The two things I've found to work here are not to use negative emotions to keep me from doing things that I want to avoid, but rather to intellectually deconstruct those things until they cease to have power over me. For example, I once tried a low fat, low carb diet. Not fun, and naturally I had intense cravings for things that were sweet and fatty. So when I went to the grocery store, I didn't avoid the bakery. I went straight there and analyzed the artistic value of the cakes--examining how the frosting had been applied, the colors that had been used an...
Taking copious notes in lectures works for me on several levels. I don't just write down what the lecturer is saying but also try to connect it with other knowledge and make notes about that as well. Rote memorization does not work as well as association, so this helps me link the new knowledge into my broader knowledge base. It also makes listening a much more mentally active process so I can pay attention better, and engages my kinesthetic learning side and reinforces my visual side, which also helps since listening is not my strongest learning mode. I d...
Hello, Less Wrong:
I have been lurking around LW for a while after finding it from links on MIRI or FHI. I've only recently begun to learn about Bayesian probability and inference on a practical level. I'm going through school for a bachelors in game programming. For now my primary focus is on the simplified AI currently used in gaming, but I believe that more sophisticated AI technologies like natural language parsing and more realistic behavioral simulations and problem solving will be useful in games in the near future. I work as a help desk tech where I...
I fell into conspiratorial thinking when I was less experienced in the ways of the world. Noticing that a dark OD green helicopter with subdued markings could easily be mistaken for an unmarked black helicopter when viewed against a bright sky by an untrained observer was the start of finding my way out of that one. I remember that some things that were claimed I recognized immediately (everyone has seen black SWAT uniforms, for example) and this created a sense of credibility, while others I suspected (I was anti-internationalist back then), and I didn’t ... (read more)