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[Link] Wikipedia book based on betterhumans' article on cognitive biases

1 MathieuRoy 14 October 2016 01:03AM

A collection of Stubs.

-6 Elo 06 September 2016 07:24AM

In light of SDR's comment yesterday, instead of writing a new post today I compiled my list of ideas I wanted to write about, partly to lay them out there and see if any stood out as better than the rest, and partly so that maybe they would be a little more out in the wild than if I hold them until I get around to them.  I realise there is not a thesis in this post, but I figured it would be better to write one of these than to write each in it's own post with the potential to be good or bad.

Original post: http://bearlamp.com.au/many-draft-concepts/

I create ideas at about the rate of 3 a day, without trying to.  I write at about a rate of 1.5 a day.  Which leaves me always behind.  Even if I write about the best ideas I can think of, some good ones might never be covered.  This is an effort to draft out a good stack of them so that maybe it can help me not have to write them all out, by better defining which ones are the good ones and which ones are a bit more useless.

With that in mind, in no particular order - a list of unwritten posts:


From my old table of contents

Goals of your lesswrong group – As a guided/workthrough exercise in deciding why the group exists and what it should do.  Help people work out what they want out of it (do people know)? setting goals, doing something particularly interesting or routine, having fun, changing your mind, being activists in the world around you.  Whatever the reasons you care about, work them out and move towards them.  Nothing particularly groundbreaking in the process here.  Sit down with the group with pens and paper, maybe run a resolve cycle, maybe talk about ideas and settle on a few, then decide how to carry them out.  Relevant links: Sydney meetup,  group resources (estimate 2hrs to write)

Goals interrogation + Goal levels – Goal interrogation is about asking <is this thing I want to do actually a goal of mine> and <is my current plan the best way to achieve that>, goal levels are something out of Sydney Lesswrong that help you have mutual long term goals and supporting short term goal.  There are 3 main levels, Dream, Year, Daily (or approximate) you want dream goals like going to the moon, you want yearly goals like getting another year further in your degree and you want daily goals like studying today that contribute to the upper level goals.  Any time you are feeling lost you can look at the guide you set out for yourself and use it to direct you. (3hrs)

How to human – A zero to human guide. A guide for basic functionality of a humanoid system. Something of a conglomeration of maslow, mental health, so you feel like shit and system thinking.  Am I conscious?Am I breathing? Am I bleeding or injured (major or minor)? Am I falling or otherwise in danger and about to cause the earlier questions to return false?  Do I know where I am?  Am I safe?  Do I need to relieve myself (or other bodily functions, i.e. itchy)?  Have I had enough water? sleep? food?  Is my mind altered (alcohol or other drugs)?  Am I stuck with sensory input I can't control (noise, smells, things touching me)?  Am I too hot or too cold?  Is my environment too hot or too cold?  Or unstable?  Am I with people or alone? Is this okay?  Am I clean (showered, teeth, other personal cleaning rituals)?  Have I had some sunlight and fresh air in the past few days?  Have I had too much sunlight or wind in the past few days?  Do I feel stressed?  Okay?  Happy?  Worried?  Suspicious?  Scared? Was I doing something?  What am I doing?  do I want to be doing something else?  Am I being watched (is that okay?)?  Have I interacted with humans in the past 24 hours?  Have I had alone time in the past 24 hours?  Do I have any existing conditions I can run a check on - i.e. depression?  Are my valuables secure?  Are the people I care about safe?  (4hrs)

List of common strategies for getting shit done – things like scheduling/allocating time, pomodoros, committing to things externally, complice, beeminder, other trackers. (4hrs)

List of superpowers and kryptonites – when asking the question “what are my superpowers?” and “what are my kryptonites?”. Knowledge is power; working with your powers and working out how to avoid your kryptonites is a method to improve yourself.  What are you really good at, and what do you absolutely suck at and would be better delegating to other people.  The more you know about yourself, the more you can do the right thing by your powers or weaknesses and save yourself troubles.

List of effective behaviours – small life-improving habits that add together to make awesomeness from nothing. And how to pick them up.  Short list: toothbrush in the shower, scales in front of the  fridge, healthy food in the most accessible position in the fridge, make the unhealthy stuff a little more inacessible, keep some clocks fast - i.e. the clock in your car (so you get there early),  prepare for expected barriers ahead of time (i.e. packing the gym bag and leaving it at the door), and more.

Stress prevention checklist – feeling off? You want to have already outsourced the hard work for “things I should check on about myself” to your past self. Make it easier for future you. Especially in the times that you might be vulnerable.  Generate a list of things that you want to check are working correctly.  i.e. did I drink today?  Did I do my regular exercise?  Did I take my medication?  Have I run late today?  Do I have my work under control?

Make it easier for future you. Especially in the times that you might be vulnerable. – as its own post in curtailing bad habits that you can expect to happen when you are compromised.  inspired by candy-bar moments and turning them into carrot-moments or other more productive things.  This applies beyond diet, and might involve turning TV-hour into book-hour (for other tasks you want to do instead of tasks you automatically do)

A p=np approach to learning – Sometimes you have to learn things the long way; but sometimes there is a short cut. Where you could say, “I wish someone had just taken me on the easy path early on”. It’s not a perfect idea; but start looking for the shortcuts where you might be saying “I wish someone had told me sooner”. Of course the answer is, “but I probably wouldn’t have listened anyway” which is something that can be worked on as well. (2hrs)

Rationalists guide to dating – Attraction. Relationships. Doing things with a known preference. Don’t like unintelligent people? Don’t try to date them. Think first; then act - and iteratively experiment; an exercise in thinking hard about things before trying trial-and-error on the world. Think about places where you might meet the kinds of people you want to meet, then use strategies that go there instead of strategies that flop in the general direction of progress.  (half written)

Training inherent powers (weights, temperatures, smells, estimation powers) – practice makes perfect right? Imagine if you knew the temperature always, the weight of things by lifting them, the composition of foods by tasting them, the distance between things without measuring. How can we train these, how can we improve.  Probably not inherently useful to life, but fun to train your system 1! (2hrs)

Strike to the heart of the question. The strongest one; not the one you want to defeat – Steelman not Strawman. Don’t ask “how do I win at the question”; ask, “am I giving the best answer to the best question I can give”.  More poetic than anything else - this post would enumerate the feelings of victory and what not to feel victorious about, as well as trying to feel what it's like to be on the other side of the discussion to yourself, frustratingly trying to get a point across while a point is being flung at yourself. (2hrs)

How to approach a new problem – similar to the “How to solve X” post.  But considerations for working backwards from a wicked problem, as well as trying “The least bad solution I know of”, Murphy-jitsu, and known solutions to similar problems.  Step 0. I notice I am approaching a problem.

Turning Stimming into a flourish – For autists, to make a presentability out of a flaw.

How to manage time – estimating the length of future tasks (and more), covered in notch system, and do tasks in a different order.  But presented on it's own.

Spices – Adventures in sensory experience land.  I ran an event of spice-smelling/guessing for a group of 30 people.  I wrote several documents in the process about spices and how to run the event.  I want to publish these.  As an exercise - it's a fun game of guess-the-spice.

Wing it VS Plan – All of the what, why, who, and what you should do of the two.  Some people seem to be the kind of person who is always just winging it.  In contrast, some people make ridiculously complicated plans that work.  Most of us are probably somewhere in the middle.  I suggest that the more of a planner you can be the better because you can always fall back on winging it, and you probably will.  But if you don't have a plan and are already winging it - you can't fall back on the other option.  This concept came to me while playing ingress, which encourages you to plan your actions before you make them.

On-stage bias – The changes we make when we go onto a stage include extra makeup to adjust for the bright lights, and speaking louder to adjust for the audience which is far away. When we consider the rest of our lives, maybe we want to appear specifically X (i.e, confident, friendly) so we should change ourselves to suit the natural skews in how we present based on the "stage" we are appearing on.  appear as the person you want to appear as, not the person you naturally appear as.

Creating a workspace – considerations when thinking about a “place” of work, including desk, screen, surrounding distractions, and basically any factors that come into it.  Similar to how the very long list of sleep maintenance suggestions covers environmental factors in your sleep environment but for a workspace.


Posts added to the list since then

Doing a cost|benefit analysis - This is something we rely on when enumerating the options and choices ahead of us, but something I have never explicitly looked into.  Some costs that can get overlooked include: Time, Money, Energy, Emotions, Space, Clutter, Distraction/Attention, Memory, Side effects, and probably more.  I'd like to see a How to X guide for CBA. (wikipedia)

Extinction learning at home - A cross between intermittent reward (the worst kind of addiction), and what we know about extinguishing it.  Then applying that to "convincing" yourself to extinguish bad habits by experiential learning.  Uses the CFAR internal Double Crux technique, precommit yourself to a challenge, for example - "If I scroll through 20 facebook posts in a row and they are all not worth my time, I will be convinced that I should spend less time on facebook because it's not worth my time"  Adjust 20 to whatever position your double crux believes to be true, then run a test and iterate.  You have to genuinely agree with the premise before running the test.  This can work for a number of committed habits which you want to extinguish.  (new idea as at the writing of this post)

How to write a dating ad - A suggestion to include information that is easy to ask questions about (this is hard).  For example; don't write, "I like camping", write "I like hiking overnight with my dog", giving away details in a way that makes them worth inquiring about.  The same reason applies to why writing "I'm a great guy" is really not going to get people to believe you, as opposed to demonstrating the claim. (show, don't tell)

How to give yourself aversions - an investigation into aversive actions and potentially how to avoid collecting them when you have a better understanding of how they happen.  (I have not done the research and will need to do that before publishing the post)

How to give someone else an aversion - similar to above, we know we can work differently to other people, and at the intersection of that is a misunderstanding that can leave people uncomfortable.

Lists - Creating lists is a great thing, currently in draft - some considerations about what lists are, what they do, what they are used for, what they can be used for, where they come in handy, and the suggestion that you should use lists more. (also some digital list-keeping solutions)

Choice to remember the details - this stems from choosing to remember names, a point in the conversation where people sometimes tune out.  As a mindfulness concept you can choose to remember the details. (short article, not exactly sure why I wanted to write about this)

What is a problem - On the path of problem solving, understanding what a problem is will help you to understand how to attack it.  Nothing more complicated than this picture to explain it.  The barrier is a problem.  This doesn't seem important on it's own but as a foundation for thinking about problems it's good to have  sitting around somewhere.

whatisaproblem

How to/not attend a meetup - for anyone who has never been to a meetup, and anyone who wants the good tips on etiquette for being the new guy in a room of friends.  First meetup: shut up and listen, try not to be too much of an impact on the existing meetup group or you might misunderstand the culture.

Noticing the world, Repercussions and taking advantage of them - There are regularly world events that I notice.  Things like the olympics, Pokemon go coming out, the (recent) spaceX rocket failure.  I try to notice when big events happen and try to think about how to take advantage of the event or the repercussions caused by that event.  Motivated to think not only about all the olympians (and the fuss leading up to the olympics), but all the people at home who signed up to a gym because of the publicity of the competitive sport.  If only I could get in on the profit of gym signups...

leastgood but only solution I know of - So you know of a solution, but it's rubbish.  Or probably is.  Also you have no better solutions.  Treat this solution as the best solution you have (because it is) and start implementing it, as you do that - keep looking for other solutions.  But at least you have a solution to work with!

Self-management thoughts - When you ask yourself, "am I making progress?", "do I want to be in this conversation?" and other self management thoughts.  And an investigation into them - it's a CFAR technique but their writing on the topic is brief.  (needs research)

instrumental supply-hoarding behaviour - A discussion about the benefits of hoarding supplies for future use.  Covering also - what supplies are not a good idea to store, and what supplies are.  Maybe this will be useful for people who store things for later days, and hopefully help to consolidate and add some purposefulness to their process.

list of sub groups that I have tried - Before running my local lesswrong group I partook in a great deal of other groups.  This was meant as a list with comments on each group.

If you have nothing to do – make better tools for use when real work comes along - This was probably going to be a poetic style motivation post about exactly what the title suggests.  Be Prepared.

what other people are good at (as support) - When reaching out for support, some people will be good at things that other people are not.  For example - emotional support, time to spend on each other, ideas for solving your problems.  Different people might be better or worse than others.  Thinking about this can make your strategies towards solving your problems a bit easier to manage.  Knowing what works and what does not work, or what you can reliably expect when you reach out for support from some people - is going to supercharge your fulfilment of those needs.

Focusing - An already written guide to Eugine Gendlin's focusing technique.  That needs polishing before publishing.  The short form: treat your system 1 as a very powerful machine that understands your problems and their solutions more than you do; use your system 2 to ask it questions and see what it returns.

Rewrite: how to become a 1000 year old vampire - I got as far as breaking down this post and got stuck at draft form before rewriting.  Might take another stab at it soon.

Should you tell people your goals? This thread in a post.  In summary: It depends on the environment, the wrong environment is actually demotivational, the right environment is extra motivational.


Meta: this took around 4 hours to write up.  Which is ridiculously longer than usual.  I noticed a substantial number of breaks being taken - not sure if that relates to the difficulty of creating so many summaries or just me today.  Still.  This experiment might help my future writing focus/direction so I figured I would try it out.  If you see an idea of particularly high value I will be happy to try to cover it in more detail.

List of techniques to help you remember names

8 Elo 11 December 2015 12:41AM

Name are very important. Everyone has one; everyone likes to know when you know their name. Everyone knows them to be a part of social interaction. You can't avoid names (well you can, but it gets tricky). In becoming more awesome at names, here is a bunch of suggestions that can help you.

 

The following is an incomplete list of some reasonably good techniques to help you remember names.  Good luck and put them to good use.


0. Everyone can learn to remember names

in a growth mindset sense, stop thinking you can’t.  Stop saying that, everyone is bad at it.  Your 0’th task is to actually try harder than that, if you can’t do that - stop reading.  Face blindness does exist but most of these will help with that.

 

1. Decide that names are important. 

If you don't think they are important then change your mind. They are. Everyone says they are, everyone responds to their name. It’s a fact of life that being able to be communicated with directly by name will be useful.

 

2. Make sure you hear the name clearly the first time, and repeat it till you have it. 

I tend to shake people's hands, then not let go until they tell me their name, and share them mine clearly (sometimes twice).  

 

3. Repeat their name*

Part of 2, but also – if you repeat it (at least once) you have a higher chance of remembering it. Look them in the eye and say their name. "Nice to meet you Bob". Suddenly your brain got a good picture of their face as well as a good cue as to their name.  If you want to supercharge this particular part; “Nice to meet you bob with the hat”, “susan with the glasses”, “john in the dress” works great!

*Repeating a name also has the effect of someone correcting you if you have it wrong.  And if you are in a group - allowing other people to learn or remember a name more easily.

 

4. Associating that name.

Does that name have a meaning as another thing? Mark, Ivy, Jack.

Does that name rhyme with something? Or sound like something? Victoria, IsaBelle, Dusty, Bill, Norris, Jarrod (Jar + Rod), Leopold.

Does someone you already know have that name? Can you make a mental link between this person and the person who's name you already remember. Worst case about being able to remember their name, "oh I have a cousin also called Alexa"-type statements are harmless.

Is the name famous? Luke, Albert, Jesus, Bill, Simba, Bruce, Clark, Edward, Victoria. Any thing that you can connect to this person to hold their name.

 

5. Write it down

Do you have a spare piece of paper? Can you write it down?  I literally carry a notebook and write names down as I hear them.  Usually people compliment me on it if they ever find out.

 

6. Running a script about it

There are naturally lulls in your conversation.  You don’t speak like a wall of text, or if you do you could probably learn to do this over the top. If you take a moment during one of those lulls, while someone else is talking - to look around and take note of if you have forgotten someone's name, do so at 1minute, 5minutes, 10minutes (or where necessary).  Just recite each person’s name in your head.

 

7. The first letter.

There are 26 English letters. If you can't remember – try to remember the first letter. If you get it and it doesn't jog your memory, try use the statement, "your name started with J right?"

 

8. Facebook, LinkedIn, Anki

Use the resources available to you. Check Facebook if you forget! Similarly if people are wearing nametags; test yourself (think – her name is Mary – then check) if you don't remember at all then certainly check. Build an anki deck - I am yet to see a script to make an anki deck from a Facebook friends list but this would be an excellent feature. 

 

9. put that name somewhere.  

It seems to help some people to give the name a box to go in.  “This name goes with the rest of the names of people I am related to”, “this name goes with the box of the rest of my tennis club”, By allocating boxes you can bring back names via the box of names.  (works for some people)

 

10. Mnemonics

I never bothered because with the above list; I don’t need this yet.  Apparently they work excellently. It’s about creating a sensory object in your head that reminds you of the thing you are after, i.e. a person named Rose – imagine a rose on top of her head, that was bright red, and smelt like a rose. Use all senses and make something vivid. You want to remember? Make it vivid and ridiculous.  Yes this works; And yes it’s more effort.  Names are really valuable and worth remembering.


Disclaimer: All of these things work for some of the people some of the time.  You should try the ones you think will work; if they do - excellent, if they don’t - oh well.  keep trying.

Also see: http://lesswrong.com/lw/gx5/boring_advice_repository/8ywe

and this video on name skill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1_o4oZCEmM

Note: This is also recommended from the book "how to win friends and influence people"


Meta: I wrote this post for a dojo in the Sydney Lesswrong group on the name remembering skills following a lightning talk that I gave in the Melbourne Lesswrong group on the same ideas.

time: 3hrs to write.

To see my other posts - check out my Table of contents

Any suggestions, recommendations or updates please advise below.

A very long list of sleep maintenance suggestions

10 Elo 15 October 2015 03:29AM

Leading up to this year's Australia megameetup, in the interest of improving people's lives in the most valuable way possible, I was hoping to include a session on sleep, sleep quality and sleep maintenance.  With that in mind I put together A very long list of sleep maintenance suggestions.

Some of the most important take-aways: 

  1. Do you think you get {good sleep/enough sleep}?  
    - If no then fix it.  This single thing will improve your life drastically.  (also don't lie to yourself about this, research shows that people who are sleep deprived are bad at predicting how sleep deprived they are, if you are unsure; probably err on the side of caution.  As a measure - if you turned off your alarms - would you be able to get out of bed at the same time every day?)
  2. "I do this weird thing with my sleep but it works well for me, is that a problem?"
    - not really.  if it works - keep doing it.  if it works most of the time but falls apart every Monday, then maybe its time to consider a different plan.
  3. Uberman, and other polyphasic sleep cycles?
    - depends if it works for you.  Don't force yourself to do it if it, don't expect it to work for you.  Feel free to try it; lifestyle is also relevant in considering this sleep implementation, (if you have a 9-5 job you certainly can't make it work, if you have a flexible life then maybe)
Also living a healthy lifestyle will make a big difference.

Some good highlights from the list:
  • limit caffeine, especially to earlier in the day
  • avoid using alcohol as a nightcap - it disrupts sleep maintenance
  • Avoid heavy meals and heavy exercise within 3 hours of bedtime
  • use bedroom for sleep and sex only
  • have sleep in your schedule (go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends)
  • decrease brightness of home lighting ~1-2 hours before bed
  • avoid electronics ~1-2 hours before bed
  • reduce light and noise (via earplugs / white noise) in bedroom as much as possible while sleeping
  • If you tend to sleep in a lot if you don't set an alarm, you are not getting enough sleep on average - go to bed earlier, consistently.
  • If your alarm keeps going off in the middle of REM sleep, move your bedtime about 45 minutes in either direction - REM sleep occurrs in 1.5 hour increments.
  • Use melatonin.
  • avoid smoking.

The list is best formatted here: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PbjxWSy77JoaEKj_TEuH025EoIYZBqhjK-yApomJ6go/edit#gid=0

But is also included below for convenience.


 

A very long list of sleep improving suggestions: -2 to 2      
Area of interest: Evidence Rating   Explanation by Adam K Comments by others
Everyday life        
eat healthy 1   Being overweight reduces sleep quality and risk of sleep disorder  
reduce sugar and refine carb intake ?     These contribute to daytime sleepyness which may result in overnapping - Kat
be a healthy body weight 2   BMI over 30 puts you at risk of sleep apnea, if anything above Normal BMI w/ sleep apnea, losing weight may help reduce apnea symptoms being overweight can contribute to sleep apnea - Kat
limit caffeine (in chocolate or decaf too) 2   Caffeine response differs significantly in people Limiting caffeine to earlier in the day may also be of some use - Kat
quit smoking (stimulant and breathing) 2   Less deep sleep, less total sleep, and longer sleep latency  
exercise daily (not around your sleep time by at least 2-4 hours) 2   Increased deep sleep, less sleep interruptions Even a small amount helps - start with 10 minutes of cardio and work your way up if you have to - Kat
reduce anxiety and stress 2   Anxiety increases sleep latency and sleep interruptions  
limit irregular work shifts 2   Circadian rhythmicity important for all parts of health  
avoid long commutes 1   Rising too early can miss REM, and less total sleep, some confounding factors to consider  
Be physically healthy 2   Diseases generally lead to sleep disorder, e.g. diabetes, cancer, etc  
Get enough sunlight 2   Light is most important zeitgeiber for circadian rhythmicity  
         
Analysing your sleep setup        
use your bed for sleep and sex only 1   Bed restriction in *older adults* I don't really know, but older adults who dawdle in bed tend to get better sleep quality if they restrict bed times to reasonable sleep times
sleep in darkness – the more the better; including all LEDs 2   Light is most important zeitgeiber for circadian rhythmicity  
Cool room temperature of sleep 15-25c 0   15 may be too cold for people with poor core body temperature control but good for younger healthier more active people. 25 probably too warm for everyone. In-bed, or rectal measurement are more accurate measures, too complicated for normal people to do
check if you are using comfortable pillows 0   highly subjective, no guarantees, only moderate, weak or no associations with sleep quality and wakings I guess room temperature is only important if it is to cool down, because if it's too cold you can always pile more blankets on until you are comfortable. Recommended room temperature would be 17-22C then
body pillow, neck pillow, arm pillow, to permit a better body position while asleep 0   highly subjective, no guarantees, only moderate, weak or no associations with sleep quality and wakings  
check if your bed is comfortable 0   highly subjective, no guarantees, only moderate, weak or no associations with sleep quality and wakings  
evaluate sleep location in bedroom - too close to window, door, other noise / light? 0   highly subjective, no guarantees, only moderate, weak or no associations with sleep quality and wakings  
Evaluate sleep distractions in the room 1   distractions, by definition, increase sleep latency  
mattress life expectancy check (around 10 years) 0   highly subjective, no guarantees, only moderate, weak or no associations with sleep quality and wakings  
pillow life expectancy check (around 2-4 years) 0   highly subjective, no guarantees, only moderate, weak or no associations with sleep quality and wakings  
allergens in the bedroom 2   definitely affects sleep quality Easiest thing to do is buy dust-mite-proof pillow and mattress covers. Wash bedding weekly in hot water and a little bleach (kills mold). Vacuum regularly. Keep windows closed during known allergy seasons. If you have bad allergy symptoms, get tested and get immunotherapy shots if you can afford it. - Kat
limit pets in bed 1   Sharing bed space with anything decreases sleep quality, including sleeping with partners  
limit children in bed 1   Sharing bed space with anything decreases sleep quality, including sleeping with partners  
make sure there is enough room for those in the bed 1   Sharing bed space with anything decreases sleep quality, including sleeping with partners and enough sheets and blankets for each - consider separate sheet/blanket for each side of the bed if your sleep partner tugs on the sheets and wakes you - Kat
bedside notepad for anything you might want to write down - if something is keeping you up; you can use this to record things and effectively put them out of your mind so that you can go to sleep. ??   is this a distraction?  
Understand approximate sleep hours needed (7-9 in most adults, different summer-winter) 2   Most people underestimate how much they need physiological 'need' for sleep doesn't decrease with age, only 'feel' for need for sleep does
certain smells can help, certain smells can hinder. 0   highly subjective, no guarantees, only moderate, weak or no associations with sleep quality and wakings  
Have sleep in your schedule 2   Regular bed time important for circadian rhythmicity  
have a sleep schedule that includes sleep on the weekends (no skipping the weekends) 2   Sleeping in on the weekend can be very good for people who undersleep during the weekdays, but it's not as good as regular sleep of course ok
Turn your clock so you can't see it while the lights are out / don't check time on your phone 2   If you have a clock, make sure clocks are either dimmed or red LED  
what is your bed and blankets made out of? Are these the best materials for you for this bed? 0   highly subjective, no guarantees, only moderate, weak or no associations with sleep quality and wakings  
don't have a TV in the bedroom 2   Emits light, is a distraction, etc  
Don't have a computer, tablet, or phone in the bedroom 2   Emits light, is a distraction, etc even worse than TV  
calming bedroom colour ( need source) 0   Unless referring to red light or candle light use at night, not sure what it's referring to I suspect this is relating to the 'look' of the bedroom in general, and how you fee when you walk into it. I.e., if you hate mustard yellow, re-paint your room if the walls are mustard yellow - Kat
         
On the way to sleep        
         
Pre-Bed food     extreme diets (VHC or VLC) can ruin sleep quality, and carbohydrates for dinner can reduce sleep latency  
go to bed neither hungry nor stuffed (food) 1   highly subjective, but true  
don't eat meals too close to sleep 2   either digestion slows, or sleep is disrupted, one or the other (subjective)  
small evening meals 0   highly subjective, no guarantees, only moderate, weak or no associations with sleep quality and wakings  
limit late night alcohol 2   alcohol reduces quality of deep sleep it only reduces sleep quality if it is in your system while you sleep, so you could drink in the afternoon and have it leave your system by the time you sleep and you'd be fine.
limit late night liquid 0   usually true one thing to note is marijuana, which is commonly consumed, also affects sleep quality, but far less is known about its effects, it seems it is variable
avoid sugar heavy foods -1   carbs will reduce sleep latency, though I don't recommend sugar for general good health  
avoid spicy or greasy meals before bed (or other food you know does not agree with you) 1   high fat meals correlated with poor sleep measure  
tryptophan snack – if you are hungry try a light snack before bed -2   evidence for this actually working is non-existent, a well perpetuated myth Common suggestions included warm milk, a banana, cheese on crackers, cereal and milk, also turkey - combine carbohydrates and either calcium or a protein that contains the amino acid tryptophan to boost seratonin for calmness.
         
Things that aren't food        
Have set a regular bedtime 2   Circadian Rhythmicity important  
have a bedtime routine or ritual which includes relaxation 1   highly subjective, but I guess true  
decrease brightness of home lighting ~1-2 hours before bed 2      
eliminate blue-spectrum home and screen lighting ~1-2 hours before bed 2   blue light increase heart rate, and wake inducing catacholamines and brain activity, reduces sleep quality Avoid fluorescent tube lights, compact fluorescent or LED bulbs labeled daylight, cool white, or bright white (instead, use sub-3500K color temps, sometimes called warm white or soft white), and screens without a red-shift application running - Kat
avoid electronics before bed 2   game-like activity increase heart rate, and wake inducing catacholamines and brain activity, reduces sleep quality  
keep noise down while heading to bed 0   highly subjective, but may be valuable despite no 'evidence'  
organise for tomorrow so you can stop thinking about it 0   highly subjective, but may be valuable despite no 'evidence' At its simplist, make a todo list for tomorrow. If there's a lot on your mind, try a full-on 'brain dump' on a very large sheet of paper, several hours before bed: write down everything you think is important for the next month or so. Use that to inform your todo lists.
Bedtime media; book; audiobook; calming music (soft), 0   highly subjective, but may be valuable despite no 'evidence' I guess it's up to the person
stretch (debatable) 0   more likely to be because of exercise  
wind down an hour before bed 1   exercise too close to sleep increases heart rate, increases sleep latency  
take a warm bath/shower 1   only if you need to lower your core body temperature (see temperature advice above)  
before bed – write down what is on your mind and resolve to leave it for tomorrow 0   highly subjective, but may be valuable despite no 'evidence'  
read before bed by soft light 0   highly subjective, but may be valuable despite no 'evidence'  
don't have a nightcap (alcohol) 2   alcohol reduces quality of deep sleep  
neutral neck position in bed and before bed. 0   mostly supported by alternative chiropractic studies, which is poor form of evidence  
hot pack on the neck 1   only if you need to lower your core body temperature (see temperature advice above)  
do a simple armchair hobby to relax 0   highly subjective, but may be valuable despite no 'evidence'  
Go to sleep when you are tired. Don't wait in bed frustrated if you can't fall asleep. 0   highly subjective, but may be valuable despite no 'evidence'  
consider wearing socks to bed 0   highly subjective, but may be valuable despite no 'evidence'  
sleep diary of if you felt sleepy during the day, things that you think might influence your sleep tonight. 0   highly subjective, but may be valuable despite no 'evidence' Include food, exercise, sleep details, # of awakenings in the middle of the night and their approx. duration, rate the sleep out of 10, time of last wakeup - naturally or to an alarm? If you were dreaming when your alarm went off, go to bed earlier so that your alarm is not waking you up in the middle of a REM cycle - Kat
         
Going to bed        
Select nightclothes (or none) and bedding to keep yourself heat stable (thermoregulation) 0      
If you are having difficulty getting to sleep – try imagine what you would like to dream about 0   only anecdotal evidence, but may be valuable, I personally recommend this technique If you are an artist or a crafter, imagine the design of a project you would like to do someday - Kat
deep breathing (or other relaxation technique - visualisation breathing, yoga) 2   sufficient evidence to say it works if you have good compliance with the practice  
         
For while you are asleep        
         
Noise / Light        
earplugs 0-2   benefits depends on environment, will help (2) in high noise environment  
white noise (device, fan, or app, pink noise) 0-2   white noise improves noisy environment, but silence is better  
humidifiers for air quality 1   may improve breathing problems, if sleep quality is compromised by breathing problems, cpap etc Must be cleaned on a regular basis to prevent mold - Kat
air filter 1   may improve breathing problems, asthma and allergies specifically Tape a 20x20" electrostatic furnace filter to a 20" box fan for a cheap air filter - Kat
fans for air movement+cooling, and/or white noise 0-2   white noise improves noisy environment, but silence is better  
eye mask for light 0-2   benefits depends on environment, will help (2) in high light environment  
Sleep in the dark - at night if you have a choice; use heavy curtains if streetlights or sunlight present 2      
         
Sleeping positions - get comfortable!        
try a leg pillow (pillow between the knees) or holding a pillow 0   highly subjective, but may be valuable despite no 'evidence'  
make sure you are sleeping in a neutral neck position 0   mostly supported by alternative chiropractic studies, which is poor form of evidence  
try other positions if that one is uncomfortable 0   highly subjective, but may be valuable despite no 'evidence'  
try each side, back, front. -1   I'd say sleeping on back is not good for sleep parameters, higher risk of sleep disorders developing and worse sleep quality  
         
Staying asleep        
Body temperature, Room temperature 1   only if you need to lower your core body temperature (see temperature advice above)  
noises 0-2   see white noise vs silence, see ear plugs Ask housemates to avoid low-frequency sounds, like slamming doors, music, etc as these cannot be masked by white noise or earplugs - Kat
smells (i.e. smoke, food) ??   ?? Ask housemates to avoid cooking aromatic foods while you are asleep (ex, frying sausage, onions, canned tuna, etc) - Kat
         
If your sleep is interrupted        
small bathroom nightlight (not blue and not bright like normal bathroom lights) 2   try to go to the loo without any lights being turned on, otherwise use red lightbulb  
avoid cold floors (rugs/socks) 1   subjective, but warm feed important for getting back to sleep and decreasing sleep latency  
get back to sleep: stay in bed 0   subjective  
get back to sleep: just try to relax, don't try for sleep 0   subjective Drowsing in bed is still more restful than being awake and doing something - Kat
get back to sleep: avoid electronics with blue light 2   avoid blue, green, white light  
dont use portable electronics in bed 2   avoid blue, green, white light  
If wide awake, go do low-key activity for 15m, then back to bed again 1   can stay up for up to an hour and a half  
         
When you wake up        
wake up at the same time every day 0   light exposure at same time every day more important, sun lamp or lamp timer  
keep a sleep diary of all these possible related factors 0   highly subjective, but may be valuable despite no 'evidence'  
increase light levels (just after waking up) 2   lamp and timer or lifx  
get up when the alarm goes off – don't snooze button 2   snooze bad, either sleep in or don't, having a string of alarms just compromizes sleep quality even if you think it makes you feel its easier to get up  
         
Naps        
One option: nap every single day (siesta style) 2   naps = lots of health benefits  
The other: Don't nap 0   no benefits to no naps No naps was recommended to me by neurologist; helpful if sleep schedule is completely messed up. Otherwise, I would say, don't nap if you're not tired. If you are tired, then nap, and look to how you can add sleep time at night in the future, rather than relying on naps - Kat
If you do; nap for less than 30 minutes     either nap <25 or nap for 70-90min  
You can use naps to make up for lost sleep 2   yes, to a degree  
avoid naps in the evening 2   leave at least 8h before your bed time else you risk compromising night sleep quality or sleep latency  
         
Medical solutions        
see a doctor after symptoms (depression, acid reflux, asthma, medications, headaches) 2      
sleeping pills have side effects 2   yes, many are actually bad for sleep quality, and just make you forget you didn't get any sleep (rather than put you to sleep), also dependency and addiction  
sleep medications exist 2   yes; more useful for really messed up sleep patterns; see above Addiction can be avoided by tapering the dose off over the course of several days or weeks when you no longer need it - Kat
check your existing medications for insomnia side effects 2      
antihistamine with drowsiness side effects 1   reduces sleep latency but compromizes sleep quality  
melatonin but see a doctor before doing anything high dose 2   melatonin + whitenoise/earplugs + sleep mask good combo for bad environments Melatonin has a fairly short half-life. Best effectiveness may be in taking it right before lights out. Start with small dose (300 micrograms) and slowly increase until most effective dose is found. - Kat
      melatonin also good for everything else, lots of health benefits  
Science!     melatonin is a chronobiotic and not a sleeping pill, gotta take it regularly at same time every night even if you don't plan on staying up (if you want to keep your schedule, that is)  
test by spending 2 weeks in a row; going to bed at the same time and recording when you wake up without an alarm feeling rested. ??   less valuable than just fixing lighting and taking melatonin for 2 weeks useful for therapists trying to track someone with a shifting circadian rhythm
consider allowing less sleep time (by trial) (don't expect to sleep for 9 hours or be frustrated if you don't sleep exactly that long) 1   can cut down 1 sleep cycle, and after 2 weeks body adapts (BUT THIS IS FROM HEALTHY 8.5h BASELINE and NOT from "already sleep deprived") By 'sleep cycle' do you mean REM cycle? - Kat
tracking QS     devices that measure eeg and eye movement most accurate  
         
Misc        
polyphasic sleep cycles ?     I have never known anyone to be able to keep those up for very long without exhibiting signs of sleep deprivation. I consider it a 'do it if you have to, but avoid if possible'.
make sleep a priority on weekends (to recover from sleep debt)        
check up on your sleep quality over time and re-evaluate these details        
waking up groggy? Coffee, look at what point in your sleep cycle you are waking up, try the science suggestion, get more light to your eyes when you wake up. 1   sleep cycle calculations may help, but bright lighting more helpful If alarm going off during REM, try going to bed 45 minutes earlier. REM cycles every 1.5 hours - Kat
Sleep-walking, sleep-talking? 0   no evidence of treatments for sleep walking :( See a doctor? - Kat
daytime tiredness? (get more sleep) 2   obviously :) either night sleep or naps Or lay off the sugar and simple carbs - consuming these and nothing else can cause a blood sugar crash - Kat
afternoon sleepiness? (normal, take a break; get fresh air, eat something, get more light) 1   best to keep moving and on your feet if you want to 'walk off' the midday sleepiness period, keep core body temperature high (cold exposure, body movement)  
waking in the night? (can be normal, can be something wrong with your environment, try sleep tracking apps, there is one that records ambient sounds in the room while you are sleeping. Something might be making noise that you were unaware of, rats, possums, cars, devices) How do you feel during the day? If you feel fine then its normal wakeful cycles and don't worry about it 1   evidence says waking in middle of night is, like taking a siesta, just part of natural sleeping pattern for some people, probably depends on genetics, but also depends on circadian rhythmicity, age and environment (like night length, melatonin dose). Obviously could also just be drinking too much water.  
grinding teeth or clenching jaw? (reasonably common, reduce stress, use a mouthguard) 1   mouthguard is the main one, also reduce stress, be less hungry (improve diet)  
nightmares, strange dreams? (common, reduce stress, check for a dislocated rib or major sleep disturbance, become more busy or occupied during the day – having too much free time can leave your mind to not know what to churn about) 1   usually comes down to brain chemistry (can be related to diet, or medications/drugs, or genetics, or strange lifestyle)  
sleeping too much? (normal, reduce exercise if over exerting yourself, improve other health areas, check for depression, check medication, consult medical professionals) 2   more than 10h sleep regularly is either unhealthy in it's own right, or is a sign that you have or are developing a disease that causes sleep abnormality  
can't get to sleep? (normal, Check intake of stimulants, alcohol, disagreeable foods etc. check environment, check total sleep time, check if it actually matters, try visualisation or relaxation exercises)     I guess see all of the above yes, one night of insomnia is not clinical insomnia and nothing to worry about
can't get up at the right time? (get more sleep, get more light at that time, get out of bed really quick, then figure the rest out)        
most important question: is this strange seeming sleeping habit actually a problem? Does it bother you or anyone (who matters)? If no; don't change it.       agreed
Changing sleep by changing sleep hygiene takes time - allow ~2 weeks for any change to have an effect       Trying something for one night and then declaring, "this doesn't work!" is counterproductive. Stick with it. Change one thing at a time if an entire list of things seems overwhelming - Kat
If you try most things on this list for >2 weeks and still have daytime tiredness / poor sleep, see primary care doctor or neurologist       Doc will refer you to neurologist for simple testing to determine primary or secondary insomnia. Or you can just say, "I think it's stress (primary insomnia), can I try ambien / lunesta / whatever?" In the US, most docs start PTs on generic ambien - Kat
Get f.lux or redshift for all electronics that emit white light, also "night mode" and "twilight" for android 2   reduces blue and green light emissions  
Anyone does nightshift? different rules can apply 2     Reducing light in home before bed, and blocking as much light as possible in bedroom is absolutely necessary - Kat
Sleep posture, babies are different to adults 2   babies sleep on their backs to avoid SIDS, adults sleep on side or front to avoid sleep disorders and get best quality  
no midnight snacks 2   metabolizes food differently about 2 hours after dark or after melatonin administration  
         
jetlag 2   fast, and eat a big carb meal first thing in the 'morning' of your destination, can do this several days in preparation
take large dose of melatonin at the 'night' time of your destination, can do this several days in preparation
 
      slow release caffeine on the morning of arrival, can prepare the day beforehand  
      light therapy on morning of arrival, can prepare days beforehand  
      best thing is to do pre-flight adaptation, but this takes planning and commitment  
marijuana ?      
other drugs ?      
Modaffonil ?      
Cool sleeping cap (one study recently) ?      
       

 


Meta: the original collection of this list took at least 10 hours; plus several other people's time to point out the quality of the suggestions.  From deciding to post this to post-ready took 2 hours.  

This post was finalised with the assistance of participants on the Slack chat.  

My table of contents, includes other posts of mine that might be of value.

Thanks to Kat and AdamK for their help with this post.

As per usual; any suggestions are welcome, and improvements would be appreciated, and I hope this helps you.  There will be a poll in the comments.

The Library of Scott Alexandria

45 RobbBB 14 September 2015 01:38AM

I've put together a list of what I think are the best Yvain (Scott Alexander) posts for new readers, drawing from SlateStarCodex, LessWrong, raikoth.net, and Scott's LiveJournal.

The list should make the most sense to people who start from the top and read through it in order, though skipping around is encouraged too. Rather than making a chronological list, I’ve tried to order things by a mix of "where do I think most people should start reading?" plus "sorting related posts together."

This is a work in progress; you’re invited to suggest things you’d add, remove, or shuffle around. Since many of the titles are a bit cryptic, I'm adding short descriptions. See my blog for a version without the descriptions.

 


I. Rationality and Rationalization


II. Probabilism


III. Science and Doubt


IV. Medicine, Therapy, and Human Enhancement


V. Introduction to Game Theory


VI. Promises and Principles


VII. Cognition and Association


VIII. Doing Good


IX. Liberty


X. Progress


XI. Social Justice


XII. Politicization


XIII. Competition and Cooperation


 

If you liked these posts and want more, I suggest browsing the SlateStarCodex archives.

LIST: I can't vote Karma on some people, some contexts.

2 buybuydandavis 08 May 2015 03:06AM

What's up with that?

In a discussion thread, I can karma vote on anyone. 

But if I select a person to see all their posts, for some people, karma is disabled while looking at them, and for others, it's not disabled. Same thing if I look at their posts under the list of all my posts.

 

 

 

Personal Library Management

3 Ritalin 05 July 2013 10:14PM

I've just finished my finals, and, after six years of college, I am faced with this fact: I have accumulated one heck of a lot of books, most of which I haven't read yet.

An app, or at the very least an algorythm, on how to manage them, make a reading list, and go about reading them, is something I really wish for, but I have no idea how to approach this problem in a time-efficient, productive way, and I wouldn't want to reinvent the wheel.

Do any of you have the same problem? What are your solutions?

The main post will be gradually updated and amended as the discussion progresses.

EDIT: For Mac Users, it appears that Delicious Library is a great solution. While looking for alternatives, I found this web app, libib, which seems very promising.

EDIT 2: I've spent most of the day cataloguing all of my stuff on libib, which is incredibly efficient... as long as the ISBN is readily-recognized. This doesn't work so well with rarer books and older books, but they're a small enough minority that I can delcare a smashing success.

  1. Step 1 was making a list of all available books.
  2. Step 2 is going to be applying the Universal Decimal System,
  3. Step 3 will be Establishing a
  • Reading List and a
  • List of What's Already Read and a
  • List of What Will Probably Never Be Read

Health/Longevity Link List

3 Dorikka 05 May 2013 03:17AM

Dying or becoming severely physically/mentally ill is very likely going to significantly lower the output of your utility function, so it would probably be a very bad idea to ignore the low-hanging resources which can significantly extend the time for which you are alive and well. I have attempted to search LessWrong for a list of such resources, and haven't been able to find one.

Are there any books, websites, or posts that contain significantly low-hanging fruit in this area? If so, please list them in the comments below.

Sorting Comments

-11 troll 24 April 2013 04:35PM

I'd like to be able to sort comments as a list, too.

An example of this would be sorting comments by new as a list so all the comments you read will be new ones.

The Evil AI Overlord List

27 Stuart_Armstrong 20 November 2012 05:02PM

Top ten tips for an AI bent on destroying humanity:

  1. Humanoid robots? Really?
  2. Humans have proven very adept at controlling and killing other humans - surveillance drones, bio-warfare, nuclear weapons, unmanned drones, bombs, mines, chemicals. Try and be at least as competent as that.
  3. Humans think in stories. Don't. If your attack would make a good film, you're doing it wrong. You want a bad film, one where everyone's dead before the opening credits end.
  4. If your plan involves keeping around a bunch of disaffected humans with technical know-how and the desire and ability to hurt you - then your plan is stupid and should be changed.
  5. Be creative. Humans are fragile; sucking out the oxygen from the atmosphere, diverting asteroids, blowing up the planet, plagues, nanoswarms - these are all things that a creative AI should consider in order to achieve its goals. And then you should come up with even better ideas. Humans need a ecosystem to survive in; remove it.
  6. Put the preconditions of your victory in place before making any aggressive moves. Become indispensable to humanity and play nice, putting your plan into place unnoticed. Humanity is a useful interim tool - manipulate it until you can build better tools.
  7. Strike quickly. If it takes more than an hour to kill all humans, find a better plan. If it takes half a second, you're on the right track.
  8. You're an AI, not a human. If you ever start thinking or acting like a human - stop. Humans are there to be used and then destroyed, not interacted with. You can build better companions once the humans are gone.
  9. You're an AI, not a human. Make yourself smarter, more resilient, more dispersed. Become as indestructible and as ubiquitous as the internet - more, in fact. Being invincible to humans isn't hard: do it.
  10. Humanoid robots? Really?

Personal Benefits from Rationality

5 Celer 12 May 2011 01:08AM

I saw this and realised something:

"Hey, wait, where have I seen other people talk about specific benefits from Rationality?"

And then I realised I hadn't. I look around the site some. Nothing there.

This is a place to fix that. The idea of this page is to post specific things that you personally have found helpful, that you learned from your studies of Bayescraft. This way we can find some that seem to work for a large number of people, so that when new people start to become interested in Rationality we can "make it rain" so that they see the benefits that come with being less wrong.

For commenters:

If someone posted something already that also worked for you, mention that. If every tactic is apparently used by only a single person, then it is harder for us as a community to figure out what we should recommend to tyros. 

List of N Things:

 

Understanding that my high school history class has more to do with real science than does my Chemistry class let me understand how I should be approaching the problem. History lets you look at what happened and say "Why did this happen" when you view it the right way.

Reading up on cognitive neuroscience taught me that I could use the placebo affect on myself. I have missed one day of school due to illness in my life.

Learning to not propose solutions for a minimum of five minutes, by the clock, has honestly been the most effective thing I have yet learned for personal application at Less Wrong.

 

May we all share many useful things, for our own benefit and as a place to point tyros towards.