trentmkelly/LessWrong-43k huggingface dataset:
Habitual Productivity
by So8res — 2014-01-09T06:44:08.080Z

I was able to maintain high productivity for extended periods of time and achieve some difficult goals. In this and the following posts I will discuss some personality quirks and techniques that helped me do this. This post is fairly self-expository. I claim no originality, this is simply an account of how I operate.

Secret number one: Productivity is a habit of mine. As I mentioned in the previous post, I've been following a similar schedule for years: two days doing social things, five days doing something constructive. Before I turned my efforts towards FAI research, this mainly consistent of programming, writing, and self-education.

This habit was not sufficient to get the high productivity I attained in the last few months, but it was definitely necessary.

I understand that this is not helpful advice: "I'm habitually productive" just passes the buck. "Ah", you ask, "but how did you turn productivity into a habit?" For that, I have an ace up my sleeve:

I deplore fun.

Ok, not really. However, I do have a strong aversion to activities that I find unproductive. This aversion is partly innate and partly developed. It first became explicit at the age of nine or ten, when I read The Phantom Tollbooth:

"KILLING TIME!" roared the dog—so furiously that his alarm went off. "It's bad enough wasting time without killing it." And he shuddered at the thought.

- Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

This quote stuck with me. Time is scarce, and I certainly didn't want to kill any.

I developed an explicit distaste for boredom, and went out of my way to avoid it. I kept books near me at all times. I invented stories and thought up new plots when drifting off to sleep. I invented mental puzzles to keep me entertained during class, including a stint in my teens where I worked out the base 12 multiplication tables. Later, I put spare mental cycles towards considering my code, probing edge cases or considering alternative designs (a practice that is no doubt familiar to all programmers).

This distaste broadened as I aged. I grew to realize that I didn't just want to be doing things, I wanted to be doing useful things. My disdain started spreading towards other activities, ones that didn't forward my long-term goals. The memories are hazy, and I'm not sure whether this caused or was caused by my naïve resolution to save the world (or a whole tangle of other factors), but ...
The mechanics of my recent productivity
by So8res — 2014-01-09T02:30:19.908Z

A decade ago, I decided to save the world. I was fourteen, and the world certainly wasn't going to save itself.

I fumbled around for nine years; it's surprising how long one can fumble around. I somehow managed to miss the whole idea of existential risk and the whole concept of an intelligence explosion. I had plenty of other ideas in my head, and while I spent a lot of time honing them, I wasn't particularly looking for new ones.

A year ago, I finally read the LessWrong sequences. My road here was roundabout, almost comical. It took me a while to come to terms with the implications of what I'd read.

Five months ago, after resolving a few internal crises, I started donating to MIRI and studying math.

Three weeks ago, I attended the December MIRI workshop on logic, probability, and reflection. I was invited to visit for the first two days and stay longer if things went well. They did: I was able to make some meaningful contributions.

On Saturday I was invited to become a MIRI research associate.

It's been an exciting year, to say the least.

(ETA: Note that being a research associate gives me access to a number of MIRI resources, but is not a full time position. I will be doing FAI research, but it will be done outside of work. I will be retaining my day job and continuing to donate.)

(ETA: As of 1 April 2014, I am a full-time researcher at MIRI.)

(ETA: As of 1 June 2015, I am now the executive director of MIRI.)

To commemorate the occasion — and because a few people have expressed interest in my efforts — I'll be writing a series of posts about my experience, about what I did and how I did it. This is the first post in the series.

First and foremost, know that I am not done with my aggressive autodidacting. I have a long way to go yet before I'm anywhere near as productive as others who do research with MIRI. I find myself at a checkpoint of sorts, collecting my thoughts in the wake of my first workshop, but next week I will be back to business.

One goal of this post is to give you a feel for how much effort is required to become good at MIRI-relevant mathematics in a short time, and perhaps inspire others to follow my path. It was difficult, but not as difficult as you might think.

Another goal is to provide data for fellow autodidacts. At the least I can provide you with an anchor point, a single datum about how much effort is required to learn at this pac...
Physics grad student: how to build employability in programming & finance
by Stabilizer — 2014-01-08T19:36:39.463Z

I'm a theoretical physics (quantum computing) grad student. I really like what I do, and would like to continue doing it for a long time.

But I'm aware that the job market in academia for freshly minted physics PhDs is not spectacular. For personal reasons, I may not be able to go through the post-doc treadmill and I might want to make good money. Thus: programming & finance. I currently lean towards programming.

I thought LW is a good place to ask for advice related to this.

Current skills: Good at math, definitely not "gifted". I know C++, and some Python; neither inside out. I don't know specific techniques to design good algorithms for problems. For example, I tried my hand a few times at programming contests (including those at small scales) and got my ass handed to me. I've only taken basic college courses in programming.

I'm not very aware of the skills tested in quant interviews. I'm sure googling and talking to a few people will fix this, but please feel free to add your thoughts.

I have about a couple of years left till I graduate, so I can do this properly: What is the best way to make sure that when I graduate I can easily take a job in software or finance after the PhD? Looking for the most bang-for-the-buck (the buck here being time and money) way to do this.

Also, I may have blinders on. Are there other well-paying jobs out there for physics PhDs? I'm not an American citizen, so many of the government/government-funded lab jobs are out of the question.

Thanks in advance.

Some resources I've identified:

1. USACO training gateway.

2. SICP. (How much is it worth going through this?)

3. Cracking the Coding Interview.
Literature-review on cognitive effects of modafinil (my bachelor thesis) 
by David Althaus — 2014-01-08T19:23:47.830Z

Modafinil is probably the most popular cognitive enhancer. LessWrong seems pretty interested in it. The incredible Gwern wrote an excellent and extensive article about it.

Of all the stimulants I tried, modafinil is my favorite one. There are more powerful substances like e.g. amphetamine or methylphenidate, but modafinil has much less negative effects on physical as well as mental health and is far less addictive. All things considered, the cost-benefit-ratio of modafinil is unparalleled.

For those reasons I decided to publish my bachelor thesis on the cognitive effects of modafinil in healthy, non-sleep deprived individuals on LessWrong. Forgive me its shortcomings.

Here are some relevant quotes:

Introduction:

...the main research question of this thesis is if and to what extent modafinil has positive effects on cognitive performance (operationalized as performance improvements in a variety of cognitive tests) in healthy, non-sleep deprived individuals.... The abuse liability and adverse effects of modafinil are also discussed. A literature research of all available, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind studies which examined those effects was therefore conducted.

Overview of effects in healthy individuals:

...Altogether 19 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies about the effects of modafinil on cognitive functioning in healthy, non sleep-deprived individuals were reviewed. One of them (Randall et al., 2005b) was a retrospect analysis of 2 other studies (Randall et al., 2002 and 2005a), so 18 independent studies remain.

Out of the 19 studies, 14 found performance improvements in at least one of the administered cognitive tests through modafinil in healthy volunteers.
Modafinil significantly improved performance in 26 out of 102 cognitive tests, but significantly decreased performance in 3 cognitive tests.

...Several studies suggest that modafinil is only effective in subjects with lower IQ or lower baseline performance (Randall et al., 2005b; Müller et al., 2004; Finke et al., 2010). Significant differences between modafinil and placebo also often only emerge in the most difficult conditions of cognitive tests (Müller et al., 2004; Müller et al., 2012; Winder-Rhodes et al., 2010; Marchant et al., 2009).

Adverse effects:

...A study by Wong et al. (1999) of 32 healthy, male volunteers

...
[Link] Consciousness as a State of Matter (Max Tegmark)
by  — 2014-01-08T18:11:51.690Z

Max Tegmark publishes a preprint of a paper arguing from physical principles that consciousness is “what information processing feels like from the inside,” a position I've previously articulated on lesswrong. It's a very physics-rich paper, but here's the most accessable description I was able to find within it:

If we understood consciousness as a physical phenomenon, we could in principle answer all of these questions [about consciousness] by studying the equations of physics: we could identify all conscious entities in any physical system, and calculate what they would perceive. However, this approach is typically not pursued by physicists, with the argument that we do not understand consciousness well enough.

In this paper, I argue that recent progress in neuroscience has fundamentally changed this situation, and that we physicists can no longer blame neuroscientists for our own lack of progress. I have long contended that consciousness is the way information feels when being processed in certain complex ways, i.e., that it corresponds to certain complex patterns in spacetime that obey the same laws of physics as other complex systems, with no "secret sauce" required.

The whole paper is very rich, and worth a read.
Some thoughts on having children
by pianoforte611 — 2014-01-08T17:26:16.266Z

Disclaimer: I am not a parent.

I've seen a bit of discussion here on whether or not to have children. Most of the discussion that I have seen are about the moral case, but there are factors as well. I'd like to talk about three aspects of parenting that I suspect are the main reasons why people choose to have kids or not: the financial case, the moral case, and the practical case (for lack of a better term). The financial case is straightforward - how expensive is raising kids? The moral case has to do with the best use of resources: is it better to divert resources away from having kids towards charity? The practical case has to do with the actual process of being a parent - the effort it takes and the sense of responsibility.

The Practical Case

I suspect that the main reason for why people don't have kids is because they think that kids are a lot of responsibility because:

1) It takes a lot of work and effort to raise children - effort that could be spent on other activities.

2) Great parenting is extremely important for raising well adjusted, intelligent kids that will grow up to be successful and likable adults.

Regarding 1) yes kids do take a lot of time and effort, but that's not necessarily a bad thing - lots of things that are rewarding require a lot of effort, such as learning a language or a new skill. I don't know what its like to a parent so I won't say much more on this topic.

Regarding 2) it is actually far from a settled question whether parenting style significantly affects the kind of person that your child will grow up to be. There has been some discussion here on the effects of parenting on children. The tentative consensus seems to be that within the range of normal parenting, parenting style has only small impact life outcomes pertaining to happiness, personality, educational achievement. That doesn't mean that how you treat your child doesn't matter. Steven Pinker puts it quite nicely:

Judith Rich Harris is coming out with a book called The Nurture Assumption which argues that parents don’t influence the long-term fates of their children; peers do. The reaction she often gets is, “So are you saying it doesn’t matter how I treat my child?” She points out that this is like someone learning that you can’t change the personality of your spouse and asking, “So are you saying that it doesn’

...
Meetup : London - The Schelling Point Strategy Game (plus socials)
by sixes_and_sevens — 2014-01-08T13:12:53.132Z

Discussion article for the meetup : London - The Schelling Point Strategy Game (plus socials)

WHEN: 19 January 2014 02:00:00PM (+0000)

WHERE: Shakespeare's Head, Holborn, WC2B 6BG

For the first London practical session of 2014, we will be playing The Schelling Point Strategy Game on the 19th of January. All attendees will have to deduce where all other attendees are going to meet in order to participate.

(Hint: it's probably the listed venue. Please don't try and look for us at the information desk at Grand Central Station in New York. We will not be there.)

(Just to be absolutely sure, in case that joke fell completely flat, we will be meeting at the listed, regular venue, the Shakespeare's Head pub in Holborn. Go there.)

The Schelling Point Strategy Game will feature two teams in competition with each other. Not only must each team come up with clever strategies to coordinate amongst themselves on multiple-choice problems, they must also construct fiendish problems to confound the other team's strategies.

No previous knowledge of game theory is required. The session will begin with a brief practical introduction to the relevant concepts before dividing into teams. Once the game is concluded we will spend some time discussing what people came up with. There is typically social / unstructured discussion afterwards.

Please be in attendance by 2pm, as we will be starting shortly thereafter. If you have problems finding the venue or locating us in there, ring 07887 718458 and we'll come and find you.

Plus Socials on the 12th and 26th

We are also having social meetups on Sunday 12th of January and Sunday 26th of January, also at 2pm at the same venue. These are unstructured gatherings without a set agenda or discussion topic. Come along and talk about interesting things with interesting people. We make efforts to welcome newcomers and visitors.

(For the past few months, with the exception of a break over the festive season, we have by default been holding social meetups every Sunday. These dates are included in this post to avoid weekly spamming of Discussion.)

We also have a Google Group where we organise things and discuss local LW-related matters. If you live in / near London or you're a regular visitor, joining could be worth your while.

Discussion article for the meetup : London - The Schelling Point Strategy Game (plus socials)
A big Singularity-themed Hollywood movie out in April offers many opportunities to talk about AI risk
by chaosmage — 2014-01-07T17:48:11.363Z

There's a big Hollywood movie coming out with an apocalyptic Singularity-like story, called Transcendence. (IMDB, Wiki, official site) With an A-list cast and big budget, I contend this movie is the front-runner to be 2014's most significant influence on discussions of superintelligence outside specialist circles. Anyone hoping to influence those discussions should start preparing some talking points.

I don't see anybody here agree with me on this. The movie has been briefly discussed on LW when it was first announced in March 2013, but since then, only the trailer (out since December) has been mentioned. MIRI hasn't published a word about it. This amazes me. We have three months till millions of people who never considered superintelligence are going to start thinking about it - is nobody bothering to craft a response to the movie yet? Shouldn't there be something that lazy journalists, given the job to write about this movie, can find?

Because if there isn't, they'll dismiss the danger of AI like Erik Sofge already did in an early piece about the movie for Popular Science, and nudge their readers to do so too. And that'd be a shame, wouldn't it?
Meetup : Meetup at CFAR, Wednesday: Nutritionally complete bread
by Nisan — 2014-01-07T10:25:33.016Z

Discussion article for the meetup : Meetup at CFAR, Wednesday: Nutritionally complete bread

WHEN:
08 January 2014 07:00:00PM (-0800)

WHERE:
2030 Addison, 3rd floor, Berkeley, CA

Due to popular demand, the Berkeley meetups will be held at the CFAR office from now on. This week, Romeo_Stevens will be showcasing their nutritionally complete bread. (Like Soylent, but better.) Romeo will answer your questions about nutrition, longevity, the bread business, and effective altruism. Also, you will get to taste their bread.

Please arrive between 7pm and 7:30pm on Wednesday. Romeo's presentation will begin at 7:30pm. It won't take long, and we will hang out afterward. CFAR is at 2030 Addison, 3rd floor, Berkeley, near the Downtown Berkeley BART. If you find yourself locked out, text me at:

http://i.imgur.com/Vcafy.png

Discussion article for the meetup : Meetup at CFAR, Wednesday: Nutritionally complete bread
Meetup : Boston - Macroeconomic Theory (Joe Schneider)
by Vika — 2014-01-07T02:49:44.203Z

Discussion article for the meetup : Boston - Macroeconomic Theory (Joe Schneider)

WHEN:
12 January 2014 02:00:00PM (-0500)

WHERE:
MIT - 25 Ames St, Cambridge, MA, 02139

Joe Schneider will be discussing macroeconomic theory, and how to apply it to your world model. Some topics include:

-different colors of money

-idealistic supply/demand curves

-special cases of supply/demand

-actual official definitions (rather than LWisms)

-how markets break (and what you can do about it)

"I am decidedly in the Keynesian camp, but I will include an explanation of supply side theory as well. It is important to at least understand how other people think before rejecting it. If you are a supply sider, please come and correct me.

For those of you already familiar with macroeconomic theory, this will mostly be a review. However, I encourage you to come and share your insights on this critical topic."

Cambridge/Boston-area Less Wrong 2nd and 4th Sunday meetups are at 2pm in MIT's building 66 at 25 Ames St, room 156. Room number subject to change based on availability; signs will be posted with the actual room number. Meetups on other weeks are at Citadel in Porter Sq.

Our default schedule is as follows:

—Phase 1: Arrival, greetings, unstructured conversation.

—Phase 2: The headline event. This starts promptly at 3pm, and lasts 30-60 minutes.

—Phase 3: Further discussion. We'll explore the ideas raised in phase 2, often in smaller groups.

—Phase 4: Dinner.

Discussion article for the meetup : Boston - Macroeconomic Theory (Joe Schneider)
January Monthly Bragging Thread
by diegocaleiro — 2014-01-06T21:44:36.664Z

As in Joshua Blaine's original description (below), but may be used to brag about things you've accomplished either this month (January) or the previous one (December), assuming that you haven't brought it up in any earlier Monthly Bragging Thread.

In an attempt to encourage more people to actually do awesome things (a la instrumental rationality), I am proposing a new monthly thread (can be changed to bi-weekly, should that be demanded). Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to comment on this thread explaining the most awesome thing you've done this month. You may be as blatantly proud of yourself as you feel. You may unabashedly consider yourself the coolest freaking person ever because of that awesome thing you're dying to tell everyone about. This is the place to do just that.

Remember, however, that this isn't any kind of progress thread. Nor is it any kind of proposal thread. This thread is solely for people to talk about the awesomest thing they've done all month. not will do. not are working on. have already done. This is to cultivate an environment of object level productivity rather than meta-productivity methods.

So, what's the coolest thing you've done this month?
Meetup : Durham Meetup - Bias Defenses from Influence
by curiousepic — 2014-01-06T21:17:36.889Z

Discussion article for the meetup : Durham Meetup - Bias Defenses from Influence

WHEN:
09 January 2014 07:00:00PM (-0500)

WHERE:
2411 N Roxboro St, Durham NC 27704

We will walk through some techniques to recognize and compensate for some biases from the book Influence, by Robert Cialdini.

This Thursday 7:00 PM, at the House with the Redish Door, 2411 N Roxboro St, parking on Ellerbee. Hangouts, libations, and/or games to subsequently ensue in-situ or at Fullsteam.

Discussion article for the meetup : Durham Meetup - Bias Defenses from Influence
Meetup : Melbourne Social Meetup
by Maelin — 2014-01-06T06:43:54.147Z

Discussion article for the meetup : Melbourne Social Meetup

WHEN:
17 January 2014 05:42:30PM (+1100)

WHERE:
5 / 52 Leicester St, Carlton, VIC

The January social meetup will be on Friday 17th at our usual location in Carlton. All welcome from 6:30pm.

Our social meetups are informal events where we gather for games and conversation about any topics of interest. We sometimes play board/card games, and we will often play a parlour game like Mafia/Werewolf or The Resistance later in the evening. We usually arrange take-away food for dinner.

Just ring number 5 when you get to the front door, and we'll buzz you up. If you get lost or have any problems, you can call me (Richard) on 0421-231-789.

Discussion article for the meetup : Melbourne Social Meetup
Meetup : West LA—How to Live on 22 Hours a Day
by OpenThreadGuy — 2014-01-06T06:11:51.012Z

Discussion article for the meetup : West LA—How to Live on 22 Hours a Day

WHEN:
08 January 2014 07:00:00PM (-0800)

WHERE:
10850 West Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064, USA

How to get in: Go to the Westside Tavern in the upstairs Wine Bar (all ages welcome), located inside the Westside Pavillion on the second floor, right by the movie theaters. The entrance sign says "Lounge".

Parking is free for 24 hours a day. Sorry, I mean three hours. Just three.

Discussion: Previously discussed on Less Wrong, How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, by Arnold Bennett, is a remarkable and short book from 1910 about how to make the most out of your time. Hustle and bustle have increased a tad since then, so it it is my goal to compress the book's 24-hour methodology into a paltry 22. Bennett gives you two hours with which to deviate from his programme—I am giving you two more.

Recommended reading:

How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, by Arnold Bennett. I highly recommend reading this book, either before the meetup, so that you are prepared to discuss it, or after the meetup, when you've been sufficiently oiled for it. Either is fine, as I will prepare a summary.

No prior knowledge of or exposure to Less Wrong is necessary; this will be generally accessible. It's been a while, comrades; this will be our first meetup of 2014! Might I say, welcome back, returners, and welcome, new-folk!

Discussion article for the meetup : West LA—How to Live on 22 Hours a Day