This is the public group instrumental rationality diary for August 1-15.
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.
I made an anonymous feedback form, wee. Check it out here. So far I have one response, someone who deigned to inform me that I am a "poo-poo head". I ain't even mad.
new habit: Started a new coursera course, Interactive Computer Graphics. Amusingly enough, the course material itself doesn't seem very interactive. It's just throwing vaguely connected factoids out into the world. As I type this up, I begin to wonder if it's high enough EV to keep Calculus in the waiting list. Calculus is so tantalizingly useful in statistics and machine learning, it's driving me nuts that I can't derive any of the formulas I need from scratch. I am prone to making stupid mistakes; not recognizing the underlying math means I have even fewer chances to notice and correct them.
Added a whole bunch of tiny rewards to habitrpg for various projects. Literally all they are is "Brag about [project]", and they have a pretty small cost. Just a reminder to let myself revel in victories now again, try to capture that upward spiral.
VOI / Emotional responses: I went and murphy-proofed the Equinox ritual I'm throwing. Its theme is heroic responsibility, or more accurately the virtue of The Void. My aims are to have a strong mental/emotional memory of it 6-9 months later; inspire significant, non-depressive changes in behavior lasting 2+ months; and remain in friendly contact with participants 6 months later.
Toned down my VOI drawings and neurobio notes to a couple of times a week.
This is the public group instrumental rationality diary for August 1-15.
Thanks to cata for starting the Group Rationality Diary posts, and to commenters for participating.
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