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Never Listless
The Top 3 of almost Everything

Well, that went better than expected.

After a longer gap between newsletter editions than between Donald Fagen albums (that will only resonate with subscribers of a certain age), last week’s resurrection of the 3ology newsletter went surprisingly well.

So I’m taking your failure to unsubscribe as enthusiastic encouragement.

Therefore, welcome to Never Listless #2.

This week:
what to do with Frontier AI CEOs,
why I love the Dutch and
prepare for the Autumn.

Oh, and we’re going live with 3ology.

Hope to see you again next week.

Andrew Weaver
https//3ology.fun

(Personal)
My Weekly Top 3

1. Frontier Jail

As we all grapple with the concept and risks of recursive self-improvement, many talking heads have come up with potential solutions including how to manage the unregulated CEOs leading us into this Frontier AI.

My favourite is via Kara Swisher who keeps her solution simple;

“If they create a bot that ends up killing people, they need to go to jail”

And while we’re at it, let’s stop anthropomorphising machines. AI doesn't suddenly wake up one morning, fall in with the wrong crowd and decide to go “rogue”.

If it goes “rogue”, it's because humans designed, deployed or enabled a system capable of doing so.

2. Newmarket Friendship

It’s the summer of 1986. Maradona’s Hand of God has knocked England out of the World Cup and, in the slightly unhinged logic of my 19-year-old self, I decide an appropriate response is to start my own football team having only just arrived in London and with barely any contacts entered into my new filofax.

By January 1987, The Bohemians FC had folded, having categorically established themselves as one of the worst teams ever created.

But from that wreckage came my friendship with Alan and 40 years later, we snatch occasional Saturdays together, often chewing over the world’s problems while watching lower-league football.

This week took us to Newmarket Town FC, with the football once again merely the backdrop to a friendship which, to borrow Martin Amis describing his relationship with Christoper Hitchens, is “always the month of May”.

It reminds me every time we meet to cherish the friendships which carry so much shared history.

3. Brexit Dividend

My mother told me never to use this Newsletter to raise the topics of sex, religion or Brexit.

Alas, Brexit is rarely off my mind and resurfaced again this week during a 60+ minute passport queue at Amsterdam Airport, whilst watching our erstwhile European collagues waltz through the zone unimpeded.

The painful wait did have one benefit as I used ChatGPT for some creative therapy with a sketch that captured some of my frustration … without the need for any recursive self-improvement.

(Travel)
Top 3 Things I Love About The Dutch

Two days in Utrecht reminded me how much I enjoy spending time with the Dutch.

There’s a shared sense of humour with the Brits — dry, irreverent and suspicious of anyone taking themselves too seriously — alongside many other endearing Dutch traits.

As ever, it’s difficult to pin my affection down to 3 things but that’s the nature of 3ology so here is my current Top 3 …

1. The Dutch Commute

I’m always captivated by the Dutch dominance of bicycle over motor vehicle.

Children, pensioners, commuters, parents with children, people carrying shopping — thousands getting where they need to go without wrapping themselves in two tonnes of metal.

And beneath Utrecht station: the world’s largest bicycle parking facility for 13,500 bicycles.

It’s not just about bikes.
It’s about designing cities around people.

2. The Dutch Mountain

Those early Dutchies looked at the North Sea and thought: we’ll have some of that.

They reclaimed vast areas from the sea, built an extraordinary system to keep it out and, along the way, became the tallest nation in one of the world’s flattest countries.

Undeterred by their lack of spectacular ranges, they’ve named their highest hill the Vaalserberg — “Vaals Mountain” which at a majestic 322 metres above sea level provides further evidence again of that Dutch sense of humour.

3. The Dutch Bluntness

The Dutch rarely ask “Do you want my honest opinion?”

It simply delays them providing it.

They tend not to dance around the subject nor indulge in ambiguity.

It’s all very refreshing —
if occasionally challenging for the more circumspect Brit.

(Fact)
Top 3 surprises about the Autumn Equinox

Autumn equinox arrives this week so here are 3 things I discovered in anticipation of the change ahead …

1. Equal day and night? Not quite.

Equinox comes from the Latin for “equal night”, but on Wednesday London will get around 12 hours and 8 minutes of daylight.

Atmospheric refraction lets us see the Sun before it has technically risen and after it has set.

The genuinely near-equal day and night comes a couple of days later —
with the rather lovely equilux.

2. Omar Khayyam helped fix the calendar

Long before becoming known in the West for the Rubáiyát, Omar Khayyam was a mathematician and astronomer.

In the 11th century he was among the astronomers assembled by Sultan Malik-Shah to reform the Persian calendar, anchoring the New Year around the spring equinox.

Knowing precisely when spring began mattered for rather practical things too — including when the government collected your taxes.

3. The French Revolution tried to reinvent time

Overthrowing the monarchy apparently wasn't ambitious enough.

The French revolutionaries also decided to redesign the calendar, with the new year beginning around the autumn equinox and months renamed after nature and the seasons.

The revolutionary urge even extended to decimal time — dividing the day into ten hours. Turns out changing the government was easier than persuading everyone what time it was.

The Republican Calendar lasted until Napoleon abolished it in 1806.

And finally … 3ology is going live

We’ve discovered that 3ology works rather well away from the dining table.

Unlike a traditional quiz night, where teams huddle with people they already know, a 3ology Social Quiz Night gets the whole room talking, guessing and discovering things about each other.

Our next event is at David Lloyd Acton Park on Friday 9 October, and we’ve started getting requests to deliver Corporate Socials … for some team bonding!

If you’re looking for something different for your next work or club social … maybe something different for your Christmas event … email us at hello@3ology.fun

In the meantime, check out the new 3ology website →

Never ListlessThe Top 3 of almost Everything

Frontier AI CEOs, Why I Love The Dutch, Prepare for Autumn