LESSWRONG
LW

All of Jaime's Comments + Replies

Bragging Thread, June 2014
Jaime00

May I know how Beeminder has helped in your weight loss?

Reply
3Will_BC
I've had some success in the past, but I haven't been able to keep with my program long enough to achieve the results I want and I lost motivation. I don't really have a great deal of disposable income right now, so if I derailed a lot I probably would stop using it. I really like the graphs, and by themselves they are a good motivator, so the thought of losing them is a further motivator. Basically I've had a better diet I've been meaning to stick to and an exercise routine that I sometimes did, but this kept me on track and focused on results.
Open thread, 11-17 March 2014
Jaime100

Question: what are the good ways to help a person in a stressful situation (work/relationships/life in general) ? What help would rationalist prefer, and how does that differ from someone who may be less rational in times of emotional turmoil? Thanks!

Reply
0D_Malik
A rationalist would realize that emotions don't necessarily have any deeper meaning, and are often best fixed through mundane non-emotional interventions. For instance, if you're constantly in stressful situations, you might want to try an adaptogen such as rhodiola rosea. You can fix mild depression by taking cold showers. Cut back on the caffeine, get better sleep, get more exercise. And so on. Personally, I suspect, based on armchair evopsych speculation, that softer interventions (e.g. showing people that you care and are sympathetic) are counterproductive, if your goal is for the other person to stop being in "emotional turmoil".
sixes_and_sevens140

Letting someone know you like them and that they're cared for is a surprisingly powerful gesture. It's also something people are inclined to lose sight of when they're going through a tough time.

It probably needs tweaking to the specific social circumstances, but simply saying something to the effect of "you are awesome and people care about you; don't forget that" goes a lot further than you might expect.

Reply
9[anonymous]
Active listening is by far the best skill you can learn to help someone through a stressful or highly emotional period.. A "rationalist" might be more receptive to solutions than others, but will probably still appreciate the emotional catharsis of a good listener.
maia110

Have you tried asking them if there's any way you can help, and/or expressing generic sympathy?

"Hey, you seem to be going through a lot lately, are you holding up okay? Anything I can do?"

Reply
"Stupid" questions thread
Jaime00

I want to change the not want to self-improve part since a life lazing around seems pretty meaningless, though I am also pretty contented to be a lazy bum.

Reply
2Qiaochu_Yuan
Sorry for reiterating this point, but I still don't understand the question. You seem to either have no reasons or have relatively weak reasons for wanting to self-improve, but you're still asking how to motivate yourself to self-improve anyway. But you could just not. That's okay too. You can't argue self-improvement into a rock. If you're content to be a lazy bum, just stay a lazy bum.
"Stupid" questions thread
Jaime00

My question is : can I change this non desire to improve due to laziness? As in, how do I even get myself to want to improve and get my own butt kicked :)

Reply
1OnTheOtherHandle
Why don't you try starting with the things you already do? How do you spend your free time, typically? You might read some Less Wrong, you might post some comments on forums, you might play video games. Then maybe think of a tiny, little extension of those activities. When you read Less Wrong, if you normally don't think too hard about the problems or thought experiments posed, maybe spend five minutes (or two minutes) by the clock trying to work it out yourself. If you typically post short comments, maybe try to write a longer, more detailed post for every two or three short ones. If you think you watch too much TV, maybe try to cut out 20 minutes and spend those 20 minutes doing something low effort but slightly better, like doing some light reading. Try to be patient with yourself and give yourself a gentle, non-intimidating ramp to "bettering yourself". :)
-2Eugine_Nier
Well, you want to want to improve. That's a start.
0Qiaochu_Yuan
I still don't understand the question. So you don't want to self-improve but you want to want to self-improve? Why?
"Stupid" questions thread
Jaime10

Beyond needing to survive, and maintain a reasonable health, a lazy person can just while their time away and not do anything meaningful (in getting oneself better - better health, better earning ability, learn more skills etc). Is there a fundamental need to also try to improve as a person? What is the rationale behind self improvement or not wanting to do so?

Reply
3Qiaochu_Yuan
I don't understand your question. If you don't want to self-improve, don't.
"Stupid" questions thread
Jaime00

More towards the "is there really a need for things to be done, if not, why do it and waste energy". Which is why I am wondering if fighting akrasia will actually work for a lazy person if the meaning for things to be done is not there in the first place.

Reply
2ChristianKl
Akrasia is about not doing things that you rationally think you should be doing. What you seem to describe isn't akrasia.
"Stupid" questions thread
Jaime60

Hi, have been reading this site only for a few months, glad that this thread came up. My stupid question : can a person simply be just lazy, and how does all the motivation/fighting akrasia techniques help such a person?

Reply
2Jonathan_Graehl
I think I'm simply lazy. But I've been able to cultivate caring about particular goals/activities/habits, and then, with respect to those, I'm not so lazy - because I found them to offer frequent or large enough rewards, and I don't feel like I'm missing out on any particular type of reward. If you think you're missing something and you're not going after it, that might make you feel lazy about other things, even while you're avoiding tackling the thing that you're missing head on. This doesn't answer your question. If I was able to do that, then I'm not just lazy.
2Qiaochu_Yuan
Taboo "lazy." What kind of a person are we talking about, and do they want to change something about the kind of person they are?
0JoshuaZ
What do you mean by lazy? How do you distinguish between laziness and akrasia? By lazy do you mean something like "unmotivated and isn't bothered by that" or do you mean something else?