Incidentally, I agree with you on Night. I have visited Auschwitz 3 times, read widely on the horrors. It is a disheartening, horrible, read and experience to visit, but something more should do, maybe we would have more peace in our world... although I doubt it.
I can see how my exploration of the Mensa list might come across differently than intended. My aim wasn't necessarily to endorse this specific list or the 'IQ club,' but rather to explore the experience, the friction and challenge, that comes from engaging with demanding texts, wherever they are found. For me, it was less about surrendering judgment and more about using the list as a specific, challenging prompt to sharpen critical thinking against difficult material. Perhaps 'exercise regimen' isn't far off, but ideally one that builds perspective rather than just ticking boxes.
Thanks for the recommendation on Christopher Nguyen's "Value Capture".
Thank you for sharing the link, I embedded it a few times. How the list is interesting (alphabetical) - I wonder how they are rated by Mensa grade 9-12 year olds overall
That is true... I certainly did not have that awareness when I was that age. I had a period locked in my room between 17 and 19 reading anything I could Bram Stoker, Dickens, 1st World war history and so on... but did for the joy and was not fully aware of the impact until much later.
Overall - People often hate asking themselves questions that threaten their comfort zone or self-image—like whether they’re truly happy, living up to their potential, stuck in fear-driven decisions, or repeating the same mistakes. These questions are unsettling but can spark significant personal growth.
Agree wholeheartedly, it was unfortunate that the author did not use a good image generator, or even correctly prompt Dall-E to get better images, his take on using AI then became rather flimsy. I gave up at this point!
I find their critique compelling, particularly their emphasis on the disconnect between CoT’s algorithmic mimicry and true cognitive exploration. The authors illustrate this with examples from advanced mathematics, such as the "windmill problem" from the International Mathematics Olympiad, a puzzle whose solution eludes brute-force sequential thinking. These cases underscore the limits of a framework that relies on static datasets and rigid generative processes. CoT, as they demonstrate, falters not because it cannot generate solutions, but because it cannot conceive of them in ways that mirror human ingenuity.
As they say - "Superintelligence isn't about discovering new things; it's about discovering new ways to discover."
I did not know that, I have not read The Gift, will do now. I read Nabakov's biography (my version Speak, Memory) and do not remember him mentioning Chernyshevsky there either. I will re-read. Thank you.