“If you’re thinking without writing, you only think you’re thinking.”—Leslie Lamport
My goal is to become a better writer, and thereby become a better thinker, to create LessWrong posts that are beneficial to others.
Declan Molony
Karma: 889
A City Within a City
I’m not sure how I feel about seed oils generally, but I know they’re higher in Omega-6 fatty acids. From the NIH:
Omega-3s are utilized by the body to resolve and lower inflammation, whereas omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids are primarily used for increasing inflammation. Thus, the rise in the omega-6/3 ratio over the past 100 years may be driving chronic low-grade inflammatory conditions including autoimmune diseases, allergies and asthma.
I have considered the powdered option, but given my inflammation, it’s possible I have a minor allergy. I’m going to take a break for a while.
Assuming you’re serious about the psychological impact of removing all peanut butter products
^Nope, I’m exaggerating. I gave this post a “humor” tag and wrote it to laugh at myself.
5,000 calories of peanut butter every week for 3 years straight
I’m legitimately confused about using an LLM to generate actual text
LLMs are in their nascent form with limited capabilities. As they continue to develop, they’ll likely become more adept at creating large cohesive narratives.
I have a soft rule that I never upload the actual text of my book for feedback. I keep the actual text of the book out of the LLM’s memory.
I’m not sure where that fits in your model.
It’s interesting that you have this soft rule. Why? Are you worried that it’ll steal your ideas? Or possibly concerned that it’ll strip you of the feeling of authorship?
if someone wrote a book while holding a pen with their toes while doing a headstand, it’s not a good signal that the book will be of any interest to you.
Agreed, though I would definitely want to meet this insane person.
After writing his first 100-page short story, my brother realized that he’d become a better writer over the course of creating it. The beginning chapters therefore needed more rewriting than the ending chapters.
He just finished writing his first novel this week (and is getting ready to pitch it to publishers). Because of his prior writing experience, this story needed less overall editing as he has developed his writing style.
Will LLMs supplant the field of creative writing?
I did not replicate his argument in full. I merely selected interesting excerpts to comment upon.
The full essay can be read online here.
Agreed. The Unhook Youtube chrome extension is great. Another extension I use in combination with it is Improve Youtube.
Together they’ve saved me hundreds of hours.
I’ll add: No internet on my phone.
My friend recommended I delete the browser on my phone. It’s saved me time from going down curiosity rabbit holes.
Selling my TV was one of the best decisions I ever made. In that same post I wrote about the underlying scientific principles behind Supernormal Stimuli.
If you’re interested in the topic, I’d recommend author Deirdre Barrett’s book Supernormal Stimuli: How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose, and also Eliezer’s post Superstimuli and the Collapse of Western Civilization.
Don’t Legalize Drugs
Sports betting increases domestic violence. When the home team suffers an upset loss while sports betting is legal, domestic violence that day goes up by 9% for the day.
Stress researcher, Dr. Robert Sapolsky of Stanford University, in his book Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: A Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping found that, unfortunately, one of the best ways to cope for stress is displacing aggression onto another person. (Though, he primarily studied the phenomenon with respect to baboons.)
I find this context helpful in trying to understand why some people might commit domestic violence—a perpetrator (who has not learned emotional regulation and developed healthy coping mechanisms) is experiencing incredibly high stress levels that need to be mediated through some form of coping.
As someone who also likes to write for fun, I’ve noticed that the quality of my writing is impacted (and is probably degraded) by the pressure to perform. Writing on LessWrong is fun and my personal standards encourage me to create the best post I can make. Writing college papers was stressful because I was no longer writing for myself, but for a grade and to impress my professor.
To an extent you’re touching on extrinsic vs intrinsic motivation.
The same is true for other hobbies like playing piano. Growing up doing competitions was stressful, but writing music today as an adult is fun.
Ultimately it’s about authenticity.
The extrinsically motivated person is obligated to create a product.
The intrinsically motivated person gets to create art.
One of the advantages of hourly coaching is that it creates a source of reliable income for the coach.
As a bounty hunter, have you considered that people might lie to you about receiving benefits in order to avoid paying the bounty? It seems to be heavily tied on the honor system.
I’m not sure if any country has successfully been able to withstand the pressures of the processed food industry once it has entered their country. At least, I couldn’t find any examples in my research.
The only countries that potentially could make quick resolutions are those that have high levels of state power over personal freedoms, like China. But so far that hasn’t happened yet.
Places like the US will likely continue to suffer from chronic disease in the short-to-medium term (~10-50 years) due to its emphasis on personal freedom to be able to deteriorate one’s health.
I’m not sure “we’re super dumb as [a] society” so much as we’re gridlocked by special interest groups. We were able to take action against the tobacco industry because nobody has to smoke. But everyone’s gotta eat.
Zombies among us
What if feelings use the body as a display?
I can attest to this theory.
On the days in which I overindulge in my favorite vice (the internet), I carry around a sense of shame. When feeling shame (typically located in my chest), I notice that my chest caves inward (from trying to hide my inner anxiety) and I slouch. Perhaps it’s my body telling other people that I’m not feeling confident in myself and that they should avoid talking to me.
Whereas on the days in which I don’t use the internet at all, because the shame is not present, I have good posture and can effortlessly chat with anyone I encounter.
Costco’s brand:
It’s only two ingredients: peanuts and salt.