#AcademicRunPlaylist - 10/4/24

It was nice celebrating Rosh Hashanah with the family, and later in the day I was able to go out on a walk while listening to talks for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was a great talk by Zico Kolter on understanding why some hallucinations occur in generative AI, with a focus on the data distribution and interpolative nature of these algorithms, at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXk-S4jCzW0

Next was an excellent talk by Supreet Kaur on the planning fallacy and savings behavior in a seasonal hunger context at the Behavior Change for Good Initiative https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_O5UxWZ0Fo

Next was an interesting talk by Fanny Yang on reconsidering overfitting in the age of overparameterized models at the Simons Institute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1Gb3UEgpOk

Last was "The Gendered Brain" by Gina Rippon. Combining neuroscience and psychology, Rippon delivers a systematic takedown of the "female brain" myth as well as intrinsic sex differences in general. It might be more accurate to call this book "the gendered individual" given how much psychology is brought in here. This is necessary, however, as Rippon demonstrates how quickly societal and caregiver expectations influence behavior and activities.

One of the challenges with examining brains for differences between groups is that brains aren't static. As one grows and experiences and interacts with the world, they are influenced and changed. As such, the broad approach Rippon takes here is necessary. Even if some of the psychology studies she cites haven't replicated well, she takes pains to note study limitations, and the statistical rigor and deconstruction of poor studies is refreshing. Highly recommend https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/436024/the-gendered-brain-by-gina-rippon/9781784706814