Solvent

Replying toSlate Star Codex: alternative comment threads on LessWrong?

Slate Star Codex: alternative comment threads on LessWrong?

I have made bootleg PDFs in LaTeX of some of my favorite SSC posts, and gotten him to sign printed out and bound versions of them. At some point I might make my SSC-to-LaTeX script public...

Replying toState of the Solstice 2014

Solvent11y

State of the Solstice 2014

I feel exactly the same way about the controversial opinions.

Replying toOpen thread, Oct. 6 - Oct. 12, 2014

Solvent11y

Open thread, Oct. 6 - Oct. 12, 2014

I used to work at App Academy, and have written about my experiences here and here.

You will have a lot of LW company in the Bay Area (including me!) There will be another LWer who isn't Ozy in that session too.

I'm happy to talk to you in private if you have any more questions.

Replying to[link] Guide on How to Learn Programming

Solvent12y

[link] Guide on How to Learn Programming

Zipfian Academy is a bootcamp for data science, but it's the only non web dev bootcamp I know about.

Replying toOpen Thread April 8 - April 14 2014

Solvent12y

Open Thread April 8 - April 14 2014

I work at App Academy, and I'm very happy to discuss App Academy and other coding bootcamps with anyone who wants to talk about them with me.

I have previously Skyped LWers to help them prepare for the interview.

Contact me at bshlegeris@gmail.com if interested (or in comments here).

Replying toSelf-Congratulatory Rationalism

Solvent12y

Self-Congratulatory Rationalism

I don't know for sure Alicorn and I would continue to disagree about the ethics of white lies if we talked it out thoroughly, but it wouldn't remotely surprise me.

That's a moral disagreement, not a factual disagreement. Alicorn is a deontologist, and you guys probably wouldn't be able to reach consensus on that no matter how hard you tried.

LINK: In favor of niceness, community, and civilisation

Solvent

12y

Scott, known on LessWrong as Yvain, recently wrote a post complaining about an inaccurate rape statistic.

Arthur Chu, who is notable for winning money on Jeopardy recently, argued against Scott's stance that we should be honest in arguments in a comment thread on Jeff Kaufman's Facebook profile, which can be read here.

Scott just responded here, with a number of points relevant to the topic of rationalist communities.

I am interested in what LW thinks of this.

Obviously, at some point being polite in our arguments is silly. I'd be interested in people's opinions of how dire the real world consequences have to be before it's worthwhile debating dishonestly.

137

Replying toMethods for treating depression

Solvent12y

Methods for treating depression

I interpreted that bit as "If you're the kind of person who is able to do this kind of thing, then self-administered CBT is a great idea."

Replying toRationalists Are Less Credulous But Better At Taking Ideas Seriously

Solvent12y

Rationalists Are Less Credulous But Better At Taking Ideas Seriously

Of the people who graduated more than 6 months ago and looked for jobs (as opposed to going to university or something), all have jobs.

About 5% of people drop out of the program.

Replying toRationalists Are Less Credulous But Better At Taking Ideas Seriously

Solvent12y

Rationalists Are Less Credulous But Better At Taking Ideas Seriously

It will probably be fine. See here.

Meetup : Inaugural Canberra meetup

Solvent

12y

Discussion article for the meetup : Inaugural Canberra meetup

WHEN: 12 February 2014 07:30:00PM (-0800)

WHERE: CSIT Building, Acton ACT 2601, Australia

(I'm posting this on behalf of my lurker friend.)

WHEN: 12 February 2014 07:30:00PM(+1100) WHERE: CSIT Building, Blg 108, North Road, ANU

This will be the first meetup in Canberra! We will get to know each other and play board games, joining the weekly board games night held by the ANU Computer Science Students' Association. Vegan-friendly snacks and board games will be provided (although if anyone has board games, it would be great if you could bring your own). I will be waiting at the main door of the building from 7:20 to 7:40 to show people to the room where we will be meeting.

Discussion article for the meetup : Inaugural Canberra meetup

Replying toRationalists Are Less Credulous But Better At Taking Ideas Seriously

Solvent12y

Rationalists Are Less Credulous But Better At Taking Ideas Seriously

You make a good point. But none of the people I've discussed this with who didn't want to do App Academy cite those reasons.

Wes Weimer from Udacity presents his list of things you should learn

Solvent

14y

I've just gotten to the end of Udacity's CS262 course in programming languages. It's been pretty good. Wes Weimer, the lecturer, seems to be a really cool guy. There's a quote from HPMOR in the final exam, which I thought was pretty cool.

In the last part of the last lecture, Weimer gives advice on what we should learn next. You can watch it here.

He advises that you learn the following (paraphrased):

Philosophy until you've covered epistemology, formal logic, free will, the philosophy of science, and what it's like to be a bat.
Cognitive psychology until you've covered perception, consciousness, and the Flynn effect.
Speech or rhetoric until you've covered persuasion.
Anthropology and gender studies, to

Solvent

14y

At a startup camp weekend, I've made this (incredibly sketchy, amateurish) app (NSFW) which implements classical conditioning to create a negative response to candy, smoking, or meat.

After using it intensively for about a day while writing it, I certainly feel disgusted at the sight of candy or chocolate. There's a little bit of evidence that something like this could actually have an effect on people: I'm reminded of the penny jar fetish experiment and this chapter on "curing" homosexuality.

I post this here for two reasons: to get advice on how to improve the app, and to get your opinions on whether this type of program might actually be useful. I'm reminded a... (read more)

Does anyone know any kid geniuses?

Solvent

14y

I'm friends with an incredibly smart kid. He's 14, but has been put up three grades in school at one point. He does all the obvious enrichment things which are available in the relatively small Australian city he lives in.

His life experience has been pretty unusual. He doesn't really know what it's like to be challenged in school. All his friends are way older than he is. (Once, I asked him how being constantly around people older than him made him feel. He replied, "Concerned for my future.")

He doesn't know anyone like him, which I think is a shame: he'd probably get along very well with them.

Does anyone know any similar kid geniuses? If so, can I give them my friend's details?

Thanks.

Anyone have any questions for David Chalmers?

Solvent

14y

I'm doing an undergraduate course on the Free Will Theorem, with three lecturers: a mathematician, a physicist, and David Chalmers as the philosopher. The course is a bit pointless, but the company is brilliant. Chalmers is a pretty smart guy. He studied computer science and math as an undergraduate, before "discovering that he could get paid for doing the kind of thinking he was doing for free already". He's friendly; I've been chatting with him after the classes.

So if anyone has any questions for him, if they seem interesting enough I could approach him with them.

Emails to him also work, of course, but discussion in person lets more understanding happen faster. For example, in a short discussion with him I understood his position on consciousness way better than I would have just from reading his papers on the topic.

My summary of Eliezer's position on free will

Solvent

14y

I'm participating in a university course on free will. On the online forum, someone asked me to summarise Eliezer's solution to the free will problem, and I did it like this. Is it accurate in this form? How should I change it?

“I'll try to summarise Yudkowsky's argument.

As Anneke pointed out, it's kinda difficult to decide what the concept of free will means. How would particles or humans behave differently if they had free will compared to if they didn't? It doesn't seem like our argument is about what we actually expect to see happening.

This is similar to arguing about whether a tree falling in a deserted forest makes any noise. If two... (read 324 more words →)

101

Hard philosophy problems to test people's intelligence?

Solvent

14y

I'm looking for hard philosophical questions to give to people to gauge their skill at philosophy.

So far, I've been presenting people with Newcomb's problem and the Sleeping Beauty problem. I've also been presenting them with contrarian opinions and asking them to evaluate them, and I have a higher opinion of them if they avoid just icking away from the subject.

What other problems should I use?

-3

The utility of information should almost never be negative

Solvent

14y

As humans, finding out facts that we would rather not be true is unpleasant. For example, I would dislike finding out that my girlfriend were cheating on me, or finding out that my parent had died, or that my bank account had been hacked and I had lost all my savings.

However, this is a consequence of the dodgily designed human brain. We don't operate with a utility function. Instead, we have separate neural circuitry for wanting and liking things, and behave according to those. If my girlfriend is cheating on me, I may want to know, but I wouldn't like knowing. In some cases, we'd rather not learn things: if I'm dying... (read 501 more words →)

ICONN 2012 nanotechnology conference in Perth

Solvent

14y

I won a prize and get to travel to Perth, Australia to attend the 2012 ICONN nanotechnology conference.

Is anyone else from LessWrong going to be there?

I don't actually know much about nanotechnology. Does anyone have any particular recommendations for some a good introduction?

Thanks.

LESSWRONG
LW

LESSWRONG
LW

LINK: In favor of niceness, community, and civilisation

My summary of Eliezer's position on free will

Anyone have any questions for David Chalmers?

Does anyone know any kid geniuses?

Solvent

LINK: In favor of niceness, community, and civilisation

Meetup : Inaugural Canberra meetup

Wes Weimer from Udacity presents his list of things you should learn

A simple web app to create aversion to unhealthy food

Does anyone know any kid geniuses?

Anyone have any questions for David Chalmers?

My summary of Eliezer's position on free will

Solvent

LINK: In favor of niceness, community, and civilisation

My summary of Eliezer's position on free will

Anyone have any questions for David Chalmers?

Does anyone know any kid geniuses?

Solvent

LINK: In favor of niceness, community, and civilisation

Meetup : Inaugural Canberra meetup

Wes Weimer from Udacity presents his list of things you should learn

A simple web app to create aversion to unhealthy food

Does anyone know any kid geniuses?

Anyone have any questions for David Chalmers?

My summary of Eliezer's position on free will

Discussion article for the meetup : Inaugural Canberra meetup

Discussion article for the meetup : Inaugural Canberra meetup