Thought Leaders

Fumfer Physics 36: Proto-Thoughts, Context, and Memory Hooks
Scott Douglas Jacobsen asks whether it is naïve to look for a discrete “unit” of thought, given that thoughts vary in informational content and rarely arrive as neat sentences. Rick Rosner argues that language captures only a thin slice of cognition: perception, background knowledge, self-critique, and half-formed associations run in parallel as “proto-thoughts.” He uses the example of viewing a painting to show how sensory input and contextual inference accompany any sentence-like notion. Most thoughts, he adds, pass without leaving retrieval “hooks,” much like dreams. Without deliberate encoding—or a later contextual trigger—mental material vanishes, because recall depends on activating the right associative patterns.
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen3 days ago in Interview
Igor Finkelshtein: What Long-Term Builders Know That Fast-Growth Founders Often Miss
In today’s entrepreneurial culture, speed is often treated as the ultimate indicator of success. Founders are encouraged to move fast, launch quickly, and scale before competitors catch up. But after years of building businesses in industries where reliability and trust matter more than headlines, I’ve learned a different lesson.
By Igor Finkelshtein5 days ago in Interview
Fumfer Physics 35: Cognitive Limits, Big Data, and AI’s Role in Human Reasoning
In this exchange, Scott Douglas Jacobsen asks what human consciousness cannot process adequately. Rick Rosner argues that people hit hard limits with big data, large parameter spaces, and even simple mental representations like number grids. Computers can find correlations, but humans struggle to hold enough information at once to test whether patterns are causal. Rosner suggests AI could surface correlations and generate wide-ranging analogies across culture at superhuman scale, while humans remain responsible for interpretation and meaning. He extends the point to scientific imagination—alternative cosmologies and modified-gravity ideas—and notes AI may help break cognitive ruts, even if it is not yet a top-tier theoretical mathematician.
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen8 days ago in Interview
T. Michael W. Halcomb on Disillusionment, Community, and Accountability in the Modern Church
T. Michael W. Halcomb is an American professor, author, podcaster, and stand-up comedian. He is the author of around 30 books, an educator with five degrees (including a PhD), and a frequent academic presenter with nearly 100 conference presentations. He co-founded GlossaHouse in 2012, a publishing house focused on language-learning resources, especially biblical languages. He gave a TEDx talk, "Silent no more: Resurrecting dead languages," in Evansville, IN in October of 2015. His comedy work has been featured in outlets such as Yahoo! Entertainment, TheWrap, and The Mirror US.
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen10 days ago in Interview
E-commerce prototyping with generative AI
The trouble with most ecom prototypes is that they either illustrate a concept but fail to generate decisions. A good prototype offers a quantifiable journey that shows where buyers drop off, what they don’t understand, and what they’re willing to pay for.
By Joseph Morrow19 days ago in Interview
Ben Sasse Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis: Former Senator's Stage 4 Health Update
In a raw and deeply personal announcement that has resonated far beyond the political arena, former U.S. Senator Ben Sasse revealed a devastating health update: he has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The 53-year-old Republican stated plainly, “I’m gonna die,” framing his prognosis within a universal truth about mortality. This news about the Ben Sasse pancreatic cancer battle has shifted conversations from political tactics to profound human vulnerability.
By Waqar Khan19 days ago in Interview
Susie Wiles Speaks Out: Inside the Vanity Fair Interview That Sparked Headlines. AI-Generated.
Susie Wiles, the White House Chief of Staff, recently made headlines after a candid interview with Vanity Fair. Parts of that interview were shared in an ABC News video and quickly spread across major news outlets. Her comments drew attention because she spoke openly about powerful people in the Trump administration, including President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
By jamali shahzaib25 days ago in Interview
Claus D. Volko, M.D. on Symbiont Conversion Theory and Bacterial Reprogramming
Claus D. Volko, M.D. (born 1983) is an Austrian software engineer and medical scientist in Vienna. He holds degrees in medicine (M.D.), medical informatics (B.Sc.) and computational intelligence (M.Sc.). In the demoscene he is known as “Adok” and served as main editor of the electronic magazine Hugi. Volko formulated Symbiont Conversion Theory in 2018. He founded and leads the Prudentia High IQ Society, and joined Mensa in 2002. In 2018 he published “Volko Personality Patterns,” a Jungian-inspired extension of MBTI typology. In 2025 he posted “Reprogramming Bacteria for Symbiont Conversion: A Review” on Prudentia’s blog, and maintains Prudentia’s journal and blog.
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen28 days ago in Interview
Interview: The Discipline Behind Nasdaq Futures Trader Koushik Ranjit
Known for his structured approach to Nasdaq futures and his ability to manage multiple six-figure funded accounts, Koushik Ranjit has built a quieter, steadier style of trading. He relies on routine, emotional balance and mathematical clarity rather than prediction or aggressive risk-taking. Raised in Hasnabad, West Bengal, he often says the discipline he uses in markets today was shaped long before he ever saw his first chart.
By Manish Bhatiaabout a month ago in Interview
REIL Capital’s Growth Journey Under the Leadership of Evan Samlin
Look at the world of small business financing today, and it is easy to forget that so many entrepreneurs still struggle to find access to the capital they need. Banks say no. Traditional lenders take too long. And business owners are often left to manage everything themselves. That’s precisely the gap REIL Capital stepped in to solve-and at the heart of that mission is one person: Evan Samlin, Founder and president of the company.
By Evan Samlinabout a month ago in Interview
Finding Laughter Everywhere”: An Interview with Kolkata Comedian Shahrukh Murshed
Kolkata’s stand-up comedy scene has been steadily gaining momentum, and at the heart of this growth is Shahrukh Murshed, a prominent comedian and show host known for his sharp observational humour and dynamic audience interactions. As a familiar face in the city’s comedy circuit, Murshed reflects on his journey, his craft, and the evolving landscape of comedy in Kolkata.
By Manish Bhatiaabout a month ago in Interview
When the Harmonium Finds a New Voice: A Conversation with Sadakat Aman Khan
At twenty eight, Sadakat Aman Khan, popularly known as Mr. Harmonium, has taken an instrument often used only for accompaniment and placed it at the center of the musical spotlight. A simple box of bellows and reeds becomes something entirely different in his hands. It becomes lyrical, restless, emotional, sometimes even rebellious.
By Manish Bhatiaabout a month ago in Interview