Grokipedia (and URL), not Grokopedia

But note these drawbacks with Pomodoro (and my alternative solution): 

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/FDCJ2BfAT9qJGrpFa/what-s-wrong-with-pomodoro

Somewhat related to 5 is the real but much underused word ‘velleity’ (which I use a lot), meaning an extremely slight preference or desire, so slight that you can’t be bothered to do anything to fulfill it.

(Eg watching rubbishy TV late at night, very slightly inclined to change channel but not enough to press the button on the remote.)

Somewhat related to 1 is a word for being stuck thinking how to express a complicated thought (rather than choosing between thoughts). Not quite the same as tongue-tied as this involves intense thinking (rather than eg being nervous).

(Example: some trains from Cambridge, UK to London are fast, some are slow (stopping at many stations). Sometimes there are two trains on adjacent platforms, a slow train leaving first, then a fast train leaving second (but often arriving first). Many a time I have observed passengers (and myself experienced) going up to a staff member and then freezing while trying to form the relevant question, viz: I’m going to London, so in order to arrive sooner, should I get on this slow train that’s about to leave or the fast train leaving later?)

Indeed, I had similar thoughts but didn’t type them up.

In any case I suspect it was a situation in which the cost-benefit analysis would show high risk-aversion (hence probable over-reaction to avoid under-reaction) was justified.

IIRC however I heard it said that the Y2K bug didn’t cause serious problems even in countries where there wasn’t much effort to deal with it, and hence the doomsayers’ predictions were exaggerated (in that much lesser mitigation efforts would have served almost as well). I don’t know if this is true though

Great post. I know lots of classical musicians but never heard of this dynamic before.

I suspect there may be something similar with opera singers (of whom I know hardly any), because unlike other classical musicians (and other singers), who are generally nice friendly low-ego people, opera singers reportedly really are vain prima donnas obsessed with their image and beating everyone else, hence likely to be major sufferers of this syndrome. 

Sure. I found one for my parents, who seems honest and gave no more advice than necessary. I suspect honest financial advisers are often individuals or small practices rather than larger firms.

(In the UK, financial advisers are (now) heavily regulated - you can’t just call yourself one.)

Re doctors, in the UK I suspect a key distinction is between NHS (state-funded) vs private patients. The NHS pays them reasonable salaries, but consultants (senior doctors) can earn far more from private patients and tend to have a mixture of both. I suspect they treat NHS patients as fulfilling their moral duty, and private patients as a cash cow (especially as their fees are usually paid by insurance companies) - giving unnecessary treatment to rich people. In my limited experience of private doctors they barely tried to disguise this attitude towards me.

I think honest financial advisors earn a decent living in the UK. The situation changed radically after the 2009 financial crash as high commissions on investments rightly became illegal, removing the main corrupt incentive. Before this happened and when I was less savvy, I certainly got ripped off this way.

I suspect the generational difference may be age as much as generation. Older tradespeople may have accumulated savings, so less need to earn lots, and have matured in their attitudes towards customers as people.

Slightly relatedly, a couple of times in my life I’ve had a dream in which I’m involved in a very witty conversation, including clever setups and so-on that could only have been pre-scripted (as in a sitcom), not thought up on the spot. (And I am not a witty conversationalist, so would not be able to do this myself.)

I’ve never recalled the details, so it could well be that these conversations were lame and just seemed witty and ingeniously scripted at the time.

However I did once dream a joke, which on awakening I realised was original and quite clever, albeit dry and unfunny. Suggesting that spontaneously witty dreams might be more possible, even from me.

(FWIW the dream joke was this: “Why did Boris Johnson stand for mayor? Because he wanted greater London authority.” (Boris Johnson was mayor of London before becoming prime minister, and Greater London Authority was the name of the council.))