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The Daily Triptych032 / 365

1 FEB 2026

Day 32

The question of whether machines can think is about as relevant as the question of whether submarines can swim.

Edsger W. Dijkstra · The Threats to Computing Science
A small ivory mask carved as a serene human face with almond-shaped eyes, full lips, and three vertical scarification marks on the forehead inlaid with darkened iron. A beaded headdress and choker frame the face, and an openwork crown of alternating mudfish and small bearded heads in European caps encircles the top. Double loops project from each side for suspension.

I · THE OBJECT · BRITISH MUSEUM

The Queen Idia Pendant Mask

Edo people, Kingdom of Benin · 16th century · Ivory with iron inlay

A sixteenth-century ivory mask carved for the Oba of Benin, crowned with Portuguese heads and mudfish. Taken in 1897, it became the symbol of a continent-wide festival eighty years later.

Enter lesson 7 MIN

II · THE IDEA · ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Rotary Position Embeddings

2021, RoFormer paper by Jianlin Su and colleagues · Transformers · Most large language models from 2023 onward

Absolute position embeddings tell a model where each word sits in the sequence. Rotary embeddings let it work out relative distance instead, by encoding position as an angle.

Enter lesson 7 MIN
A cruciform church carved entirely from reddish volcanic rock, standing free at the bottom of a deep rectangular trench. The building has three receding tiers and a flat roof with a carved cross. The surrounding rock walls rise vertically around it.

III · THE WORK · ART HISTORY

The Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela

Lalibela, Ethiopian Highlands · 14th century · Excavated volcanic tuff

At Lalibela, the architects did not raise walls or fit stones together. They cut downward through solid rock until a church stood free inside the trench they had made.

Enter lesson 6 MIN