Niels Huijbregsen
Why negative feedback is better for improvement (or is it?)
In the years after World War II, a group of Israeli Air Force instructors believed they had discovered a hard truth about human nature. They noticed something strange during flight training. When a pilot executed a perfect maneuver and received praise, the next attempt was usually worse. But when a pilot performed badly and was harshly criticized, his next flight tended to improve. It felt like solid evidence. Praise seemed to weaken people, while criticism toughened them up. Many instructors became convinced that tough feedback was the only way to improve performance. The conclusion was neat, logical, and entirely wrong.
Will Machine Learning Replace Econometrics?
Econometrics used to be the gold standard for making sense of economic data, relying on carefully structured models, causal inference, and transparent relationships. But machine learning doesn’t play by those rules. It skips the theory, digests mountains of data, and delivers startlingly accurate predictions. As industries crave speed and scale, one question is becoming harder to ignore: do we still need econometrics at all?
Are You the Only You in an Infinite Universe?
Imagine walking down the street, thinking that no one else in the universe is exactly like you. Your experiences, your thoughts, and even your random quirks make you feel special. But what if, somewhere out there, another version of you exists—living an identical life, making the same choices, and even reading this very article right now? While this may sound like science fiction, if the universe is truly infinite, then probability suggests it could be reality. And not just once, but an infinite number of times.