Actually, I am no stranger to this site; I have been a sporadic fly-on-the-wall here since early 2011, when I found out about you guys through gwern’s personal webpage (to which my interest in nootropics, n-backing, and spaced repetition had led me). I’ve made several desultory stabs at the sequences; I think I’ve read most of them twice over, but some I’ve abandoned and some I’ve never touched. I started HPMoR reluctantly, found I couldn’t put it down, and finished it in a single sitting. Lately I’ve been pretty swamped with work, but I’ve been trying to follow along with the Superintelligence reading group. Though I’ve been content to lurk, I am now extremely keen to take a more active role in the discussions!
Blurb: I am a 25 year-old doctoral student and researcher in the Learning Sciences with an academic background in Statistics and Biology (mostly behavioral neuroscience). I am dedicated to making learning as powerful and efficient as possible through psychological, biological, and technological cross-pollination. Only an optimally educated humanity will be equipped to solve the problems of the future (and indeed, those of the present)! Though my research contributions have been mainly on projects not my own, I am ultimately interested in psychometrics, human-computer interaction, intelligent tutoring systems/cognitive tutors, and redesigning classroom instruction to reflect the state of the art in cognitive science.
For a while I was deeply wary of technology—the recklessness of our innovation and the potential it had to change human beings irreparably if it didn’t eliminate them completely. I had just discovered Heidegger’s Question Concerning Technology, Bill Joy’s Wired essay, Kaczynski’s manifesto… sundry warnings of an impending techno-dystopia. But I came to reevaluate my fears: the proper course of action is not to rage against the machine. Our future is a technological one whether we like it or not (spoiler: we like it), and despite my initial resistance I have come to embrace technology and the changes to humanity it will increasingly entail; not only has it greatly improved life on Earth (at least for humans), but it can be continually leveraged to this end (for all forms of life). However, I feel that emerging technologies should be pursued with much greater care than they are currently, and anticipation of the many longterm side-effects of such development requires that the people of the world (or their devices) be informed/thoughtful enough to do so (cf. differential intellectual progress). Any attempt at a such a wholesale societal improvement program requires better education, and my hope is to help speed things along on this front.
Gah, I really meant to keep this shorter, but I still have so much to say about myself! Best to quit now before I bring up my precocious childhood or my pious vegetarianism! Here’s to many great discussions! I look forward to meeting you all!
Hello!
Actually, I am no stranger to this site; I have been a sporadic fly-on-the-wall here since early 2011, when I found out about you guys through gwern’s personal webpage (to which my interest in nootropics, n-backing, and spaced repetition had led me). I’ve made several desultory stabs at the sequences; I think I’ve read most of them twice over, but some I’ve abandoned and some I’ve never touched. I started HPMoR reluctantly, found I couldn’t put it down, and finished it in a single sitting. Lately I’ve been pretty swamped with work, but I’ve been trying to follow along with the Superintelligence reading group. Though I’ve been content to lurk, I am now extremely keen to take a more active role in the discussions!
Blurb: I am a 25 year-old doctoral student and researcher in the Learning Sciences with an academic background in Statistics and Biology (mostly behavioral neuroscience). I am dedicated to making learning as powerful and efficient as possible through psychological, biological, and technological cross-pollination. Only an optimally educated humanity will be equipped to solve the problems of the future (and indeed, those of the present)! Though my research contributions have been mainly on projects not my own, I am ultimately interested in psychometrics, human-computer interaction, intelligent tutoring systems/cognitive tutors, and redesigning classroom instruction to reflect the state of the art in cognitive science.
For a while I was deeply wary of technology—the recklessness of our innovation and the potential it had to change human beings irreparably if it didn’t eliminate them completely. I had just discovered Heidegger’s Question Concerning Technology, Bill Joy’s Wired essay, Kaczynski’s manifesto… sundry warnings of an impending techno-dystopia. But I came to reevaluate my fears: the proper course of action is not to rage against the machine. Our future is a technological one whether we like it or not (spoiler: we like it), and despite my initial resistance I have come to embrace technology and the changes to humanity it will increasingly entail; not only has it greatly improved life on Earth (at least for humans), but it can be continually leveraged to this end (for all forms of life). However, I feel that emerging technologies should be pursued with much greater care than they are currently, and anticipation of the many longterm side-effects of such development requires that the people of the world (or their devices) be informed/thoughtful enough to do so (cf. differential intellectual progress). Any attempt at a such a wholesale societal improvement program requires better education, and my hope is to help speed things along on this front.
Gah, I really meant to keep this shorter, but I still have so much to say about myself! Best to quit now before I bring up my precocious childhood or my pious vegetarianism! Here’s to many great discussions! I look forward to meeting you all!