top of page

Forum Posts

Desmond Cudjoe
Harvard GenEd 2023
Apr 17, 2023
In Wealth
The interview with professor Laibson was very insightful and the most surprising bit of information is how our current climate prediction models could be way off the charts. From previous classes I learned that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that the continued usage of fossil fuels will result in the emission of about 25 to 30 gigatons of carbon dioxide with an atmospheric concentration over 1000 parts per million before the end of this century and this could melt almost all the ice caps and could cause global sea level would rise approximately 70 meters (approximately 230 feet). The interview showed me that predictions like this could be very misleading because Climate change prediction models are based on historical data and trends, but they may not account for the full range of potential outcomes, including extreme climate events simply because extreme weather events are rare and may not be well-represented in the historical record. In the interview, Professor Laibson shares his view on machine learning and advocates that everyone, especially students should know much about machine learning and also consider the fact that the models we create using machine learning could be unintentionally biased based on our personal opinions. People usually would use ML for social good but would still face some difficulties . An example from the chatgpt discussion we had two weeks ago revealed that some AI models created through ML develop and exhibit patterns which are not intentionally embedded in their system. I also know some individuals would use it for bad. So my question is since there are ethical implications of using machine learning algorithms, how can we ensure that these algorithms are used in a responsible and equitable way? Do we need an independent body to oversee all the work being done through machine learning?
1
0
10
Desmond Cudjoe
Harvard GenEd 2023
Apr 13, 2023
In Health
Interview I was surprised to know the progress made on mobile health. I think the ability to predict when an individual will be stressed and counter it with the necessary treatment is a great step and I believe such a technology would be very helpful in detecting stress levels in individuals with mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. During the interview, Brendan said they're able to measure the tension in tectonic plates and determine the locations where earthquakes could occur but cannot predict the exact time at which it would occur. Although he said there isn't enough data, I was wondering since seismologists know much from the aftermath of earthquakes, if an earthquake was detected in area and it occurred sometime later, can the tension which was measured already and the magnitude of the earthquake be used make simulations and give estimates depending on the features of the earthquake to other earthquakes which have been detected? He answered this question later by saying they don't have robust computational tools to simulate thousands and thousands of earthquakes so I was curious to know if any progress has been made toward these technologies. I did some search but couldn't find anything on this topic. Rather, I found how we can prepare for earthquakes and this article talks about three major strategies namely, Pendulums for Skyscrapers, Shock Absorbers and Seismic Invisibility Cloaks. My question to Brendan is since he mentioned that a lot of people are living in earthquake prone areas, what are the measures being taken and do those measures contain any of the strategies mentioned earlier?
1
0
7
Desmond Cudjoe
Harvard GenEd 2023
Mar 29, 2023
In Earth
Interview: https://www.labxchange.org/library/pathway/lx-pathway:825945a0-367c-45dc-82b7-3d160c6e6f7a/items/lx-pb:825945a0-367c-45dc-82b7-3d160c6e6f7a:lx_simulation:6113c65e?source=%2Flibrary%2Fclusters%2Flx-cluster%3AModernPrediction From the interview, I was surprised by how Gina explained the better way to make everyone aware of the climate crisis. From her point of view, people see the world differently so if you try to explain why climate change is a concern from a generic perspective, it wouldn't make sense to them but rather, make them more skeptical on the topic. This really stood out to me because I always thought explaining the problem of climate change just involved talking about how a collective solution would help cool the earth and decrease the occurrence of other disasters. From what Gina said, this idea of mine wouldn't suffice for someone who is in a much cooler climate and hardly sees any effects of climate change on their day to day activities. Therefore, thinking about climate change and its effects on each individual would help develop better ways to communicate the problem and help people to better understand, be less skeptical and take initiative to address the problem. I'm studying Environmental science and public policy and we have explored a lot of areas and one interesting area was the eocene period. During the eocene , the warmest sustained state of the Cenozoic, global mean annual surface temperatures were 13 °C ± 2.6 °C warmer than late 20th century temperatures" (PNAS). There were no ice sheets, sea level was about 100 meters higher than currently and atmospheric carbon dioxide was approximately 1,400 parts per million volume (ppmv). According to Wikipedia, the Eocene is not only known for containing the warmest period during the Cenozoic; it also marked the decline into an icehouse climate and the rapid expansion of the Antarctic ice sheet. The transition from a warming climate into a cooling climate began at around 49 million years ago. Considering those years back( over 49 million years), nothing was done to fix this problem. It was just a natural occurrence where an extremely warm climate transitioned to a very cool one. According to The Eocene Epoch( originally David Polly) "This (the eocene) changed oceanic circulation patterns and global heat transport, resulting in a global cooling event observed at the end of the Eocene. By the Late Eocene, the new ocean circulation resulted in a significantly lower mean annual temperature, with greater variability and seasonality worldwide" I remember Former Donald Trump rejected the claims about climate change and said nature would fix this problem on its own and I guess my question is since humanity wasn't present to fix the climate crisis during the eocene period, can we anticipate the current climate change problems to be solved on by nature just as it happened in the past? Relevant Material https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eocene#:~:text=The%20Eocene%20is%20not%20only,around%2049%20million%20years%20ago. https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/tertiary/eocene.php#:~:text=This%20changed%20oceanic%20circulation%20patterns,greater%20variability%20and%20seasonality%20worldwide.
1
1
11

Desmond Cudjoe

Harvard GenEd 2023
+4
More actions
bottom of page