Jurgen Dieringer
Bio
J Dieringer is a professor of international relations by profession and a musician, writer, and chess player by passion. He strives to merge those inputs and tackle the intersection of arts and science.
Stories (18/0)
Fading Giants
European history presents many transformative epochs, and the transition from the 19th to the 20th century is among the most compelling. Empires that had survived for centuries found themselves subject to tremendous change and immediate decline. Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire are two examples facing their final days during World War I.
By Jurgen Dieringer8 months ago in History
Spotting War from the Ivory Tower
The interwar period, 21 years between World War I's conclusion in 1918 and World War II's onset in 1939, played a foundational role in shaping International Relations (IR) as an academic discipline. As dramatic geopolitical shifts shook the world, scholars forged pathways to understanding the complexities of international politics by deduction and induction. This brought about seminal works of some iconic authors – and it is worth re-reading them today.
By Jurgen Dieringer8 months ago in History
The Outbreak of the Great War
World War 1, often termed "The Great War," forever changed the face of international relations and the world map. Distinguishing between structural and personal reasons for the outbreak of hostilities refers to the structure-agency debate in international relations theory. This provides a helpful roadmap to understanding the origins, the inevitabilities, and the human failures that led to the disaster.
By Jurgen Dieringer8 months ago in History
Marrakech in the Summer
The picture is a bit misleading. There is no snow in the Atlas Mountains in July. When I checked summer temperatures in Morocco, I selected Essauira - but finally, I went to Marrakech without double-checking. The temperature difference is only about 20 degrees Celsius. This is how I survived and what I visited.
By Jurgen Dieringer10 months ago in Wander
The Marriage of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing
The world saw several technical revolutions: The wheel, book print, and electricity, to mention just a few. Today we see the parallel breakthrough of two technologies: Quantum computing revolutionizes the hardware of data procession, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) the software. There are many warnings out there that this will be a marriage of Armageddon - for others, it is the savior of human mankind. Let´s explore what is behind this thrilling twosome.
By Jurgen Dieringer10 months ago in Futurism
Artificial Intelligence had more difficulty cracking Go than Chess
In 1997, an artificial intelligence (AI) named Deep Blue, developed by IBM, won a six-game match against the then-world chess champion Garry Kasparov, one of the best chess players in history. Grandmasters suffering from Kasparov’s dominance over decades were baffled. This victory marked a significant milestone in the development of AI, illustrating its potential to tackle complex tasks and scenarios. Stockfish and AlphaZero, the most advanced chess programs today, detached machine play further from human play. The structured, predictable nature of chess, with its finite number of possible moves, made it a suitable test bed for AI's calculating prowess.
By Jurgen Dieringer11 months ago in Futurism