Comment author: Qiaochu_Yuan 16 December 2012 01:13:04AM 17 points [-]

There is a non-trivial point in this summary, which is the meaning of "we." I could imagine a possible world in which the moral intuitions of humans diverge widely enough that there isn't anything that could reasonably be called a coherent extrapolated volition of humanity (and I worry that I already live there).

Comment author: Dues 12 November 2015 04:13:37AM 0 points [-]

Humans value some things more than others. Survival is the bedrock human value (yourself, your family, your children, your species). Followed by things like pleasure and the lives of others and the lives of animals. Every human weighs the things a little differently, and we're all bad at the math. But on average most humans weigh the important things about the same. There is a reason Elizer is able to keep going back to the example of saving a child.

Comment author: Lumifer 05 November 2015 05:15:31AM -1 points [-]

I'm not a specialist in acne, but it's basically an infection and I would want to see some hard evidence before believing that some other extra friendly bacteria will make it better. As to sweat, I don't know, it's different for different people, but since you can't shower or the whole thing washes away, I have my doubts...

Anyway, if you don't want to be a guinea pig, find some people who have tried it (not me). My uninformed guess is that it's diluted bullshit and I wouldn't bother.

Comment author: Dues 07 November 2015 01:21:41AM 0 points [-]

Most acne medications work by drying out your skin, not by being antibacterial out anti viral. The infections are a symptom of greasy skin and I think they claim that skin products less grease when it has the right bacteria is on it. But that still leaves me only 50% confident that it would work under optimal conditions.

Comment author: Lumifer 02 November 2015 04:45:37AM 0 points [-]

I still do not know what do you want to do. What is the goal you're trying to achieve by using that thing?

Comment author: Dues 05 November 2015 03:07:34AM 0 points [-]

Their ads say that AO spray makes your sweat smell less bad and it helps clear up acne. I've had zits since I hit puberty and a product that cuts down on the amount of caustic chemicals I need to rub all over my body would be great. I also commute to work by bicycl I'm 100+ degree Fahrenheit weather, and my office has no shower, so if AO actually cuts my BO then it might be a good investment.

Comment author: Lumifer 01 November 2015 10:20:26PM 1 point [-]

The question is, what do you want it to do?

There is a lot of distance between not bathing, using AO+, and being allowed onto a subway, and not bathing, using AO+, and have girls like the way you smell :-P

Comment author: Dues 02 November 2015 02:09:00AM 1 point [-]

I'm not sure if I'm reading you right, but if I am, you are saying that it takes a long time to kick in. Therefore I need to give up bathing while I wait for it to kick in. Therefore I would need to give up swimming because it's not useful if I want to replace the good bacteria lost from swimming in a chlorinated pool and then showering off the chlorine.

I did read one article (after I posted) where the reporter skipped showering for a month then took one shower and washed it all away (according to the bacterial swabs he took).

Comment author: Lumifer 30 October 2015 02:57:48PM 0 points [-]

I want to know if it is effective

Define "effective".

Comment author: Dues 31 October 2015 03:24:23AM 2 points [-]

Does it work as advertised? Does it kind of work but only a little bit? I'd it basically a really expensive placebo? These are the kind of questions I would want answers to. I doubt anyone here would actually know about this product specifically, but maybe someone knows of a site like crazymeds.com for health stuff.

Comment author: Dues 30 October 2015 02:20:31AM *  3 points [-]

I know a lot of less wrongers are big fans of nootropics and y'all could probably recommend some forums to ask questions about the effectiveness of strange drugs. Did anyone know of forums for strange health products? I was thinking of trying AO+ body spray, but at $50 for a month's supply I want to know if it is effective before I buy it. AO body spray is a new product by an MIT startup that is supposed to replace the good bacteria on your skin that bathing with soap removes. These bacteria are supposed to be to break down your sweat to make you smell better and have healthier skin. ttps://shop.motherdirt.com/product/ao-mist-2 If this stuff works, I think that lends credence to the historical viewpoint that bathing is unhealthy. But right now we only have a few case studies and no controller trials.

Comment author: ChristianKl 11 October 2015 11:56:29AM 1 point [-]

I don't think your model of the nature of debate is good. Most rhetorical strategies aren't tricks in the sense that they have no basis at all.

Comment author: Dues 30 October 2015 01:22:55AM 0 points [-]

I suspect you are right. But still, lying and tricking people is a skill, and I know where I can learn to practice it. (Debate clubs) Are the courses for the skill of detecting lies and tricks? All I can think of offhand is those fbi courses on micro expressions and maybe playing lots of poker. It feels like they off a currently unfilled market for defensive techniques.

Comment author: Dues 25 May 2015 02:34:12AM 1 point [-]

I've heard the story of Elijah and the Priests of Baal being told as one of the first experimental swindles, rather than the first experiment. It goes something like this: Elijah: Pours 'water' on his pyre. Pyre: Catches on fire Priest of Baal: "Wait was that water or oil? If I pour some of your 'water' on my pyre maybe it will light too..." Elijah: "Put them to death before they can invent repeatability testing."

The water being oil part is so obvious that it reads less like a 'God turned water into fire' story and more like a 'look how dumb those Baal worshipers were, we totally tricked them' story. I've heard it told both ways though.

Comment author: [deleted] 20 March 2015 05:04:26PM 0 points [-]

Have you read The Cathedral and The Bazaar?

In response to comment by [deleted] on Efficient Open Source
Comment author: Dues 21 March 2015 06:18:39PM *  0 points [-]

Not really. Is there a lot to the book beyond the Wikipedia summary?

Comment author: Lumifer 16 March 2015 03:08:34PM 0 points [-]

So, basically a review site for OSS?

Comment author: Dues 21 March 2015 06:15:49PM 0 points [-]

It's kind of a cross between a job site and a review site. In theory.

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