I’ve recently begun to experiment with alcohol for entertainment. While intoxicated I attempt to retain my mental control despite handicaps as a challenge in rationality. This has led me to observe my thinking patterns while sober more often—to a hypothetical superrational being, humans in the best scenario must seem at least as impaired as those beings would in their version of drunkedness. Some of the things I’m hoping to test are how my ability to analyze logical propositions, assign probability to various outcomes, or determine the choice that maximizes utility decline.
While testing my physical capabilities is straightforward (line walking, raise one foot and count), testing mental capabilities is much harder and I’m struggling to think of tests that are simple enough to self-administer in a handicapped state and produce results that I can analyze then or later. This will help me answer the question of How scratched can the lens be before it can no longer can see its flaws? Any suggestions of tests would be appreciated.
I recently did some sim racing while mildly intoxicated. I’m fairly consistent with certain car and track setups so my performance doesn’t vary many tenths of a second per lap. Suprisingly getting buzzed seemed to improve my performance by several tenths for about half an hour and after that it plummeted to fairly embarrassing levels. I’ve felt this temporary performance boost in other tasks as well, but wouldn’t have expected to measure it in a difficult motor task requiring quick reflexes and good eye-hand coordination.
Hmmh. I definitely feel energetic at first while drinking alcohol. I wonder if being sick could be comparable to being intoxicated in the sense that both are emergencies for the body, and the body responds by releasing stress hormones, making you better at tasks straightforwardly improving survival, like some motor tasks for instance. This would improve performance until you cross the threshold where the direct bad effects of being sick or poisoned win.
I’ve recently begun to experiment with alcohol for entertainment. While intoxicated I attempt to retain my mental control despite handicaps as a challenge in rationality. This has led me to observe my thinking patterns while sober more often—to a hypothetical superrational being, humans in the best scenario must seem at least as impaired as those beings would in their version of drunkedness. Some of the things I’m hoping to test are how my ability to analyze logical propositions, assign probability to various outcomes, or determine the choice that maximizes utility decline.
While testing my physical capabilities is straightforward (line walking, raise one foot and count), testing mental capabilities is much harder and I’m struggling to think of tests that are simple enough to self-administer in a handicapped state and produce results that I can analyze then or later. This will help me answer the question of How scratched can the lens be before it can no longer can see its flaws? Any suggestions of tests would be appreciated.
There are apps for that :-)
http://www.quantified-mind.com/ provides a good test suite for mental tests.
I’ve seen worse excuses to get drunk :)
I recently did some sim racing while mildly intoxicated. I’m fairly consistent with certain car and track setups so my performance doesn’t vary many tenths of a second per lap. Suprisingly getting buzzed seemed to improve my performance by several tenths for about half an hour and after that it plummeted to fairly embarrassing levels. I’ve felt this temporary performance boost in other tasks as well, but wouldn’t have expected to measure it in a difficult motor task requiring quick reflexes and good eye-hand coordination.
I played one of my best pinball games ever when I was mildly ill. I had enough energy to play, but not enough energy to foul myself up.
Hmmh. I definitely feel energetic at first while drinking alcohol. I wonder if being sick could be comparable to being intoxicated in the sense that both are emergencies for the body, and the body responds by releasing stress hormones, making you better at tasks straightforwardly improving survival, like some motor tasks for instance. This would improve performance until you cross the threshold where the direct bad effects of being sick or poisoned win.