Philosophy Mondays: Human-AI Collaboration
Today's Philosophy Monday is an important interlude. I want to reveal that I have not been writing the posts in this series entirely by myself. Instead I have been working with Claude, not just for the graphic illustrations, but also for the text. My method has been to write a rough draft and then ask Claude for improvement suggestions. I will expand this collaboration to other intelligences going forward, including open source models such as Llama and DeepSeek. I will also explore other moda...
Intent-based Collaboration Environments
AI Native IDEs for Code, Engineering, Science
Web3/Crypto: Why Bother?
One thing that keeps surprising me is how quite a few people see absolutely nothing redeeming in web3 (née crypto). Maybe this is their genuine belief. Maybe it is a reaction to the extreme boosterism of some proponents who present web3 as bringing about a libertarian nirvana. From early on I have tried to provide a more rounded perspective, pointing to both the good and the bad that can come from it as in my talks at the Blockstack Summits. Today, however, I want to attempt to provide a coge...
I love food and I love drink. Food and drink provide wonderful delights from delicious flavors and through jolly company. To my great fortune I never had any eating or drinking problems. Well all of that suddenly changed a few months ago. I went from no problems straight to intense chest pain and massive acid reflux. I consulted both AI and my generalist who both concluded that I had Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease aka GERD. I had never even heard of GERD before which is all the more surprising to me now that I know that 1 in 5 US adults suffer from it. But here comes the real nasty surprise: we mostly don’t know where it comes from or what to do about it.
Sure we understand some causes, such as if you have a hiatal hernia or an H. pylori infection. As it turns out I appear to have neither based on the gold standard tests. Apparently most GERD cases are idiopathic. That’s a fancy medical word for a condition with an unknown cause. The GI specialist I went to said something along the lines of: “Most of the cases I see just start some day and we don’t know why. We treat them with Nexium and Pepcid and some of the time they go away.” WTF?
I was in disbelief but then hit the Internet and quickly found the Reddit GERD forum and the About GERD website of the International Foundation for Gastrointestinal Disorders. And sure enough, confusion reigns supreme. People trying all sorts of things. Tantalizing sightings of apparent cures amidst an ocean of suffering and frustration. How is it possible that this is the state of medicine on an issue of such prevalence?
I love food and I love drink. Food and drink provide wonderful delights from delicious flavors and through jolly company. To my great fortune I never had any eating or drinking problems. Well all of that suddenly changed a few months ago. I went from no problems straight to intense chest pain and massive acid reflux. I consulted both AI and my generalist who both concluded that I had Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease aka GERD. I had never even heard of GERD before which is all the more surprising to me now that I know that 1 in 5 US adults suffer from it. But here comes the real nasty surprise: we mostly don’t know where it comes from or what to do about it.
Sure we understand some causes, such as if you have a hiatal hernia or an H. pylori infection. As it turns out I appear to have neither based on the gold standard tests. Apparently most GERD cases are idiopathic. That’s a fancy medical word for a condition with an unknown cause. The GI specialist I went to said something along the lines of: “Most of the cases I see just start some day and we don’t know why. We treat them with Nexium and Pepcid and some of the time they go away.” WTF?
I was in disbelief but then hit the Internet and quickly found the Reddit GERD forum and the About GERD website of the International Foundation for Gastrointestinal Disorders. And sure enough, confusion reigns supreme. People trying all sorts of things. Tantalizing sightings of apparent cures amidst an ocean of suffering and frustration. How is it possible that this is the state of medicine on an issue of such prevalence?
Philosophy Mondays: Human-AI Collaboration
Today's Philosophy Monday is an important interlude. I want to reveal that I have not been writing the posts in this series entirely by myself. Instead I have been working with Claude, not just for the graphic illustrations, but also for the text. My method has been to write a rough draft and then ask Claude for improvement suggestions. I will expand this collaboration to other intelligences going forward, including open source models such as Llama and DeepSeek. I will also explore other moda...
Intent-based Collaboration Environments
AI Native IDEs for Code, Engineering, Science
Web3/Crypto: Why Bother?
One thing that keeps surprising me is how quite a few people see absolutely nothing redeeming in web3 (née crypto). Maybe this is their genuine belief. Maybe it is a reaction to the extreme boosterism of some proponents who present web3 as bringing about a libertarian nirvana. From early on I have tried to provide a more rounded perspective, pointing to both the good and the bad that can come from it as in my talks at the Blockstack Summits. Today, however, I want to attempt to provide a coge...
Myself hailing from Berlin (Hallo über den Teich! 👋) and being an avid reader of your posts, am also experiencing reflux and know surely well that it sucks... I would focus on a holistic approach and the microbiome, specifically dietary interventions (high-fiber, low-processed-food diets that support microbial diversity). There also is a lot of research going on in the field of washed microbiota transplantation (WMT) which sounds promising and IMO much better targets the source of the condition whilst proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have negative long-term consequences and merely work on the symptomatic side. For acute action I personally am fond of "Bullrich Salz Magentabletten" which are composed of sodium bicarbonate and neutralise acidity – works well and doesn't carry any real side effects if taken mildly when reflux hits. All the best!
If you think GERD is WTF have a look into Long Covid and ME/CFS. Medicine needs a complete rebuild.
Yes! I had the same thing happen ~3 years ago and was stunned to discover that standard of care so often amounted to "managed decline." I'm midway through a "TCM" herbal treatment (via expert referral) that seems to have a very good success rate and is working for me, but it's a shockingly under-researched condition, given its prevalence. Happy to share more if interested (and would likewise be very curious about promising startups/research).
Personal health blog post: GERD WTF? https://continuations.com/gerd-wtf
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I suspect though that I will also want to fund some research and/or invest in startups that are addressing GERD. So if you either have personal experience with improving GERD or are working on / aware of promising research or startups please let me know.
To everyone out there with GERD: this sucks. Let’s make it better!
I suspect though that I will also want to fund some research and/or invest in startups that are addressing GERD. So if you either have personal experience with improving GERD or are working on / aware of promising research or startups please let me know.
To everyone out there with GERD: this sucks. Let’s make it better!
Myself hailing from Berlin (Hallo über den Teich! 👋) and being an avid reader of your posts, am also experiencing reflux and know surely well that it sucks... I would focus on a holistic approach and the microbiome, specifically dietary interventions (high-fiber, low-processed-food diets that support microbial diversity). There also is a lot of research going on in the field of washed microbiota transplantation (WMT) which sounds promising and IMO much better targets the source of the condition whilst proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have negative long-term consequences and merely work on the symptomatic side. For acute action I personally am fond of "Bullrich Salz Magentabletten" which are composed of sodium bicarbonate and neutralise acidity – works well and doesn't carry any real side effects if taken mildly when reflux hits. All the best!
If you think GERD is WTF have a look into Long Covid and ME/CFS. Medicine needs a complete rebuild.
Yes! I had the same thing happen ~3 years ago and was stunned to discover that standard of care so often amounted to "managed decline." I'm midway through a "TCM" herbal treatment (via expert referral) that seems to have a very good success rate and is working for me, but it's a shockingly under-researched condition, given its prevalence. Happy to share more if interested (and would likewise be very curious about promising startups/research).
Personal health blog post: GERD WTF? https://continuations.com/gerd-wtf