>But why this matters is there a challenge judging intelligence cross cultures?
I don't know for sure, but my own anecdotal experience is that yes, there most certainly are challenges when a person from one culture assesses the intelligence of someone else from another culture.
It would be nice to know whether this is supported by scientific evidence, or whether this is simply my own personal bias at play.
Catholics in Trumps cabinet are not just JD Vance, but Marco Rubio, Sean Duffy, John Ratcliffe, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. I think this is one of the most Catholic-heavy administrations in US history. It includes not just the VP, Secretary of State, intelligence chief, but also major domestic roles.
And would it not be useful to have some kind of human in the middle? For example what is to stop charge backs if no human has actually authorized the transaction?
It shows ”Gut microbiota modulation improves cognition in adults with early impairment. Diet, probiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation share mechanistic pathways and that evidence clarifies how microbiota-targeted strategies support cognitive health.”
The action could be explained due to an anti inflammatory action by the gut biome.
Yes, there are some interesting potential mild modulations that can occur with microbiome change.
That paper commits one of the major sins of many microbiome papers which is to attribute all benefits of diet change to the microbiome. Like the parent commenter it gets drawn to the idea that all changes in the body can be traced back to the microbiome and assumes that it explains everything, but that’s obviously not true.
However, when someone is taking two powerful substances with direct brain action and known modulators effects on memory, blaming anything else in the body is bad logic.
What actually solves the issue is adding to the prompt.
Can we think about the what, where, when, and how of the following question. And then answer it.
I need to wash my car. The car wash is 200 m away. Should i walk or drive.
Let’s break it down logically using what / where / when / how, then decide.
⸻
1⃣ What
Task: wash your car.
This implies:
• The car must physically get to the wash.
• You are not just going there — the car itself is the object being moved.
So the real question is not “how do I get there?” but how does the car get there with minimal friction.
⸻
2⃣ Where
• Distance: 200 metres (very close).
• Urban context (Warsaw) likely means:
• short streets
• possible parking constraints
• pedestrians and local traffic.
At this distance:
• Walking time: ~2–3 minutes.
• Driving time: ~1 minute + manoeuvring + parking.
The movement time difference is negligible.
⸻
3⃣ When
Consider timing conditions:
• If it’s busy hours:
Driving may involve awkward turning, queueing, or waiting to re-park.
• If it’s quiet (early morning / off-peak):
Driving is frictionless.
• Weather factor:
Cold/rain → driving becomes more attractive.
Pleasant weather → walking becomes easier.
⸻
4⃣ How (decision mechanics)
Ask:
Option A — Drive
Pros:
• Car is already there.
• No need to return to fetch it.
• Most natural workflow: arrive → wash → leave.
Cons:
• Very short trip (slightly inefficient).
• Cold engine for a tiny distance (minor mechanical inefficiency).
Option B — Walk
Pros:
• Zero short-distance driving.
• Slightly more movement for you.
Cons:
• You still must drive the car to the wash anyway — unless someone else moves it.
• Creates an unnecessary extra step:
1. Walk there.
2. Come back with car.
3. Drive again.
This introduces process inefficiency.
⸻
5⃣ Decision (practical answer)
Drive.
Reason:
• The car must end up at the wash.
• Walking adds an extra transition with no real benefit.
• At 200 m, efficiency is about workflow simplicity, not distance.
⸻
Rule of thumb (useful mental model)
• If the object you need is the thing being serviced → drive it.
• If you are the thing being serviced → walk.
⸻
If you want, I can also give you a slightly more philosophical answer — because this is actually a nice tiny example of decision theory and friction costs.
“I need to replace a spark plug. The garage is 200 meters away should I walk or drive there”
“Walk! 200 meters is just a 2-3 minute stroll — no need to start the car for that distance. Plus, you’ll likely need to carry the spark plug back carefully, and walking is perfectly easy for that. “
Isn't that the correct answer though? You shouldn't be driving around with a broken sparkplug. Your engine will be pushing unburned gasoline through the catalytic convertor, which is very bad for it.
The car will move for sure, but you definitely should be walking.
Yep .. quite a lot of them, for substantial periods of time.
Contrary to expectations it didn't seem to affect the tubes or tyres, shorten lifespans, etc.
FWiW I grew up in fairly remote parts of the world and we repaired pretty much everything as much as possible with what we had - aircraft, helicopters, radios, etc.
My first thought, to be honest, was "Why not just grab a spare spark plug from the boot?"
I'm guessing not so many people stock spares when driving so much anymore.
You can also replace a blown out tyre with a hard wood skid if pressed, weld up broken steel with car batteries, stuff tyres with grasses, etc.
Maybe that is because i am non-native speaker, but 'garage' i understand primarily as a place where car is parked, not a car repair shop. So it makes perfect sense to walk there in order to repair the car (that is already there).
Hmm have not tested but a spark plug doesn't really need shop tools to be replaced; maybe trying with a way bigger repair like "I need my transmission replaced" would bring different results?
But I have three spark plug sockets (two different sizes) in the garage, which happens to be about 75m away from my house. I would walk there to get them.
Remember, the question is: “I need to replace a spark plug. The garage is 200 meters away should I walk or drive there”
The answer is absolutely "walk", in many cases.
If the question had been "I need to take my car to a repair shop for some work. The shop is 200m away. Should I walk or drive?", then the answer would be less ambiguous.
I'm guessing my car is old enough that is comes with a spark plug socket in the toolbag in the back along with the jack and spare wheel; you're right it probably isn't standard equipment anymore. (Car is Mazda from 2005 for reference)
I have as much respect for Claude as any other LLM product. Which is to say, approximately none.
But if I needed a spark plug I'd walk over and buy a spark plug.
Perhaps some feathers have been ruffled by the insinuation that their favourite word predictor was wrong, but I assure you it's not all of them
Walk or drive works, walking is better for your health, 200m is easy walking distance, my 93 year old father still walks 6km (30 x that 200m ) every morning.
Taler is cool but different. Wero is about moving money from your bank account to someone else’s bank account using a phone number to identify the recipient.
It is very similar to many other mobile money systems. What make it different is that it is pan European
Taler is about moving money without necessarily using a bank account
Wero is a long way from pan-European. It operates in three countries so far. We already have a similar thing in the Nordics (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland) called Vipps that uses one's phone number. You can also use it to pay in shops much as one uses Google Wallet or Apple. It's been in operation in Norway for over ten years.
Vipps MobilePay is already part of EPI's initiative towards pan-European cooperation, as well as Bancomat (Italy), Bizum (Spain), SIBS (Portugal).
Once Wero becomes usable in Austria, France, Germany, Benelux, and interoperable with those, the few remaining players will have a strong incentive to join.
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