[FRIAM] neural operators seem promising

[Steve Smith]

  * Anima's presentation reminded me quite nicely of the Numenta/Redwood
    work of Jeff Hawkins et al?   Cortical columns, etc.
  * Did Harold Morowitz make a strong assertion to the tune: "we learned
    more about thermodynamics from steam-engines than vice-versa"?   
    EricS or StephenG might have first-hand knowledge?
  * Is this theory/practice dichotomy just another form of
    meta-scaffolding in evolution (of any system) with the cut-and-try
    providing the mutation/selection and the theory/formalism binding
    the "lessons learned" into well... "lessons learned"?

On 7/16/2025 2:12 AM, Pieter Steenekamp wrote:
> Both the video of Anima Anandkumar’s Stanford seminar and her 
> scientific paper on Neural Operators really got me excited—the ideas 
> feel fresh and powerful.
>
> The paper is quite technical and digs into the math behind 
> Neural Operators, without talking much about robotics. In her talk, 
> though, she clearly links the work to robots, and it sounds as if 
> robotics is a big focus for her team.
>
> What jumped out at me is how different her style is from Elon Musk’s 
> approach with Tesla’s Optimus robot. Anandkumar begins with deep 
> theory, building firm mathematical foundations first. Musk takes a 
> “just build it” path—make it, test it, break it, fix it, and keep going.
>
> This contrast reminds me of engineering school and the Faraday‑Maxwell 
> story. Faraday was the hands‑on experimenter who uncovered the basics 
> of electricity and magnetism through careful tests. Maxwell came later 
> and wrote the elegant equations that explained what Faraday had 
> already shown.
>
> So I wonder: will the roles flip this time? Will deep theory from 
> researchers like Anandkumar guide the breakthroughs first, with 
> practice following? Or will practical builders like Musk sprint ahead 
> and let theory catch up afterward?
>
> Either way, watching these two paths unfold side by side is thrilling. 
> It feels like we’re standing on the edge of something big.
>
> On Wed, 16 Jul 2025 at 04:11, Jon Zingale <jonzingale at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>     Even if just for the freedom of scale, learning infinite
>     dimensional function spaces, etc...
>
>     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caZyFlSSKtI
>     https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.10973
>
>
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