LESSWRONG
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All of krbouchard's Comments + Replies

Different kinds of language proficiency
krbouchard10

Maybe the language we grew up using is rooted deeper in our psychology.  Children's stories, fables, songs, & the music of our native language connect our young brains to the world and, when we remember those things, we get that feeling we might call 'nostalgia.' Nostalgia is something, I think, that only comes after many years... Maybe one day when you are older you might hear English words, stories, music that give you this feeling.

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The sailor's wife
krbouchard30

Thanks for the suggestion, Gunnar. I'm new here and still poking my nose around. 

I made some additions to the post. 

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Guessing the Teacher's Password
krbouchard*20

Great example. I need to do something similar when teaching children photosynthesis. It's helpful to start just by teaching a definition (when plants turn light into food). Do they need to learn about stomata and leaf anatomy? No, or at least not this year. That's in next year's textbook. If for now they can remember what is 'photosynthesis,' then their comprehension will be aided later.

I think what Yudkowsky is describing can be a problem sometimes when the point is thinking critically, not memorization of terms and definitions. Learning spanish is basically all about guessing the teacher's password. In literature class, when we want to know what the White Whale is a symbol for, we don't want a 'password' type response.

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The Costs of Reliability
krbouchard10

I think you did a good job of answering your question when you hit on the word 'coercion,' and I'll add another one to go with -- 'compulsion.' Are you being coerced by someone, or do you yourself feel compelled? This, in my opinion, is going to define how you apply yourself to the work and may have a bearing on the quality.

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Pain is not the unit of Effort
krbouchard*30

I enjoyed reading this. I also have a few thoughts about what it means to master something and what that journey looks like. 

Is it possible to truly become a master of a field if you're not putting in a superhuman effort? I agree that pushing yourself to the point of burnout is not the answer; but on the other hand, as a teacher, I once was with a parent who allowed their child to take a break after writing just a few letters when the assignment was to write all twenty-seven.  As long as the assignment gets done eventually, that's fine; however, ... (read more)

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3Portia
I'd assume it falls on the anti-fragility curve? If humans are perpetually underchallenged, they atrophy, and get worse. (Like a bone that is not used; it will become fragile, like an unused mind that will become forgetful.) If they are significantly overchallenged, they break, and get worse. (Like a bone that snaps, or the mind that hits burn-out.) Ideally, you want to target a level of work that is hard enough to be challenging, so you need to learn and grow, but still doable, so you have success experiences. (Like a bone that has frequent impacts that stress it, but not enough to break it, and that has sufficient supply of nutrients to fix itself; that bone will not just withstand the pressure, like a sturdy thing, but it will improve under pressure - it is anti-fragile, like most biological systems are. Similarly, a mind that is exposed to stress that it can handle will become brighter and more resilient.)