The most useful aspect of this service would be to prevent people from writing things that people don't want to read. Anything that stops people wasting their time is nice.
No amount of data mining is going to specify the next mold-breaking instant classic, but hopefully it can quantitatively back up a reduction in vampire romance novels, or as the article points out, extremely boringly titled and seemingly boringly written history books.
things that people don't want to read
vampire romance novels
People do want to read vampire romance novels.
I agree with this. But then there is always something to be learned. And as you say: You invested lots (!) of hours into it. And most went into attention to trademarks.
From the constant rumors of nonexistent Pokemon, I learned how to distrust the epistemological practices of my peers.
There's a strong case for not doing that. The lesson to be learned here is very general; but it's very tempting to learn only a very specific lesson instead.
Every time you go the doctor, you put yourself at risk of iatrogenic complications. Following the rule:
Every time you have a medical problem (this is a vague term), see a medical professional.
Is not very pragmatic.
Not seeing medical professionals as soon as medical problems arose. I now live with (likely) permanent chronic pain which may well have been preventable were the causes addressed at an earlier date.
The mental model that states that since all past problems have been inconsequential, all future problems must therefore be inconsequential is a problem here. Holding that mental state (my past problems have evaporated without issue, therefore my future problems will do likewise) is problematic because most people have not experienced enough major problems to draw on a meaningful sample size here.
If you do not mind, could you tell us what your initial symptoms were and what condition was causing them?
I'm curious, have other people here found that giving makes them happier? I generally haven't found that to be the case. A typically givewell donation for me: a) reminds me that there's an obscene amount of suffering out there that I'm ignoring 99% of the time, and b) makes me feel guilty for not giving away more. I mean, I guess it makes me happier than not giving, since I'd feel even more guilty then. But in general it seems to me like the Peter Singer/Givewell/Effective Altruism approach to charity doesn't really lend itself to "feel-good" giving. More like, "soothe your conscience very slightly" giving.
I sometimes have feelings of separation from my fellow man. Philanthropic activity tends to alleviate this. Likewise, it tends to buffer my emotions from feelings of personal inadequacy. Of course, these correlations are not sufficient to establish causation.
Also, I do get warm, fuzzy feelings. However, I do not hold these positive feelings to be as important as the suppression of negative feelings.
"Remind me to buy you a copy of the Muggle novel Atlas Shrugged," the sourceless voice said. "I'm starting to understand what sort of person can benefit from reading it."
Although the Weasley twins are extremely willing to repay perceived debts, it would seem to me that this inclination is more likely, given their usual inclination towards public action, to be of positive utility in the long-run.
Canon!ArthurWeasley isn't very knowledgeable, but he at least had an interesting in electrical power, heavy-than-air non-magical flight, and chemical fueled engines. I think we can expect him to be of similar intelligence or smarter in MoR.
I don't think so, per chapter 61:
Madam Bones's voice continued. "We brought in Arthur Weasley from Misuse of Muggle Artifacts - he knows more about Muggle artifacts than any wizard alive - and gave him the descriptions from the Aurors on the scene, and he cracked it. It was a Muggle artifact called a rocker, and they call it that because you'd have to be off your rocker to ride one. Just six years ago one of their rockers blew up, killed hundreds of Muggles in a flash and almost set fire to the Moon. Weasley says that rockers use a special kind of science called opposite reaction, so the plan is to develop a jinx which will prevent that science from working around Azkaban."
...
"Severus?" the old wizard said. "What was it actually?"
"A rocket," said the half-blood Potions Master, who had grown up in the Muggle town of Spinner's End. "One of the most impressive Muggle technologies."
It seems pretty clear from chapter 61 that MOR!ArthurWeasley knows precious little about the muggle world.
It seems pretty clear from chapter 61 that MOR!ArthurWeasley knows precious little about the muggle world.
When it comes to wizards who lack recent Muggle ancestry, Arthur may well be the most knowledgeable expert regarding these matters. Considering the racism of even well-meaning wizards, this likely gives Arthur a certain degree of clout in certain circles.
I donated to the Against Malaria Foundation, which is GiveWell's top charity.
Here is a link for those who wish to do likewise:
After more work than I would honestly prefer to put into such an effort, I eventually found this post:
http://lesswrong.com/lw/goe/open_thread_february_1528_2013/8iuo
As a curiosity, this post cannot be found from my user-page, nor can it be found via Wei Dai's app. Fascinating.
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This post is shameless bragging:
I donated two days of pay to the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative. As always, this is incredibly easy to do. If you would like to do so, here is a link:
https://givewell.secure.nonprofitsoapbox.com/donate-to-sci