The Topics of our Blog
Here is a list that is of interest to the writer of this blog and partly covered in this Blog. Some are more of a personal interest. Read the Bio Page for further Information.
Quick Overview
- Business & Tech: Fresh perspectives on innovation, strategy, and the future of technology.
- Math & Algorithms: Weekly challenges to sharpen your problem-solving skills.
- Artificial Intelligence: Exploring consciousness, hybrid AI models, and neural representation.
- Truth & Logic: Philosophy, cognitive biases, and mastering logical reasoning.
- Society & Reflection: Feminism, men’s rights, economic justice, and the psychology of incentives.
- The Philosophy of Evil: Understanding the darkest corners of the human mind.
- Decision Theory: Game theory insights for smarter decision-making.
- Cultural Journeys: A global perspective through our “Around the World” series.
- Poetry & Wisdom: Creative expression to inspire and provoke thought.
- Life & Logic: Applying reason to life’s biggest questions and challenges.
Here are all the topics with further elaboration
Buisness and Innovation
I am deeply motivated by innovation and thrive in workplaces that embrace it. On this blog, we publish articles exploring the latest technological advancements in the market. Topics range from patient preference prediction and autonomous vehicles to upcoming interviews for the School of Invention on Ocean Deep Tech and the future of game development.
Algorithms to Live By and Math
I am deeply inspired by this book, and of course, as a computer science student, you should have some affinity for algorithms. On this blog, we publish weekly problems, including algorithmic problems. We also have a series called “The Logic of Life.” Details will follow soon.
Truth
Truth is an obsession for me and a lifelong pursuit that I explore on this blog. I study cognitive biases, constantly challenge my perceptions, and engage in philosophical debates about the nature of truth. This exploration helps me examine and refine how I see the world every day. In this Blog, you can find articles that help you reflect on your perception of the world! Too often people forget that to learn to be critical you shouldn’t question everything other people say. It would be best if you questioned what you say and think. If you do so, then automatically you will look at everything people say and do with a similar cautious eye. But it always starts with the work on yourself.
Political Debate: How Logic Can Help Us All
Imagine if every listener, reader, or viewer had basic logical tools. Spotting false premises or recognizing non-sequiturs could inoculate people against manipulative rhetoric. Arguments must stand on solid ground, fostering debates rooted in truth rather than emotion or convenience.
So the next time you hear a bold claim, remember: if the premise is garbage, the conclusion might be too. Logical reasoning isn’t just for programmers or mathematicians—it’s a tool for anyone who values truth in a world often clouded by noise.
Argumentation
I’m deeply interested in how arguments are constructed, what gives them meaning, and what “making sense” really means. I like political debates but that’s not my main interest; I’m more intrigued by mathematical argumentation and find parallels with legal reasoning, which some criticize, but which makes sense to me. In legal reasoning, lawyers aren’t necessarily seeking the absolute truth; they’re building the best, most convincing argument. This method, which can be formalized using frameworks like Dung’s argumentation theory, fascinates me.
The Philosophy of Evil
To truly cultivate morality, one must confront evil directly—acknowledge its presence in others and, more importantly, recognize its potential within oneself. This requires not only a surface-level condemnation but a deep understanding of the philosophies and ideologies that have driven humanity’s darkest moments. Reflecting on historical atrocities, such as the Holocaust, and examining the minds behind them—figures like Hitler, Stalin, or Mao—can illuminate the philosophies that enabled their acts of horror. By exploring these ideologies, we gain insight into how individuals and societies can rationalize evil, providing us with tools to resist and prevent such darkness in the future.
Hybrid AI: Combining Logic with Neural Networks
Topics include what Logic Neural Networks (LNN) are, how we combine logic and machine Learning theoretically with Bayesian epistemology, or how we can potentially solve the XAI problem and ethical dilemmas in AI applications like Patient Preference Prediction, autonomous vehicles, and more by combining rule-based with learning-based systems.
Representation Learning, human brain, and Machine Learning
Neural Representation Learning (NRL) refers to how AI systems learn to encode and represent information, similar to how biological neural networks represent information in the brain. See more details on the Bio Page. I am also interested in how we align the representation of different measurements. For example, if we consider a stimulus set, like a set of pictures, and measure the activation patterns of all the neurons in a) a human and b) a monkey while observing the image, then a suitable approach for embeddings could involve constructing distance matrices for each system to encode the pairwise distances between the activation patterns of the images. So, for each brain (human and monkey), we calculate how similar or different their responses are for every pair of images. The alignment function could then be defined as the correlation between these two matrices. This method, commonly referred to as representational similarity analysis in neuroscience (e.g., Kriegeskorte, 2015), provides a way to quantify the similarity between the systems’ representations.
Intersection of machine Learning research with Geometry
The intersection of machine learning and pure mathematical fields like geometry explores how geometric principles can inform and enhance machine learning models. This includes leveraging geometric representations for data, and understanding model behavior through manifolds.
Artificial Consciousness
I am deeply intrigued by the concept of Artificial Consciousness (AC) and the potential pathways to creating something that resembles human consciousness. While I believe we are still a long way from achieving this, some of my articles intentionally feature provocative titles to spark discussion. Nonetheless, I find it overly cautious or perhaps biased to dismiss even the hypothetical possibility of Artificial Consciousness and androids. Exploring these scenarios expands our understanding of both technology and the nature of consciousness itself.
Checkmate: Decision (Game) Theory
Developing decision-making skills isn’t just about improving your personal life; it’s also technically relevant as we move toward a future where autonomous systems make more decisions on our behalf. Understanding the principles behind good decisions will empower us to better design and interact with these systems.
Inference, Proof, and Bayesian Rule
My interests involve the standard inference types inductive, deductive, and abductive inference. Of course, I am also interested in how we define Rationality with the Bayesian Rule for instance.
Economics, Poverty, and Failed Meritocracy
Shedding light on the struggles of poor people, most members of our society usually can’t grasp. At the same time, we focus on a rational view. We put empirical evidence over theoretical thought or empathetic sentiments and discuss the questions of whether capitalism helps the poor or not and what we may want to change in our policies and treatment of economically unsuccessful people. Inspiration includes Thomas Sowell, Milton Friedman, and John Rawls. Coming from a poor family myself, I reflect on how I got out of poverty what mechanism caused me and my family to fail, and what caused us to thrive. I also engage in debates about the very definition of Justice and study empirical evidence on poverty.
Why is this even important? Studies coherently show that countries with a smaller Gap between poor and rich, so more egalitarian countries are more stable. The cause of criminal activity, for instance, often lies in economic nature. Moreover, we lose talent by setting up big disadvantages, and prejudices against children of lower classes in school. However, I will not follow the approach to only criticize the wealthy for their treatment of the poor, but also harshly criticize the “culture of poor” I experienced myself.
Feminism and Men’s rights activism
I also include Men’s rights. Men’s rights deserve attention, too. Men have long faced stereotypes that can be just as restrictive as those imposed on women. In some ways, masculinity feels like an even more constructed concept than femininity—a set of ideals that society built around power, resilience, and control. Meanwhile, femininity is often wrongly viewed as incompatible with ambition, leadership, or career success, as if those qualities clash with the very idea of being a woman. For me, a core issue is that in areas where women are traditionally underrepresented, interests are better explained by traits like individual IQ rather than by gender. But society is often quicker to point to gender, reinforcing stereotypes on both sides. I am also very passionate about the integration of motherhood in the workforce. Only recently have I recognized my own desire to be a mother one day, yet it feels like every side sends the message that having children is a burden or an “inconvenience” in certain careers and that mothers should be avoided or quietly sidelined. It’s as if we’re expected to apologize for doing something intrinsic to many women: bearing and raising children. Why is it that as women have entered the workforce, we still haven’t adopted a mindset that actively includes children in the equation? And it shouldn’t feel like a “favor” for parents. We need structures that simply integrate parental leave and motherhood as part of standard planning. This is one reason we urgently need more female founders and women in leadership. Traditional company structures were created by men who didn’t need to consider parenthood—and it shows. Many still seem resistant to making space for mothers in the workforce. Meanwhile, some modern feminist perspectives also fail to embrace a positive vision of motherhood. Instead of advocating for the choice to have children and still pursue a fulfilling career, they sometimes pressure women to “be like men,” suggesting they avoid motherhood or limit themselves to one child in daycare all day. But what if some women, given the choice to work fewer hours, could be more productive and efficient, bringing immense value without sacrificing family life?
I also think we need to rethink how we treat men because, to be frank, nothing we tell boys about masculinity growing up is even slightly true. Men are not allowed to show emotions except it is anger but when they in fact do show anger, they are called out as toxic. Men are told not to harass women (rightfully so) but at the same time expected to make the first move without any clear guidance. We tell men and boys that they are the privileged gender yet their suicide rate is almost three times higher in most industrial countries. We cannot talk about women’s rights without including men’s rights.
At Life and Logic, we want to promote justice and encourage a deeper reflection on Gender dynamics, discrimination, and Bias. To get further impressions, check out articles like “How different are men and women” on this Blog or my Medium Page @Star.index.
Eastern Philosophy and Ego
Sex Matters: Sex as an incentive for behavior
Jap…there is no way to state that without sounding like a creep. Don’t worry I am not the Sigmund Freud type. But sexuality plays a huge role when it comes to behavior and incentives and understanding the evolutionary drives that shape the dynamic of let’s say men and women helps us understand why discrimination against women in the workforce happens. There is also a theory, that I believe to be true, that men are economically more successful than women on average because they are rewarded for economic success with better opportunities in the dating market. The research on this is very clear. The reverse is not true. Women do not gain access to sex with men by being economically successful. Studies show that this has a slightly negative effect. To claim that this dynamic has no impact on the way our Leadership board turns out…well. You can check out my publication “Trieb und Tugend” where I talk about it a little. It is written in German.
Poems
Hi, my name is Yildiz. While I identify strongly as a logician, I’ve also always nurtured an artistic spirit. I’ve been writing poems since I was seven years old, and my work has been featured in a Poets Choice anthology, where I’m proud to be one of their writers. I’m preparing to publish my poetry book and will share my work regularly on this blog. I believe that everyone should have a medium for emotional expression. For me, balancing the logical aspects of my life with creative outlets like poetry, singing, and art is the healthiest and most fulfilling way to find harmony.
Here is a Sonnet of mine, called Ego, Intelligence, and Truth
Ego, Intelligence, and Truth
To seek the truth, we often chase delight,
We pick and choose the facts that suit us best.
What pleases ego blinds our inner sight,
While deeper thoughts lie hidden, unexpressed.
The mind finds comfort in what’s known and safe,
The clever girl who questions, seen as vain.
Yet courage faces truth, both sharp and grave,
When knowledge shatters ego’s sweet domain.
True wisdom lies in seeing as things are,
Not as our ego shapes the world we see.
It’s brave to seek what breaks our view afar,
To let truth strip our false identity.
For those who love the world as it reveals,
Know peace in truth, where honest wisdom heals.