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lukeprog comments on Some Morals from the Study of Human Irrationality [Link] - Less Wrong Discussion

2 Post author: XiXiDu 18 January 2011 03:56PM

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Comment author: lukeprog 19 January 2011 03:52:48PM 0 points [-]

Oh, lots.

Drescher's Good and Real presupposes most of what the Sequences explain, and applies Less Wrongian thinking to specific problems in physics and philosophy. The most overlap is probably between Drescher's and Eliezer's discussions of QM.

Sutherland's Irrationality is a pretty good survey of heuristics and biases, but that's only one of the main topics at LW.

I don't know what a third book of my choice would be, since I don't know what the criteria are, but I don't know of any book that covers the material in the Sequences that isn't covered by Good and Real and Irrationality.

Comment author: XiXiDu 19 January 2011 04:32:46PM *  0 points [-]

I'm an incredible slow reader with no formal education. I'm trying to figure out what I should learn and refine it as much as possible. I'd rather not read a book of marginal importance, otherwise I'll need a decade before I stumble upon the gist of the matter. I thought asking someone like you, someone who is reading the sequences and reviewing a lot of books, who would be able to point out if there is some redundancy here to spare. I think to remember Yudkowsky saying that Good and Real is basically LW in book form. That's why I asked. The third book I have been talking about would have been one that captures everything the mentioned ones miss about the sequences. If you would say that the sequences basically capture the content of a dozen books, or that there is a book that captures the content of the sequences, then I could either spare reading the books or vice versa.

I have the same problem with other fields. How long should I bother with certain fields of math, are some completely useless to me? That's hard to figure out. I'm an average person with no demanding job. What fields of knowledge would most help me to improve my life? What is the most effective way to digest that knowledge?

Comment author: [deleted] 02 June 2011 01:00:40AM *  1 point [-]
Comment author: lukeprog 19 January 2011 06:29:50PM 1 point [-]

The #1 book I would recommend in general might be the latest edition of Weiten's Psychology Applied to Modern Life, which is a summary of scientific self-help. But if you're a slow reader, I'm not sure what to recommend. I don't know of any podcasts or video series that cover the same material.

But no, I don't know of a book that basically captures the sequences. At least not until Eliezer publishes the two books he's working on.