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[this is my entry for the Hammertime Final Exam. I answered all three prompts but took much longer than five minutes writing each part.] 1. Accommodate Yourself (related: Society Is Fixed, Biology Is Mutable; Design; Radical Acceptance as acknowledgement of reality. this is one of the first & most valuable lessons I have gained from the rationalist community, though I don’t think I’ve seen it stated in quite these terms.) People often want to make themselves better - stronger, more hardworking, more able. We compare ourselves to ideals and we find ourselves lacking; we strive to improve ourselves to better fit the roles we want to play in the world. What if, instead of taking the world as given and striving to adapt ourselves to it, we took ourselves as given and looked for ways to adapt our world to us? Examples: * “I can’t get around much because my feet hurt - and even taking public transit is bad because I have to stand while I wait for the train - so I have to fix my feet or else I’m doomed” → “My feet hurt, so I’ll look for other ways to get around, like a bike or an electric scooter. When I take public transit, I’ll carry a light portable stool to make waiting for trains painless.” * “I have to stop picking at my nails! Argh, why can’t I do it!” → “Let me see if having a thing to fidget with removes this urge. Oh, it basically does! Good!” * “Argh why can’t I follow this conversation, everyone else seems to be able to do it” → “Hmm, it seems I can’t follow conversations well in loud spaces, let me make plans in quieter ones instead.” * “I should be more hardworking and not procrastinate so much!” → “Hmm, it seems I don’t have a lot of energy and my executive function is often not very good. Let me scale back my plans to match my energy levels, at least for now, and think about how I might make my work fit my brains and/or find an environment that’s easier for me to work in and/or find a different way to support myself and/or look into ADHD medicatio