Monthly Bragging Thread October 2015

2 Post author: elharo 03 October 2015 01:27PM

Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to comment on this thread explaining the most awesome thing you've done this month. You may be as blatantly proud of yourself as you feel. You may unabashedly consider yourself the coolest freaking person ever because of that awesome thing you're dying to tell everyone about. This is the place to do just that.

Remember, however, that this isn't any kind of progress thread. Nor is it any kind of proposal thread. This thread is solely for people to talk about the awesome things they have done. Not "will do". Not "are working on"Have already done. This is to cultivate an environment of object level productivity rather than meta-productivity methods.

So, what's the coolest thing you've done this month?

(Previous bragging thread)

Comments (13)

Comment author: Jacobian 03 October 2015 04:50:33PM *  13 points [-]

Presented at BAH Fest in front of more than 1,000 people at MIT, poked fun at Max Tegmark on stage (for which he gave me his signed book), went drinking with Zach Weinersmith and the other awesome contestants, drank enough beer to numb the pain of actually coming in 2nd.

Comment author: Gunnar_Zarncke 07 October 2015 06:04:37PM 0 points [-]

I don't get what this is about from the website - and I don't watch Youtube. Can anybody explain/link?

Comment author: Jacobian 08 October 2015 02:07:15PM 5 points [-]

It started with this comic and proceeded to happen exactly as it does in the comic.

In detail: people come up with evolutionary theories to explain human or animal characteristics. The theories have to be well supported and also 100% wrong (but mostly they have to be funny). My theory was that sleepwalking is an adaptation to get you in good shape, and it started off with Homo Erectus jogging after antelopes for days in persistence hunting. Like most modern jobs, persistence hunting doesn't require you to be actually awake.

From an LWian point of view, it's a master class on confirmation bias - it's frighteningly easy to find supportive evidence for the dumbest hypotheses in every chart or citation. For example, sleepwalking is comorbid with depression and sleep apnea, both of which can be alleviated by regular exercise. QED. Also, Google NGram prevalences of "sleepwalking" and "overweight" have 0.97 correlation. Coincidence? I think not!

Comment author: CellBioGuy 04 October 2015 07:17:56PM 8 points [-]

Got a new collaborator on my PhD project at another university; my biological system is uniquely well-suited for helping them untangle a new previously unknown method of genetic regulation.

Comment author: Kaj_Sotala 07 October 2015 06:59:38PM 2 points [-]

my biological system is uniquely well-suited for helping them untangle a new previously unknown method of genetic regulation.

I know that's not what you meant, but this sentence makes it sound like you'll be experimenting on your own body. :)

Comment author: CellBioGuy 10 October 2015 12:57:20AM 4 points [-]

As amusing as rhythmically injecting me with alcohol and measuring its effect on my rate of reproduction would be, I think I'll pass.

Comment author: cameroncowan 06 October 2015 08:07:58PM 1 point [-]

I took more leisure time away from the big business of The Cameron Cowan Show.

Comment author: Elo 07 October 2015 03:33:43AM 3 points [-]
Comment author: Kaj_Sotala 07 October 2015 02:35:18PM 7 points [-]

Finally sent my supervisor a finished version of my MSc thesis, which I started working on, roughly, in the summer of 2013. (Well, finished version until he comes back with a 10-page list of changes he'd like me to make, but still.)

Comment author: moridinamael 07 October 2015 05:59:03PM 3 points [-]

Published the third podcast in our book/movie/etc review/discussion show. It's a really fun project.

Comment author: Calliope_Areyon 08 October 2015 08:59:55PM 4 points [-]

Um . . . aside from making an account on this site? Joking! I wrote four new chapters on a story I'm working on; finished the entire Children of the Bard series; aced my English, math, history, and science tests; and convinced my friend of the reality of flaws in everyone's reasoning process. Oya!

Comment author: Gleb_Tsipursky 18 October 2015 01:20:31AM 3 points [-]

Just published an article in the The Huffington Post​ about using rationality-informed strategies to manage my mental illness. Hope this helps people think more rationally about this topic.

Comment author: Clarity 24 October 2015 05:46:32AM *  1 point [-]
  • Realised that reason, the root concept for rationality, isn't just about interpersonal communication, but intrapersonal intratemporal communication so I have a vested interest to write higher quality posts.

  • Heard about the spotlight effect

  • Decided which smartwatch I want to buy. Now I just need to figure out if I can use it with a wireless headset or whatever!, and buy them both to replace my smartphone and the burden it imposes on my pockets!

Google's gonna make their smartwatch independent of a mobile phone. Can't wait to get one! Gmail on my wrist, I'll discard my phone! Woo! Hope it's modular enough that I don't have to keep all their crappy apps like I do on my iphone at the moment. On the other hand the Huaewi watch is very discreet, classic and also untethered. I read a reported in a room full of all the smart watch prototypes at a Google office couldn't keep his hands off that Chinese gadget. On the other hand, can't match the support from a Google watch, I anticipate. Apparently they're