agrees Archives - usatoday24

2,000 years ago, Seneca said that “it is not that we have little time to live, but that we keep wasting it.” Science agrees

December 29, 2025 by usatoday24

20 centuries ago, a man from Cordoba who had been quaestor, praetor, senator and consul of Rome and tutor to Emperors sat down to write a small treatise on the brevity of life. That was where he wrote that “it is not that we have little time to live, but that we waste a lot.” That phrase has spanned decades and decades, sticking in the minds of thousands of people and illuminating their lives. Or, simply, filling out internet pages that we have learned to consume as if it were any other entertainment product. A very popular one, by the way. In recent months, the Internet has been filled with Seneca quotes. The head of this report is one of them, but not the only one (“If you want to find true happiness, do not look for it in the great or the new, but in the serenity that simplicity brings.“, “there is no favorable wind for those who do not know where they are going“, “It is not that we have little time to live, but that we waste a lot“, etc, etc. ). And it’s curious… Does it make sense to go back to types from 2,000 years ago to solve our modern-day problems? And surprisingly it may be so. That’s what Philosophy professor Christopher Gill asked himself a few years ago.What if all that philosophical gossip goes further? “To what extent can we moderns recognize in these essays a plausible response to mental illness?” he asked. His answer, after studying Stoics and Aristotelians, is that Seneca’s texts; but, in general, these “philosophical essays were designed to function as a psychological analogue of the ancient medical regime.” What we would call today “lifestyle management” or “preventive medicine.” And, therefore, beyond the ‘pop philosophy’ of recent years, it is possible to find something of value in all those classic texts. Some of value, but not everything. In 1965, when she entered the Chinese Academy of Traditional Medicine, chemist Tu Youyou entered into a very long race to analyze each and every one of the remedies that the ancient Chinese civilization had been selecting. Most of them were pure pseudoscience, of course. A mixture of superstition, credulity and placebo. However, hidden among the trickery, there were real gems. The best example is the artemisinina revolutionary treatment against malaria. A treatment that earned him the Nobel Prize in 2015. It was sold like a Nobel Prize for traditional medicine, yes; but in reality, it was a Nobel for the slow work of screening, testing and discarding by the Ningbo scientist. That is what should be done with the practical philosophy of the Greeks and Romans. And, in this case, it seems that Seneca was right. First of all, because we have systematic biases that they push us to postpone and waste time. Secondly, because much of the “lost time” is not even conscious: it is pure “cognitive friction” (interruptions, multitasking, attention waste, etc.). And finally, because, according to available evidencewhen we reduce the lack of time, well-being increases. That is to say, it is not so much that we lack time as that we do not have a “well-lived” life. How do we fit all this together? Well, very good. Because “all this”, moreover, fits into the general idea not only of Seneca’s pamphlet in which it appears; but in the general outline of Stoic philosophy. And it is worth remembering that under all the naturalistic scaffolding of the philosophy of the old Stoics there was, above all, an ethical question: an imperative to live in accordance with nature (a, by the way, very rationalist vision of nature). In this sense, the Stoics they used to pay attention to what the human being could or could not do: since you have limited control over the length of your life, you must focus on how you live it; They told us while they invited us to order our behavior through moral criteria by dint of attention and peace of mind. Image | Fabio Comperelli | Prado Museum In Xataka | What is Stoicism, the Greek philosophy from 2,000 years ago that has become fashionable again today

Everyone agrees that we have to stop using gas. But Europe does not take any notice

November 4, 2025 by usatoday24

Europe is preparing for another winter by looking askance at the gas tanks and the thermometer. The heating they start to light up and the alarms, again, too. According to a report by McKinsey & Companyglobal gas demand will increase by 26% by 2050. The figure clashes with the scenario necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 °C, which would require reducing consumption by more than 75%. The bridge fuel. In theory, Europe had learned the lesson after the energy crisis of 2022. But three winters later, the board still showing cracks. The main regasification plants in the Netherlands – Gate and Eemshaven – operate at 90% or 100% of their capacity, and their saturation “is the prelude to higher prices.” They are the gateway for liquefied natural gas (LNG) for Germany and a good part of the European industry. Meanwhile, Spain boasts of having the largest regasification capacity in the EU, with six active terminals, but it can provide little relief to the rest of the continent: interconnections with France barely allow the export of between 7,000 and 8,500 million cubic meters per year. The bottleneck it’s clear: the dependence is no longer on Russia, but on a few port infrastructures that operate at their limits. The result feels on the bill: The regulated gas rate in Spain rose up to 20% in October, but international gas became slightly cheaper, regulated tolls and the increase in winter demand drove up costs. Europe facing winter. The European Union enters winter with gas reserves at 83%the lowest level since the beginning of the energy crisis and ten points below the historical average. The European Commission had set a target of 90%which has not been fulfilled. Meteorologists, in addition, warn of a colder winter than the previous three, which could trigger consumption. Despite this, Brussels does not speak of panic but of caution. ENTSOG—the body that brings together gas system operators— estimates that even In a high demand scenario, no country would have to cut supply. However, he warns of a real risk: “A cold wave in autumn could increase pressure on prices,” especially as Europe compete with Asia for the available LNG. A future that does not deviate from gas. The panorama drawn by the consulting firm McKinsey it’s clear: Global energy consumption will continue to grow by 10% to 15% until 2050. Fossil fuels, despite the rise of renewables, will continue to represent between 41% and 55% of the world’s energy mix. And natural gas, far from disappearing, will remain the pillar of the electrical system and the chemical industryespecially in Asia and the Middle East. The energy transition, the consultancy warns, has lost speed. The priority is no longer decarbonization, but safety and affordability. Or, as the report summarizes: “The gas doesn’t go down, it just moves.” As the electrification of industry and transportation advances, gas demand remains a backup for the system, exacerbating the paradox: each installed renewable megawatt still needs gas behind it. Even in its intermediate scenario, McKinsey estimates a global temperature rise of 2.3°C, well above the Paris Agreement target. The way out: the flexibility that is missing. The consulting firm points to a structural solution: flexibility. Europe will need 75% more flexibility mechanisms before 2030 to integrate renewables without depending on gas. This study estimates that European companies They could capture up to 8 billion euros annually if they invest in demand-side response (DSR) solutions: systems capable of adjusting industrial electricity consumption based on renewable production. In other words, moving demand instead of turning on gas when there is no sun or wind. Several examples from the report show how this new flexibility works: a French paper company managed to multiply its reaction capacity by electrifying its boilers and using thermal storage. In the Netherlands, a greenhouse combines solar energy, batteries and electric boilers to make better use of its production and earn about 300,000 euros per year. And in the United Kingdom, a supermarket chain can reduce its consumption at times of high demand without interrupting its activity. Together, these solutions – batteries, digital control and intelligent systems – allow the electrical grid to adapt instantly, without depending on gas. Between two models. Europe has the generation of the future, but it continues to operate with the rules of the past. The electrical grid still depends on gas to stay on its feet, and transition plans are running slower than the thermometer. McKinsey warns that gas will grow by 26% until 2050, just when it should fall by 75%. It is the portrait of a contradiction: while science asks to slow down, the system steps on the accelerator. The coming winter will once again measure us, not only in degrees or reserves, but in political will. Because energy stability and climate stability, today, are already the same thing. Image | Unsplash Xataka | Europe has been working for three years to isolate itself from Russian gas. Two countries have decided to build a direct gas pipeline to Russia

We have been talking for months that there is an AI bubble. The worrying thing is that even Sam Altman agrees

August 22, 2025 by usatoday24

One thing is that AI pessimists tell us that there is a bubble. Another very different is that Sam Altman suggested, CEO of Openai. But it is what has happened, and that is a worrying indication of the situation in which this segment is located. Every time More expert voices They warn of danger of a bubble from AIbut there are not only voices: there are data that raise a potential crisis. One that could be even more harmful than that of the Puntocom. What has Altman said. The head of OpenAI, the company that develops ChatgPT, invited a group of journalists to comment on the launch of GPT-5. During that meeting, they indicate in The Vergesaid the following: “When bubbles occur, intelligent people are excessively excited about (which is actually so alone) a pinch of truth. Are we in a phase in which investors in general are too excited about AI? My opinion is that yes. Is AI the most important thing that has happened in a long time? My opinion is also that “ Remembering the story. Altman compared the current dynamics with which he experienced During the bubble of the Puntocom In the late 2000s. Between March 2000 and October 2002, NASDAQ lost about 80% of its value: many of the companies that signed up for Internet fever and the web failed La Hora to generate income or benefits. The value of the 10 most important companies of the S&P 500 index is today much greater than the one in the 90s, and that points to a potential (and huge) bubble. Source: Apollo Global Management / Tornsten Slok. Worse than the bubble of the Puntocom. Economic analysts and experts have long offered arguments that point in the direction of a potential bubble of AI. The chief economist of the investment firm Apollo Global Management, Torsten Sløk, indicated in a report That this bubble could be worse than that of the Puntocom: the 10 most important companies of the S&P 500 index have a value well above the 10 that occupied those positions in the late 90s. Too much speculation. Ray Wang, director of the Futurum Group semiconductor firm, showed two faces of the same currency. As he said In CNBC, “From the perspective of a broader investment in AI and semiconductors … I do not see it as a bubble. The foundations of the entire supply chain remain solid, and the long -term trajectory of the trend of AI supports the continuous investment” But at the same time, he stressed that there is a problem with this segment: there is too much speculative investment in companies that have less solid bases and in which there is only one perception of its potential without real foundations – Hello, Safe Superintelligencehello Thinking Machines-. It’s hard, but bubbles have their good side. As Alberto Romero points out In your Newsletter“In a way, bubbles are an inevitable and welcome phase between short -term selfishness and long -term progress.” In his opinion and That of other experts Like Mills Baker, manager at substock: “He Hype It is acceptable under the premise that only an optimistic character, prone to exaggeration and hyperbole, can build the new world for which a bubble is only the starting point, his big bang. The cynical and pessimistic character is a useful counterweight to excessive optimism (…). While optimism is an active creation force, pessimism is a reactive modulation force. “ Source: Paul Kedrosky. When the trains were the AI. Or what is the same: for the world to advance, bubbles are (or can be) necessary. We saw it with the Puntocom: it is true that the crisis existed, but that uncounted optimism in the future of the Internet ended up making sense. Of course, only a few companies (the great current empires) ended up benefiting. But it is that something very similar happened with the railroads at the end of the 19th century. At that time the investment and the capex in these infrastructure was colossal –five times greater that the one who lives now in AI – and although many companies broke, but from that bubble we left with an absolute revolution both at the level of transport and economic and social. But this bubble can be very, very large. As points Romero, the difference here between optimistic and pessimistic (or realistic) speeches is growing, and that is worrying. The expectations that the companies of AI and their CEOs are creating (with Altman in front, The man-hype) They are increasing. They constantly tell us about How are we close to reach the AGIbut the reality is that there are no real indications that this is so and in fact there is a Founder of AI. Faced with the promises of the revolution that theoretically should have begun to generate AI, the reality is that the advances do not seem extraordinary. In fact, a study of the MIT discovered that after asking 150 entrepreneurs and 350 employees of companies that have integrated AI in their processes, 95% had not seen any benefit in doing so. Better Wait for GPT-6. GPT-5 has demonstrated, a model for which we expected A historical jump And that in the end raises an improvement that for now it is discreet and that he introduced changes They were Very criticized. The launch of this model has been a small disaster that He has forced To the company to give reverse In several of your decisions. As He pointed out Walter Bloomberg, Altman himself admitted that GPT-5 had been a failure, and now bets on GPT-6. Source: Michael A. Arouet. The data worries. Seemingly excessive spending In data centers either In talent It is not the only concern. There is also that absolute concentration of companies that concentrate the value. An analyst named Michael A. Aouet published these days A graph in which he showed two income growth trends. On the one hand, that of the 490 companies of the S&P 500 excluding … Read more

Log In

Sign In

Forgot password?

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections