All of neotoky01's Comments + Replies

There are usually spots available south of Berkeley campus; along the streets that go North/South. Ellsworth, Dana, and Fulton street are my go-to; and it's good to check the streets that intersect them. Here's an example address of what I mean: 2339 Ellsworth St, Berkeley, CA 94704. From there its a 10 min walk to the Life Sciences building.

The microbiome is one of the newest branch of science in human health. There are some phenomenal preliminary reports that much of our health is influenced by our microbiome, but it hasn't yet reached wide social recognition in the US. You're not missing anything; you're on the bleeding edge of medical science. 

So if you had 10,000 dollars, you would buy all 10,000 lottery tickets to win the grand prize of $9,900?

Whenever you're investing you always want to use compound interest. $10,000 invested would give you a grand total of $43,219 after 30 years with 5% yearly compound interest.  
https://www.investor.gov/financial-tools-calculators/calculators/compound-interest-calculator

Finally there is an increased marginal utility the less money you have, not more. So when you have $0, each additional dollar gives a large marginal utility; whereas when you have $10,0... (read more)

You should always be looking for ways to maximize the return on your investment. If you spend a dollar, you'll want to receive one dollar or more of value. Buying a dollar lottery ticket returns less than a dollar of value.

It seems Kohlberg is primarily concerned with moral/cultural behaviour, what an individual may think is the right thing to do. Undeniably the desire to follow the group is strong. What is the relevance in the context of teaching rationality and scientific skepticism? No doubt, if your local environment teaches that science and rationality are weird and strange, and you're a nerd for attempting it learn it, there exists social pressure against learning science. But I still can't escape the fact that the great majority of people are attempting science and ra... (read more)

I think part of the difficulty I have in understanding your post is the distinction between active and passive systems, and it's why I linked the article on emergence. No matter which way I think about it, I can't disentangle a living (organic) system from its surrounding environment. It's why I posed the question of what distinguishes living systems and non-living systems; when I look deep enough I still see the same fundamental rules of physics applied in each instance. 

Under this view that all matter, living and non-living is indistinguishable and ... (read more)

What data? Where is the evidence? Where is your evidence that your model actually coincides and explains reality? At least Sagan was on the front line of his work; he actually worked with children, he spoke to people, he had direct and personal experience with trying to teach science and rationality. That's very strong evidence. Is your evidence stronger than Sagans, Feynmans, Dawkins, and Hawkins?

But your original post implied a sort of scientific nihilism. 

>That is, no matter what I believe about the world, it will always be just the way it is regardless of how I feel about it or how I want it to be.

Your beliefs affect your actions, even if it's so small that it's hard to register. Being a skeptic in anything may make your face contort in such a way that it resembles incredulity; changing how others view the topic and how the talker responds to you. I think what you really mean is that you have better understood the order of magnitude that... (read more)

Again, what is the difference between living things and non-living things from a first principles physics perspective. At which point do atoms and molecules become "living"? At which point do atoms and molecules acquire purpose? 

I understand that we use words like living and purpose to denote large movements of atoms moving in complex and interesting ways. But at no point along the way does something acquire "livingness" or "purposeness" or "spirit" or "elan vital" or "emergence" (see Eliezer Yudkowsky on emergence). If we're going to try to understand the behaviour of organisms it's necessary to see that the behaviour of organisms is just trillions of atoms and molecules behaving in very interesting ways. 

A meta-productivity system would be using a productivity system to find and explore productivity systems. I don't think that works by the nature of what a productivity system is. Fundamentally, you're always trying to be more productive. That is your ultimate goal. Trying out new methods and ways of thinking is beneficial to your future productivity, because you may find something that works better for you, and so you implement it. But you never really lose the "trying out new methods and ways of thinking" part; that's just necessary for progress. 

Sure, I will grant that, in certain extreme examples where a person's specific genome makes them much more anxious and much more depressed, then maybe some unscientific beliefs may improve their day-to-day functioning. But I think overwhelmingly this is not the case, and that while people may suffer from anxiety stress and depression, a greater understanding of reality can help you resolve those problems.

Overwhelmingly, people are born with a knack for science. The natural curiosity of children to explore, touch, smell, taste, and feel are fundamental to s... (read more)

There is a distinction between joining a group for the sake of joining a group and acquiring status, and joining a group because it offers you companionship, friendly competition, and entertainment. The feeling of status and of being a high-ranking person is a good feeling, most people feel this way. I don't think the question is whether this feeling is good or bad, whether we should feel this way at all; it's a question of time. How much time will it take to acquire that status? Is there a better way you can invest your time? If joining an in-group gives ... (read more)

Having faith is a religious virtue, it's not a virtue in science. As a scientist, all your beliefs should be conditional and updated on new evidence; there is no place for blind faith. Even deferring to authority is a conditional action: you are deferring your beliefs because you believe the authority to be more competent or knowledgeable because you have a lot of prior experience of them being a competent leader. If your authority suddenly becomes incredibly incompetent, it's time to update, and decide whether you'll defer the next time.

That is, no matter what I believe about the world, it will always be just the way it is regardless of how I feel about it or how I want it to be.

So individual humans have no appreciable affect on the world?

You are suggesting a productivity system. You have systematically tried various productivity systems over the years, and you've finally found one that works for you. Suggesting that someone think a certain way, or not think a certain way to increase their productivity is a productivity system. 

Fundamentally, from the perspective of physics, what is the difference between animate matter and inanimate matter? Living things/non-living things? At which point does a non-living thing become a living thing?

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/8QzZKw9WHRxjR4948/the-futility-of-emergence

So you're arguing that, in times of great need that require split second decisions and fast action, theological belief can be beneficial. Maybe. Believing there is some ultimate closure or purpose to your existence and to the conflict you're currently dealing with could reduce your levels of stress, maybe increasing your cognitive abilities. It could also be detrimental if you believe there is some afterlife and that, in the end, you'll all be okay, and so you perform worse. Trying to convince someone that god isn't real or there isn't an afterlife in a fo... (read more)

Is there any evidence that cryogenics preserves the structure and cells of the brain? 

I don't understand your post. Why are memetic tribes relevant to the discussion of potential existential risks; which is the basis of the original post? Is your argument that all communities have some sort of shared existential threat, that is contradictory to the other existential threats of other communities? It seems to me the point of a rationalist community should be to find the greatest existential threats and focus on finding solutions.