polymathwannabe comments on Open Thread, Jun. 15 - Jun. 21, 2015 - Less Wrong

5 Post author: Gondolinian 15 June 2015 12:02AM

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Comment author: [deleted] 17 June 2015 05:06:22AM *  3 points [-]

Everything :) It is not a good answer if we are about inventing something very new, but my secret hope is reinvent something very old, something that really fits out biological natures but was lost during civilization, and thus solves a lot of problems at once, a lot of problems that all stem of not living in an ancestral env. So I am thinking about somethng as fun as soccer, as fit making as deadlifts, as proud making as boxing and as sexy feeling as tango. Because I am hoping when we are not having fun, are not being fun, being timid or not feeling it will turn out it all comes from not living an ancestral life yet that can be simulated.

I understand it is a bit unlikely, as evolution does not optimze for having made a perfect golden age. But there is a small chance humans did i.e. 100K years ago with similar brain sizes but far simpler env, far fewer variables, they figured ways to live happy, fit, sexy, proud etc.

I mean how else can soccer be so much fun or dancing so sexy etc. if they do not tap into something in the brain that is really old? I don't think they simply overstimulate circuits made for something else, maybe yes, but that is not the only option, the other option is that there were some ur-activities they all derive from.

So there is a hope that this is only a reinvention, hence the "everything".

Even if it not a reinvention, optimizing for "everything" can still be salvaged if we show most elements are synergistic.

Finally, it is about what they are optimizing for, not me. Hence the question what is trending.

Comment author: polymathwannabe 17 June 2015 12:09:26PM 2 points [-]

as fun as soccer, as fit making as deadlifts, as proud making as boxing and as sexy feeling as tango

... swimming? It never gets old.

Comment author: listic 19 June 2015 06:50:41PM 0 points [-]

Way better for me; tango and soccer are practically dead to me; swimming is fun.

OTOH if you optimize for fitness benefits, I am almost sure swimming is not optimal: e.g. cardio training and weight lifting should be better.

You should really figure out what you wish to optimize for. If you want to optimize for 'everything' you should be fine doing 'anything' that looks like it helps it.