BT_Uytya comments on Making Rationality General-Interest - Less Wrong

30 Post author: Swimmer963 24 July 2013 10:02PM

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Comment author: Swimmer963 27 July 2013 12:41:48PM *  8 points [-]

No no no. Not at all. I was obviously less rational as a baby than I am now. But childhood neuroplasticity is a thing; it's easier to learn languages before age 10, and preferably before age 5. And kids have time. As a kid, when I did competitive swimming,I used to be in the pool >10 hours a week. Now, as an adult, I do taekwondo, and although there are 10 hours of class a week available, I only make 2-3.

I did learn some maladaptive thought patterns: i.e. my social anxiety spiral around "you just don't have enough natural talent to do X", and the kicker, "you aren't good enough." I know this is a pretty meaningless phrase, but it has emotional power because it's been around so long.

Comment author: BT_Uytya 27 July 2013 01:21:49PM 2 points [-]

On the other hand, you are probably have more raw intelligence now.

Comment author: Swimmer963 28 July 2013 07:35:21PM 0 points [-]

Yes. But I probably had close to my current raw intelligence at age 15-16, and I was definitely reading hard books at age 8-9.