All of albert's Comments + Replies

albert00

I'm writing from Albert account, I'm his brother. I'm living in São Paulo and will probably be there!

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7gwern
Dupe: * http://lesswrong.com/lw/7e1/rationality_quotes_september_2011/4r45 * http://lesswrong.com/lw/2t0/rationality_quotes_october_2010/2u1x * http://lesswrong.com/lw/bs/rationality_quotes_april_2009/8an
albert00

How do you measure a coastline? Isn't it a subjective measurement depending on the scale of precision/resolution (since the actual geometry is fractal)

I skipped that question since I couldn't figure out the standard

See this for instance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastline_paradox

albert30

Can anyone link to me a website that tests my confidence accuracy? I'm looking for the sort of test where you answer random questions giving your range of probability of being right, and preferably at the end of the test it will give you a graph comparing your estimates of confidence with actual prediction results, and if the lines perfectly match then you get are perfectly calibrated (neither over nor under confident in your skills).

1JenniferRM
Its not exactly as you requested, but the Test Your Calibration article might be helpful for quick feedback. Also, prediction book is a website that does something similar over time, with a calibration curve report built in, which is reported to be educational if used over time :-)
albert00

A nice A.I. themed movie for those who've never seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn0cz7vYOcc all 10 parts on youtube

albert20

Best site on IF: http://www.leangains.com/

I have gone on and off this diet for the last few months and found it better to do intermittently. In other words, if you are in a constant IF mode, your body will adapt and gains will stop, but if you do it irregularly and just when you feel like it, then it works great. Main point of the philosophy is not being afraid to skip a lot of meals. Never eat when you are not hungry just because it's a certain time a day and you HAVE to eat. Also, skipping breakfast will not make you unhealthy.

0RomeoStevens
I'm on this and refeeds are essential, check out martin's posts on eating whole cheesecakes. I refeed binge on carbs once every couple weeks. The only thing that happens is that I hold more (~2lbs) water for a day or so (carbs suck up quite a bit of water). I haven't seen any negative effects at all.
albert-10

In the first example of this article (Gurkha x British prediction), doesn't having the data of the outcome change your ex-ante estimate of what the probability was? Since it's a data point you now have and you can't erase it from your mind, it's rational to update your estimates no? The bias in my mind would be if you OVERLY adjust your probability distribution based on the outcome.

2JoshuaZ
No. That's exactly the problem. Updating after the fact for what might be likely in that sort of situation is ok. The problem as discussed in the article is that people are then convinced that it really should have been obvious to someone without that data point.
albert20

thx, just said a nice hello!

albert160

I was brought up to be a "traditional rationalist". My parents were atheists/traditional rationalists and never tried to indoctrinate me with any mysticism, spirituality, 'mystery' explanations or fairy tales (i.e. Santa Claus). Being a very small child I think my intuition was that some form of god was true with a probability of 25%. That number went creeping down until basically 1% (for "intelligent design") and much less than that for an interventionist god. Also, even as a child, I always had the intuition (and still do) that realit... (read more)

5Paul Crowley
Welcome - your story is interesting and I hope you stick around! I've sung this song before, but from what you say your worries are, one thing that would give you a real lasting boost in your general effectiveness would be learning to program. Have a look at CodeYear - online lessons that start slow, lots of my friends have been having success with them, and you can ask me for help if you get stuck - paul at ciphergoth dot org. Not only is it a directly useful and highly employable skill; it teaches useful habits of thought in several distinct ways.
6satt
I wouldn't take that result too seriously. If everyone posting on LW had an IQ of 140+ it'd suggest LW posters exclusively came from the top 0.4% of the IQ distribution or so. I think selection bias and/or overestimates of people's IQ is more likely.
albert60

So, first post in LW!

New TED Talks video about the role of Bayesian inference in controlling human movement: http://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_wolpert_the_real_reason_for_brains.html

1KPier
Welcome! You should officially say hello; it's free karma.