IgnatzMouse

This list can lead to suboptimal outcomes on its own. I understand that it was never meant to be a complete guide, but I would add a couple of ideas related to "dealing with others". I was a child who could be described as following the advice on the list: doing things my own way, a bit stubborn, skeptical of the stories I was told, failing to respect norms, contrarian even. But I wish someone had persuaded me early on about the importance of learning from others and building more relationships than I did. So I would add two ideas:

a. Learning from people t... (read more)

On the topic of not dying: Let's not forget that many cancers today are manageable if caught early. I have seen several people suffer and sometimes die of colon, prostate, breast cancer that could potentially have been caught early. I am not a medical doctor, so I will write non-technically. Maybe others can improve the list.

If you are over 40 and have a prostate, get it checked. Today you can do that radiologically. If a urologist ten needs to check it by hand, s/he will. 

If you are over 45, colonoscopy. Not fun, but can alert and deal with one of th... (read more)

I would like to add chicken broth or vegetable broth as a possible liquid for oatmeal. During my teen years I would make a small bowl of oatmeal soup as a starter before a meal (teenagers have super-human appetites). As a middle-aged adult, it is a nice savory snack that can replace a lunch.

In terms of microwave techniques, I recommend experimenting with bursts of full power (e.g. 90 sec 1000W), stir, another burst (60 sec 1000W) of full power, stir. Even at low power, bubbles of steam can form under the viscous mix and end up making a mess. 

I agree. I never saw this analogy as being about the specific bear_fat_and_honey snack. Bear fat and honey is just a vivid example to say that even though we want fat, sugar and salt, some elements of the class of foods with fat, sugar and salt are ranked as more appetizing. And it is this preference ranking  what the observing aliens could not predict from knowing about preference for fat, sugar and salt.

Maybe stating the obvious, but EDVAC was developed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly.

The rounding of concepts and results is very common in academia, where researchers try to publish results or ideas that are "novel". A common concern in the peer-review process is that the idea is not really new, but a consequence or a re-framing of another idea. "How is this new?" is a typical question in any referee report. In some cases this concern is correct. In others, it is conceptual rounding of a new result.

This intellectual attitude dismisses useful new instantiations of general ideas. In many cases, the particular application could be more impac... (read more)

I am a long-time lurker; I started following EY in Overcoming Bias and then here, where I visit on and off. I have been a business school professor for about 15 years. I use a pseudonym to keep my online professional profile distinct from my non-professional online activity. 

I notice that  business topics are not often discussed in LW, or at least not in the same detail and precision as other topics. It is certainly not a focal theme of the blog, but I was wondering if there would be interest to discuss business topics without the "fluff" that on... (read more)

I agree with the frustration. Wolfram was being deliberately obtuse. Eliezer summarised it well toward the end, something like "I am telling you that the forest is on fire and you are telling me that we first need to define what do we mean by fire". I understand that we need definitions for things like "agency" or technology "wanting" something and even why do we mean by a "human" in the year 2070. But Wolfram went a bit too far. A naive genius that did not want to play along in the conversation. Smart teenagers talk like that.

Another issue with this conve... (read more)

Not a deep insight, Just to add an example to the curb-cut effect I experienced that went from mild reluctance to enthusiastic acceptance. 

Background: My son is hard of hearing (almost deaf). The health insurance paid for a system of microphones that connect to his hearing aid /CI and also to very high quality speakers in the back. The whole thing cost several thousands euros. The school also has really good acoustic panels in the ceiling (this schools admits one or two hard-of-hearing kids a year, out of about 120).

First reactions. Some teachers look... (read more)