Comment author: Rune 22 March 2009 10:34:39PM 5 points [-]
  • Eliezer Yudkowsky can isolate magnetic monopoles; he gives them to small orphan children as birthday presents.
  • Eliezer Yudkowsky once challenged God to a contest to see who knew the most about physics. Eliezer Yudkowsky won and disproved God.
  • Eliezer Yudkowsky once checkmated Kasparov in seven moves — while playing Monopoly.
  • At the age of eight, Eliezer Yudkowsky built a fully functional AGI out of LEGO.
  • Eliezer Yudkowsky never includes error estimates in his experimental write ups: his results are always exact by definition.
  • When foxes have a good idea they say it is "as cunning as Eliezer Yudkowsky".
  • Apple pays Eliezer Yudkowsky 99 cents every time he listens to a song.
  • Eliezer Yudkowsky can kill two stones with one bird.
  • When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Eliezer Yudkowsky.
  • Eliezer Yudkowsky can derive the Axiom of Choice from ZF Set Theory.
Comment author: PaulWright 23 March 2009 02:00:14AM 6 points [-]

Eliezer Yudkowsky can isolate magnetic monopoles

Nah, that's Dave Green. You'd better hope Dr Green doesn't find out...

Comment author: PaulWright 23 March 2009 01:39:53AM *  13 points [-]

I feel like I might have seen this game on Overcoming Bias before, but I can't find it there

The game is familiar to me from Yes, Minister, a TV programme which was an expert satire on British politics. Bernard Woolley, a senior civil servant, would refer to these as "irregular verbs". From the quotes page at IMDB: "That's one of those irregular verbs, isn't it? I give confidential security briefings. You leak. He has been charged under section 2a of the Official Secrets Act. "

More irregular verbs here.

Comment author: MBlume 15 March 2009 10:19:03PM 36 points [-]

I'll be honest -- my life has taken a sharp downturn since I deconverted. My theist girlfriend, with whom I was very much in love, couldn't deal with this change in me, and after six months of painful vacillation, she left me for a co-worker. That was another six months ago, and I have been heartbroken, miserable, unfocused, and extremely ineffective since.

Perhaps this is an example of the valley of bad rationality of which PhilGoetz spoke, but I still hold my current situation higher in my preference ranking than happiness with false beliefs.

Comment author: PaulWright 15 March 2009 11:54:56PM *  15 points [-]

My empathies: that happened to me about 6 years ago (though thankfully without as much visible vacillation).

My sister, who had some Cognitive Behaviour Therapy training, reminded me that relationships are forming and breaking all the time, and given I wasn't unattractive and hadn't retreated into monastic seclusion, it wasn't rational to think I'd be alone for the rest of my life (she turned out to be right). That was helpful at the times when my feelings hadn't completely got the better of me. I suppose we can be haunted by stuff that is real.

View more: Prev