at Geoffrey Hinton ...he used different hats in his life time ....not just a computer scientist ..infact he used to be a carpenter

        1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
      6. 2 more replies
      1. New conversation
      2. Mason  🏃🏻 ✂️‏ @webdevMason 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @michael_nielsen

        Status-y places resist weirdos. Weirdos make stuff happen. Institutions where stuff happens seem to generally have nooks for weirdos, intentionally or unintentionally, or the resources to provide nice weirdo habitats for the few weirdos who stumbled onto status

        6 replies 10 retweets 124 likes
      3. Federico Vaggi‏ @F_Vaggi 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @webdevMason @michael_nielsen

        Weirdness only starts to be valuable when someone is brilliant. Unless someone is brilliant, being a weirdo is a net negative in expectation.

        1 reply 1 retweet 14 likes
      4. Mason  🏃🏻 ✂️‏ @webdevMason 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @F_Vaggi @michael_nielsen

        Which is why status-y places resist weirdos: most of them are just weird, and normies can't pick out the brilliant ones until they've seen their TED talks

        1 reply 1 retweet 46 likes
      5. Mason  🏃🏻 ✂️‏ @webdevMason 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @webdevMason @F_Vaggi @michael_nielsen

        Brilliant weirdos find other brilliant weirdos easily, because they're not trying to figure out who's "TED-level," they're just trying to hang out with people who aren't boring

        4 replies 55 retweets 281 likes
      6. Federico Vaggi‏ @F_Vaggi 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @webdevMason @michael_nielsen

        Hmm, that's a little too generous for my taste. A lot more people consider themselves brilliant than is warranted.

        1 reply 0 retweets 4 likes
      7. Conversion Rate Guy‏ @ClayNichols 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @F_Vaggi @webdevMason @michael_nielsen

        She didn't say THEY consider themselves (or others) brilliant. Instead, an even deeper gut-level discrimination: INTERESTING. The value of INTERESTING as a compass is very underappreciated.

        1 reply 0 retweets 30 likes
      8. Conversion Rate Guy‏ @ClayNichols 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @ClayNichols @F_Vaggi and

        Clarification: BRILLIANT is a red herring. I think it's 20% smarts and 80% seeing outside the box (or at least seeing there IS a box). And I think she meant that an outside observer, who can see the box (either via perspective today or from the future) will call them brilliant.

        2 replies 0 retweets 13 likes
      9. Mason  🏃🏻 ✂️‏ @webdevMason 8 Nov 2018
        Replying to @ClayNichols @F_Vaggi @michael_nielsen

        Importantly, some of these people will never be recognized in any significant way... some won’t even do much worth recognizing. There are lots of reasons for this, but brilliant weirdos live all kinds of lives

        1 reply 0 retweets 10 likes
      10. 2 more replies
      1. New conversation
      2. Anna Gát‏ @TheAnnaGat 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @michael_nielsen

        Incentives?

        1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
      3. Anna Gát‏ @TheAnnaGat 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @TheAnnaGat @michael_nielsen

        Sorry if this is overly obvious... But I think we still underestimate how little someone's thinking they want to innovate and their actual will and ability to innovate overlap. Sadly resources are mostly wasted on groups who have no interest to subvert, to step back, to rebuild.

        1 reply 0 retweets 13 likes
      4. michael_nielsen‏ @michael_nielsen 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @TheAnnaGat

        Yup!

        1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      5. Anna Gát‏ @TheAnnaGat 7 Nov 2018
        Replying to @michael_nielsen

        But the question is *what do we do*

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
      6. End of conversation

    Loading seems to be taking a while.

    Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.

      Promoted Tweet

      false

      • © 2019 Twitter
      • About
      • Help Center
      • Terms
      • Privacy policy
      • Cookies
      • Ads info