terasinube

Karma: −4

terasinube Mar 3, 2014, 4:45 PM
−2 points
in reply to: Lumifer’s comment on: Rational Evangelism
The truth I was referring in the previous comment is Scientific understanding.

Also, when I said story I did not meant a work of fiction but more like an work of vision.

Something like a reimagining of what life could be for the human race and the commitment to implement that vision as expressed by the people telling the story and living the story.

terasinube Mar 3, 2014, 4:22 PM
9 points
in reply to: ChristianKl’s comment on: Akrasia and Immunity to change
Robert Kegan’s wikipedia entry has a pretty good summary of the idea.

This 15 min. youtube video is also a nice introduction.

In short, the real reason people don’t do the things they consciously want to do might be related to a sort of immune system that tries to keep things as they are because there are competing commitments that steam from unconscious assumptions. e.g. a person might not take their heart medication because taking medication is associated with end of life and they have a competing commitment to not perceive themselves as being at the end of their life.

Akrasia and Immunity to change

terasinubeMar 3, 2014, 4:04 PM

9 points

5 comments1 min readLW link

terasinube Mar 3, 2014, 3:58 PM
−1 points
in reply to: Richard_Kennaway’s comment on: Proportional Giving
Well… I did mentioned the fact that increase in wealth correlates with decrease compassion. There is also the flat-lining of experiential happiness above a certain income as described by Kahneman.

But maybe I’m misunderstanding what you are expecting. Could you give more information about what kind of information would you like to receive?

Also, I lived my entire childhood in such a totalitarian state. I am aware of how bad state involvement in these matters can be.

terasinube Mar 3, 2014, 2:20 PM
−2 points
in reply to: Richard_Kennaway’s comment on: Proportional Giving
In fewer words, I don’t have a blueprint, nor a crystal ball. ;)

If you require either in order to have a conversation about the future… oh well… sorry to disappoint. ;)

terasinube Mar 3, 2014, 1:08 PM
−4 points
in reply to: Richard_Kennaway’s comment on: Proportional Giving
How? by rational discourse, I guess. By whom? I guess some sort of representative body.

What happens in this society, if I want a bigger house than the state thinks I need?

I don’t know but I imagine that some kind of balanced utility function could be produced that could provide different resource allocation. e.g. bigger shelter (if requested).

terasinube Mar 3, 2014, 9:42 AM
0 points
in reply to: Richard_Kennaway’s comment on: Proportional Giving

Developing fusion power. Defeating disease. Defeating death. Colonising space. AGI. And so on.

Oh… I meant what would a single individual spend the money on, what would be the incentive to get more money for oneself. In the society I was mentioning… the rest of the resources would have been redirected in activities related to the furthering of the human evolution.

terasinube Mar 3, 2014, 8:09 AM
−6 points
on: Proportional Giving
I view proportional giving as a mechanism for compensating economic parasitism (the right-side variety).

I view 2 types of social parasitism:
- right side is accumulation of capital and use of such capital in very wasteful self-serving ways.
- left side is getting by with society support without producing value for society.
A society that addresses both types of parasitism through some kind of mechanism is a society in which money can quickly become meaningless. If you have adequate shelter, food, clothing and free access to education, entertainment and transportation what would you use the money for?

I think there are arguments to be made for a tougher protection against right side parasitism, arguments like studies that demonstrate a reduce in empathy and compassion in the wealthy. Unfortunately, this is such a great transgression against the god of capitalism that all its disciples quickly react. I’ve had discussions with friends where I proposed Gartner’s 4 million cap on income per year and I was met with resistance from people making 100 times less. They wanted the freedom to go beyond that.

terasinube Mar 3, 2014, 7:28 AM
3 points
in reply to: Vika’s comment on: Strategic choice of identity
Yeah, the Insufficient mindset is a very limiting identity. The tango experience was more like… “X months have passed and I’m still not able to compose a dance with the moves I know” morphing into “I can compose but it’s too linear” morphing into “I can compose but I have a lot of decision points” morphing into “to hell with good enough. what is important is to have fun” and ending up with me dancing in a tango flash mob in a subway station. :)

How does the “fifth order of consciousness” approach work?

Everyone needs a philosophy of life, a way of being into this world. Mine is one inspired by the way Tolstoy interpreted the teachings of Jesus. In short, morality is redefined as the continuous movement towards an ideal of perfection with the full understanding that you will never be able to reach it. My perfection ideal is the ideal of the Jedi. It has 3 components: emotional regulation (Emotions, yet Peace), rationality (Ignorance, yet Understanding) and noosphere contribution (Death, yet The Force). The Kegan’s 5 order of consciousness mind involves all three and it is thus perceived as a valid guideline for my journey. The main advantage being the fact that there is a progression (there are signposts available, e.g. 4th order consciousness).

terasinube Mar 3, 2014, 7:09 AM
1 point
in reply to: Creutzer’s comment on: Learning languages efficiently.
In my perspective this would be deliberate practice. You would get to practice sentence construction and you would get to practice your sound creation which is quite a difficult thing to do.

Starting from simple things like asking for direction or requesting stuff is a great place to start.

You can’t expect fluency from the very beginning but, in order to get there, you’d have to start from somewhere.

If this kind of sentences drive you crazy… it’s ok… choose something else. I’m in no way trying to tell you what to do. :) I’m only providing my perspective on things. If it’s useful… ok, if not.… still ok. :)

terasinube Mar 2, 2014, 9:02 PM
1 point
in reply to: Fivehundred’s comment on: Learning languages efficiently.
It’s just a simple “hello, my name is X, nice to meet you” kind of greeting. All languages have them. They might sound silly for a native speaker but also endearing. They warm the atmosphere.

What would be a simple phrase that you would like to learn?

Asking this question 2 times and adding the answers to the “water in the fridge” & “son of a whore” would effectively double your skill. :)

terasinube Mar 2, 2014, 6:47 PM
2 points
in reply to: Creutzer’s comment on: Learning languages efficiently.
Of course you cannot say what you want to say, but maybe you are able to say something else.

You might not be able to express some complex idea from the get go but, would it be that difficult to say: konnichiwa, watashi wa Creutzer desu. Hajimemashite. ? :)

terasinube Mar 2, 2014, 6:40 PM
0 points
on: Strategic choice of identity
There is an “insufficient” mindset that’s my biggest obstacle. Like, insufficiently smart to ask questions, insufficiently creative to contribute, insufficiently good tango dancer, etc. Work by Brene Brown on vulnerability has helped me a lot with this.

The identity that helps me most is: I’m a fifth order of consciousness in the making (I just levelled up to 4). :)

terasinube Mar 2, 2014, 6:31 PM
4 points
in reply to: Eloise’s comment on: Strategic choice of identity
Have you noticed any improvement on social anxiety since you joined Toastmasters? Is it in any way easier now to speak up?

terasinube Mar 2, 2014, 6:16 PM
7 points
on: Learning languages efficiently.
Listen as much audio spoken by native speakers as you can. My guess is that children programs are best. Maybe some Hebrew dubbed cartoons that you are already familiar with. First priority is to get your brain trained on the sounds of the language.

Speak with a native speaker that knows English. You can use http://livemocha.com/ for this.

Speak badly but speak.

From my personal experience, biggest hurdle in learning a new language is actually using it. Getting past the “shame” filter of your brain. If you accept that mistakes are unavoidable and just start speaking, you will get a lot of practice and you will improve. Of course, it’s nice having a professional aware of the fact that you are a beginner, giving you clear and precise feedback. :)

terasinube Mar 2, 2014, 5:46 PM
0 points
in reply to: ChristianKl’s comment on: Rational Evangelism

That just means that you don’t have a well defined concept of the term you are speaking about. I would guess the same is true for most Lesswrongers for most emotions.

Good point. It made me realise that I haven’t investigated this more seriously lately.

terasinube Mar 2, 2014, 5:34 PM
0 points
in reply to: Lumifer’s comment on: Rational Evangelism
I think a fidelity to the truth will make the story rational. I would love a story without slips into magikal thinking.

terasinube Feb 28, 2014, 4:28 PM
0 points
in reply to: ChristianKl’s comment on: Rational Evangelism
Well… it depends on what you point at.

Love, as I view it is not something that can be easily defined. To me it’s a way of being into this world. This video describes it.

As for emotions… why would anyone dislike the joy of figuring things out? the post flow feeling of accomplishment? They are wired into our positive reinforcement system and as long as the thing they are reinforcing is a thing worth investing in, why not let nature run its course?

terasinube Feb 26, 2014, 6:19 PM
3 points
on: Rational Evangelism
A master was once unmoved by the complaints of his disciples that, though they listened with pleasure to his parables and stories, they were also frustrated for they longed for something deeper. To all their objections he would simply reply: “You have yet to understand, my friends, that the shortest distance between a human being and truth is a story.”

You need a good story. That’s all. A good story.

2 things come to my mind as examples:

The first one is about the past and comes from a novel called “Quo Vadis” which is about early christianity. There is a scene there where a roman guy searching a girl he wanted stumbles on a christians meeting and there was Peter retelling the story of Jesus. The power of his words as a living witness made the guy forget what he was looking for. Personal testimony is one huge attention grabber if is done right.

The second one is from Dune. Pardot Kynes, the planetologist, tells to the fremen the story of Arrakis could become and tells it so well that Uliet, the guy in charge of killing him chose to take his own life and with this self-sacrifice started the terraforming process.

So, what would a rational story be about? Health and Happiness sound like good bets. It should incorporate elements described by religious mysticism, stuff like Love, Joy, Strength, Peace, Trust, etc. It should position itself to the current effort to find common ground… like the Charter for Compassion. It should be about a long journey of discovering the power of love.

“What paralyzes life is lack of faith and lack of audacity. The difficulty lies not in solving problems but expressing them. And so we cannot avoid this conclusion: it is biologically evident that to gain control of passion and so make it serve spirit must be a condition of progress. Sooner or later, then, the world will brush aside our incredulity and take this step : because whatever is the more true comes out into the open, and whatever is better is ultimately realized. The day will come when, after harnessing the ether, the winds, the tides, gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And, on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

terasinube

Akra­sia and Im­mu­nity to change

Akrasia and Immunity to change