Comment author: DataPacRat 24 November 2014 10:39:06AM 7 points [-]

What does your inner Quirrellmort tell you?

Has your internal model of the most competent person you can imagine ever given you an insight you wouldn't have thought of with more traditional methods?

Do you have more than one such useful sub-personality?

Does your main mode of thinking bring anything to the table that your useful mental models of others don't? If so, what?

Comment author: Sjcs 25 November 2014 10:51:22AM 2 points [-]

I unfortunately haven't developed a quirrellmort yet (the concept is on my to-do list though, along with a number of other personifications). I do have two loose internal models though, for very specific tasks.

The first is called "The Alien" or just "Alien". I created it in my mid-teens after reading the last samurai (not the movie), although my use of The Alien is not the same as the book's. The Alien is the voice in my head that says the pointlessly stupid or cruel things (generally about people) for no reason other than being able to. They aren't things I actually believe or feel, so I just tell The Alien to shut up. By doing this, I can create a divide between myself and these thoughts, not feel guilty about them occuring, and more quickly put them out of my mind.

The second I created very recently based off this thread. It is for the prevention of ego depletion when it comes to either starting big tasks or taking care of long lists of little tasks. Rather than think "Ok time to (make myself) do this" I defer the choice to an internal, slightly more rational model of myself that doesn't suffer from decision fatigue. The outcome is very predictable ("Do the goddarn task already"), but does seem to work very well for me. It's still quite new, and I probably don't use it as much as I should.

I have plans to make a number of other internal models to create an internal 'parliment' that can discuss and debate major decisions, or act on their own for specific required benefits. Other models that might be included include a cynic/pessimist (to help me be more pessimistic in my planning), an altruist (to consider if my actions are actually beneficial), a highly motivated being (to help renew my resolve), and some kind of quirrellmort. These are probably very liable to change as I try to implement them.

Comment author: Sjcs 02 November 2014 10:58:19PM 22 points [-]

This month, I finished medical school, which elicits a complex set of emotions difficult to describe. Maybe relief/fist pumpin' exuberance/trepidation/excitement/tiredness/nostalgia/determination/pride in variable amounts (results aren't out yet, and I guess that adds to some of those emotions). This isn't very LW-related, but is a big transition point and I'm quite proud it's complete.

Possibly my favourite thing about finishing is that I now have 3-or-so months with only a few commitments before I start work, which means I can get started on some of my personal to-do list - I have already read 3 books, am meditating every day, organised catching up with friends/mentors I haven't been able to see in a while, learnt some basics of investing and economics and set myself up to start investing my savings in a more useful way i.e. index funds.

Comment author: DataPacRat 29 October 2014 04:07:21PM 6 points [-]

Seeking LWist Caricatures

I've written the existence of a cult-like "Bayesian Conspiracy" of mostly rebellious post-apocalypse teens - and now I'm looking for individuals to populate it with. What I /want/ to do is come up with as many ways that someone who's part of the LW/HPMOR/Sequences/Yudkowsky-ite/etc memeplex could go wrong, that tend not to happen to members of the regular skeptical community. Someone who's focused on a Basilisk, someone on Pascal's Mugging, someone focused on dividing up an infinity of timelines into unequal groups...

Put another way, I've been trying to think of the various ways that people outside the memeplex see those inside it as weirdos.

(My narrative goal: For my protagonist to experience trying to be a teacher. I'd be ecstatic if I could have at least one of the cultists be able to teach her a thing or two in return, but since I've based her knowledge of the memeplex on mine, that's kind of tricky to arrange.)

I can't guarantee that I'll end up spending more than a couple of sentences on any of this - but I figure that the more ideas I have to try building with, the more likely I will.

(Also asked on Reddit at https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/2kopgx/qbst_seeking_lwist_caricatures/ .)

Comment author: Sjcs 30 October 2014 12:41:14AM 2 points [-]

Put another way, I've been trying to think of the various ways that people outside the memeplex see those inside it as weirdos.

The lurker, who may not be gaining as much utility as they would if they participated. However, they still receive the same (or a degree of) connotations from those outside the memeplex, due to their association with the group. These percepts from the outside may be either good or bad.

Comment author: Sjcs 29 October 2014 11:07:35PM *  30 points [-]

Took the survey a few days ago, and forgot to even comment! Thanks Yvain and looking forward to seeing what comes out of it

Comment author: Evan_Gaensbauer 28 October 2014 07:00:43AM 9 points [-]

I posted a link to the 2014 survey in the 'Less Wrong' Facebook group, and some people commented they filled it out. Another friend of mine started a Less Wrong account to comment that she did the survey, and got her first karma. Now I'm curious how many lurkers become survey participants, and are then incenitivized to start accounts to get the promised karma by commenting they completed it. If it's a lot, that's cool, because having one's first comment upvoted after just registering an account on Less Wrong seems like a way of overcoming the psychological barrier of 'oh, I wouldn't fit in as an active participant on Less Wrong...'

If you, or someone you know, got active on Less Wrong for the first time because of the survey, please reply as a data point. If you're a regular user who has a hypothesis about this, please share. Either way, I'm curious to discover how strong an effect this is, or is not.

Comment author: Sjcs 29 October 2014 04:02:39AM 3 points [-]

I have been an on-and-off lurker for ~15 months, and only recently created an account (not because of the survey though). I have participated in both 2013 and 2014's surveys.

Comment author: Capla 28 October 2014 11:21:45PM 2 points [-]

I have been prompted by this discussion to consider taking supplements. Where can I find a concise summery of the relevant research and the pros and cons of the options?

Comment author: Sjcs 29 October 2014 12:39:43AM 2 points [-]

Although I would consider myself as a supplement novice, I generally look into supplements based on other peoples recommendations whenever I stumble upon them, and then look them up on Wikipedia and Examine. I occassionally go looking (via google) specifically for peoples' negative reviews of the supplement to check for significant adverse effects that might not have been made clear.

I realise this is obvious, but if anyone were to experiment with supplements be very aware of placebo effect and confirmation bias.

In response to Podcasts?
Comment author: Sjcs 26 October 2014 01:49:00AM 3 points [-]

I almost exclusively listen to medical podcasts (as I work in the medical field), but have been meaning to break into some non-medical podcasts; this looks like an interesting list to start with, thank you.

If anyone else is interested in medical podcasts, particularly from the emergency/intensive care/anaesthetics/retrieval sphere, there is a flourishing community of #FOAMed (Free Open Access Meducation) that strive to provide quality, evidence based teaching in medicine. It aims to reduce the knowledge translation time, as well as discuss cutting edge topics and portray different styles of work from around the world. I have found it excellent for making me both more passionate and more knowledgeable about my work.

Some of the best from my perspective are EMCrit, the SMACC conference talks from 2014 (or direct download here) and 2013, Life In The Fast Lane, The RAGE Podcast, St.Emlyn's Virtual Hospital podcast, and the Intensive Care Network

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