Bagricula

Karma: 33

Bagricula 5 Jul 2011 12:05 UTC
0 points
in reply to: Kaj_Sotala’s comment on: The Blue-Minimizing Robot
I up-voted because:
1. Writing-style gives me a strong internal impression of clarity / comprehension. I enjoy this sensation and think it correlates with understanding, and so am trying to promote more of it.
2. Blue feels very soothing and I think contributes to the sensation of clarity / comprehension. I up-vote soothing sensation.
3. I like the possible direction this could take in terms of microeconomic utility, revealed preferences, and so on for understanding human intelligence. So my up-vote is payment for expected future ideas.

Bagricula 1 Jul 2011 6:10 UTC
0 points
in reply to: Dr_Manhattan’s comment on: Algorithm detects multiple authors in of the Old Testament [link]
Eh. Wouldn’t it also be blasphemous to compare the mind of God to the mind of men?

I don’t know how Maimonides is viewed among Orthodox Jews, but his whole ineffability of God seems to cast serious doubt on the efficacy of any analysis built out of experience of human writers. Afterall, does anything in Orthodox Jewish belief preclude God from writing in multiple voices, styles, ideological agenda?

I imagine the blasphemy comes in when the authors suggest that the variation was due to variation in the “conduits” or “transmitters” of God’s chosen words.

Bagricula 30 Jun 2011 13:30 UTC
2 points
in reply to: NancyLebovitz’s comment on: The True Rejection Challenge
Yes. I’d also love to see follow-ups afterwards to report on what was effective, what wasn’t, what form of advice worked best, and what would the relevant known and (at the time) hidden variables.

What can I say, I’m a sucker for tracking.

Bagricula 29 Jun 2011 14:33 UTC
4 points
in reply to: Bagricula’s comment on: The True Rejection Challenge
So far have gotten back responses from two doctors / doctors-in-training. They both strongly suggest seeing a social worker to find out what resources are available vis-a-vie cleaning your apartment, improving your living situation, etc.

They also suggest you might take vitamin B and folate supplements, but you should check with your doctor to see if you have any deficiencies that may be contributing to your chronic pain and tiredness (as you mentioned in the eating vegetables and meat post).

Finally, there are a number of follow-up questions. You don’t need to answer all of these, and ultimately what matters is that you see your doctor, but if you want here they are. Feel free to respond by PM.
1. Is the chronic pain a recent or long-term problem?
2. Are the migraines a recent or long-term problem?
3. Are you depressed? Do you have a history of depression?
4. Any history of eating disorders?

Bagricula 28 Jun 2011 23:49 UTC
0 points
in reply to: Dreaded_Anomaly’s comment on: The True Rejection Challenge
Many thanks. Good advice all. The resources you’re suggesting are particularly helpful.

I will hopefully have many of those books in the next few weeks depending on shipping to Beijing.

I am hoping that I can get into a program before leaving the country, but regardless I am committed to resigning and moving by middle of next spring.

I am also looking at the terminal masters programs in the U.K. I know Cambridge has some.

Bagricula 28 Jun 2011 16:16 UTC
5 points
in reply to: pthalo’s comment on: The True Rejection Challenge
I’ve sent an overview of your situation to all my friends who are doctors or training to be doctors. I will let you know their opinion. (I’ve also included information from your meat and vegetables post).

I strongly suggest you do not wait for them to get back to me and consult with local experts as soon as possible.

Also, if anyone in the LW community has medical training or knows someone who does who would be willing to offer an opinion on this, I encourage them to do so.

Bagricula 28 Jun 2011 11:06 UTC
0 points
in reply to: Armok_GoB’s comment on: The True Rejection Challenge
Yes. Asking them to drop you on a street-corner with a lot of people probably won’t go over too well.

How is your time currently distributed? Is there anything you’re currently using your time for that you would be willing to and have the ability to redistribute towards social activities?

Obviously, this is going to subject to cost-benefit considerations, but some sense of how much flexibility you have here will help point towards realizable social activities.

Bagricula 28 Jun 2011 10:30 UTC
1 point
in reply to: Armok_GoB’s comment on: The True Rejection Challenge
Three suggestions then:
1. Enlist the help of your family to ferry you to population centers, friends, or wouldbe friends; eventually you’ll have non-family relationships that are strong enough that these new friends can come pick you up on the way elsewhere thus reducing the burden on your family.
2. Look into activities, hobbies, etc. that involve other people. People often gather around crafting something, music, political activism. You may also find some public debating societies interesting. There are also some public speaking clubs like Toastmasters which should draw people who have something to say and who are interested in meeting people and self-improvement.
3. Spend some serious time reflecting on and understanding what your criteria for an interesting person is. If you are more “luminous” about this, then you may be able to more efficiently find people nearby who you are interested in.
I will keep thinking on this and see if I can come up with other immediately actionable suggestions.

Bagricula 28 Jun 2011 9:39 UTC
0 points
in reply to: Armok_GoB’s comment on: The True Rejection Challenge
If you’re uncomfortable, then you can stop here, right now...also, later. No one should feel they need to reveal more than they want. I will not be hurt if you decide you want to stop.

I’m trying to build a profile so that I can think of ways you can find interesting people nearby.

By evaluation process what I mean is...how long do you take to decide whether you want to continue or discontinue talking to someone. In other words, if you meet someone for the first time, when do you know whether they are interesting. By adjusting this process you might be able to increase the number of interesting people you find.

I don’t want to pry into your relationship with your family, and so if you don’t want to talk further about them that is fine. It seems that a lot of stress and a high cost to failure would be major factors to consider in any recommendation.

Questions you definitely don’t need to answer:
1. How openly can you talk with your family?
2. Are they in favor or opposed to you socializing with people face-to-face?
3. If they are in favor, do they have the time / means to help you socialize?

Bagricula 28 Jun 2011 9:04 UTC
1 point
on: The True Rejection Challenge
I would like to go to grad school for physics and philosophy.

The Situation:
1. I did my bachelors in Economics at a very good American university, but I only did moderately well.
2. I took mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and wave phenomena. I also took theoretical multi-var, linear algebra, and abstract algebra, basic statistics, econometrics. In philosophy I’ve only taken a course on Kant’s ethics.
The Constraints:
1. I have not taken quantum mechanics, statistical thermodynamics, or any science-relevant philosophy (i.e. metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of …).
2. I’ve not taken the GRE, either general or subject. The Physics GRE covers QM and Thermo.
3. I have no formal research experience working under anyone.
4. I am currently working roughly 9-6 Monday through Friday with about a half hour commute on either end. It takes me about an hour to get ready in the morning.
5. I am currently living in Beijing, China as an American expatriate. My Chinese is decent, but not fluent enough to have deep conversations or to make day-to-day interactions easy. I take about 3.5 hours of Mandarin instruction a week with probably 2 hours of out of class homework.
6. In order to combat depression, reduce stress and maintain my health, I try to cook lunch every morning as well as go swimming. Since the nearest pool that is open in the morning is a 30 minutes away I have been getting up at 5 AM and have been arriving at the office a little after 9 AM.
7. I feel very lonely as my family and friends are almost all in the U.S. or U.K. still. As such I need to devote some amount of time to both socializing face-to-face here and to communicating with friends and family back home. This was recently exacerbated by my father having major surgery (which was successful) and by my persistent if now mild feelings of unrequited romantic love.
The Problem:

I believe I need to teach myself QM and Thermo to a sufficient level to do well on the GREs. I also need to brush up on the other subjects which I haven’t touched in about 5 years.

However, I find I do not have the time / motivation / ability to teach myself these subjects. I have been making some progress reading through textbooks, but I have found that without working through problems all the way to their conclusion I don’t really learn or internalize the ideas and practices.

Additionally, I’m concerned about demonstrating sufficient worthiness in other ways i.e. via recommendations, research, experience, etc.

I am open to inquiries regarding my motivation for this goal to help point towards near substitutes.

Bagricula 28 Jun 2011 8:33 UTC
4 points
in reply to: pthalo’s comment on: The True Rejection Challenge
If your health deteriorates further then you will not be able to complete your planned move, much less do something drastic like move now.

If your environment has toxic fungus, you cannot live for a year there and expect to be in any condition to move, to apply for a visa, or perhaps to be out of the hospital. I am trying not to be alarmist, and would very much like the opinion of better informed readers on the relative danger/safety of your situation, but you need to examine how much you weigh the inconvenience of moving or doing something about the problem versus your health or existential risks.

I’ve moved four times in the last three years across three continents. I’ve been lucky enough to not be coping with migraines and to have enough cashflow to make it work. I only mention it to point out that it is eminently feasible.

Is there anyone you can stay with for say a week to see if your condition improves vis-a-vie the migraines?

Bagricula 28 Jun 2011 7:28 UTC
8 points
in reply to: pthalo’s comment on: The True Rejection Challenge
8-hours to grow fungus on cooked food seems far too fast.

I am not an expert on this. You should find an expert on this either here or in your local community to look at conditions in your apartment.

My concern is that you may have fungus/mold elsewhere in your apartment (perhaps behind the dry-wall i.e. in the walls) or elsewhere, and that this fungus is releasing spores that’re growing in your ramen.

As a preliminary measure, I suggest improving the ventilation by keeping the windows open and maybe the front door to create a cross-breeze.

Do you have access to a free medical expert like a doctor or clinic? I would go there as soon as possible and tell them about the fungus growing on your clothes, growing on your ramen after 8 hours, as well as your migraines and any other problems. They may be able to contact the correct authorities if there is a public health hazard.

Once again, I am not an expert and have little direct knowledge about this; however, in all my experience living in very hot and humid climates I’ve never seen fungus grow on cooked food left out over 8 hours. I hope the other LWers here can provide better clarity into whether my concern is valid.

Bagricula 28 Jun 2011 7:09 UTC
3 points
in reply to: Armok_GoB’s comment on: The True Rejection Challenge
You’ve provided a lot of useful information towards coming to possible paths to the goal you’ve posed.

I’ve a few more questions mainly around the strictness of your constraints that I hope will clarify the space of reasonable solutions.

I’m also trying to point towards a profile for what you consider the boundaries of an interesting person as well as easy heuristics for filtering to find these people.

Regarding (1):

Can you provide some elaboration around what you mean by an “interesting person?”

What heuristics do you currently use to determine whether a person is interesting?

Generally how long does your evaluation period last?

Regarding (2):

In the past, what kind of traits unify people that know you well and whom you would feel comfortable pulling you out if you were acting strangely?

In the past, have any of these people not stand out in a crowd? If so, do these people share traits that are different from the larger group of people who’ve known you well above?

Regarding (3):

How strict is this constraint i.e. how far would you be willing and able to travel on a regular (say weekly?) basis for face-to-face social interaction? The answer could be 0...in which case all social counter-parts would have to travel to you.

Is it possible to get into town via public transit such as a bus or train? Do you know anyone (apart from your mom) nearby who might be willing to drive you into town? For those people who are on the margin in your belief of their willingness, have you tried asking them to test the proposition?

How strict a constraint is your psychological problem with breaking routine? Are we talking no behavior modification on your part, and so simplifying the question to finding people who’re willing to come to you / alter their behavior for you? Or are you open to exploring routine breaking as a means towards this end?

Bagricula 28 Jun 2011 6:42 UTC
1 point
in reply to: Bagricula’s comment on: The True Rejection Challenge
Alternative balance activity:

Just stand on one foot and try twisting your torso from one side to the other or from from to back.

If this is too easy, carry a heavy object like a thick book. If this is unwieldy, try soup cans.

Vary your angular momentum by practicing torso twists with your arms out or your arms in or with varying weights.

Try the same while standing on the ball of your foot.

Try while reaching above your head, to the side, et cetera.

Bagricula 28 Jun 2011 6:40 UTC
0 points
in reply to: Alicorn’s comment on: The True Rejection Challenge
Other options:

Board: Old skateboard (I’ve found these on the street, should be easy to find in a few yard sales), cutting board (if you’ve a side you don’t use for food preparation and are good about cleaning or use a towel to insulate), cut off part of a 2x4

Pivot: Rolling pin, small rocks (though not pebbles)

Bagricula 28 Jun 2011 6:23 UTC
0 points
in reply to: Alicorn’s comment on: The True Rejection Challenge
Ha. Here you go just piling on additional constraints!

Could you wear a bathing suit that’d provide sufficient modesty?

Bagricula 28 Jun 2011 5:41 UTC
1 point
in reply to: Alicorn’s comment on: The True Rejection Challenge
What about practicing balance?

You don’t need to buy a special balance board or exercise ball for it. You can just use any board on a pivot of some sort...say a plywood board on a solid rubber ball (depends on your weight).

Balance will protect you well into old age and practicing it should strengthen your leg joints, abdominals, and lower back, as well as forcing you to be more aware of your body’s position, movement, breathing, etc.

For entertainment, you can listen to music or an audiobook.

As for sweating/comfort it is definitely on the less strenuous side of things and can be done indoors with air conditioning (though this may be an expense you don’t want to incur).

Bagricula 28 Jun 2011 5:41 UTC
1 point
in reply to: Alicorn’s comment on: The True Rejection Challenge
Run the experiment:

For entertainment—try different levels of water flow with your existing speaker setup and see if there’s any overlap between the range of “audible entertainment” and “acceptable cooling.” The experiment is fast and cheap. Edit: You may not be able to find the right level of cooling without first doing some exercise nearby to heat yourself up.

For safety—Assuming you’ve found an optimal level of water flow, try dancing at various levels of intensity with a friend present in the bathroom to catch-you/call-an-ambulance/help in case of severe accident. Not quite as fast as the first experiment, but contingent on it and still free and relatively easy—plus amusing for a friend

Bagricula 28 Jun 2011 3:20 UTC
2 points
in reply to: Alicorn’s comment on: The True Rejection Challenge
Dance in the shower?

Even fairly restrained dancing over an extended period can elevate your heart-rate and trigger many of the benefits of exercise.

If you have a shower and live in an area where cold water is provided for free, then there is no cost. Additionally, this should address your sweat issue much like swimming in a pool.

It is indoors which eliminates sunlight.

Vis-a-vie the boredom constraint. Dancing to music by itself may be a varied enough activity to keep you mentally engaged. If this is insufficient you might consider audiobooks or talk radio.

Complications:
1. Safety. If you dance too vigorously then you may slip or injure yourself. You will know better whether this is a very likely issue. If it is, you may be able to mitigate with protective clothing (either purchased such as no slip water-shoes/socks or made from household objects; feasibility depending on your particular budget constraint and safety concerns).
2. You may not have a sufficiently strong set of external speakers to overcome the noise of the shower. If so, you might mitigate by (1) reducing the water flow for your shower, (2) purchasing or building louder speaks (for example, build a cone out of cardboard to amplify and direct the volume.)
3. Just cold water may be too cold for you. To mitigate either (1) add hot water (and possible add cost), (2) exercise outside the shower first to raise your body temperature, (3) acclimate yourself to colder water (this has been done by many people in the past either by necessity or due to a specific purpose such as Channel swimming).