Xachariah

Karma: 3,634

Xachariah Jun 9, 2013, 1:47 AM
12 points
in reply to: James_Miller’s comment on: Rationality Quotes June 2013
I’m fairly certain that’s not how you’re supposed to develop a habit of gratitude. It’s not about doublithinking yourself into believing you like things that you dislike; it’s to help you notice more things you like.

I’ve been doing a gratitude journal. I write three short notes from the last day where I was thankful for something a person did (eg, saving me a brownie or something). Then I take the one that makes me happiest and write a 1 paragraph description of what occurred, how I felt, and such that writing the paragraph makes me relive the moment. Then I write out a note (that is usually later transcribed) to a past person in my gratitude journal.

When I think of that person or think back to that day, I’m immediately able to recall any nice things they did that I wrote down. Also, as I go through my life, I’m constantly looking for things to be thankful for, and notice and remember them more easily.

If you do something like in the quote, it seem more likely that you’ll remember negative things (that you pretend to be positive). It goes against the point of the exercise.

Xachariah Jun 9, 2013, 12:52 AM
24 points
in reply to: Douglas_Knight’s comment on: Exercise isn’t necessarily good for people
For 12% of people it makes blood pressure higher not worse. The presenter chooses the terms ‘adverse’ and ‘worse’ for his own purposes.

My girlfriend has chronic hypotension, and can easily faint or become dizzy when standing or if she doesn’t have enough water. Anecdotally, regular exercise seems to help prevent that. It’s hard to find numbers, but the closest thing to solid I could find is that 26% of people with diabetes (couldn’t find general population) suffer from hypotension.

If the 32% of people receiving no change or an increase in blood pressure fall on the bottom end of the bloodpressure spectrum, they’re getting exactly what they need. Regardless of how the speaker labels the results.

Xachariah May 11, 2013, 1:39 AM
2 points
in reply to: D_Malik’s comment on: Post ridiculous munchkin ideas!
This seems very interesting, and it’s really cool that you’ve already been working on it. To clarify, you said you don’t eat or drink anything unless it’s a reward. Does this mean halting all meals?

How do you manage to eat healthily if all food has to stay within arm’s reach? I suppose some fruits could stay out, but what about cooked meats or vegetables?

What do you do for recreation times: hanging out with others, visiting relatives, or just going to the beach or something, etc?

Xachariah May 5, 2013, 2:20 PM
16 points
on: Use Search Engines Early and Often
Why do you advertise for Goodsearch? As far as I can tell, Goodsearch itself is a for-profit LLC that makes it’s money by drawing referrals to Yahoo, by way of putting kittens and children on it’s front page and making people feel good about doing searches. They’re just trading a portion of revenue for increased marketshare.

But you’re trading time. You earn 1 cent a search; at minimum wage, that’s 5 seconds of labor time. Rough estimate of their criteria says that less than half my searches would be eligible for donation. So, in order for Goodsearch to be worth it, I’d need to be able to find what exactly I’m looking for on Yahoo no more than 2.5 seconds slower than Google/DuckDuckGo. A quick Yahoo search shows that to be off… probably by at least an order of magnitude. If you think you’d personally get better results than that though, by all means go ahead.

Time has value too, and that’s what you’re spending when you switch to Goodsearch.

Xachariah Apr 30, 2013, 9:57 PM
0 points
in reply to: Pablo’s comment on: [Link] 2012 Winter Intelligence Conference videos available
The labeling isn’t very confusing right now, but in 9 months it will be.

Xachariah Apr 24, 2013, 2:58 AM
6 points
in reply to: FiftyTwo’s comment on: Minor, perspective changing facts
Woah. Instead of potato chips, I could be eating an equal amount of bacon.

I’m never going to eat another potato chip again.

Xachariah Apr 22, 2013, 6:40 AM
4 points
in reply to: Qiaochu_Yuan’s comment on: Pascal’s wager
Regarding whitespace, I usually like this style of spacing in articles. It makes it much easier to see what’s going on and identify clusters of ideas.
It’s like punctuation for paragraphs!

In this case, however, the whitespace seemed to have been placed at random and did not separate ideas.

Xachariah Apr 16, 2013, 10:19 PM
2 points
in reply to: Eliezer Yudkowsky’s comment on: New applied rationality workshops (April, May, and July)
Are you suggesting that rationality takes the same level of one-on-one contact that dancing does?

I’m sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble to go out and find rationality partners, if that’s what it took. I’d still need the curriculum though.

Xachariah Apr 16, 2013, 4:43 AM
1 point
in reply to: Qiaochu_Yuan’s comment on: New applied rationality workshops (April, May, and July)
I can see the usefulness of networking. Though I don’t feel like I’m in the phase of my life where I’d want to go to such lengths just to network and have excellent conversations. I could imagine that being worthwhile enough to me one day.

It’s good to hear about the followups. They mentioned that in the original post, but I didn’t know how extensive it was. I suppose it’s unfair to demand concrete data, when dealing with such small sample sizes.

Reference class tennis, but I did learn dancing via youtube + a partner. A couple of years of dance classes were pretty useless compared to how much I learned after a month of study online.

Xachariah Apr 16, 2013, 3:20 AM
7 points
on: New applied rationality workshops (April, May, and July)
I have a couple of questions:
1) Does the $3900 cost primarily cover the cost of the workshop itself, or is it mostly used as a revenue source for CFAR to keep the doors open year-round?

2) What advantages does the weekend retreat system offer that other systems don’t, specifically distance learning?

3) Are there any plans to expand into distance learning, for example into the Khan Academy, edX, Udacity model?

Everything you’ve mentioned sounds great, but I’m inherently skeptical of a weekend retreat format. After all, even gay cure camps ‘work’ and have their testimonials; how do you control for the self-help effect? Additionally, it seems odd to me to be building a program around teaching rationality in-person, when every other educational institution is trying to move in the opposite direction. I’m just curious about why you’ve chosen to structure the program the way it is.

Xachariah Apr 13, 2013, 11:54 AM
0 points
in reply to: someonewrongonthenet’s comment on: Pick Up Artists(PUAs) my view
That’s a list of lingo the people who do that use. I’m missing your objections, unless you just hate lingo.

Xachariah Apr 12, 2013, 8:41 PM
5 points
in reply to: someonewrongonthenet’s comment on: Pick Up Artists(PUAs) my view
We may be talking across from each other by using different terms.

To me PUA is one very simply algorithm: attempt pickup → analyze if it worked → improve pickup routine → goto start. PUA is the treating of relationships and dating as if it was a science or skillset instead of an interaction with individual human being. That’s all there is to PUA. It’s nothing but a learning algorithm used by a human and backed up by the data you collect.

The statement that “PUA is true” means that humans can be modeled in relationships the same way that humans can be modeled economically for economics to be true. The statment “PUA works” means that this algorithm will get you success and it will give you increasing probabilities of success per attempt.

There are some universally adopted techniques and a couple of common models, but that’s to be expected when you’ve got thousands of people all doing the exact same thing repeatedly. In general, I’d say the vast majority of those models and techniques are accurate and efficacious. If you have specific objections to PUA half truths, feel free to throw them out. Saying that PUA is nothing but half truths feels as general as saying that economics is nothing but half truths because it can’t model economic agents perfectly. I need specifics.

As for “dark” techniques, I have no idea to what you refer. The darkness I was talking about in PUA is the the danger of dehumanizing others and treating women as commodities. You stop looking at women as a person and start looking at them as potential lay #32. There are no dark techniques that cause harm to the target; they’re harmed because you have a one night stand and then never call them again (as their best case scenario). The darkness isn’t a side effect; it’s the direct effect. Achieving your goal by any other technique wouldn’t spare them the pain.

Xachariah Apr 12, 2013, 7:00 PM
0 points
in reply to: gjm’s comment on: Post Request Thread
My original exposure to Gibala was a later study that’s not listed in the above link, where they were trying to see if the effects would still remain even if the gentle pedaling was removed. They did, but I can’t find a link to it.

Edit: Though the longer ones are more effective. IIRC the most effective one is 50 mins and not 30, even though the above article claims 30.

Xachariah Apr 12, 2013, 12:20 AM
0 points
in reply to: Pablo’s comment on: Post Request Thread
Minimum viable is an interesting phrase.

Recent data data is showing you can do as little as 3 minutes of exercise a week, and get as good insulin response benefits and VO2max benefits as if you’d jogged for hours. (Though, you don’t get the calorie or muscle mass benefits.)

My layman’s understanding is that you’re triggering your body’s “oh #@$! bears live here” function, so it makes sure you can run from bears in the future, even if you don’t encounter them all that often.

Xachariah Apr 11, 2013, 7:02 PM
4 points
in reply to: roland’s comment on: Pick Up Artists(PUAs) my view
No doubt, and I wouldn’t give up my knowledge of either one for the world.

Then again if I lived in a magical world, I’d probably be the guy to do half a dozen dark rituals as soon as I’m given a wand.

Xachariah Apr 11, 2013, 6:58 PM
4 points
in reply to: someonewrongonthenet’s comment on: Pick Up Artists(PUAs) my view
There is almost zero doubt that those strategies work, and work extremely well. Every successful PUA I know keeps detailed logs of their interactions (or kept them at one point), and measures the effectiveness of their pitches.

Many guys do it just like telemarketing. They throw out their routines and track how many hang ups (well, walk aways) they get, how many conversions they get (and to what extent), and how each line impacts their numbers relative to the demographic they’re approaching. Other guys will adopt a tactic and use nothing-but-it for a week. You get very good data on it’s strengths and weaknesses. Again, good/bad tactics are discerned quickly and everything is very grounded in reality.

Your talk about ‘immoral’ and ‘acceptable’ tactics generally mirrors something called ‘inner game’ and ‘outer game’ in the PUA community. Inner game is general ‘being more attractive’ advice and is always applied. Outer game is a toolbox of very specific tools that you pull out for a purpose. Because most outer game is very specific, it is incredibly easy to get succes rates, and as a result these strategies have the most thorough numbers on success rates. I assure you, they are very effective.

Xachariah Apr 11, 2013, 6:21 PM
25 points
on: Pick Up Artists(PUAs) my view
My view of PUA is distinctly different from yours. It is a much less happy view. Disclaimer: I’m an ex-PUA; I spent a few years in the game and quit after finding my current 4 year LTR. (nb I use PUA as a catchall abbreviation for both PUA and PU.)

1. Their objections are legitimate
PUA at it’s core is a training regime to learn the martial art of social interaction backed up by 10,000 hours of practice. Just like in martial arts, a guy who’s studied for a couple years will beat the shit out of someone who’s never practiced. You might not win every argument / get every girl / impress every person, but you’ll do way better than you should for your weight class.

The people I’ve talked to re: PUA don’t have this nebulous fear of loss of power. They’re afraid of you personally having a metaphorical loaded gun with you at all times, that you’re free to use whenever you want, and there’s no consequence when you use it. That’s scary.

They also don’t want other people going out and getting these social guns, even if it’s a dominant strategy, because a future where everyone employs them is not a future they want to live in. I don’t think their objections are disingenuous at all.

2. PUAs have a demeaning as hell view of women
We do. Women are just female apes who respond to super-stimulus that PUAs learn to generate. To be fair, this is literally no different than saying that men are just male apes who respond to super-stimulus that women wear/use. Or that consumers are just apes-with-paper who respond to properly designed pitches. I should note that it’s culturally acceptable to demean against men (or consumers in general) and not women, so that’s why people are surprised by it.

Make no mistake though, it is a demeaning viewpoint. Just because it’s ‘equal’ or ‘correct’ doesn’t mean it can’t be demeaning too.

3. PUA isn’t just a skillset or activity.
From HPMOR:

Father had warned Draco over and over that what you sacrificed to Dark rituals couldn’t be regained. But Father hadn’t known that the accursed Muggles had invented rituals that didn’t need wands, rituals you could be tricked into doing without knowing it...

PUA changes you permanently, and not in a way that everyone is comfortable with. I’ve been four years out of the game and I still walk into a room and identify every group, every alpha, every girl that’s DTF, and all the social bonds between them. I may get rustier and rustier with time in identifying IOIs, or how to push-pull, or neg, or any of those mechanical tricks, but I will never forget the models of human interaction that I learned. I will never look at any conversation between two people simply as ‘a conversation’, probably ever again for the rest of my life. I’ll also probably never be completely content or complacent in a relationship again either.

I’m comfortable with that. I’m a rationalist. I’m here because I care more about knowing the truth of things than being happy. Not everyone is like that… heck, most people aren’t like that. It does them (and PUA) a disservice to imply that PUA is simply a tool that you pick up and use.

It changes you and not everyone is ready or okay with that change. Worst of all, most guys don’t know that there will be a sacrifice, and some are unaware of their sacrifice even after it’s been made. (And hell, KJ’s partially make that sacrifice and they don’t even get anything out of it.)

4. As for my view on PUA...
PUA is the dark arts. It’s literally everything LessWrong users refer to when we use the term dark arts. It’s all the worst parts of marketing, high pressure sales, magic tricks, and scams rolled into one very potent ball, and perpetually refined by extremely motivated men. There are professional athletes who don’t practice their sport as much as some PUAs practice their own ‘sport’. They don’t do it out of altruism; they do it because it’s thrilling to hunt.

Yeah, you can just use it to be an awesome attractive guy, and I did do that too. But I also did a lot of things I’m not proud of. Scratch that, I did a lot of things I’m totally proud of but I shouldn’t be. PUA is everything that detractors say it is. It is evil, misogynistic, dirty, skeezy, insulting, etc., etc., etc..

On the other hand, Paul Graham has a quote:

If a statement is false, that’s the worst thing you can say about it.

It doesn’t matter if PUA is evil. Or if PUA is insulting. Or if PUA is misogynistic. Or if PUA is dangerous. Because the only thing that matters is that PUA is true. It works. It exists.

I’m going to employ the most effective strategies I can, and when I have kids I’ll teach them too. I will use whatever wins, but I’m under no illusion about the morality of my tactics.

There is no need to sugar coat it so others will find it acceptable.
PUA is what it is.

Xachariah Apr 11, 2013, 5:25 PM
0 points
in reply to: wedrifid’s comment on: Pick Up Artists(PUAs) my view
Bitch shields are employed by both genders. It’s just a term that is used because +90% of PUAs are straight men looking for women. Gay guys deploy them against other guys (and girls), and straight guys deploy them against women they aren’t interested in.

The terminology is decidedly female, but it’s an equal opportunity tactic. Although admittedly, used far more often by women.

Ditto with AMOG’ing. I’ve seen alpha females of combined groups go at it like it’s Game of Thrones. It’s the same methods and goals, just with a gender swap.

Xachariah Mar 27, 2013, 3:43 AM
25 points
in reply to: Qiaochu_Yuan’s comment on: Soylent Orange—Whole food open source soylent

Even if I learned how to cook, it’s unlikely that I would end up being the best cook in my social circle.

Most people resolve this by specializing in certain dishes. You could probably never be a better general cook than your friend’s wife who really loves cooking, but you could learn to make a single night’s dinner better than her with a small amount of practice. Just keep repeating the same appetizer, the same entree, the same two sides, and the same desert.

I have a friend who can only make Eggplant Parmesian, bacon-deviled-eggs, and chocolate covered strawberries. As long as he doesn’t host more than twice a month, nobody notices this lack of variety because each of the dishes exceeds restaurant quality. He can’t cook outside of that, but he’s still considered amazing at cooking because that’s how people’s memory works.

Xachariah Mar 27, 2013, 3:19 AM
21 points
in reply to: Qiaochu_Yuan’s comment on: Soylent Orange—Whole food open source soylent
How are you calculating time cost?

I can cook crockpot dinners with 15 minutes total time (prep, check time, washing/cleanup), even though it takes hours to cook. This will prepare ~5 meals for both myself and my girlfriend that cost maybe 1.5 mins each to reheat later. At a total time of 30 mins input for 10 meals worth 5 dollars of saving each, that’s a cost of $100/hr.

That’s a ridiculously efficient use of time. Even if you’re a third as efficient and take 45 minutes prep (the 15 mins to reheat should be constant), you’re still running $50/hr, which is still excellent. The initial learning cost for crockpot cooking is very low as well.

Do you calculate this as 4 hours spent (fire time) or 30 minutes (your time spent)?

You can do similar things with stews, rice+stock dishes (gumbo/jambalaya/etouffee/paella), sous vide, and roasts/loafs. These are the easiest. Once you get better at cooking, you can expand and cook other dishes a similar way. As you get better, you spend a smaller and smaller fraction of time actually attending to fire.