Omid

Karma: 739

Omid Sep 5, 2013, 2:19 PM
0 points
on: Useful Habits Repository
Take vitamin D and melatonin before you go to bed.

Omid Aug 30, 2013, 2:56 PM
25 points
on: Open thread, August 26 - September 1, 2013
Debating etiquette: If you assert that X is “obvious”, “blatantly obvious” or “so fucking obvious you’d have to be an evil, low-status person not to see it” then you are not allowed to provide any arguments or evidence for X unless you first concede that X is not obvious. None of this “Anyone with half a brain can see why X is true, but here’s for paragraphs arguing for X anyway” nonsense.

People who do this are trying to double dip. By claiming their point is obvious they can shame their opponents for being too stupid to understand the plain truth. But since what they’re saying isn’t actually obvious, they layer arguments to make X look more obvious. If X is obvious, you should say “X” and everyone will know you are right. But if you find the need to defend X with arguments, don’t try and shame the people who disagree that X.

Omid Aug 30, 2013, 4:57 AM
10 points
in reply to: Scott Garrabrant’s comment on: Yet more “stupid” questions
The subject basically pretends that everything that hypnotist says is true. Have you ever played a video game and got so wrapped up in the virtual world you just stopped noticing the real world? That’s called immersion, and it’s achieved by keeping your attention focused on the game. When your attention drifts away from the game, you start noticing that it’s 2 am or that’s you’ve been playing for four hours, and you remember that you are not in the video game, you’re just playing a video game. But as long as your attention remains on game, your feel like you are actually living in the video game’s world. Gamers love the feeling of immersion, so developers put a lot of work into figuring out how to keep gamers attention, which maintains the immersion.

Hypnosis works on the same principle. The hypnotist uses the patients full attention to create an imaginary world that feels real to the patient. The difference between video games and hypnosis is hypnosis patients actively give their attention to the hypnotist, while gamers passively expect the game to take their attention. When a hypnotic induction starts, the subject is asked to imagine the something in great detail, effecitvely putting the onus on the subject to make sure their attention is doesn’t drift. But when a video game starts, the gamer just watches the screen and expects the game to be interesting enough to keep her attention.

Hypnotism is more immersive than video games because the subject is helping the hypnotist keep her attention. This allows the hypnotist to create a virtual reality that is more convincing than video games. But it’s still just a game of pretend.

Omid Aug 30, 2013, 3:56 AM
9 points
on: Yet more “stupid” questions
How do you cure “something is wrong on the Internet” syndrome? It bugs me when people have political opinions that are simplistic and self-congratulating, but I’ve found that arguing with them wastes time and energy and rarely persuades them.

Omid Aug 30, 2013, 3:44 AM
2 points
in reply to: Scott Garrabrant’s comment on: Yet more “stupid” questions
Do you know how normal hypnotism works?

Omid Aug 29, 2013, 2:39 AM
0 points
in reply to: linkhyrule5’s comment on: Yet more “stupid” questions
See I don’t understand why Christians think the trinity is a contradiction. “God is one person, composed of three other persons.” makes as much sense as “The China brain is one person, composed of a billion people” or “a subset is a set that is part of another set”. In programming, it’s easy to create an object that belongs to class X while also having component parts that belong to class X.

Omid Aug 23, 2013, 12:59 AM
10 points
in reply to: Multiheaded’s comment on: Open thread, August 19-25, 2013
The polyamory and BDSM subcultures prove that nerds can create new social rules that improve sex. Of course, you can’t just theorize about what the best social rules would be and then declare that you’ve “solved the problem.” But when you see people living happier lives as a result of changing their social rules, there’s nothing wrong with inviting other people to take a look.

I don’t understand your postscript. I didn’t say there is no inequality in chore division because if there were a chore market would have removed it. I said a chore market would have more equality than the standard each-person-does-what-they-think-is-fair system. Your response seems like fully generalized counterargument: anyone who proposes a way to reduce inequality can be accused of denying that the inequality exists.

Omid Aug 22, 2013, 5:46 PM
7 points
on: Open thread, August 19-25, 2013
Has anyone done a good analysis on the expected value of purchasing health insurance? I will need to purchase health when I turn 26. How comprehensive should the insurance I purchase be?

At first I thought I should purchase a high-deductible that only protects against catastrophes. I have low living expenses and considerable savings, so this wouldn’t be risky. The logic here is that insurance costs the expected value of the goods provided plus overhead, so the cost of insurance will always be less than it’s expected value. If I purchase less insurance, I waste less money on overhead.

On the other hand, there’s a tax break for purchasing health insurance, and soon there will be subsidies as well. Also, insurance companies can reduce the cost of health care by negotiating lower prices for you. So the insurance company will pay less than the person who pays out of pocket. All these together might outweigh money wasted on overhead.

On the third hand, I’m a young healthy male. Under the ACA, my insurance premiums will be inflated so that old, sick, and female persons can have lower premiums. The money that’s being transferred to these groups won’t be spent on me, so it reduces the expected value of my insurance.

Has anyone added all these effects up? Would you recommend I purchase skimpy insurance or comprehensive?

Omid Aug 20, 2013, 4:02 PM
19 points
on: Open thread, August 19-25, 2013
This article, written by Dreeve’s wife has displaced Yvain’s polyamory essay as the most interesting relationships article I’ve read this year. The basic idea is that instead of trying to split chores or common goods equally, you use auctions. For example, if the bathroom needs to be cleaned, each partner says how much they’d be willing to clean it for. The person with the higher bid pays the what the other person bid, and that person does the cleaning.

It’s easy to see why commenters accused them of being libertarian. But I think egalitarians should examine this system too. Most couples agree that chores and common goods should be split equally. But what does “equally” mean? It’s hard to quantify exactly how much each person contributes to a relationship. This allows the more powerful person to exaggerate their contributions and pressure the weaker person into doing more than their fair share. But auctions safeguard against this abuse requiring participants to quantify how much they value each task.

For example, feminists argue that women do more domestic chores than men, and that these chores go unnoticed by men. Men do a little bit, but because men don’t see all the work women do, they end up thinking that they’re doing their share when they aren’t. Auctions safeguard against this abuse. Instead of the wife just cleaning the bathroom, she and her husbands bid for how much they’d be willing to clean the bathroom for. The lower bid is considered the fair market price of cleaning the bathroom. Then she and her husband engage in a joint-purchase auction to decide if the bathroom will be cleaned at all. Either the bathroom gets cleaned and the cleaner gets fairly compensated, or the bathroom doesn’t get cleaned because the total utility of cleaning the bathroom is less than the disutility of cleaning the bathroom.

And that’s it. No arguing about who cleaned it last. No debating whether it really needs to cleaned. No room for misogynist cultural machines to pressure the wife into doing more than her fair share. Just a market transaction that is efficient and fair.

Omid Aug 19, 2013, 4:28 PM
33 points
on: Open thread, August 19-25, 2013
Commercials sound funnier if you mentally replace “up to” with “no more than.”

Omid Aug 14, 2013, 4:07 PM
16 points
in reply to: Joshua_Blaine’s comment on: New Monthly Thread: Bragging
I just realized that after reading all of these things that I was happy for each person’s achievement, and not the slightest bit jealous. I’m not sure why this is, but it’s a good thing.

Omid Aug 10, 2013, 11:15 AM
2 points
in reply to: [deleted]’s comment on: Who are some of the best writers in history?
404′d. What was the essay’s title?

Omid Aug 8, 2013, 3:17 PM
53 points
on: Open thread, August 5-11, 2013
Generalized versions of arguments I’ve seen on Reddit and Facebook:

If you oppose a government policy that personally benefits you, you are a hypocrite who bites the hand that feeds you.

If you support the policy that benefits you, you are a greedy narcissist whose loyalty can be bought and sold.

If you have political opinions on policies that don’t affect your well-being, you are meddler with no skin in the game. Without being personally affected by the policy, you cannot hope to understand.

Omid Aug 3, 2013, 5:14 AM
0 points
in reply to: niceguyanon’s comment on: Open thread, July 29-August 4, 2013
Move to a socialist country.

Omid Aug 3, 2013, 4:56 AM
2 points
in reply to: Qiaochu_Yuan’s comment on: Open thread, July 29-August 4, 2013
Sorry, I guess the proper term is “truth bounty.” . The Truth Seal originally offered to arbitrate truth bounties, but it quickly went defunct.

Omid Aug 2, 2013, 3:24 PM
3 points
on: Open thread, July 29-August 4, 2013
What’s the most credible way to set up an information bounty?

Omid Aug 1, 2013, 4:21 PM
2 points
in reply to: Rain’s comment on: How does MIRI Know it Has a Medium Probability of Success?
So we’re probably doomed then?

Omid Jul 20, 2013, 1:54 AM
1 point
on: [Error communicating with LW2 server]
Logging in just to downvote.

Omid Jul 7, 2013, 5:56 PM
0 points
in reply to: Shmi’s comment on: Open Thread, April 15-30, 2013
He’s slowing down and shifting focus which makes him an unreliable source for rigorous defenses of feminism.

Omid Jul 7, 2013, 5:19 PM
2 points
on: Open Thread, April 15-30, 2013
Who is the best pro-feminist blogger still active? In the past I enjoyed reading Ozy Frantz, Clarisse Thorn, Julia Wise and Yvain, but none of them post regularly anymore. Who’s left?