There's not point being annoyed at nature, but a precommitment to revenge is useful.

This is a good summary, but a post like this is greatly strengthened by links to external resources to justify or expand upon the claims it makes. If I didn't know anything about the topic, some of the text would be unclear to me, and I would want the ability to click around and learn more. For example:

• What is the sunk cost fallacy? (Link to wikipedia/LWwiki)
• There is some recent evidence about rationality as a treatment for depression

Also, I think one of the first reactions a typical person will have is, "Rationality? Of course I'm rational." To start from square one on this topic, you have to explain to people that, surprisingly enough, they aren't. Politely, of course. Then you can start talking about why it's important to work on.

All that said, I think the examples given are great; they're salient problems for most people, and you can make a good case that rationality will improve one's outcomes for those problems.

The link to the post is incorrect; it points to the previous rerun, should point here: http://lesswrong.com/lw/li/unbounded_scales_huge_jury_awards_futurism/

Edit: It has been fixed. Thanks. :)

I daresay that most reasonably well-funded medical research would become almost entirely obsolete if SENS were to work. It's hard to justify researching more effective heart attack medication when no one gets biologically old enough for heart attacks to be a serious problem anymore.

Ah, but now you are neglecting the additional value of having the million dollars now, instead of 5.5 years from now. At 4% interest this neatly cancels out the additional $220k.

I am reasonably convinced that I did not do so; when I said "roughly 5.5 years to accumulate a million", I was taking compound interest into account.

I believe you left out the opportunity cost of spending the $100 on a ticket instead of letting it accrue 4% interest. That is, you compared $100 in today's dollars to $100 in 2017 dollars, but it should've been $124 in 2017 dollars.

I'm not quite as active on OKC anymore, but when I was, I'd write to lots and lots (hundreds, over a year) of people (girls) with near-zero expectation of response. My guiding star wasn't friend or romantic partner, but "do I want to know this person?" I've written to at least one dude (in my area) who I thought I'd click with, but he didn't write back. I get along with girls better anyway. My checklist:

1. Check pics. Am I attracted to this person? I'll still write if the profile is extraordinary and/or I sense that our friendship will be a solid one. Stipulating friendship right out of the gate isn't a problem for me.

2. Have they answered more than 400 match questions? The match scores should be robust. Are we over 90% match? Over 80% friends? Less than 10% enemy?

3. Is their "dating persona" something non-alarm-bells-y like The Maid of Honor? Although, I admit a curiosity about girls who get Genghis Khunt or The Battleaxe, if their profiles are otherwise inviting or innocuous.

4. Check "unacceptable answers" in the match questions sidebar. Are they religious/agnostic? I don't want to get into arguments about solved problems. Are they very politically correct? I don't want to tiptoe. Are there unusual inconsistencies? I don't want to deal with a compartmentalizer.

5. Now I look at what they've actually written about themselves. Are they articulate? Do they possess knowledge I do not? Are they funny? I don't care too much about preferences like music, books, etc unless there is something tellingly atrocious in there like Korn or James Patterson.

If all of this comes up clean, then I initiate contact with a short, clever message pertaining to some specific part of their profile. If they respond, after a short exchange I try to steer things toward a chat session -- the real test. If our banter is self-generating, then this person is added to my gchat list and away we go! Sometimes people start out as potential romantic partners, but end up as friends because of untenable distances or plain old lack of romantic spark. In summary, I think it's possible to gain a lot from your OKC experience if you don't have binary notions of friendship and love, don't disappoint easily, and are willing to put in the time and effort to succeed.

It should be noted that, by frequenting this website and taking the material seriously, you've probably set terrifyingly high intellectual standards for yourself. For me at least, that can cause no small amount of stress. You should be proud that you're tackling something really hard, but try to remember that "temporary emotional kick[s]" are an entirely rational goal. Live a little.

If you're going to be spending a lot of time online, you might as well join OkCupid. I typically make one real friend (or less) per year, but being on OKC -- and taking it seriously -- netted me seven new, real friends this year alone. Of course, most of them live insanely far away, but that doesn't end up mattering much. It's the feeling of truly connecting with another mind that pays well-being dividends, and this can easily happen over text, audio, or video chat. Yes, it can occasionally be like astronaut food instead of real food, but astronaut food is better than no food at all.

You might also benefit from a pilgrimage. Do you own a bike? It's about to be autumn and prime bike trip weather. Even a long walk or hike (in any environment; wilderness is not essential) will be beneficial.