Dentosal

Sometimes there's a solution that's otherwise superior, but people do not like it for "irrational" reasons. This second-order effect makes the solution worse in practice. This concept is mostly a parallel to Yudkowsky's Purchase Fuzzies and Utilons Separately. For instance, it makes no sense to have a "no man left...

I recently read Chapman's texts on Robert Kegan's levels of moral development and meaning-making, namely: Developing ethical, social, and cognitive competence and the more psychedelic What is stage five (like)?. Scott Alexander also has some interesting thoughts on the first one. Wikipedia has a nice table showing how Kegan compares...

Here in Helsinki, the public transport doesn't have access gates. Bus drivers check your ticket when you step in, but on trains, trams, and subway, you just step in [1] . The enforcement is done by inspectors who randomly board vehicles and check tickets. If you do not have one,...

In a recent rationalist unconference multiple people recommended me Carolyn Elliott's Existential Kink, one of them even postulating that it would be useful for me specifically. So I was really surprised to open up a rather generic self-help book, with the author gloating about her success, and generally just advertising...

> An accurate description of a system is an attack on it. —Proverb Many systems function well because the vast majority of participants don't understand how they work. You can use this; many systems are your enemies. This is what is meant by "the pen is mightier than the sword"....

Last week I wrote about my reflections on using Claude as a personal coach. Today, when I couldn't figure out what to write, I noticed a comment from Viliam: > I would appreciate a more detailed explanation of how specifically you use Claude. > > My attempts to use Claude...

> All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it. ― H. L. Mencken > I think where I am not, therefore I am where I do not think. I am not whenever I am the plaything of my thought; I...