Big incentive to be the last one to bet, and, since I didn’t want to make it a dangerous scrum, I hid it 3 hours before closing and made it a scavenger hunt instead.
I was at the workshop, brought my own (legally obtained) modafinil but never used nor needed it.
I loved the workshop. I intend on teaching my game theory students (an 80 person class at Smith College) some of what I learned. Today we did 15 minutes on goal factoring.
I found that pre-comiting to go to bed at certain time (I offered to remind others on my way out), and setting a timer on my phone solved the sleep problem.
So, I wouldn’t call this a solution to the sleep problem. The sleep problem as I conceive it is the following: staying up during a CFAR workshop has unusually high value because of the people you can talk to, but on the other hand sleep is important for learning things. It’s not obvious to me how to optimally handle this tradeoff and I’d like a way of handling it that involves decreasing the need for sleep rather than increasing the quantity of sleep if this is feasible.
My solution was running on adrenaline at the workshop (bed at 2-3am, up at 7:15) and then getting sick when I got home. Same way I did hell week for every piece of theatre I was in.
Yes, it was an opportunity cost problem—at what point did the cost of being cogent in the morning outweigh the cost of missing great late night conversations.
I can’t think of any optimal solution that doesn’t involve loads of caffeine or bilocation, time turner induced or otherwise.
Shortly after the July workshop last year, I adopted the polyphasic every man 3 schedule (3 hour core sleep with 3 20 minute naps). It seems to be working for me. Though others who tried it have given it up. I suspect the every man 1 schedule(~6 hour core with 1 20-30 minute nap) might be more generally achievable.
During the workshop itself, I just got less sleep (like 4 to 6 hours per night), and this was OK because, as near as I can tell, I was only deprived of slow wave sleep, which takes a week to cause problems. Though I think the only person to get less sleep than me was Matt, who was already polyphasic.
Shortly after the July workshop last year, I adopted the polyphasic every man 3 schedule (3 hour core sleep with 3 20 minute naps). It seems to be working for me.
I’m curious as to why caffiene wasn’t sufficient, but also why modafinil would offend people?
As a schedule IV drug, it’s surely some sort of crime to offer or accept. Some people will not want to associate with such people or organizations on moral grounds, risk-aversion grounds, or fear of other people’s disapproval on either ground etc.
It is, some places. Just not the USA where CFAR is operating now and the foreseeable future. I’m a big fan of modafinil as you might guess, but if CFAR were even idly considering providing or condoning modafinil use, I’d smack them silly (metaphorically); organizations must obey different standards than individuals.
I agree that they should uphold strict standards for numerous reasons. That doesn’t prevent CFAR from discussing potential benefits (and side effects) of different drugs (caffeine, aspirin, modafinil, etc.). They could also recommend discussing such things with a person’s doctor as well as what criteria are used to prescribe such drugs (they might already for all I know).
My current stance, which I’ll push for quite strongly unless and until I encounter enough evidence against to update significantly, is that CFAR would do very poorly to talk explicitly about any drugs that the USA has a neurosis about. We can talk at a layer of abstraction above: “How might you go about determining what kinds of effects a given substance has on you?” But I am pretty solidly against CFAR listing potential benefits and drawbacks of any drugs that have become rallying cries for law enforcement or political careers.
It would help, but would inevitably offend people and not at all worth the consequences.
We couldn’t afford them this year for cost reasons, but by next year we’ll hopefully be able to supply Time-Turners for all workshop participants.
That should have some interesting effects on the prediction markets.
The meta ones will destroy time/space.
Maybe they already did and that’s why we don’t have Time-Turners anymore.
I already had to hide one market with all of you operating in only one direction in time!
What market did you have to hide?
P(The last bet on this market will be >50%)
Big incentive to be the last one to bet, and, since I didn’t want to make it a dangerous scrum, I hid it 3 hours before closing and made it a scavenger hunt instead.
This only solves the problem if you also provide modafinil.
What other reasons are there for not being able to afford things?
I was at the workshop, brought my own (legally obtained) modafinil but never used nor needed it.
I loved the workshop. I intend on teaching my game theory students (an 80 person class at Smith College) some of what I learned. Today we did 15 minutes on goal factoring.
I found that pre-comiting to go to bed at certain time (I offered to remind others on my way out), and setting a timer on my phone solved the sleep problem.
So, I wouldn’t call this a solution to the sleep problem. The sleep problem as I conceive it is the following: staying up during a CFAR workshop has unusually high value because of the people you can talk to, but on the other hand sleep is important for learning things. It’s not obvious to me how to optimally handle this tradeoff and I’d like a way of handling it that involves decreasing the need for sleep rather than increasing the quantity of sleep if this is feasible.
My solution was running on adrenaline at the workshop (bed at 2-3am, up at 7:15) and then getting sick when I got home. Same way I did hell week for every piece of theatre I was in.
So, uh, better suggestions welcome.
I do pretty much that every single week.
Yes, it was an opportunity cost problem—at what point did the cost of being cogent in the morning outweigh the cost of missing great late night conversations.
I can’t think of any optimal solution that doesn’t involve loads of caffeine or bilocation, time turner induced or otherwise.
Shortly after the July workshop last year, I adopted the polyphasic every man 3 schedule (3 hour core sleep with 3 20 minute naps). It seems to be working for me. Though others who tried it have given it up. I suspect the every man 1 schedule(~6 hour core with 1 20-30 minute nap) might be more generally achievable.
During the workshop itself, I just got less sleep (like 4 to 6 hours per night), and this was OK because, as near as I can tell, I was only deprived of slow wave sleep, which takes a week to cause problems. Though I think the only person to get less sleep than me was Matt, who was already polyphasic.
What about my previous suggestions http://lesswrong.com/lw/e6h/group_rationality_diary_82012/78ua to measure something, anything, like spaced repetition or dual n-back?
I’m curious as to why caffiene wasn’t sufficient, but also why modafinil would offend people?
What about trying bright lighting?: http://lesswrong.com/lw/gdl/my_simple_hack_for_increased_alertness_and/
As a schedule IV drug, it’s surely some sort of crime to offer or accept. Some people will not want to associate with such people or organizations on moral grounds, risk-aversion grounds, or fear of other people’s disapproval on either ground etc.
Ah, I thought it was an over the counter drug.
It is, some places. Just not the USA where CFAR is operating now and the foreseeable future. I’m a big fan of modafinil as you might guess, but if CFAR were even idly considering providing or condoning modafinil use, I’d smack them silly (metaphorically); organizations must obey different standards than individuals.
I agree that they should uphold strict standards for numerous reasons. That doesn’t prevent CFAR from discussing potential benefits (and side effects) of different drugs (caffeine, aspirin, modafinil, etc.). They could also recommend discussing such things with a person’s doctor as well as what criteria are used to prescribe such drugs (they might already for all I know).
My current stance, which I’ll push for quite strongly unless and until I encounter enough evidence against to update significantly, is that CFAR would do very poorly to talk explicitly about any drugs that the USA has a neurosis about. We can talk at a layer of abstraction above: “How might you go about determining what kinds of effects a given substance has on you?” But I am pretty solidly against CFAR listing potential benefits and drawbacks of any drugs that have become rallying cries for law enforcement or political careers.