All of Omid's Comments + Replies

Omid84

Massad Ayoob, one of the most prolific firearm instructors, said that if you have to defend yourself using a gun, you should hope your attacker survives. Because if your attacker dies, a prosecutor can invent a plausible-sounding story as to how your attacker wasn't posing any real threat, and your "self defense" was actually murder. But if the attacker survives, he can be subpoenaed to testify. And most criminals are bad at testifying.

Kyle Rittenhouse may have been saved by Gaige Grosskreutz's disastrous testimony.

3CronoDAS
I've heard the opposite - a dead shooting victim means there aren't any witnesses to contradict your story.
ymeskhout1310

As a prolific criminal defense attorney, I cannot endorse that advice on those grounds. You should always hope that your attacker survives because killing someone (even if ultimately justified) exposes you to more serious legal jeopardy. Grosskreutz's testimony was disastrous not because he was a criminal who was bad at testifying, but because he told the truth and the truth happened to be on Rittenhouse's side. An attacker getting killed doesn't mean one cannot draw inferences based on the circumstances.

Omid90

Idk I'm a doomer and I haven't been able to handle it well at all. If I were told "You have cancer, you're expected to live 5-10 more years", I'd at least have a few comforts

  • I'd know that I would be missed, by my family at least, for a few years.
  • I'd know that, to some extent, my "work would live on" in the form of good deeds I've done, people I've impacted through effective altruism.
  • I'd have the comfort of knowing that even I'd been dead for centuries I could still "live on" in the sense that other humans (and indeed, many nonhuman) would share brain desig
... (read more)
Omid-1-6

Don't worry, as soon as AGI goes live we'll all have a peaceful, eternal rest.

Omid122

Prompt: "Consider a new variant of chess, in which each pawn can move up to six squares forward on its first move, instead of being limited to one or two squares. All other rules remain intact. Explain how game balance and strategy is changed with this new variant of chess."

Successful responses might include:

  • The number of moves available in the early game increases, improving white's edge over black.
  • Drawing your knight out from 1st to 3rd rank becomes more dangerous, as black can immediately threaten the knight by moving a pawn forward three spaces. The kn
... (read more)
wunan150

I tried giving this to GPT-3 and at first it would only give the tautological "pawns become more powerful" example, then I expanded the prompt to explain why that is not a valid answer, and it gave a much better response.

I believe this response is the same as your fourth bullet point example of a good answer.

 

 

Here's the prompt in copy/pastable format for anyone who wants to try playing with it:

 

Consider a new variant of chess, in which each pawn can move up to six squares forward on its first move, instead of being limited to one or two squ

... (read more)
Omid120

I'm a nurse in an at risk area. Should I shave my long hair like the Chinese nurses were doing?

Omid40

Is it worth it to learn a second language for the cognitive benefits? I've seen a few puff pieces about how a second language can help your brain, but how solid is the research?

6gwern
This has come up before on LW and I've criticized the idea that English-speakers benefit from learning a second language. It's hard, a huge time and effort investment, you forget fast without crutches like spaced repetition, the observed returns are minimal, and the cognitive benefits pretty subtle for what may be a lifelong project in reaching native fluency.
0Dahlen
I suppose it depends on how different the second language is from your native language. As in, Dutch may not offer a big boost in new ways of framing the world for a native German speaker, for instance, since they're closely related languages. (This depends on what you mean when you say "cognitive benefits"; I'm assuming here some form of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.) In my case, I have found English especially adaptable (when compared to my native language) when it came to new words (introduced, for example, for reasons of technological advancement -- see, for example, every term that relates to computers and programming), since it has very simple inflexions and a verb structure that allows the formation of new, "natural-sounding" phrasal verbs. Having taught my own language to an American through English, I wouldn't say the same about it expanding your way of conceptualising the world, unless you're really fond of numerous and often nonsensical inflexions. I'm not sure I could recommend specific languages that may help in this regard, but I think I could recommend you to study linguistics instead of one specific language, and use that knowledge to help you decide in which one you want to invest your time. I've studied little of it, but the discipline seems full of instances where you put the spotlight, so to speak, on specific differences between languages and the way they affect cognition.
1drethelin
I would expect they have the correlation backwards. Smart people are more likely to find it easy and interesting to learn extra languages.
6hyporational
Quality observational research is probably very difficult to do since you can't properly control for indirect cognitive benefits you get from learning a second language and I'd take any results with a grain of salt. You also can't properly control for confounding factors e.g. reasons for learning a second language. I think you'd need experimental research with randomization to several languages and this would be very costly and possibly inethical to set up. I have without a question gotten a huge boost from learning English since there aren't enough texts in my native language about psychology, cognitive science and medicine that happen to be my main interests. My native language also lacks the vocabulary to deal with those subjects efficiently. I have also learned several memory techniques and done cognitive tests and training solely because of being fluent in English.
Omid30

I want to have more focus and find it easier to do boring things.

4Lumifer
That's a very common desire. I am guessing that most everyone would like to have more focus and willpower.
Omid30

I think I have ADHD. What should I do now?

0Elo
consider the effects that caffeine has on kids with ADHD. (there is some research out) and then evaluate if that is similar to caffeine'e effect on you. After that consider other alternatives; but coffee seems like the most "secretly be normal" advice I have. <I don't drink coffee>
3NoSignalNoNoise
In environments where you can, allow yourself to fidget, or even better, keep moving more actively (stationary bike, exercise ball, treadmill, etc.). I have borderline ADHD and have found that to be much more effective than meds. YMMV.
7James_Miller
Consider experimenting with supplements. If you are a U.S. student look into getting exam accommodations. You might also consider neurofeedback and meditation.
8buybuydandavis
I'd give ADHD meds a try. In fact, I did. I had a doctor who said they were like a light switch and you'd know quickly if they were helping (he had ADHD as well). I didn't feel any improvement and stopped.
5evand
What problems are your trying to solve? Knowing you have ADHD is useful because it offers insight into what solutions will work well. For example, it might offer suggestions as to what medications might produce useful results.
Omid00

You said you use this for ROT13ing things. How does that work? Suppose I wanted to make a Facebook post that gave my friends the option of knowing Obama is a werewolf, but also gave them the option for them not to know this if they'd rather be surprised later.

1sixes_and_sevens
The Chrome plugin I linked to lets you carry out basic encoding functions in the browser, which includes stuff like rot13, URL-safe strings, a couple of hashing functions, etc.
Omid10

You understood my question better than I did. Thank you.

Is the following paragraph correct?:

If I had unlimited computing power, I could search for all the inputs that return 37ecb0a3164e6422bedc0f8db82e45ec from the MD5 function. Then I could search those inputs and see which ones are meaningful sentences in English, and then make an educated guess at what the message is. But in reality, it would take too much computing power to find even a single string that returns 37ecb0a3164e6422bedc0f8db82e45ec.

4sixes_and_sevens
It's not quite correct, but you've broadly got the thrust of it. When two different inputs produce the same output from a hashing function, this is called a hash collision. Finding collisions in the SHA256 hashing function is part of how bitcoin mining works. It is very computationally expensive (which is kind of the point, re: bitcoin mining), but it's certainly tractable to find some input that generates the same output as another one. If you were to try and search the space of all possible inputs for MD5, you'd quickly(ish) find an input that collided with the Obama Werewolf input, but it'd be garbage. If you had some system for quickly and reliably generating comprehensible English sentences, and just searched that space, you'd probably find a comprehensible English sentence that collided with it, but it would almost certainly not be the Obama Werewolf sentence. It's worth noting that MD5 will take an input of any length, and the space of possible comprehensible English sentences of unbounded length is basically infinite. For short snippets of text, it's hard to find two comprehensible English sentences that collide under MD5, but in the link gjm provides above, there's a method for forcing the MD5 hash of a PDF by exploiting how MD5 works. For this reason and others, if you're doing any cryptographic heavy lifting, you probably want to use something more robust than MD5.
Omid70

How do I make a hash? In case I'm using the wrong word, I want to encrypt a message, then put the encrypted message in a public place, then decrypt the message in a way that proves that I actually encrypted a message (I didn't just write a nonsense string and later retcon an encryption scheme that makes it meaningful).

9sixes_and_sevens
Let's make sure we're talking about cryptographic hashing functions. Let's say I make a prediction that Barack Obama is a werewolf. I don't want anyone to know I've made this prediction, because otherwise the Secret Werewolf Police will come and eat me, but I do want to lord it over everyone after the fact. I take the string "Barack Obama is a werewolf" and I put it through a hashing function, (for purposes of this example, the hashing function MD5). This produces the output 37ecb0a3164e6422bedc0f8db82e45ec. The original string about Barack Obama is not recoverable from this output, because MD5 is a lossy function, but anyone else putting that string through the MD5 hashing function will get the same output. The hash output is like a fingerprint for the original string. So if I put 37ecb0a3164e6422bedc0f8db82e45ec in a public place a year before Barack Obama transforms into a werewolf on live television, after the fact I can give people the original string and they can verify it for themselves against the hash output. I use a Chrome plugin for most tasks that involve basic encoding of text values. (If I'm honest, I mostly use it for rot13, and more exotic uses aren't that common). There are also online hash generators for different hashing functions. Some popular hashing functions for this purpose are MD5 and SHA1. Does this answer your question?
1Viliam_Bur
I think the correct words are "digital signature", and there is a free program PGP who should be able to do it. There is also an EnigMail extension for the Thunderbird mail client, which automatically signs e-mail and verifies e-mail signatures. Sorry, I don't understand this topic well, so I can only give you these pointers.
Omid20

Saving this so I can read it after it gets deleted.

2[anonymous]
Why would it get deleted? Have I violated some rule?
Omid-20

If wages are too high, causing unemployment, might it be better for employers to get more advantages while hiring?

Omid50

Is there any way to block distracting software on my computer? There are a blue million apps that will block websites, but I can't find any that will stop me from playing games I've installed. Ideally, I'd like some software that lets me play my games, but only after a 10 minute wait. But I'd settle for anything now that can restrict my access to games without uninstalling them entirely.

0[anonymous]
If you have somebody to store your admin password in, Windows' parental control could help.
0iarwain1
Password Door, or Microsoft Family Safety (for Windows, available through the parental controls; I think you need to have some else administer it though).
1jaime2000
Cold Turkey
5Risto_Saarelma
Dual boot to Linux for working and to Windows for the games?
Omid40

How smart do you have to be in order to follow this advice? Are we talking two standard deviations or five?

8NancyLebovitz
My guess is that you have to be pretty smart but not astonishingly smart to understand the argument, and likewise for becoming an actuary. The really rare trait is the ability to take ideas seriously enough to act on them.
Omid20

Is there a Chrome extension or something that will adjust displayed prices of online merchants to take into account rewards benefits? For example, if my credit card has 1% cashback, the extension could reduce the displayed price to be 1% cheaper.

Omid10

So I signed up for a password manager, and even got a complex password. But how do I remember the password? It's a random combination of upper and lower case letters plus numbers. I suppose I could use space repition software to memorize it, but wouldn't that be insecure?

0Dahlen
You'll get used to it. All my passwords are long (~20) strings of random alphanumeric characters. Initially, when I started using this system, I had doubts that I would be able to memorize them all, but after a while it got easy. If you're really in need of some outside help, write it somewhere in rot13; since it's random, nobody can guess through the pattern of the letters that the rot13 version is not the actual password; a random string of letters and its rot13'd version are much the same for all practical purposes. And if you want some extra security and you're not worried about getting tangled in all your weird personalized decoding rules, write it backwards; write every number as ten minus that number; make all capitals lowercase letters and vice versa; add known short strings of characters at the beginning and/or at the end, etc. But I really don't recommend going down that route.
0Alsadius
Keep it written down and read it consciously every time you need to enter it(ideally, often). Whenever you have it memorized, destroy the physical copy.
0ilzolende
For my non-phrase passwords, I make myself enter the password at least once per day, and I recite it in my head frequently.
1DanArmak
I use a passphrase, which has higher entropy than a short password and is easier to remember at the same time. Take a dictionary of 50k words and choose a sequence of 6 words at random. (Use software for this; opening a printed dictionary "at random" won't produce really random results). This provides log2(50000^6) = 94 bits of entropy. This is a similar amount to choosing 15 characters from an 80-character set (lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and 18 other characters) which would produce log2(80^15) = 95 bits. It's much easier to remember 6 random words than 15 random characters. You can generate some passphrases here to estimate how difficult they might be to remember. (Of course you wouldn't generate your real passphrase using an online tool :-)
6Douglas_Knight
Just write it down. Eventually, you'll memorize it. It will be faster if you challenge yourself each time: see how many characters you can type before having to look. It's important to keep in mind threat models. The biggest threat is that someone attacks one website you use and uses that password to take control of your account on another website. The password manager solves this problem. (It also give you strong passwords, which is overkill.) People physically close to you that might steal the piece of paper with the password aren't much of a threat and even if they were, they probably wouldn't figure out the meaning of it. But you can destroy it after memorization.
4Strilanc
* Write the password down on paper and keep that paper somewhere safe. * Practice typing it in. Practice writing it down. Practice singing it in your head. * Set things up so you have to enter it periodically.
8robot-dreams
I learned a few interesting memory tricks from the movie Memento. One thing you can try is to tattoo important information on yourself, so that you don't forget it. I can think of a few security caveats for sensitive information though: * It's probably better if you choose a location that's not easily visible (e.g. chest, part of your arm that's covered by a shirt), though you should probably choose a location that's still somewhat accessible (i.e. not your lower back) * If you absolutely have to use a more visible location, like your forehead, make sure you get the sensitive information tattoo'd BACKWARDS, so that only you can read it (and only when you're looking in a mirror) On a more serious note, I find it much easier to remember random alphanumeric characters "kinesthetically" (i.e. by developing muscle memory for the act of actually typing the password), as suggested by polymathwannabe. The only downside to this approach is that it's extremely difficult for me to enter such a password on a cell phone.
7polymathwannabe
Despite my other comment, there are cases when we simply can't choose. My university gave me an alphanumeric sequence that I am able to remember because I'm a trained typist. So I didn't memorize the letters and numbers; I memorized the finger movements.
0polymathwannabe
Alphanumeric passwords are overrated.
Omid20

Longshot, but are there any transgender people here who have signed up for cryonics?

Omid180

How do you deal with people who are dominating conversations? I had a New Years party and it was basically 4 hours where either this one guy was talking or someone was talking to him.

0Bo102010
It requires some status and a consistent record of not being a jerk to do this (or to convince yourself to do this), but: "[Big Talker] has been talking for 2 hours, and [Small Talker] hasn't really had much opportunity to talk about [thing Small Talker does]. Mind if we hear from [Small Talker] for a bit? "
3maia
The DC LessWrong group has a strong norm of splitting up conversations into multiple, which works well if people are being bored by a single person talking - one person will turn to someone else who looks bored and strike up a different thread with them. (Then if other people also are bored, they will join the separate thread or start their own.) This fixes a few other conversational problems as well.
2Toggle
One of many strategies is to change the subject. The most domineering conversationalists I know tend to be specialists talking about their own field, and the one-sided nature of the interaction flows partly from their local expertise. Many people talk less if they see a large chance that they will accidentally say something embarrassing, and an unfamiliar topic is a quick and polite way to get them there.
3someonewrongonthenet
When someone says something to Big Talker, you can respond to what they've said before Big Talker does. (I don't think Big Talkers are generally the sort to mind interruptions, so it's not necessarily rude)
5Vaniver
Most solutions require either the consent of the talker or that they not be present. For example, one solution is that the group splits into multiple subgroups, so that multiple people can talk at once- but there are ways for the talker to counter that, like abandoning their subgroup to join another subgroup (effectively merging the two) or asking people to keep to one conversational thread. There's a broad blunt-subtle continuum of ways to communicate to someone that's they're dominating the conversation, and it generally seems best to use the most subtle option that they'll actually notice, but again, communicating to someone that they're dominating the conversation doesn't mean they'll stop dominating it.
Omid10

So just to be clear: If I say "I won't give into the basalisk because Eliezer says I shouldn't", will that protect me from the basilisk? If not, what should I do?

0ThisSpaceAvailable
By "the basilisk", do you mean the infohazard, or do you mean the subject matter of the inforhazard? For the former, whatever causes you to not worry about it protects you from it.
1TobyBartels
If you believe Eliezer, then you may believe him that the basilisk has ~0 probability of occurring. (I should find a citation for that, but I read it just a few minutes ago, somewhere around the discussion of this xkcd comic.) So you are already protected from it, because it does not exist (not even in ways relevant to acausal trade). More broadly, you should decide to take this approach: never give into blackmail by somebody who knows that you have decided to take this approach. Now they have no incentive to blackmail you, and you are safe, even if they do exist! (I think that the strategy in this paragraph has been endorsed by Eliezer, but don't trust me on that until you get a citation. Until then, you'll have to reason it out for yourself.)
Omid30

I don't think that's what caused my angst, I think I was worried about becoming less special because more people were reading my favorite blog.

Lumifer160

I think you want to be special -- that's an entirely legit and useful desire. The part that needs adjusting is deriving your specialness from obscurity of your interests.

Omid110

How do I stop being a hipster? I saw Bryan Caplan advising his readers to read Scott Alexander and my first reaction was "Oh no, a well-known blog is recommending people read my favorite little blog. Now more people will read it and I won't be as special." I know this feeling is irrational, but how can I overcome it?

0NancyLebovitz
Tentative advice: Try exploring what you actually like and dislike, and distinguishing that from what you expect other people will think of your tastes. Also, you may need both privacy and thinking about how other people don't necessarily know enough about you to judge you.
3ChristianKl
If the only thing that makes you special is your choice of blogs that you read, you aren't very special. It's like people who think that just because they change a few superficial things about their clothing and violate societal clothing norms, they are rebels. They are not. That kind of being a rebel feels a bit pathetic to me. Being a rebel actually means doing something that has an effect. That shakes up society. Don't optimize for superficial appearance. Dare to go deeper. If you go deep than superficial issues such as how many people read your favorite blog won't really concern you anymore.
2JoshuaFox
You should nurture that feeling if it drives you to push ahead to the next level of excellence that is beyond what is common today. If it means you are just trying to be different for the sake of social signaling, then it is not quite so useful a feeling.
6blacktrance
Whether this feeling is irrational depends on what causes it. It makes sense to worry about a community you like becoming popular, since it means that an increasing number of people would join it, potentially reducing its quality.
Omid20

Thank you, how many hours a week do you spend doing these things?

2Emily
My timelog tells me that over the last ~7 weeks I've spent an average of 22 mins/day doing things with the tag "chores". That time period does include a two week holiday during which I spent a lot less time than usual on that stuff, so it's probably an underestimate. Agree with Nornagest below about the importance of small everyday habits! (Personally I am good at some of these, terrible at others.)
Nornagest110

It's really hard to estimate that accurately, because for me something like 90% of cleanliness is developing habits that couple it with the tasks that necessitate it: always and automatically washing dishes after cooking, putting away used clothes and other sources of clutter, etc. Habits don't take mental effort, but for the same reason it's almost impossible to quantify the time or physical effort that goes into them, at least if you don't have someone standing over you with a stopwatch.

For periodic rather than habitual tasks, though, I spend maybe half... (read more)

Omid130

What chores do I need to learn how to do in order to keep a clean house?

2Risto_Saarelma
Learn to notice things that need cleaning. Know a good way to get rid of everything you possess when you no longer need it (bookcrossing, electronic waste recycling or just a trash bag). Learn to notice when you have things cluttering up the place that you no longer need.
0hyporational
If you've got the money and a simple enough apartment layout, I recommend a vacuum cleaning robot. My crawling saucer collects a ridiculous amount of dust from the floor every day, and this seems to keep other surfaces and the air dustless too. There's no way I could clean up that much dust myself, and I'd do the cleaning so rarely that the dust would get all over the place.
0Richard_Kennaway
Avoid these and you'll be off to a good start. :)
4Manfred
Adding on to Emily: Having a particular hamper or even corner of your room where you put dirty laundry, so that it isn't all over your floor. When this hamper / corner is full, do your laundry. Analogous organized or occasionally-organized places for paperwork or whatever else is being clutter-y. If you have ancient carpet and it's dirty and stinky, learn how to rent a Rug Doctor-type steam cleaner from a nearby supermarket. If you have a bunch of broken or dirty / stinky stuff in your house, learn how to get the trash people to haul it away, and learn where to buy cheap used furniture / cheap online kitchen supplies / whatever to replace your old junk. Having tools handy to tidy up nails / tighten loose screws etc. when you notice them. Keeping a bush and plunger near your toilet. If your sink has clogged any time in the past 6 months, also consider having chemical unclogger / a long skinny "snake" (that's what it's actually called) that you shove down the drain and wiggle around to bust clogs. Figure out where all the places that are hard to clean are. These are the places that will have 50 years of accumulated nasty dirt that will make the whole house smell better when you get rid of it.
Emily190

Laundry (plus ironing, if you have clothes that require that - I try not to), washing up (I think this is called doing the dishes in America), mopping, hoovering (vacuuming), dusting, cleaning bathroom and kitchen surfaces, cleaning toilets, cleaning windows and mirrors. That might cover the obvious ones? Seems like most of them don't involve much learning but do take a bit of getting round to, if you're anything like me.

Omid60

I'm having trans issues and would like to talk a trans person who has some experience coming out. Send me a PM if you can talk. Thanks.

5FiftyTwo
I recommend asking on http://ozymandias271.tumblr.com/ you can ask anonymously without having a tumblr account, and Ozy knows everything,
3polymathwannabe
The forum emptyclosets.com could be helpful for you.
Omid170

The quantified risks of gay sex post is in the early stages of development. If you are a mod and think such a post would have negative value, pianoforte611 and I would appreciate hearing your concerns before we invest our time in it. If you are not a mod but want to make some pre-emptive suggestions, those are welcome too.

A few nuances that I would like to see in the paper:

*Not all gay men have anal sex, many chose not to in favor of other activities.

*Also, not having the assumption that only gay/bi men have anal sex.

*A distinction between transmission rates if people chose to use condoms vs not, because part of the reason the rate is higher is condoms are much less common in the gay community.

*A disclaimer about how not all men have penises, and sex≠gender≠genitalia would be nice.

Omid00

Are you still using Zim Wiki?

2John_Maxwell
I switched my OS to Mac OS X and started using http://brettterpstra.com/projects/nvalt/ However, there are features I miss from Zim Wiki. I would definitely recommend it on Linux. (BTW if anyone is ever making the same Zim -> nvALT migration get in touch with me... I wrote some scripts to make it easier.)
Omid20

That comic is unfair. Being called a blasphemer or a ratfink is not the same as getting bashed on the head with a cross. Now the artist would argue that this is a metaphor, but in that case, wouldn't breaking a cross also be metaphorical assault?

Omid30

Meta: I've submitted four proposals, and might submit more later. I don't have time to write all these posts and I have no idea what posts people would want to read, so I'd appreciate advice, criticism, or requests.

Omid00

Fixed, thanks.

A lot of websites use a "This is not medical advice" disclaimer, enough to justify a generic template.

1ChristianKl
The fact that one website uses a disclaimer doesn't show that the person who created the website knows what he's doing. He might just have copied what other people are doing to be safe.
Omid270

Proposal: Don't fear GATTACA. A post where I explain why people are afraid of the dystopia featured in GATTACA, and why these fears are unjustified.

1James_Miller
Take into account the possible prisoners' dilemma where the technology works out so that to maximize expected IQ you have to expose the genetically engineered babies to a huge risk of nasty genetic conditions and China goes for it and the United States must either accept that in 20 years China will gain a huge advantage or breed these damaged geniuses ourselves.
Omid270

Proposal: You don't need politics. In which I argue that keeping up with the news and political controversies is not a duty nor effective altruism. Intended to counteract the "Rah political activism!" message I got in school.

Sometimes politics steps into your life. For example, you want to teach people rationality, but a religious political party just made religious education mandatory in schools. Or you invented a better way to teach maths to kids, but you can't use it, because in your country all schools must strictly follow the plans written by government. Etc. The idea is that the political power can prevent you from doing the right thing, so unless your plan is just to break the law and go to jail, you must somehow get involved with politics.

Of course, you could also just... (read more)

8michaelkeenan
This is a great topic. I know of three good resources on it: I Hate The News by Aaron Swartz News is bad for you – and giving up reading it will make you happier by Rolf Dobelli in The Guardian Avoid News: Towards a Healthy News Diet (PDF) by Rolf Dobelli - a longer version of the one in The Guardian.
4torekp
Be careful how you phrase this. Because I want Friendly AI, I do need politics - in a different sense of the word, one that has little to do with keeping up with the news or what the pundits are saying. Little, but not nothing. The mundane political wars contain many object lessons on how to win at politics in the broader sense.
5Ben Pace
Would almost write this post myself - btw does 'rah' mean 'yay'?
DanArmak140

I endorse this approach. Ever since high school (so for about 12 years), I have deliberately stayed ignorant of all politics local to my country and of local news. I absolutely never watch or read the news, and I rarely find myself discussing these topics with my friends.

News and politics are designed to generate outrage and promote anti-rationalism and epistemic dark arts. They also strongly select for bad and depressing news, and for non-representative surprising incidents. On the other hand, the value from my knowing about the news is very small (e.g. in terms of changing my behavior).

Omid210

Proposal: Quantified risks of gay sex: As a bi-curious man, I have some interest in gay sex, but I'm also worried about STDs. As a nerd, I'd like to weight my subjective desire to have gay sex against the objective risks of stds. This has been surprisingly difficult.

The risks of lesbian sex doesn't need quantification because it's basically zero. The risks of straight sex have been decently-enough quantified here and here. But there's no comparable guide for gay sex.

All of the websites for gay men give vague advice like "wearing a condom is safer tha... (read more)

4pianoforte611
I'm also a gay man who would be interested in this topic. It seems extremely narrow though so perhaps not appropriate for discussion. Maybe more suitable for a personal blog with a link post (but I don't have a personal blog). If you're going ahead with it, I'd like to help but I have little experience in this kind of research.
7Izeinwinter
There is no "overall risk for gay sex". There is a risk for how you meet partners, and there is a risk level for each particular sex act you engage in and which protections you take. Anal isn't mandatory. - a pretty high percentage of all gay men (30%) don't do the back door at all, coming or going, and it carries the same risks irrespective of your partners gender. Having unprotected anal with someone you are not in a long term relationship with and who has tested clean is basically nuts, but a lot of guys do it, which is why gay men have such depressing averages. But those are averages. If you have good boundaries and behave reasonably, it's as safe as any recreational activity ever is. That means condoms. On a practical level, get some where you like the flavor and carry them around because, uhm, well.. Remember what I said about anal not being mandatory? If you have a problem with oral, that's going to be an issue.
1falenas108
In my response to this post, I realized I was basically starting to write what the post you were talking about. Anyway, as someone who has done research into this, the answer is the risk is higher, but not all that much. Suggested start here: http://www.aidsmap.com/Consistent-condom-use-in-anal-sex-stops-70-of-HIV-infections-study-finds/page/2586976/
Vaniver130

I would be interested in helping with this post. (I am a gay man who does not partake in casual sex, primarily because of the health risks.) From what I recall when I looked into this last, there's huge value in breaking out the various kinds of sex, because of huge risk differences.

4NancyLebovitz
You presumably meant "than not wearing a condom". Legal risk seems unlikely-- I've never heard of anyone sued for just giving bad advice. Saying something boneheaded and damaging the site's credibility seems more possible, but not what I'd call an extremely likely. A substantial compendium of research may well be likely to do more good than harm, but damned if I know how to compute that.
Omid200

Proposal: If you're depressed, maybe your life sucks. A meta-contrarian post where I argue that you can't always "have a positive attitude" towards bad things in your life, and that fixing your life's problems might be a better strategy than learning to cope with them.

4Will_BC
There was an RSA clip about this awhile back. Smile or Die
7kalium
Yes! I see so many arguments that the environment simply doesn't matter in depression, and most of them seem to come from, say, grad school administrators who benefit from denying that they're creating a horrible environment with no clear expectations, no positive feedback, no opportunities to socialize, etc. If depression is always a purely random chemical imbalance, well, it's a pretty neat coincidence that mine vanished within a week of my quitting grad school.
0[anonymous]
This post seems relevant. Advice shouldn't be formulated as pushing behavior in a certain direction, because different people benefit from pushing behavior in different directions.
-1A1987dM
Existential angst?
3TylerJay
Omid, do you mean "If you're depressed, maybe it's because your life sucks" ? Just curious if you're implying causation. I don't think the claim that the two are correlated is all that controversial.
3DanArmak
That seems just obviously true. What precisely is "If you're depressed, maybe your life sucks" designed to refute? Who/when/why endorses any of these statements: 1. Depression is not significantly correlated with actual life problems to feel bad about. 2. It's practically impossible to have a positive attitude about some really bad things if they happen to you. And if you could, it probably wouldn't be a good idea. 3. If there's a problem that's making you depressed, it's better to learn to cope with it and adopt a positive attitude, then to try to fix the problem.
Omid50

This writing style has become a cliche:

Imagine a hypothetical situation X. In situation X, you would surely agree that we ought to do Y. Surprise! We actually are living in hypothetical situation X. So we obliged to do Y.

Are there any ways to make it less obnoxious?

0[anonymous]
Say what you're about to do, before doing it. Sometimes, providing a summary will activate an immune response. This is a red flag about the context in which you're communicating, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't participate in an effective way.
5Shmi
Why do you feel that it comes across as obnoxious?
Omid130

The United States green card lottery is one of the best lotteries in the world. The payoff is huge (green cards would probably sell for six figures if they were on the market), the cost of entry is minimal ($0 and 30 minutes) and the odds of winning are low, but not astronomically low. If you meet the eligibility criterion and are even a little interested in moving to America, you should enter the lottery this October.

0[anonymous]
Moving somewhere that uses Fahrenheit degrees and sixteen-ounce pints doesn't sound that great to me...

The payoff is huge ...,the cost of entry is minimal

This reminds me of another pretty decent lottery that some U.S. residents can take advantage of. Many major cities, including NYC, have affordable housing programs in brand new buildings. The cost to apply is $0, the payoff of is paying 20% - 25% of market rate of housing in that area. No, it's not for poor people, there are other programs for that, the income requirements vary but in general is set to qualify the working residents of the city (maybe 50k - 95k).

Some of the most desirable and stunning... (read more)

2ChristianKl
I don't think you can resell green cards so their open market price should be irrelevant.
0MarkL
Anything remotely like this for EU countries?
Omid180

Seth Roberts is dead .

I was considering the Shangri-La diet, but now I'm nervous.

6Gary_Drescher
According to information his family graciously posted to his blog, the cause of death was occlusive coronary artery disease with cardiomegaly. http://blog.sethroberts.net/
1David_Gerard
The blog's now disappeared. Archive copy.
0ChristianKl
It's very sad news and I still ask myself what to make of it. Seth influenced my own QS journey a lot. In the end the it seems like extrapolating health from the kind of data he gathered wasn't possible.
4Stabilizer
This is really sad. He definitely was something else when it came to self-experimentation.
6NancyLebovitz
The commenters are more concerned about the possible effects of high doses of omega-3.
Omid20

Because of how excited I got when I received gifts in the past. For example , I cherish an expensive scarf a girlfriend gave me even though I would never have bought it for more than a few dollars myself.

6kalium
If you also get excited by cheap gifts (flowers, candy, nice thrift-store finds, whatever) then tell her that. If the gifts have to be expensive for you to appreciate them, though, that's kind of awkward though maybe if you give her gifts of similar value it comes out fair.
4ChristianKl
The issue with that paragraph is that it doesn't contain the word "love". One could read the sentence as you using your girlfriend to obtain an expensive item for free. If you don't want to appear shallow, then go deeper into the meaning and the emotions. Of course there are valid reasons why you might not go deep on a online forum. Talking about past partners is probably no good idea for the first date. Further down the road you could just start by asking your girlfriend about her love languages. What made her feel loved in the past? Go through each of the five love languages and ask to what extend they matter to her. If you do that, she's likely ask you as well.
Omid00

I'm currently single so the question is hypothetical.

1TheOtherDave
Ah, gotcha. I guess I'd give the same advice hypothetically... establish a general framework in which asking for things you (both) want is a good thing. This is just a special case of that. As for how to do that, well, it depends a lot on the people involved. Mostly, my advice is to ask for things you want, and encourage her to do the same, and see where that goes.
Omid10

How would I tell my girlfriend that gifts my love language love language without looking like I'm exploiting her for free stuff.

4Ishaan
Try sending her a link to the quiz which proports to identify said "love languages", ask her what results she gets, and then tell her what results you got? (Bonus: you get to see her results, which is useful info if you think this quiz and accompanying classification system is useful)
5Torello
I have to agree with another commenter below--it's best to tell people what you like and what makes you happy. Don't mean to derail the thread, but my ex-girlfriend tried to have me read/discuss the love language book and it seemed that the categories they established were pretty arbitrary. For me, the love languages book was an impediment to sharing needs, because it brought in seemingly invented categories and questionnaires to fit you to a category when instead you could just say what you want.
8ChristianKl
How do you know that gifts are your love language? What experiences did you had in your life that makes you conclude that's your main love language?
5palladias
I did this with my ex-bf (not the cause of the prefix!) and then next time I told him I was really upset by something at work, I got flowers and felt much happier. And my delight was such that he was happy too. I'd explain what about the gift from her makes you happy. I don't like tchotchkes or expensive-for-the-sake-of-signalling things, but I liked being surprised by some manifestation of my bf caring for me, especially when it was personal (i.e. in response to a sudden need, or carrying forward an inside joke, or just a lovely note in my inbox).
0TheOtherDave
In general, do you have ways in your relationship of asking for things you want and having that be OK? If so, how do you do it? I would think the same techniques would apply. (In my own relationship, I emphasize symmetry.) If not, it might be better to start there, and worry about gifts and love-languages later.
4falenas108
http://lesswrong.com/lw/jis/tell_culture/ Say what you just said here.
1Tenoke
Oh, so your ' level of credibility on gender issues' is defined by your gender? That sounds pretty feminist.
-1gothgirl420666
Thanks
Omid310

I've practiced the virtue of silence. I can't say much more than that without breaking the virtue.

0Gunnar_Zarncke
Interesting. Obviously a generalization of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignosticism (cannot say more on what is ignored).
3Locaha
You said too much!
Omid00

We know it's possible because we've seen evolution do it.

5RolfAndreassen
That only proves human brains are possible. It might be impossible to replicate in silicon, thus no speedup; and it might be impossible to be significantly smarter than an outlier human.
1A1987dM
* Beware of other-optimizing. You and your partner probably know each other way better than someone living thousands of miles away who's never met either of you ever will, especially if they might be prone to generalizing from one example. * Beware of fictional evidence -- fictional relationships are usually optimized for being fun to watch from the outside, rather than for probability of working out times desirability for the partners themselves. (Much of the first couple hours of The Blueprint Decoded, besides being a primer on cognitive biases, are about correcting misconceptions which I guess originated from Disney and Hollywood.) If anything, take them as cautionary tales about what not to do. * I think most of what Mark Manson says is basically kind-of reasonable. YMMV.
6Calvin
Assuming your partner is not closely associated with LW or rationalist-transhumanist movement, you might be better of looking for advice elswhere. Just saying.
Omid50

I would like to talk a LWer for advice about romantic relationships. PM me if interested.

drethelin290

however it pleads don't fall in love with the AI in the box

4MrMind
Meaning offering or requesting them?
Omid20

PSA: Sign up for Medfusion (or your region's equivalent) if your doctor offers it.

Yesterday I asked my doctor's nurse a question electronically. I had a symptom and I was unsure if it required a visit to the practice. The nurse responded the next day saying the symptom was benign and would go away. This saved me a copayment and a trip outside.

9selylindi
Which Medfusion? Google finds several organizations by that name, and all seem like implausible referents to me.
Omid00

Yes, I'm still angry with him. He did something cruel to someone weak, and he got angry with me for saying that was wrong. I wish I could delete him from my life but he works near me.

Omid60

Has anyone else had this happen to them?

  • You got into an argument with a coworker (or someone else you see regularly). You had a bitter falling out.
  • You were required to be around them again (maybe due to work, or whatever). You make awkward small-talk but it's still clear you hate each other.
  • You continue to make awkward small talk anyway, pretending that it doesn't make you uncomfortable.
  • Your enemy reciprocates. The two of you begin to climb the intimate conversations ladder.
  • Both of you act like friends. But, at least from your end, it's not clear if
... (read more)
0ChristianKl
I generally don't think it makes much sense to label other people as enemies.
2niceguyanon
It looks like you have an unspoken treaty of non-hostility. People don't just forget those kind of things; you didn't. My advice is to make good with the person and acknowledge your prior differences, it will be less awkward going forward and you would gain his/her respect. And who knows, they might even gain your respect. Friends for the most part are always better than enemies.
2Shmi
"It takes two to tangle" and such. Is the reason for the falling out still there? Or is the residual hate just one of those lost purposes?
2TheOtherDave
I've experienced variation on the theme. My usual approach is to decide whether I value treating them as an enemy for some reason. If I do, then I continue to do so (which can include pretending to treat them like a friend, depending on the situation). If I don't, then I move on. Whether they've actually moved on or not is their problem.
Omid40

I don't know what a treadmill upstairs sounds like.

Load More