The correlation/causation conundrum is a particularly frustrating one in the social sciences due to the complex interaction of variables related to human experience.
I've found looking at time-order and thinking of variables-as-events is a helpful way to simplify experimental design seeking to get at causal mechanisms in my behavioral research.
Take the smoking example:
I would consider measuring changes in strength of correlation at various points in an ongoing experiment.
Once a baseline measurement is obtained from those already smoking subjects/parti...
I would add than a narrow focus on quantifiable data can be limiting, especially when you are researching culture and doing content analysis. Coding is a way to convert that content into numbers - counting mentions of words or themes - but that requires a lot of qualitative analysis to begin with and certain aspects are often lost in translation. Any social scientist worth their salt will take into account as many biases as they can and devise an experimental design to control for them as much as possible. But again, you have to be prepared to defend why ...
RationalWiki is a troll site, but that could be a good thing - it gives LW the opportunity to show exactly why it isn't a cult. Yvain makes very convincing counter-arguments and other posters have done a superb job of keeping their cool while answering various inquiries. Some of the questions directed at SIAI and Eliezer are not without merit and can't be dismissed so easily.
Anecdotally speaking, I've been around a few unimaginative 'bro-grammer' types fixated on SIAI - and particularly Eliezer. The individuals I'm thinking of know just enough about comp...
I really like the way you phrased "meta-suffering" as a term for the many cognitive self-defeating cognitions. The "rumination" symptom commonly observed in people with mood and anxiety disorders (a.k.a "dwelling") seems to be a related condition. Some Buddhists call it addiction, or attachment, to suffering.
The diathesis-stress model is a my favorite way to analyze to mental illness, including depression. In other words, I think depression is a heritable, biological phenomenon and the correlated cognitive biases create a f...
Environment matters a lot. Bars (for example) are loud, dark, sometimes crowded, and filled with inebriated people.
I CANNOT STRESS THIS POINT ENOUGH:
Thinking in terms of "picking up women" is the first problem. One should take the approach that they are "MEETING women". The conceptual framing is important here because it will influence intentionality and outcome.
A "meeting" mindset implies equal footing and good intentions, which should be the foundation for any kind of positive human interaction. Many women are turned off... (read more)
Beware of 'should'. Subscribing to this ideal of equality rules out all sorts of positive human interactions that are not equal yet still beneficial. In fact, limiting oneself to human interactions on an equal footing would be outright socially crippling.