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All of IanV's Comments + Replies

Meetup : Montreal Meetup - Biases and Biased Boardgaming
IanV00

Are there weekly meeting in Montreal? I lived in Montreal for two years and never heard of it. So back to the question: are they weekly? and if yes, where every week? I live in Sherbrooke and might come.

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0DaFranker
So far the plan is to keep this weekly, yes. Mondays at 18:30 local time, at the Broadway Cheesecake Factory (address above) on the second floor, for now. It's very recent, so it's normal you wouldn't have heard of it.
Learning how to explain things
IanV30

Try explaining it to yourself out loud as if you were 5 years old. You can always enlist the ears of a friend or family to play the 5 year old.

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Closet survey #1
IanV60

I believe that every single social interaction is linked to power/hierarchy. (see Robert Greene book's)

I also believe that most on LW simply opt-out their local/most proximate hierarchy (and they may actively and/or secretly seek to discredit it), as Paul Graham in high-school. In one of his articles he talked of how wanted to be more intelligent than popular. That is dominance in one field instead of another. (A tip to entrepreneurs is to aim to be #1 in your field or not start at all.)

If it's not their most proximate hierarchy then it is the one they int... (read more)

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1gwern
http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html
How Greedy Bastards Have Saved More Lives Than Mother Theresa Ever Did
IanV10

Touché.

And I wonder what you think about perpetuating the false image. Personally I have trouble with that. Not sure why.

p.s. (BS is a great show.)

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0waitingforgodel
The BS "fancy food" episode has got to be my favorite -- there's something about fancy people paying $25 to eat off-brand cool-whip from a whine glass that cracks me up. Perpetuating the false image isn't desirable, but I think minimal in this case.... I'd hardly call "greedy bastards save more lives than mother theresa" a shining endorsement :p
Of Gender and Rationality
IanV30

There are driver's licenses how about sex' licenses? (minus the minimal age requirement) You have to show your ability to have sane sex through a written test and a practical test. Or something.

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1rabidchicken
Errr.... I'm an not sure how exactly that would work. People already are taught how to use contraception from an early age, (maybe not young enough though), and the rest of what you need to know appears to be instinctive. My question was how could you have a country with no age limit for consent which does not become a refuge for child predators. If a child wants to have sex with someone older, it should not be an issue, and if the child is forced into it, then it is rape whether there is an age of consent or not. So as long as children are encouraged to speak out if they are being forced into sex, having an age limit may be unnecessary. Nobody here has actually argued in favour of an age of consent yet, which I find interesting. Does it have any benefits compared to only punishing adults who have been proven to act without a child's consent?
6Alicorn
Ummmmm.
How Greedy Bastards Have Saved More Lives Than Mother Theresa Ever Did
IanV40

Yes, it is a low bar. Mother Theresa should not be used as an example of good-doing. She wanted people to suffer so that the others in their confortable lives (us) would have something to pray about, and find peace and redemption in the suffering of others. There are accounts of this by nuns who left the holy mother order,

Pause.

Christopher Hitchens' book on Mother theresa could enlighten you.

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5waitingforgodel
The Penn and Teller episode is also a pretty good source. She's a poor choice for a waterline, but she's a great choice for a headline :p
Of Gender and Rationality
IanV100

You might be interested in reading The Case Against Adolescence by Dr. Robert Epstein. (I believe the last edition is called Teen 2.0)

It is eye-opening on many aspects. There is a story in it that struck me. A twelve year old had an affair with his married teacher (who had two kids on her own). She went to prison for two-three years. Once out of the slammer, she had sex again with her ex-pupil. This time around 7-8 years of prison. While in prison she gave birth to a child. The child was raised by the father (the student) and that father's mother. Reporte... (read more)

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4rabidchicken
12 seems too young to me for a sexual relationship, but that may be due to social conditioning. On average, males become capable of reproduction when they reach 12-13. (which probably is also when they become capable of enjoying it) If he was willingly involved there should not be an issue, but the general assumption seems to be that if someone in early puberty already is having sex, (particularly with an adult) they are being threatened or coerced into it. To make matters more complicated, I have heard of cases where children willingly were in a relationship like what you mentioned, and then condemned the adult under parental pressure. the flip side of the argument for protecting children is that since older teens and adults can also be forced to have sex against their will, how can we remove restrictions at any age? having stronger muscles and a bit more experience is of limited use if someone threatens you with a gun. I don't know if I can actually come to an opinion on whether we should have an age of consent to shelter children, (even the ones who may want to have sex) or assume that anyone who has reached puberty is mature enough to have a relationship, and tell someone if they are being abused. I probably have not collected enough information at this point :p
1wedrifid
Well, technically... ;)
Ask and Guess
IanV30

I believe to be an asker asking with innuendo is always ideal.

You can ask normally or with innuendo. The other person can accept or not. If getting rejected is bad then you get 50% to have a bad output when simply asking(-10). When you use innuendo, then there is no real rejection, hence no bad feelings (0). The rest of the time, you get what you asked for (+10).

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Ask and Guess
IanV20

Is this a concrete example? Or based on one or many? I am having trouble considering it. (Walmart perhaps?)

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Welcome to Less Wrong! (2010-2011)
IanV60

Hi, Living in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and studying in the equivalent of college. Lazy is a word describing me well. Seeking consonnance and being lazy, most of the time I think and do not act. I seek to act free of pointless things, opinions, biases and ?

And it is difficult. LW is breeze of fresh air to my mind. I want it to help me change myself. I want to be more congruent and rational.

Discovering new possibilities makes me see my inadequacies and now I feel I have to do something about it.

This is a step.

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Of Gender and Rationality
IanV120

I am 18 years old, somewhat new to LW and not as congruent/rational as desired. If your offer stands for others who are not under 18, I'd love to hear about that. I could use some help.

I do not think there is a need make LW more accessible to teenagers. I am not even sure I know what that means. Are we, those younger, that alien? (rethorical question) "Teenage" is a joke. Not as funny as religion, though. (A 12 years old is sitting at a bar with coworkers after a long day of work, 150 years ago: normal) As far as a I am concerned the differences between "teenagers" and adults are from age segregation. Differences in style, not principles.

That said, I am new. To the Welcome page!

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8rabidchicken
Upvoted. I am always surprised how widespread discrimination against teenagers is, considering that everyone has to be one at some point. Every difference between people below the age of majority, and people above which an adult has been able to point out to me when I have discussed this seems to be a product of the culture we are raised in, not an inherent quality of humans within an arbitrary age range.