Maximalism is, generally speaking, the idea that more is better. It often incorporates the idea that qualitative improvements are dependent on quantitative increases – that "progress" is not even possible without quantitative growth. Maximalism is prominent in many areas of modern technological civilization but is particularly so in computing, thanks to Moore's law.
At least it's an ethos?
The limits of optimal control, from the maximalist and minimalist perspectives
Medium Maximization
Abstract. A medium—for example, points or money—is a token people receive as the immediate reward of their effort. It has no value in and of itself, but it
Technology is Society Made Durable
Is it possible to devise a set of concepts that could replace the technology/society divide? This set of new concepts - association and substitution - might help to rephrase some of the traditional questions of social order and especially that of the durability of domination of power. However, instead of using different tools to analyse power and weakness, it is argued that power and domination are simply different values of variables that should be studied in their whole range. By reconstructing networks it is argued that a full description of power and domination may be obtained.
lifespan maximization
Lifespan maximization is the extension of hardware lifespan by the users. It may be supported by planned longevity from the manufacturer's side, but it rarely is.
(PDF) Maximum Power: The Ideas and Applications of H. T. Odum.
PDF | "Maximum Power" is a synthesis of the creative genius of Howard Thomas Odum as seen through his own words and those of his students, many of whom... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate
Technoableism
Technoableism is a belief in the power of technology that considers the elimination of disability a good thing, something we should strive for. It’s a classic form of ableism—bias against disabled people, bias in favor of nondisabled ways of life. Technoableism is the use of technologies to reassert those biases, often under the guise of empowerment.
zach lieberman on Twitter / X
Today I was able to weave a line from Myron Krueger in a talk I gave : Computation is the medium of our lifetimes - it’s not just a technical medium but a cultural medium as well. We should explore the culture of computation.— zach lieberman (@zachlieberman) April 10, 2024
Less is more, more or less
In the age of AI, knowing what not to build might be the most important skill of all.
The Resonant Computing Manifesto
Technology should bring out the best in humanity, not the worst—a manifesto for resonant computing built on five principles that reject hyper-scale extraction for human flourishing.
Techno-solutionism
“techno-solutionism,” the simplification of complex societal problems into apps and algorithms. Ed-Tech’s Inequalities “Technological solutionism” is the related tendency to identify simple answers — in all domains, not just the tech sector — “before the questions have been fully asked” or the problems fully articulated. Take, for example: “the Internet has changed everything about how […]
B. Scot Rousse: "Language, Technology, & Care"
Towards a Weaker Longtermism
A key (new-ish) proposition in EA discussions is "Strong Longtermism," that the vast majority of the value in the universe is in the far future, and…
Humanities in the Machine - Blain Smith
There is something quietly remarkable about the people who built the foundations of modern computing. Not their technical achievements, though those are extraordinary. What is remarkable is where they came from before they ever touched a machine.
Pluralistic: Big Tech’s “attention rents” (03 Nov 2023) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
The thing is, any feed or search result is "algorithmic." "Just show me the things posted by people I follow in reverse-chronological order" is an algorithm. "Just show me products that have this SKU" is an algorithm. "Alphabetical sort" is an algorithm. "Random sort" is an algorithm.
Models do not improve linearly (any more). New models improve more than expected on hard tasks. Now let's think about it a bit more. It means progress is directed towards the hard tasks. It also means the easier tasks improve less than expected. Which alphaxiv.org/abs/2608.00355
It feels like nearly every dev talking about AI is either: a maximalist – Font of hype and boosterism. Manic energy on building. Signs of AI psychosis. a skeptic – Depressed by the torrent of slop and disappearance of craft. Waiting for the industry to implode when token prices skyrocket.
