Group Rationality Diary, December 16-31

therufs

This is the public group instrumental rationality diary for December 16-31.

It's a place to record and chat about it if you have done, or are actively doing, things like:

Established a useful new habit

Obtained new evidence that made you change your mind about some belief

Decided to behave in a different way in some set of situations

Optimized some part of a common routine or cached behavior

Consciously changed your emotions or affect with respect to something

Consciously pursued new valuable information about something that could make a big difference in your life

Learned something new about your beliefs, behavior, or life that surprised you

Tried doing any of the above and failed

Or anything else interesting which you want to share, so that other people can think about it, and perhaps be inspired to take action themselves. Try to include enough details so that everyone can use each other's experiences to learn about what tends to work out, and what doesn't tend to work out.

Thanks to cata for starting the Group Rationality Diary posts, and to commenters for participating.

Immediate past diary: December 1-15

Rationality diaries archive

This is the public group instrumental rationality diary for December 16-31.

It's a place to record and chat about it if you have done, or are actively doing, things like:

Established a useful new habit

Obtained new evidence that made you change your mind about some belief

Decided to behave in a different way in some set of situations

Optimized some part of a common routine or cached behavior

Consciously changed your emotions or affect with respect to something

Consciously pursued new valuable information about something that could make a big difference in your life

Learned something new about your beliefs, behavior, or life that surprised you

Tried doing any of the above and failed

Or anything else interesting which you want to share, so that other people can think about it, and perhaps be inspired to take action themselves. Try to include enough details so that everyone can use each other's experiences to learn about what tends to work out, and what doesn't tend to work out.

Thanks to cata for starting the Group Rationality Diary posts, and to commenters for participating.

Immediate past diary: December 1-15

Rationality diaries archive

I cut out most soda long ago, but one recent drink change I did manage - I like hot chocolate in winter, and I tend to like it syrupy, so it's not exactly health food. I tried making a glass of hot water on a cold day instead, as an experiment when I noticed it was an option on the coffee machine at work. Surprisingly, I liked it almost as much - it has the nice warming effect, and it tastes much nicer than lukewarm water. I suspect that'll save me a lot of calories over the average winter, plus it''ll let me consume way more hot drinks than I otherwise would on cold days.

I've noticed that at least for myself, things which are very warm/hot and things which are very cold (by the standards of food) taste better than lukewarm things, independent of flavor. I'm not sure whether this is a general principle, but suspect it is.