# Principles & Big Ideas This page is going to be a home base for all of the big picture ideas that I have come across related to, well, anything that is interesting! Ideally all of the ideas in here are of the type that really caused me to go "Wow, what a beautiful way of looking at things" when I first heard it. They are so powerful that I simply need them in my toolbox. They are worth the effort to add to. They should be a *distillation* of a much larger and more complex group of ideas. ### Mathematics 1. [The Right Representation](Right%20Representation.md) 2. [Patterns and Information Compression](Patterns%20and%20Information%20Compression.md) 3. [Calculus is a System of Reasoning](Calculus%20is%20a%20System%20of%20Reasoning.md) 4. [Constraints in Math and Science](Constraints%20in%20Math%20and%20Science.md) 5. [Mathematical Structure, Patterns, Constraints, Information and Logic](Mathematical%20Structure,%20Patterns,%20Constraints,%20Information%20and%20Logic.md) 6. [All of Math Is](All%20of%20Math%20Is.md) 7. [Does Linearity provide Information](Does%20Linearity%20provide%20Information.md) 8. [Data Matrices and Linear Transformation](Data%20Matrices%20and%20Linear%20Transformation.md) 9. [Dual Use of Information](Dual%20Use%20of%20Information.md) 10. [Derivatives provide Direction](Derivatives%20provide%20Direction.md) 11. [Machine Learning and Expressiveness](Machine-Learning-and-Expressiveness.md) 12. [Why embeddings are so useful](Why%20embeddings%20are%20so%20useful.md) 13. [Relationship between Translating Space and Translating Objects](Relationship%20between%20Translating%20Space%20and%20Translating%20Objects.md) 14. [Information, Retrieval and Storage](Information,%20Retrieval%20and%20Storage.md) ### Mindset 1. [Do Less. Do Better. Know Why.](Do%20Less%20-%20Do%20Better%20-%20Know%20Why.md) ### General Thinking & Problem Solving 1. [Do not be too general](Do%20not%20be%20too%20general.md) 2. [The Right Representation](Right%20Representation.md) 3. [Constraints in Math and Science](Constraints%20in%20Math%20and%20Science.md) 4. [Science is about correcting errors in our explanations](Science%20is%20about%20correcting%20errors%20in%20our%20explanations.md) 5. [Simplify the Problem](Simplify%20the%20Problem.md) 6. [Applied Complexity](Applied%20Complexity.md) 7. [360 Framing and Multiple Lenses](360%20Framing%20and%20Multiple%20Lenses.md) 8. [On the Importance of Mental Models as Building Blocks of Cognition](On%20the%20Importance%20of%20Mental%20Models%20as%20Building%20Blocks%20of%20Cognition.md) 9. [Subtraction Necessitates Addition](Subtraction%20Necessitates%20Addition.md) 10. [Primitives](Primitives.md) 11. [Cycling](Cycling.md) 12. [Contrarian True Beliefs](Contrarian%20True%20Beliefs.md) ### Technical Thinking 1. [The Right Representation](Right%20Representation.md) 2. [Patterns and Information Compression](Patterns%20and%20Information%20Compression.md) 3. [Calculus is a System of Reasoning](Calculus%20is%20a%20System%20of%20Reasoning.md) 4. [Constraints in Math and Science](Constraints%20in%20Math%20and%20Science.md) 5. [Mathematical Structure, Patterns, Constraints, Information and Logic](Mathematical%20Structure,%20Patterns,%20Constraints,%20Information%20and%20Logic.md) 6. [All of Math Is](All%20of%20Math%20Is.md) 7. [Dual Use of Information](Dual%20Use%20of%20Information.md) 8. [Algorithms Exploit Constraints](Algorithms%20Exploit%20Constraints.md) 9. [Algorithms and Structures can create new Structures](Algorithms%20and%20Structures%20can%20create%20new%20Structures.md) 10. [Software Engineering Architecture and Dependencies](Software%20Engineering%20Architecture%20and%20Dependencies.md) 11. [Using Models as Anchor Points](Using%20Models%20as%20Anchor%20Points.md) 12. [Never Forget the Data Generating Process](Never%20Forget%20the%20Data%20Generating%20Process.md) 13. [Extending Ideas to Broader Classes](Extending%20Ideas%20to%20Broader%20Classes.md) 14. [Groupby is like conditioning](Groupby%20is%20like%20conditioning.md) 15. [Softmax is like a differentiable maximum function](Softmax.md) ### [Startup Principles](Startup%20Principles.md) 1. [YAGNI](YAGNI.md) 2. [Running Upstairs](Running%20Upstairs.md) ### Interacting with world, Society 1. [Creators vs Exploiters](Creators%20vs%20Exploiters.md) ### Wide Reaching Ideas 1. [Intelligence is Error Correction](Intelligence%20is%20Error%20Correction.md) 2. [Calculus is a System of Reasoning](Calculus%20is%20a%20System%20of%20Reasoning.md) 3. [Constraints in Math and Science](Constraints%20in%20Math%20and%20Science.md) 4. [Science is about correcting errors in our explanations](Science%20is%20about%20correcting%20errors%20in%20our%20explanations.md) 5. [Dual Use of Information](Dual%20Use%20of%20Information.md) 6. [Algorithms Exploit Constraints](Algorithms%20Exploit%20Constraints.md) 7. [Applied Complexity](Applied%20Complexity.md) 8. [Science is an Invitation to Structured Discussion](Science%20is%20an%20Invitation%20to%20Structured%20Discussion.md) ### To add * Max Tegmark (during fridman podcast) on Neural networks work because we can determine a local direction to move in. We always want to be able to determine the next best move. This notion is similar to what I always talk about in relation to *distance* being so crucial in ML (it sounds like the most general version of this may be “where are is the object in space, relative to other things”. This captures the notion of *direction* as well as proximity/distance between objects) * Strogatz, infinity principle, churning nature of calculus * High dimensional spaces * Tons of stuff on bitcoin * error correction * deutsch writings * taleb writings (asymmetry, etc) * Algorithms and information space (see [Hash Maps > Meta idea](Hash%20Maps.md#Meta%20idea), [Algorithms and Representation](Algorithms%20and%20Representation.md), hash map notes in noteability) * Mathematics is a way of thinking (fooled by randomness, chapter 2, taleb) * The Art of Argumentation book * Darwins Dangerous idea book --- Date: 20210811 Links to: Tags: References: * []()