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MBlume comments on The ideas you're not ready to post - Less Wrong
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On the Care and Feeding of Rationalist Hardware
Many words have been spent here in improving rationalist software -- training patterns of thought which will help us to achieve truth, and reliably reach our goals.
Assuming we can still remember so far back, Eliezer once wrote:
Rationality does not require big impressive brains any more than the martial arts require big bulging muscles. Nonetheless, I think it would be rare indeed to see a master of the martial arts willfully neglecting the care of his body. Martial artists of the wisest schools strive to improve their bodies. They jog, or lift weights. They probably do not smoke, or eat unhealthily. They take care of their hardware so that the things they do will be as easy as possible.
So, what hacks exist which enable us to improve and secure the condition of our mental hardware? Some important areas that come to mind are:
I'd definitely want to read about a good brain-improving diet (I have no problems with weight, so I'd prefer not to mix these two issues).
I agree. LW doesn't have many posts about maintaining and improving the brain.
I would also add aerobic exercise to your list, and possibly drugs. For example, caffeine or modafinil can help improve concentration and motivation. Unfortunately they're habit-forming and have various health effects, so it's not a simple decision.
I've only had modafinil once (but it was amazing in the concentration-boosting department), but I have a lot of experience with caffeine, and the effects are primarily mood-affecting, for me. Large amounts of caffeine destroy concentration, offsetting any improvements, and, like other drugs, the effect grows weaker the longer you take it. On the plus side, caffeine is only weakly addicting, so you can just stop every now and then to reset things, which I do every few months.
While we are at it: * caffeine * meditation * music * mood * social interaction
Also, which hacks are available to better interface our mental hardware with the real world: * information presentation * automated information filtering
Piracetam and other "nootropics" are worth checking out.
Piracetam supposedly helps with memory and cognition by increasing blood flow to the brain or something... I got some to play around with and will let you guys know if anything interesting happens.
Thanks for the info.
I was planning on trying it without the choline first to see if it was really needed.
Any ideas on how to actually test performance?
Seth Roberts tracked the influence of omega-3 on brain function via arithmetic tests in R:
http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2009/01/05/tracking-how-well-my-brain-is-working/ http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/04/14/omega-3-and-arithmetic-continued/
It's a little hard to distinguish the benefit from practice and the benefit from omega-3, so ideally you'd alternate periods of supplement and no supplement.
Also, ideally you wouldn't know when you were getting omega-3 and when you were getting a placebo during the course of the experiment.
Increasing the level of fruit in my diet helped me maintain a positive mood for longer. I tried it when i was in alone for a while in a foreign country, so i'm not sure if it was a placebo affect.