"Benchmarks were aligned to the same vehicle types, road types, and locations as where the Waymo Driver operated."
So yes, it's apples to apples... I'm sure there's some inherent variation, so maybe it's fuji to granny smith apples, but it seems there's nothing wildly off in their methodology.
This is a huge sign of confidence that they think they can do this safely and at scale... Freeways might appear "easy" on the surface, but there are all sorts of long tail edge-cases that make them insanely tricky to do confidently without a driver. This will unlock a lot for them with all of the smaller US cities (where highways are essential) they've announced plans for over the next year or so.
> the opposing "Newton hypothesis", which says that scientific progress is mostly the work of a relatively small number of great scientists (after Isaac Newton's statement that he "stood on the shoulders of giants")
I guess the Ortega equivalent statement would be "I stood on top of a giant pile of tiny people"
...Not quite as majestic, but hey, if it gets the job done...
I read a lot of non-fiction, and while I'm definitely guilty (and proud of it!) of sentimentally holding onto old books, I think the value of having a personal library isn't to show off what you've read (an added bonus), but to be able to go back and reference books / passages when inspiration strikes or you realize your memory's gotten a bit fuzzy on a topic. Re-reading a book in its entirety is great. But sometimes just pulling back up a specific passage or chapter is all you need.