Comment author: Ritalin 18 December 2014 10:54:47AM 2 points [-]

The Anti-Drug

I've seen that a lot of drugs seem to act like "gratification borrowers": they take gratification/happiness from the future and spend it all on the present, sometimes extremely quickly, then leave you feeling miserable for a certain duration, the "low" or "hangover".

I was wondering whether there was any drug that did the opposite, that functioned like delayed gratification: a drug that makes you feel utterly miserable at first, then eventually leaves you with a long-lasting feeling of satisfaction, accomplishment, and joy.

Does anyone here know of such a thing?

Comment author: Ritalin 07 December 2014 06:10:14PM 3 points [-]

Court OKs Barring High IQs for Cops

An aspiring cop got rejected for scoring too high on an IQ test.

I cannot begin to understand why they would do that.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 04 December 2014 02:11:28PM 1 point [-]

Tentative suggestion: Maybe you need to live somewhere where you have more access to smart people.

Comment author: Ritalin 04 December 2014 02:59:08PM 0 points [-]

They're a bit hard to come by, and, let's face it, we can be hard to live with even among ourselves.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 03 December 2014 07:18:09PM 2 points [-]

This is a filter rather than a recommendation, but read the reviews to find out whether people used the book rather than just finding it a pleasant read.

What are you hoping to improve about your life?

Comment author: Ritalin 04 December 2014 11:31:15AM *  2 points [-]

Right now I think my two weakest points are:

  • Akrasia: I have a lot of trouble keeping a proper sleeping schedule and not slipping into night owl lifestyle, going to the gym as often as I should, keeping my diet, and, depending on the circumstances, I have a lot of trouble keeping myself motivated, organized, and productive.
  • Relatively poor social skills. They're not nearly as bad as they once were, but I still find myself somewhat clumsy and awkward, in the way high IQ people tend to be. Out of synch. Having different priorities than the folks around me. Coming up with stuff out of left field. Spacing out, being prompted to explain, retelling a train of thought that to them seems convoluted and to me seems natural. Having a terrible time maintaining proper etiquette, especially table manners.

Either I'm put down "crazy" or put in a pedestal as "genius", but I'm always put aside, and have very few friends. Love life is similarly disastrous, but I don't think there's a book for people who fall in love too hard, too soon, and too easy.

Comment author: Ritalin 03 December 2014 04:14:41PM -1 points [-]

Self Help Books

I'm looking to buy a couple audiobooks from Amazon. Any good recommendations?

Comment author: ArisKatsaris 01 November 2014 03:43:13PM 1 point [-]

Fiction Books Thread

Comment author: Ritalin 29 November 2014 11:23:35PM -1 points [-]

So I just finished reading Fate Stay Night, and I feel hungry for more, but its sequels are a lot more silly and laid back, and what I want isn't the easy familiarity of characters whose tales are already told, but the poignant drama and character development, and the poetic narrative delivery, that I'd never experienced before. Does anyone here know stories that have this type of heart-gripping-ness?

Comment author: Ritalin 29 November 2014 11:22:41PM *  0 points [-]

.

Comment author: lfghjkl 04 November 2014 06:36:31PM *  4 points [-]

For those who aren't aware, Fate/stay night (the visual novel) has been mentioned/recommended here before in Eliezer's Three Worlds Collide short story:

I suspect the aliens will consider this one of their great historical works of literature, like Hamlet or Fate/stay night -

Reading the visual novel can take some time, so anyone who isn't interested in that should really consider watching this TV adaption instead. Personally, I found Unlimited Blade Works to be the best part of Fate/stay night (closely followed by Heaven's Feel, which they've also promised to make a TV adaption of), so you wouldn't be missing too much in my opinion.

Comment author: Ritalin 26 November 2014 04:55:57PM 0 points [-]

You know, it may well actually make it to 'acclaimed univesal classic' status. It's tremendously good stuff.

Comment author: dxu 23 November 2014 10:06:14PM *  1 point [-]

"Here's proof that religion is insane and most people are predictably and systematically stupid, including yourself.

This doesn't seem too implausible. I have no trouble believing that religion is false ("insane" is an incendiary term that I do not believe should be invoked in a non-clinical context due to triggering most people's "mind-killed" modes), as well as believing that people are predictably and systematically irrational (same deal with "stupid"). Are you arguing against this?

Now believe in the Singularity, general self-improving artificial intelligence, cryogeny, space expansionism, and libertarianism!"

I have not seen Eliezer ever advocate for his personal views on these topics outside of posts dedicated specifically to said topics. Most posts in the Sequences just talk about basic techniques for rationality, without ever mentioning any of the stuff you've listed. Indeed, the two major prongs of his worldview--rationality and transhumanism--seem to be largely (almost entirely) detached from each other. I'm having a hard time seeing this "preacher approach" you're talking about in Eliezer's writings.

Comment author: Ritalin 24 November 2014 11:08:26PM *  1 point [-]

Are you arguing against this?

Most emphatically not. I'm very glad to have discovered that, and I'm grateful for EY's impassioned preaching, that made it seem immediately, crucially, urgently relevant. By comparison, when I read books like Think Fast and Slow, or watch shows like Crash Course Psychology or Earthlings 101. I feel like I'm just collecting a bunch of interesting, quaint. and curious trivia that aren't much of a factor in how I think of myself, the world, and my place in it. (And don't get me started on new Cosmos. NDG doesn't preach, he lectures. Carl Sagan at least used to wonder )

Comment author: Azathoth123 20 November 2014 10:01:04AM *  0 points [-]

consent seem relatively objective.

Is so called "marital rape" consensual since they consented to marry? (Most societies say yes, but lately in has become fashionable in Western countries to pass laws saying no).

What if someone says yes but feels pressured to?

If two drunk students had sex, has a rape occurred? (Yes, according to California's new "Affirmative Consent" law).

Comment author: Ritalin 20 November 2014 12:08:07PM -1 points [-]

... Why students specifically?

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