The martingale betting system has seduced gamblers for a while: double your bet after every loss, and when you finally win, you’ll recover all losses plus a profit equal to your original stake. The mathematics appears impeccable. The strategy is a trap. Origins: From Gambling Dens to Probability Theory The term “martingale” likely derives from the French town of Martigues in Provence, whose inhabitants were reportedly known for their risky gambling habits....

The Calculator Effect, Amplified Remember when calculators became ubiquitous? Teachers worried we’d forget how to do mental math. They were right—but it didn’t matter much. The trade-off was acceptable. Generative AI is making the same bargain, except this time we’re not trading away arithmetic. We’re trading away thinking itself. A Swiss Business School study surveyed over 600 participants and found something uncomfortable: there’s a significant negative correlation between frequent AI use and critical thinking ability....