tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65903582856737671712024-03-13T04:54:29.255-07:00A Nice Place To Live A guide to making mostly good things happenAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.comBlogger132125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-90629847674425216842015-01-31T08:17:00.000-08:002015-01-31T08:17:17.447-08:00Figuring Good Out - January Master Post<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For this month's Figuring Good Out on "origin stories", we received 5 submissions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I wrote about <a href="http://a-nice-place-to-live.blogspot.ca/2015/01/changing.html"><span style="color: purple;">my transition</span></a> from atheism to pop philosophy & science to LessWrong to EA.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Michelle Hutchinson <a href="http://www.effective-altruism.com/ea/e7/why_i_give/"><span style="color: purple;">wrote about</span></a> how her meeting with Will Macaskill in graduate school led to her joining Giving What We Can.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bernadette Young <a href="http://www.effective-altruism.com/ea/e8/dorothea_brooke_an_alternative_origin_story_for/"><span style="color: purple;">argued</span></a> that the literary character Dorothea Brooke is an alternative example of an EA advocate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tom Stocker <a href="http://www.effective-altruism.com/ea/ef/many_winding_roads_an_ea_origin_story/"><span style="color: purple;">explained</span></a> the many different factors that guided him toward EA.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Peter Hurford <a href="http://www.effective-altruism.com/ea/ei/ea_is_the_best_choice_ive_ever_made/"><span style="color: purple;">covered</span></a> how the connections he made in the EA network influenced major life decisions of his.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">February's topic, as suggested by Ben Kuhn & Ruthie, is "<b>writing <i>about</i> explaining effective altruism</b>." This isn't a call for new definitions or explanations of EA - it's a call for thinking about how to explain EA, especially in person.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-81165529144279881782015-01-26T16:28:00.004-08:002015-01-26T16:28:30.169-08:00I'm On Gratipay<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You can now find me on <a href="https://gratipay.com/michaelcbitton/"><span style="color: purple;">Gratipay</span></a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm hoping to continue looking into the relationships between EA, marketing, social movements, and art. I think I'm relatively non-replaceable here in that nobody else associated with the EA movement seems too interested in personally researching these areas.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-60628668236842565252015-01-25T19:50:00.004-08:002015-01-25T19:50:52.697-08:00Cellphones As Paperweights<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm skeptical of most art's ability to do much in terms of making the world better. This could easily be interpreted as me being skeptical of art itself as a tool for improving the world. I could easily be accused of overlooking how art provokes discussion, challenges norms, entertains and inspires audiences, and motivates empathy.</span><div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But it's not that I don't recognize these benefits. It's that I believe art can be <i>so much more powerful than this</i>.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We're in the early stages of art being used to save lives and reduce suffering in a predictable and scientific way. Compared to this, I don't much care for provoking discussion. Most art probably does more good than harm but using a life-saving tool for the self-actualization of the rich is like using a cellphone as a paperweight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Paperweights do more good than harm too but if you found out yours could connect you to Google Maps, you'd pick it up off the desk and start keeping it by your side. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm not skeptical of art as much as I am of the artists - those who would rather challenge gender norms in the West than eradicate malaria in the South.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">While the artists create on firmly weighted down paper, the third world's living in poverty and the rich are missing their calls.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-51437137997192851002015-01-24T17:36:00.002-08:002015-01-25T13:40:36.363-08:00Will Effective Altruize For Food<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm hoping to quit my job and start part-time or full-time paid EA work for an EA organization or private funder(s) in the near future.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you're reading this post, you likely already know what I have to offer and how much you value those skills. I can write, research, summarize, philosophize, organize, social psychologize, and do various other tasks like Google Grants optimization and data entry. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I also have media skills from my BA and MA: videography, editing, sound/radio, etc.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let me know if you have a project in mind. We can Skype. :)</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Potential Projects:</span></h3><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At Ben Kuhn's suggestion, I'm listing some projects I could work on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">One possibility is to continue applying EA-style ideas to artistic production. I'm interested in untangling the messiness of the arts ecosystem and determining how to yield the greatest cultural value from artistic output. My impression is that this question isn't considered to be high-value among EAs.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">A second possibility is to write more in-depth book summaries. I was contracted to summarize Cialdini's Influence recently and I could do the same thing with various other books and resources if that's considered useful. I also wrote a summary of Daniel Gilbert's Stumbling on Happiness and David Allen's Getting Things Done. I'm not sure how useful people would find these summaries.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">A third possibility is to delve more into marketing, communications, and outreach. I've done some of that on this blog but I definitely don't have professional-level marketing skills & knowledge. I recently began summarizing the textbook Principles of Marketing and I think it might be high-value for me to continue learning marketing. Marketing is one of the things the EA community wants to improve at but nobody is really bothering to learn the subject.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-43810087060047046712015-01-10T10:19:00.000-08:002015-01-10T12:54:19.954-08:00The Choose-your-Charity Tax<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Boalt Hall suggests a <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7kx5b3n1#page-5"><span style="color: purple;">Choose-Your-Charity Tax</span></a>. This would
provide a tax credit of one dollar for each dollar of charitable giving, up to
a certain limit, perhaps 10% of one’s income. So if a taxpayer grossing
$100,000 a year donates $10,000 dollars to the charity of his or her choice, he
or she would receive a $10,000 tax credit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“A decision to vote for the Choose-your-Charity Tax
expresses a willingness to endure significant personal sacrifice, but only <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">willingness to do so if others match that
willingness</i>.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“And if others match, then the sacrifice is not a drop in the
bucket, but a great wave of change – and the taxpayers know that. By matching
contributions with over 100 million US taxpayers, it would be possible to solve
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">vast</i> problems. Roughly speaking,
supporting such a policy is equivalent to being willing to give $1 when the
personal price of giving that dollar is one-hundred-millionth of a dollar. This
is the ultimate expansion of the proven “matching” tactic that has already
helped increase donations to charities.”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For the average taxpayer, 10% of their income equals roughly
$4,000 per year. Even those that agree with Singer’s ideas on charity might
struggle to take that $4,000 dollars out of their own pocket and give it to a
poor person. But with the Choose-your-Charity Tax, your $4,000 donation is
matched by 100 million other American taxpayers, producing $400 billion/year in
extra charity.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-73564890479553159262015-01-07T17:41:00.002-08:002015-01-07T17:41:42.442-08:00Kosher Consequentialism<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In trying to prove that consequentialism faces difficulties, my thesis supervisor gave the example of self-driving cars.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Suppose you're riding in a self-driving car. Suddenly, you wind up in a desperate situation with a minivan full of passengers. Your vehicle has two options: (1) to collide in such a way that you survive but that several people in the minivan die or (2) to collide in such a way that you die and everybody else survives. If programmed with consequentialist instincts, your car would intentionally kill you in order to save the majority.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">From this, I was supposed to gather that <i>obviously</i>, this would be horrible and that <i>obviously</i>, this suggests a problem with consequentialist ethics.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Whether self-sacrificial cars are <i>good</i> for society, I have no idea. It isn't as obvious to me as it is to my supervisor that it's wrong. But even presuming that it is as horrible as he suggests, this is only a problem for the most naive forms of consequentialism.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is a market for kosher meat because its believed by some to be more pious (it isn't), more humane (it isn't), more sanitary (it isn't), and healthier (it isn't) than regular meat. For all of these imaginary benefits, you have to pay more to get it. Some people - mainly the ones unconcerned with the piety factor - don't need to pay extra for the real thing but just want something with that familiar kosher taste. Supermarkets now offer "kosher style" meat. It isn't actually kosher but it tries to replicate kosher in the same way that a veggie burger tries to replicate beef.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A lot of thought experiments that try to prove consequentialism is awful really only refute "consequentialist style" theories of ethics. My supervisor's error was in confusing consequentialism ("seek the greatest good for the greatest number") with an action that <i>seems</i> to seek the greatest good for the greatest number but <i>actually</i> leads to more harm than an alternative action.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kosher consequentialists are interested in the "actually" part of the equation. Just because sacrificing your life for five others <i>seems</i> like a very utilitarian thing to do, it <i>actually</i> isn't consequentialist at all if that action leads to horrible outcomes (which my supervisor believes it does).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If a world where self-driving cars make naive "consequentialist style" decisions to kill their owners is worse than a world where cars make other decisions, then consequentialism prefers the alternative. Kosher consequentialism favors <i>whatever works</i>. If you can imagine a nightmare scenario caused by consequentialist actions, then you are very probably imagining actions that are only superficially similar to consequentialism.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You could make a consequentialist justification for the car saving the minivan <i>and</i> you could make a consequentialist justification for the car protecting its owner. Attributing consequentialism to the option that superficially appears to serve the greater good isn't quite kosher.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-83266143386929717212015-01-05T21:11:00.001-08:002015-01-07T16:16:24.526-08:00Changing<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For this month's Figuring Good Out, the topic is "EA origin stories." </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I don't think of myself as "<i>an</i> EA" and I can't remember how things happened very well. Looking back, the years blend together and I can't quite remember the cause-and-effect of it all. But here's a story.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I've always been interested in philosophical questions and arguments. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think my main obsessions as a teenager were art (what makes "good art" good?), morality (what makes "good deeds" good?), and atheism. Coming from a broken home where I spent alternating weekends with my orthodox Jewish father and my basically-secular Jewish mother, I grew up in a uniquely good environment to produce anti-religious views. I'd go from eating McDonald's one day to waiting six hours between meat and dairy the next. One Saturday I'd watch cartoons all day and eat in front of the TV. The next Saturday I'd have to go to synagogue and sit silently through </span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">kiddush</span></i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">. Who could grow up in these conditions and see the religious bits as anything other than unnecessary inconveniences?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I never lost my faith, I just never believed to begin with. I remember one of the teachers at my Jewish high school asking the class about their religious beliefs. I was surprised at all the hands going up. I remember walking home as a teenager and the thought occurring to me for the first time that everyone else <i>actually believes this stuff</i>. When hearing the stories from the Old Testament as a kid, I had always thought of them as fables like Jack and the Beanstalk and The Boy Who Cried Wolf. It had weirdly never really occurred to me that everybody around me, including the adults, thought Jonah and the Whale was non-fiction.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When the New Atheism movement emerged, I was an easy sell. Dawkins and Hitchens led me to Harris and Dennett, who led me to Pinker, Krauss, and Singer, who led me to the Churchlands and to science communicators like Michio Kaku, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Brian Greene, and Dan Ariely. And the arguments against religion brought me to David Hume and Bertrand Russell and the circle kept expanding. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I took some philosophy electives in school: Intro to Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Mind, and then another course that talked exclusively about Kant for the first half (and then apparently talked exclusively about Hegel for the second half but I stopped going by that point). I kept reading. Sam Harris's book <i>The Moral Landscape</i> got me to change my mind about one of my favourite topics. At the time, I had a softer stance on morality where nothing could be objectively good or bad because something-about-culture. Still though, becoming a consequentialist had no real effect on my behaviour. I read his book, agreed with his arguments, changed my beliefs, and did nothing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fortunately, I had already read two books by Peter Singer in my first year of university. The first, <i>The Life You Can Save</i>, I read after my Philosophy of Science teacher told our class about an argument that one moral philosopher makes for giving to the poor. He confessed that although the argument had initially made him feel guilty, he'd found possible weak points in the philosopher's premises after further consideration. I had never heard of Peter Singer before but I, for one, had not been able to find these weak points and was still feeling guilty. I read his book, agreed with his arguments, changed my beliefs, and did nothing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The second book I read by Peter Singer was <i>Animal Liberation</i>. I had always been kind of sympathetic to animal suffering but never really cared enough to inconvenience myself over it. Singer's book was an eye opener for me. He kept quoting this amazing passage by Jeremy Bentham (who I'd never heard of) that made everything clear. Although I became very confident that eating animals was immoral, and tentatively thought that I would like to become a vegetarian in the future, my general stance on the issue was: eating meat is bad but I just don't care. I read his book, agreed with his arguments, changed my beliefs, and still I did nothing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This sort of pop philosophy and pop science became one of my main past times. I read articles from my favourite philosophers on a daily basis. A friend and I began a pact where every day we'd send each other one new article to read. I remember the excitement I'd found when, after about a week of doing this, I discovered Daniel Dennett's <a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/dennett/bibliography.html"><span style="color: purple;">Tufts University page</span></a> online. It contained the PDFs for what seemed to be every article he'd ever written, spanning back several decades. I decided to read through all of them in order, a few each day. I never got more than a few articles deep. My friend called me one day to tell me that everything had changed - that he had found enough reading material to keep us both busy for ages - it was endless - it was all compiled into neat sections on this one website - and so my attention turned toward LessWrong.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My friend had been in a phase of figuring out what he wanted to do with his life, so he was emailing all sorts of folks in various professional fields to ask for advice. One of these people worked for an organization called the Singularity Institute. The employee (Malo), sent my friend a long list of reading material, including the Sequences. I began reading and it was right up my alley.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There's a specific feeling I get when I have more exciting reading material than I have energy to stay up any longer. I can't remember how long it took me to read the Sequences but I know that I was reading for hours a day and I have particularly warm memories of the How to Actually Use Words section.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Through these, I got into "rationality" and became more interested in cognitive biases. I read <i>Thinking, Fast and Slow</i> and it became my new favourite book. I read <i>Nudge</i> by Thaler and Sunstein. I read Luke Muehlhauser's <a href="http://commonsenseatheism.com/"><span style="color: purple;">Common Sense Atheism</span></a> blog basically cover to cover within a month. I read mountains of material, agreed with many arguments, changed my beliefs many times, and still I did nothing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At some point, I heard the term "effective altruism." It may have been on LessWrong. It may have been on Luke's podcast. It may have been from Peter Singer. Or from my friend. Or from following Eliezer Yudkowsky on Facebook. The origin of my EA story is the fuzziest part of my EA origin story. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At any rate, I discovered the movement and felt no resistance to any of its ideas.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> As mentioned earlier, I had already bought Singer's argument for EA from the moment my teacher told it to my class, years prior.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The ideas had grown on me to the point that I was becoming more interested in all this rationality and philosophy talk than I was in the topic of my career and education. When I entered my MA in Media Production, I had no ideas at all for the sort of creative video project I had planned to produce. My mind was in philosophy mode. A couple of epiphanies about art later, I decided to write a thesis paper about what an effective altruist worldview has to say about artistic value. <a href="https://www.academia.edu/8094582/Fiction_Fast_and_Slow_Narrative_Media_As_A_Tool_for_Social_Change"><span style="color: purple;">My paper</span></a> transformed many times in the telling but it sort of stuck to that theme.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the early days of researching my paper, I began to realize how big my topic was. If I wanted it to be as good as my favourite books and papers, I'd have to learn a lot more. I </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">emailed Brian Tomasik, whose blog I had been reading. In hindsight, I don't know why I emailed him given that my project had so little to do with his subject matter. He responded that no, I didn't need to learn game theory and to my surprise, he added me on Facebook. For the past year or so, I've asked Brian a totally random question on Facebook about once a month ("hey, so how does eating meat compare to buying from Nike?"). He played a big part (along with the documentary, <i>Earthlings</i>) in me finally becoming a vegetarian.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now that I think about it, when I first emailed Brian, I asked him if I could join the Foundational Research Institute, naively thinking that I was qualified. He responded that I should create my own blog to showcase my abilities. I started A Nice Place To Live and posted 1+ post a day for the first month with Brian as my only reader.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Slowly, in incremental steps, I approached the cluster of properties associated with effective altruism. I started reading GiveWell's blog. I familiarized myself with more theory on existential risk. I completed my thesis paper. I once donated $50 to the <a href="https://www.againstmalaria.com/Default.aspx"><span style="color: purple;">Against Malaria Foundation</span></a>. But really, I've changed very little.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, I participate in the EA blogging carnival that I created, post on the EA forum, have a bunch of EA Facebook friends, and I <i>think</i> a lot of EAs know who I am but I'm not sure about that. If at some point in this story, I crossed the threshold of EA-dom, I cannot point to any explicit point of origin.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-83424323124944678812015-01-05T20:52:00.004-08:002015-01-07T16:15:26.763-08:00New Summary of GTD<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last month, I <a href="http://a-nice-place-to-live.blogspot.ca/2014/12/summary-of-david-allens-getting-things.html"><span style="color: purple;">summarized</span></a> David Allen's Google Talk explaining the ideas from his book, <i>Getting Things Done</i>. The talk motivated me to read <a href="http://transhumanism-russia.ru/documents/books/gtd/Getting_Things_Done_-_The_Art_Of_Stress-Free_Productivity.pdf"><span style="color: purple;">the book</span></a>. Here is my somewhat more in-depth summary of GTD.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Work and play are famously
believed to be in tension with one another. David Allen says they don’t have to
be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You can keep up on your
personal life, handle everything you need to handle, and you can do it without
falling behind at work, losing sleep, or becoming more stressed. Allen’s method
isn’t based on sheer willpower – it’s a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">system</i>
that breeds efficiency and relaxed productivity, making you get more done in
the same amount of time, while keeping your cool.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As Allen puts it, “There is a
way to get a grip on it all, stay relaxed, and get meaningful things done with
minimal effort, across the whole spectrum of your life and work. You can
experience what the martial artists call a ‘mind like water’ and top athletes
refer to as the ‘zone,’ within the complex world in which you're engaged”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">How does the surface of a
pond react to the drop of a pebble? Perfectly appropriately. A pond doesn’t
overreact or underreact. Ripples form according to the mass of the pebble and
the force of the drop. Nothing else. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In karate, students are
trained to emulate the pond in this way. Stay relaxed, stay balanced, apply
techniques, and don’t overreact or underreact. Allen carries this metaphor over
to self-management. People are constantly giving either more or less attention
to things than they deserve: whether it’s their boss’s comments or the growing
pile of dishes in the sink. Be like the pond. Still like water. Neither
overreacting or underreacting. Respond perfectly appropriately.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Think back to the last time
you were highly productive. Were you stressing out or did you feel in control?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">While you were reading this
summary, your mind probably wandered, at least once, to something else, maybe
something that you need to get done later or that’s been bothering you for a
while. During the time that you had these thoughts, did you make any progress
on them? Probably not. If something’s on your mind then you probably aren’t
making any progress on it and, by definition, your mind isn’t clear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If nothing else, these
distractions are wastes of time and attention. An organizational system that
takes these tasks off our minds is the first step toward greater focus and
productivity. Items stay on your mind because (1) you haven’t thought of the next
action you can take to handle that item, (2) you are unsure about the intended
outcome you’re seeking, or (3) you haven’t put reminders of the action and
outcome in a place where you’ll see them at the right time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>TIP</b>: The first lesson to
learn from GTD is to write things down, even when you don’t feel like you need
to. If your brain had a brain, “it would remind you of the things you needed to
do only when you could do something about them”. But you’re on your own with a
piece of equipment that remembers you need milk when you’re in the shower but not
when you’re in the grocery store. So get things on paper. I recommend using an
app like Evernote to send yourself reminders at specific times (e.g. when you
know you’ll be home).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Work of the past used to be
clear-cut and physical. Fields needed ploughing and crops needed harvesting.
Nowadays, most jobs are much more ambiguous. The organizational tools of the
past (calendars, to-do lists, and ABC prioritization) don’t map perfectly onto
contemporary jobs where employees are buried in email, must interact with other
departments, pick up the slack of their coworkers, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We need new tools that are
better suited for modern day jobs and people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s typical of motivational
speakers and gurus to preach “the big picture:” the self-reflexive
clarification of fundamental goals and values. Finding meaning and order in
life. Allen instead preaches the little picture: next actions and outcomes.
He’s not outlining a philosophy of How To Live A Meaningful Life – he’s looking
at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">what works </i>for getting things done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Almost everyone feels as if
they have too much on their plate and not enough time to do it all. This is
because they don’t have a proper <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">system</i>
for managing their “open loops”. Taking mental notes and then doing what comes
to mind is not a system. It’s letting life happen to you. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What works</i> is taking charge of the commitments you need to get
done. They range from household chores, to things you want to buy, to places
you need to tidy, to emails you need to check, to people you agreed to meet.
Anything you intend or intended to do that hasn’t been accomplished yet is an
open loop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Allen offers a five-step
system for workflow mastery:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Collecting</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Processing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Organizing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Reviewing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Doing</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The process begins with the
collection of all your commitments. Go through your calendar, your files, the
papers lying around your house, etc. Gather up all your to-do lists, write down
all your appointments and things that need to be bought, moved, or handled in
any way. Once these commitments are all one in place, you have the beginning of
a system <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that you can trust</i>. If your
system is incomplete, your brain won’t trust it. But if you know that all your
commitments are in one folder, you’ll never need to look for them anywhere other
than in that folder. Open loops won’t weigh on your mind so much once you know
exactly where they’re filed and when you’ll get to them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once you’ve collected all
your commitments into one place, it’s time to process them. There is a specific
process for sorting open loops.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExYzbtKeRg3Ck9x-hfSS7Hta2iK27u6Ty0KcZ0Il9XK-qC-_whbe9DwzdjOCK1XH00riu5V6L-o_THheHxJPKVwknCVFCcoZNAEyIKsIx969rkXiGL1IbzDXs1ljBKKwt_AAGz1nm7EuN/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-01-04+at+10.02.42+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExYzbtKeRg3Ck9x-hfSS7Hta2iK27u6Ty0KcZ0Il9XK-qC-_whbe9DwzdjOCK1XH00riu5V6L-o_THheHxJPKVwknCVFCcoZNAEyIKsIx969rkXiGL1IbzDXs1ljBKKwt_AAGz1nm7EuN/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-01-04+at+10.02.42+PM.png" height="400" width="302" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If something can be done in
less than 2 minutes, do it now. If it can’t, ask yourself if you’re the right
person for this job and consider delegating it. If you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i> the right person, defer it. Schedule a specific time for it to
get done. Make a note on your calendar. Treat your calendar as sacred and
resist the impulse to postpone actions once you’ve reached the date marked for
them on your calendar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Allen also suggests a folder
for reference materials, as well as a Someday/Maybe file for things that you
might want to accomplish one day but that aren’t pressing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Reminders will be useless if
they aren’t seen at the right time and place. For easy reviewing, place tasks
in a calendar, “Next Actions” list, “Projects” folder, and/or a “Waiting For”
list (for tasks that require something else to happen before you can take your
next action).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Group your next actions into
bunches that can be completed successively. So your “Calls” list should include
all the phone calls you need to make. Once you’re in phone mode, you might as
well stay there. And “Errands” should include all the things you need to do
once you’re out. Other suggested list headings are “At Computer,” “At Office,”
“At Home,” “Agendas,” and “Read/Review.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Non-actionable items can be
stored in a “tickler file.” The tickler file holds physical reminders that you
want to see on specific dates – like a three-dimensional calendar. Imagine a
folder containing documents filed for different dates. Basically, it’s the same
idea as sending emails to your future self except that it utilizes physical
documents. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And whatever needs to be
trashed, trash. You probably have a lot of junk hanging around that clutters up
your workspace. Throw out everything except supplies, equipment, decorations,
and reference material. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When it comes to selecting
next actions in the moment, consider four criteria:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Context – Where are you and
what tools do you have at your disposal?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Time – How much time do you
have available?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Energy – Which actions do you
have the required energy level to deal with?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Priority – What is the most
important and urgent remaining action for me to take?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The doing phase is
self-explanatory on its surface: get things done. Remember to work smarter, not
harder. It often takes a lot of time and effort to close loops. But that
doesn’t mean maximizing your time and effort spent is the best way to speed the
process up. Formalizing your decision process with a planning model can help
you generate action steps with minimal effort in just a few minutes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE FIVE PHASES OF PROJECT
PLANNING:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To accomplish virtually any
task, your mind has to go through 5 steps:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Defining purpose and
principles - what you want to do and why</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Outcome visioning – envision
what it’s going to be like and what you’ll get out of it</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Brainstorming – asking
yourself questions about when, where, how, to go about it</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Organizing – sort your
brainstormed ideas and questions into a prioritized list</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Identifying next actions – go
through a list of actions according to your priorities</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You identify a need, imagine
a way to fill it, generate ideas about how to fill this need in the optimal
way, sort these ideas into a structure, and then use that structure to guide
actions that turn your ideas into real outcomes. Allen calls this the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">naturalistic planning model</i>. The
planning stage isn’t done until every action step has been outlined except for
those that cannot be determined until some other event occurs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s rare for people to
actually go through all these steps in an organized way. In real life, meetings
often start with the question: “What’s a good idea for this?” Allen only
recommends asking this question 80% of the way through your planning process. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">People aren’t good at
planning ahead. In elementary school, kids learn to write an outline for their
reports. But often, the students write the report and then base the outline on
what’s already written. This inability or unwillingness to structure ideas
lasts into adulthood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When shit hits the fan, the
natural planning model gets done in reverse. In an emergency, people find ways
to get the work done. Then when they realize there’s a problem, they try to get
organized. This leads to an unproductive brainstorming session. Which may lead
to an introspective clarification of what they’re really trying to get done and
what purpose it serves. No matter what, you’re going to have to go through the
five steps to realize your goal, so you might as well get it done in advance in
a structured, safe way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Notice that this process
requires no new skills. You already have the ability and tools to go through
all five steps on your own.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Allen: “You can try it for
yourself right now if you like. Choose one project that is new or stuck or that
could simply use some improvement. Think of your purpose. Think of what a
successful outcome would look like: where would you be physically, financially,
in terms of reputation, or whatever? Brainstorm potential steps. Organize your
ideas. Decide on the next actions. Are you any clearer about where you want to
go and how to get there?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TIP</b>: Allen
gives an example of his own trick for getting himself to exercise: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">costume</i>. Putting on exercise clothes
makes him feel like exercising. If he doesn’t put the clothes on, he’ll feel
like doing something else. Another example is putting something in front of the
door, or attaching it to your keys, if it’s something that you need to remember
to take with you. These are very simple actions you can take that will let your
System 2 win the tug of war with your System 1.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When most people go through
Allen’s comprehensive collecting process, they describe themselves as
“exhausted”, “overwhelmed”, or “fatigued”. Yet upon completion, they use words
like “relieved” or “in control”. How does it work that the same task creates
such opposite emotions? Is organization enjoyable or exhausting?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">First, Allen asks us to
locate the source of the negativity. He says that the negative emotions
associated with his organization process come from the collection of broken
commitments. The “in” basket fills up with tasks you committed to but never
actually got done. This is damaging to your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">self-trust</i>.
You want to be able to trust yourself to do the tasks you’ve laid out for
yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When you hold commitments
only in “psychic RAM", you’ll probably dedicate either too much or too little
attention to them. When you remember something you need to do and write it
down, it feels good. But when you trust yourself and your system enough that
you believe <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everything</i> you need to
worry about is written down where it needs to be then it will feel even better.
You’ll no longer have to spend time thinking <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">of</i> your commitments (reminding yourself about them) instead of
thinking <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">about</i> them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another source of negativity
is imagination. When we contemplate doing our taxes, we imagine scenarios of
how grueling a process it is and how confused and frustrated we’ll end up. The
solution to our own creativity is to intelligently dumb things down by focusing
on the next action. “Doing taxes” is difficult but specific actions are easily
completed. You’ll get much more of a boost of positive energy at the thought of
sitting down for an action you’re confident you can accomplish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TIP</b>: Every
week, do a Weekly Review. Go through the five phases of workflow management,
organize your loose papers, process your notes, check the upcoming dates on
your calendar, review your files and folders, and empty your head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Allen uses the metaphor of
altitudes to describe the various levels at which one can think about goals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">50,000 feet: Life<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">40,000 feet: 3-5 years<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">30,000 feet: 1-2 years<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">20,000 feet: Areas of
responsibility<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">10,000 feet: Current projects<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Runway: Next actions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At each of these levels, you
have open loops that need to be closed. Allen suggests starting from the bottom
up, at the level of next actions. Figuring out your higher level goals and
values won’t necessarily lead to concrete next actions you could take to
approach those long-term goals. Next time you end a meeting, ask: “What’s the
next action?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-19087587577433189042015-01-05T20:15:00.003-08:002015-01-05T20:18:22.663-08:00Open-minded Disbelief<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Over New Years, my sister accused myself and another sister of being "close-minded" for not believing in astrology. It stood out to me that defining "close-minded" as "not believing in something" is pretty crazy. For one thing, nobody believes in everything so the accusation is hypocritical. Secondly, beliefs usually (if not always) imply disbeliefs. If you believe it to be cold outside, that means you don't believe it to be hot. But thirdly, I disagree with the commonly implied association between "open-mindedness" and belief.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Being open- or close-minded is one thing. Believing or not believing is a completely separate thing. I'm not sure open-mindedness is even <i>correlated</i> with belief.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think there are some statements that are so clearly false that it requires close-mindedness to continue to believe them. In the case of astrology, an open-minded person would consider the available evidence, come up with arguments for why astrology is likely true or false, and search for a model of the world where it's being true makes sense. Given that there is nothing approaching good evidence, good reasoning, or a model of the world where astrology makes sense, in order to still believe that astrology is true, you need to be actively closing your mind to the alternative possibility. I think an open-minded person would struggle to believe in astrology because they would be <i>open</i> to impartially weighing the evidence and various arguments to figure out what's really true. An open-minded consideration such as this can only lead to the conclusion that astrology is false.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-49750909494769293802015-01-03T20:36:00.000-08:002015-01-03T20:37:19.676-08:00Figuring Good Out - December Master Post<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A month ago I announced the start of the new EA blogging carnival, Figuring Good Out. The topic for the first month was "blind spots" in the EA movement. We received a pretty good 6 submissions. Hopefully, this number grows next month.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I <a href="http://a-nice-place-to-live.blogspot.ca/2014/12/investing-in-yourself.html"><span style="color: purple;">wrote</span></a> that "wasting" money and time is sometimes just you investing in yourself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ben Kuhn </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.benkuhn.net/advantage" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">wrote about</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">the need to, when identifying your comparative advantage, make sure you are comparing yourself to the right class of people.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ruthie Buyers <a href="http://www.ruthiebyers.com/2014/12/24/an-hours-impact.html"><span style="color: purple;">challenged the assumptions</span></a> behind the popular EA idea that volunteering your time for a good cause is generally less effective than doing more of your day job.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Peter Hurford <a href="http://effective-altruism.com/ea/cs/how_i_raised_501032_for_amf_and_how_you_can_too/"><span style="color: purple;">wrote a guide</span></a> on how to run an effective fundraiser, something few EAs would consider their forté.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jess Whittlestone advised us to consider <a href="http://effective-altruism.com/ea/d2/the_perspectives_on_effective_altruism_we_dont/"><span style="color: purple;">the perspectives on effective altruism we don't hear</span></a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally, Dale <a href="http://effective-altruism.com/ea/d4/blind_spots_compartmentalizing/"><span style="color: purple;">asks us</span></a> to think of how our beliefs impact our other beliefs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-1944574139776649172015-01-02T10:41:00.001-08:002015-01-05T20:19:06.539-08:00Reductionist Treaties<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some disagreements aren't disagreements at all but are illusions of tone and emphasis. Rhys Southan writes a blog called <a href="http://letthemeatmeat.com/"><span style="color: purple;">Let Them Eat Meat</span></a> that rebuttals the arguments for ethical veganism. An ex-vegan himself, he believes that factory farming is really, really horrible and that people should instead feed from lower-exploitation methods of meat production. I think Rhys's position is more closely aligned with veganism than it is with the status quo. But I wouldn't pick up on that from a passive reading of his blog, which is really heavily focused on refuting ethical veganism.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think these disagreements often come from expectations that others are tribal about their beliefs. If I'm a vegan and someone disagrees with me, I'd go straight to assuming that they see no ethical problems with eating meat. It's an all or nothing way of thinking - either they're with me or against me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When it comes to complicated subjects where there are many possible defensible positions, all or nothing thinking brews a lot of tension between people whose opinions are pretty similar. It can be hard to tell who your allies are because people rarely break their views down into sub-views, allowing their opponents to identify exactly which sub-views they agree and disagree on. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I imagine resolving this problem by clearly stating your sub-views, along with your broader view. In the end, your opinion should look something like a treaty.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So in the case of contemporary debates on the effects of religion, where there's a lot of hostility between people that probably agree on most relevant sub-views, I would offer a treaty of exactly what I accept and reject. My opponent would then be able to pinpoint which parts of my treaty are the points of disagreement and need to be compromised.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My Atheism-Religion Treaty:</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">None of the world's religions are literally true and none of their holy books are factual.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Religion is not needed for people to act morally.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The current rate of religion in the world is too high and we should hope for rates of religion to lower over time.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Religious ideas currently have too much power in politics and we should hope for this power to lessen over time.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">An atheist should be able to get elected as president of the United States.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Supernatural claims require extraordinary evidence.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Religion should not be taught in science textbooks or classrooms.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When religious claims clash with scientific claims, we should side with science.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Religion is sometimes a motivating force for positive actions and it is sometimes a motivating force for negative actions.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We shouldn't be too hard on religious people - it isn't a good persuasion tactic anyway.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Holding religious views doesn't make you stupid or immoral. </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think if Sam Harris, Johnathan Haidt, and Reza Aslan outlined their views like this, instead of signalling themselves as either enemies or friends of religion, they would find that they only disagree on one or two sub-views.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-9805347780298680862014-12-28T10:22:00.002-08:002014-12-30T16:58:54.587-08:00Capping Shakespeare at 99<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">What's Shakespeare good for anyway?
Why don't we just get rid of all his work and move on?</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Well, it turns out, for plenty of reasons.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">For one thing, people<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>like</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Shakespeare's work. Millions of people
get enjoyment from his plays.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Secondly, his plays have the ability
to change audiences for the better. Studies show that reading literature can
increase empathy and tolerance and improve social skills and theory-of-mind.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Thirdly, literature can allow
audiences to change in their own way. This sort of change is likely net
positive.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Fourthly, Shakespeare's plays are
important cultural artifacts that say a lot about the society that produced
them.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Fifthly, the production of
Shakespeare's plays creates jobs.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Sixthly, now that Shakespeare is so
influential and talked about, reading his work will let you see how he
influenced other writers. Plus, you'll finally be able to get all the
references.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Seventhly, Shakespeare had his own
style and authorial voice. You won't get quite the same product from reading a
different author or playwright.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Eighthly, reading Shakespeare's plays
improves reading skills, which are very valuable.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Ninthly, reading Shakespeare can be a
good stepping stone toward an interest in "intellectual" stuff.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: large;">These are all perfectly good reasons
to support Shakespeare. They're also perfectly good reasons to support JK
Rowling.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Then why does it sound wrong to put
these two writers in the same sentence like that? Maybe each reason applies to
both authors but they apply <i>more</i> to Shakespeare than they do
to Rowling.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">So Harry Potter teaches reading
skills but Shakespeare's plays teach better reading skills? Harry Potter
creates jobs but Shakespeare's plays create more jobs? Harry Potter has
millions of fans but Shakepeare's plays have even more fans? Harry Potter is an
important cultural artefact that says a lot about its environment but
Shakespeare's plays are even more representative of their time? This doesn't
sound very plausible to me. Maybe it's true for some of the nine reasons but
some of the others are probably more true of Rowling's work than they are of
Shakespeare's.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">I think the reason why this
comparison feels like blasphemy is that most people have another reason to
support Shakespeare:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Tenthly,
he is a shining spiritual knight of creativity with god-given gifts of artistic
splendidness.</i></span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: large;">Shakespeare has the "it"
factor. His work is high in "artistic value," meaning his work has
the properties that most people incorporate into their rubrics for evaluating
artistic value. His work requires a high level of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>training and skill</i>, it has
proven to be<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>timeless</i>, it
has high<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>emotional impact</i>,
it contains<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>profound</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">ideas</span></i>,
there is high<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>aesthetic value</i>,
and so on. These are the sorts of qualities people look for in a Great Godly
True Artist. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: large;">But these judgments are (1) largely
rooted in arbitrary facts of evolutionary biology, (2) largely affected by the
idiosyncracies of your particular culture, (3) partly affected by your personal
experiences, (4) partly affected by the context (lighting, mood, position, time
of day) in which you experience the art, and (5) are virtually never made in
any formal, coherent way but are instead blended together with a mix of
intuitions and arguments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: large;">We can definitely say that
Shakespeare scores very well on traditional rubrics of artistic value, as well
as any artist in history. But all that tells you is that lots of different
kinds of people like his stuff. It doesn’t tell you about any kind of “real”
value that transcends groupings of opinions. If we look at artists in terms of how
much they <i style="color: black;">offer</i> the rest of us, the
Tenth Reason starts to look pretty empty. Even if it <i style="color: black;">was</i> true that Shakespeare was orders of
magnitude better than JK Rowling at each skill (<a href="http://a-nice-place-to-live.blogspot.ca/2014/12/the-ea-sports-model-of-artistic-talent.html"><span style="color: purple;">which it isn’t</span></a>), that still
wouldn’t mean much in terms of what the two of them have to offer the rest of us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: large;">If we look at art according to what
it accomplishes in the world, the artists that entertain and inspire us most
won’t necessarily be the artists that deserve the most praise. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Just like</i> how <a href="http://ccare.stanford.edu/uncategorized/why-we-give-to-neighbors-not-strangers/"><span style="color: purple;">it feels better</span></a> to donate
to a specific face than to donate to a statistic. When you’re <a href="http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Corrupted_hardware"><span style="color: purple;">running on corrupted hardware</span></a>, the outcomes that satisfy you aren’t necessarily the
outcomes that should motivate you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: large;">The reasons we use to trumpet
great artists into angels are the same reasons we use to justify
good-but-just-good artists </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">existing at
all</span></i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: large;">. When we reduce artists’ skills and effects to their LCDs, there are no
longer enough cracks to store the magical ingredients that make it seem like
some artists are orders of magnitude more skillful than others. Even
Shakespeare gets capped at 99 – at best.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-62386323881910030832014-12-27T18:23:00.000-08:002014-12-30T16:58:37.319-08:00The EA Sports Model of Artistic Talent<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When I was a kid I loved to play EA Sports's NHL 2001 on Playstation. In the game, you could play hockey, make trades, set line combinations, draft talent, and do other fun stuff that I can't remember because it's no longer 2001.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdTitDcsuDTpvjr2YyVPl5d9OKIiurF6Fo_z1oT7yEgRuuJrGdGTyXcSEww1Cd5vmUoeFadQ7rYq-1l0csJbePRR8REGxTKazRqa_B6FfiYSSVEsT76FlSbcyAVfWdSuvOS5BxtoLWQFje/s1600/nhl2001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdTitDcsuDTpvjr2YyVPl5d9OKIiurF6Fo_z1oT7yEgRuuJrGdGTyXcSEww1Cd5vmUoeFadQ7rYq-1l0csJbePRR8REGxTKazRqa_B6FfiYSSVEsT76FlSbcyAVfWdSuvOS5BxtoLWQFje/s1600/nhl2001.jpg" height="281" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Every player in the game had each of their skills rated from 1 to 99. So a really good player might have had a 90 shot, 88 speed, 95 stickhandling, and 85 body checking or whatever. Just think of it like a report card. But they would also have an o</span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">verall</span></i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> rating that basically summed up their entire report card with their </span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">average</span></i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Had Wayne Gretzky been in the game in his prime, he might have had a 97 or 98 overall rating. The worst players in the league had overall ratings in the low 60s. Anybody with an overall rating above 80 was a player you wanted on your team.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think that we should think of artists in this way too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I used to believe that some famous artists were basically many orders of magnitude more talented and brilliant than other famous artists. Comparing a Hollywood director like Steven Spielberg or Ron Howard to the greats like Andrei Tarkovsky, John Cassavetes, or Ingmar Bergman was just <i>blasphemous</i>. It's like comparing Miley Cyrus to Bach! Or JK Rowling to Dostoevsky!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I would have told you that not even a <i>thousand</i> Spielbergs could equal up to one Tarkovsky because Tarkovsky is a true artist and Spielberg makes generic Hollywood crap.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I wasn't thinking like NHL 2001. Had I created a video game featuring famous artists, I might have given Spielberg a rating of 65. Then I would have given Tarkovsky a rating of 3,200,673 and Da Vinci a rating of 28,238,912, and Simple Plan a rating of 7.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm skeptical of any evaluative model of art that places a single artist as a thousand times more effective than his or her rivals - <i>especially</i> if the basis of that judgment is aesthetic or artistic value rather than social effects or some other objective measure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think the EA Sports designers got it right. Even Wayne Gretzky can't surpass 99 and even the worst pro players are above 60. This is how it seems to work in just about every other field. <i>What's more likely</i>, that human talent is especially variable for those fields where it's notoriously difficult to quantify success... or that human evaluations of talent are especially bullshit for those fields where it's notoriously difficult to quantify success? You don't need to worship history's most successful artists - or anyone else for that matter.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-20785826343655243272014-12-26T21:37:00.002-08:002014-12-26T21:38:26.222-08:00Implementation Intentions<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Possibly because they have such a terrible name, <i>implementation intentions</i> (also known as <i>if-then plans</i>) seem to be pretty underdiscussed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Basically, a shit load of psychological theories and models have proposed goal setting as the critical step in goal attainment. And it's not wrong that setting goals is helpful. But we also know that people commonly fall off the wagon when it comes to achieving the goals they set out for themselves whether it's because they never started in the first place, got derailed, kept plugging away at a sunk cost, or overextended across too many goals. Estimated rates of compliance with the advice of self-help material are under 50%. So even people highly motivated to change behaviours fail to put into practice the wisdom they've paid for. Obviously, there's some kind of disconnect between desiring achievable things and achieving desired things.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Recently, there's been a lot of research into an extra step in the process that has an even greater effect on goal attainment. Researchers have found that statements of the form, "I intend to achieve X" ought to be bolstered by <i>if-then plans</i> such as, "If Y happens, then I'll do Z." What these implementation intentions do is prepare for obstacles to goal attainment by contextualizing the goal-directed behaviour within the situation that it will actually take place. Making a commitment to attain a goal doesn't prepare you for the situation in which you'll need to take actions toward that goal. Unforeseen factors can throw you off if you don't consider the environment in which you plan to take next actions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">These have good track records at improving eating habits, increasing physical activity, following recommended relaxation techniques for reducing anxiety, enhancing influenza vaccination rates, and increasing voter turnout.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For each goal that you'd like to attain, consider the next action you can take that will get you there. For actions that you know might be difficult, plan a specific time and place in which you'll take these actions and prepare a response to the foreseen obstacle.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-74452361161394090042014-12-25T17:02:00.003-08:002014-12-25T17:03:40.466-08:00De-Idealizing the Self<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>[This is a throwback post from my old, failed blog Rationalist Cinema Meme Catapult. It's a pretty big change of pace from my usual content on A Nice Place To Live.]</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: #222222;">Hundreds of years after
Descartes's death and long after most philosophers
and scientists abandoned substance dualism as a realistic view of the mind-brain connection, most filmmakers
still portray the self as something magical and pure, a kind of Cartesian theatre.</span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>The perpetuation of this meme
probably helps to re-enforce our culture of irrationality.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>Selves are dynamic, malleable
things. They evolve with age, and with life
experience, but are also subject to moment-to-moment fluidity. This can happen
either by choice or by manipulation from the outside.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<b><u><span style="background: white;"><br />
</span></u><span class="apple-style-span"></span><span style="background: white;"></span>Manipulation:</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><b><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /></b>
</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">Human
minds are subject to all kinds of built-in biases that lead them to wrong conclusions. One of these biases is called "priming."</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;"><a href="http://lesswrong.com/lw/3b/never_leave_your_room/"><span style="color: purple;">Priming</span></a></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">is when random events in
your environment hijack your personality for a span of a few minutes.</span></span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>For example, if I ask you to
pick between two concepts (say, "banana" vs "glue stick"),
an encounter with a third concept will influence your decision as well as the
rate at you which you recognize the strings of letters as words. A glue stick
is associated with arts and crafts, so a word like "scissors" or
"crayons" might do the trick. All you need is to come into contact
with this word and it will subliminally hijack your upcoming decision. The site
of a box of crayons lying on a desk may prime your brain to think about crayons
- and all of their associations - for the next few minutes.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>People can also be primed with
concepts or ideologies. A money-primed student is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><a href="http://bipolarbear.com.au/2012/03/14/daniel-kahneman-thinking-fast-and-slow/"><span style="color: purple;">less likely to help a fellow student pick up the contents
of a spilled pencil case</span></a>, for instance.</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>"<a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/a/anchoring.htm"><span style="color: purple;">Anchoring</span></a>" is when a random concept,
especially a number, influences your estimates of an unknown quantity. For
example, if you spin a wheel that happens to land on the number 18, and then I
ask you how many teeth a raccoon has, your guess is more likely to be in the
vicinity of 18 due to the spinning of the wheel. Anchoring effects have been
shown to occur<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><i>even when the subjects of the experiments are
forewarned of them</i>.</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>Marketers use tricks like these
all the time to prime people for buying. Priming has even been shown to impact<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/105/26/8846.full"><span style="color: purple;">how
people vote in elections</span></a>.</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>It might sound scary to you
that your decision-making can be manipulated without your knowledge or consent.
But it gets worse. Not only can your personality be influenced by priming and
anchoring for a few<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><i>minutes</i>, but you can also get stuck in a mindset
that continues to influence you for years.</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>This is what Anna Salamon and
Steve Rayhawk call a "<a href="http://lesswrong.com/lw/4e/cached_selves/"><span style="color: purple;">cached self</span></a>." It's the feeling of
attachment people get to their self-image, causing them to make decisions based
on what's in line with how they should act given their identity. People feel
an intuitive pull toward their current self-concept and make arbitrary
decisions based on how they "ought" to act, if they don't have their
guards up.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>The kicker is that once we
perform a given action, be it sarcastically, dishonestly, unwillingly, or what
have you, we are liable to adopt it into our self-image. Every action is a
possible expansion of our identity, opening passageways that may be repeated
and re-enforced at some later point. Just as a forced smile makes one feel
happier, any random thing you say or do might hijack your self-concept for the
long-term future. Often this comes in the form of the feeling that we need
to commit ourselves to intellectual positions we've held in the past, to
practice as we've preached, that changing our minds is embarrassing.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br /><a href="http://psychology.about.com/od/lindex/f/earned-helplessness.htm"><span style="color: purple;">Learned helplessness</span></a> is an example of
individuals closing themselves to new possibilities due to an irrational allegiance to
their cached selves. This is when people have learned that they do not know how
to do something (like math) and then each time somebody tries to teach them
that thing, they automatically feel that math is simply beyond their ability to
understand. The individual's brain has tagged math with "too-difficult-for-me-to-understand" and the result is helplessness. This pattern has very little to do with math
and a lot to do with the individual's mindset.<br />
<b><u><br />
</u></b><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
</span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="background: white;">Conscious
choice:</span></b></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>We do, however, in our limited
way have some kind of "free will," even if our actions are
constrained </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">by factors
outside of our control. I mean this in the sense that our behaviour can be
predicted somewhat reliably based on empirical evidence. We have a "personality"
or a "style" that makes us like certain things and dislike others,
act certain ways but not in others.</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>Most people are consciously
aware of their identity despite several cognitive biases preventing infallible
knowledge of how they actually appear to others. Considering our self-image, we
make active choices to appear a certain way. I might decide to dress a certain
way so as to align myself with a particular subculture. Or to only drink Coke
and never Pepsi, because that's the brand I want to support. In doing so, I'm
weaving the narrative surrounding the brand name "Coke" into my own
self-narrative.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>Because that's what a self is.
It's not a collection of atoms that can be found in the brain, it's an<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/papers/selfctr.htm"><span style="color: purple;">abstract
concept referring to a mental narrative</span></a>. As we consciously prune and
expand our narratives, our identities, trying to become more of X and less of
Y, we literally alter our selves. This process is a big part of being cool,
being normal, being counter-cultural.</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>By combinations of intensional
and accidental factors, our selves constantly fluctuate. I think of this
phenomenon as <i>the sculpting of identities</i>.<br />
<b><u><br />
</u></b><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
</span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="background: white;">Sculpting
Identities:</span></b></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>So our identities are never quite
sitting still. We consciously update them so as to create a desired self-image,
but also we are manipulated without our consent by external factors, some of
them arbitrary. </span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>People, then, are sculptors of
their own identities. But artists also sculpt the identities of their
characters (and simultaneously use all these characters, along with other
elements, to sculpt their own identity).</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">Part of what
makes life, especially social interactions, so complicated and scary is the
instability of the self. Because of how neglectful Hollywood is of this
fact, it is one of my favourite themes a film can have.</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>Ray Carney compares<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><a href="http://people.bu.edu/rcarney/carncult/mental.shtml"><span style="color: purple;">Mike Leigh's approach to mental identities</span></a></span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">to the
typical Hollywood approach. He concludes that in Leigh's films, the characters
are depicted from the outside, the way we see other people, rather than the
Hollywood way of depicting characters: from the inside, the way we see
ourselves. Hollywood films are worlds where characters</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><i>are</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">their
intentions. There is no distinction between what a character is and what he
thinks he is. The villain</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><span class="apple-style-span"><i>knows</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">he is evil, the protagonist</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><i>knows</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">he is in
love, the lawyer</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><i>knows</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">what he is fighting for. Everyone has infallible access
to their own motivations, goals, and public identity.</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>Hollywood characters are not
only marked by holding infallible knowledge of the contents of their own minds.
Their minds are also transparent to the penetration of others. Characters can
communicate telepathically with each other, their inner mental states only
expressed to the audience through musical cues, costume, camera angles, and
other formal techniques. The character doesn't need to express his mental
identity. The director will tend to that. In many cases, two characters need
just make eye contact from across the room in order for their Cartesian
Theatres to exchange programs.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
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<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>In Leigh's films, this is
reversed. Characters struggle to understand their own motivations and desires,
and thus fail in their attempts to express themselves to others. Leigh's
characters don't communicate telepathically like the cop duo in Barton Fink. They
flounder. They are real people trying to communicate without the aid of magical
subjectivized consciousnesses.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">Hollywood
films pin down characters to static motivational states: character X is
mentally ill, character Y is a rebel. This flattens out all the fluctuations of
the conscious self, the awkwardness, the subtle facial cues, the
mid-conversation course corrections, the tensions of everyday interpersonal
dynamics. </span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>The vibrancy of the
human mind is reduced to abstract categories. Lifeless, static categories.
Carney says that in ironing out the wrinkles of consciousness and replacing
them with lifeless, static categories,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><i>doing replaces being</i>.</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>In the "being"
version of consciousness, there is no such thing as sculpting identities.
People simply<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><i>are</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">their clothes, their bookshelves, their cars, their
jobs. Only in the "doing" account of consciousness do we see people
in the process of sculpting and being sculpted, figuring themselves out even as
they express themselves.</span><br />
<b><u><br />
</u></b><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
</span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="background: white;">De-stabilization
in Queer Cinema:</span></b></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
</span><span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>Leigh is not the only filmmaker
with a de-idealized presentation of consciousness, nor does he have the only
approach to de-idealization.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>Queer cinema is a category of
films that reflect the collective queer consciousness in their presentation of
sexuality as something that is de-centered and fluid. These films refuse to
define homosexuals in terms of stereotypes and social norms, instead portraying
sexual orientation as something dynamic and consisting of an element of
fluidity. Sexuality is often the focus of queer films, although it is not used
merely to associate characters with pre-existing categories and thus align them
with the stereotypes that belong to these categories. In queer cinema, gender
is deconstructed as a response to dominant essentialist sexual identities in
the media. Queer filmmakers are particularly concerned with avoiding or
subverting normalizing depictions of homosexuals that reduce characters to the
set of stereotypes that are associated with them. <span class="apple-style-span">There is
usually a more nuanced understanding of</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.psych.utah.edu/people/people/diamond/Publications/What%20does%20Sexual%20Orientation%20Orient.pdf"><span style="color: purple;">the divisions between heterosexuality, bisexuality, and
homosexuality</span></a>.</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>As you might expect, I tend to
like queer cinema for its sensitivity toward the fluidity of identity and
recognition of how essentializing categories can be limiting and even lead to
conflict.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>Throughout his career, the
queer filmmaker Derek Jarman emphasized the humiliations and horrors of social
interactions in a very stylized way. Unlike Leigh, he didn't place real-seeming
characters in real-seeming situations. But unlike Hollywood, he didn't idealize
communication or consciousness or identity. Rather, his stylized characters
tended to be tortured, tormented, conflicted in their attempts to break out of
the social roles that are prepared for them. His films are bubbling,
boiling brews of politically motivated anger - but significantly, he stops just
short of cynicism.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>In my favourite
scene of his movie<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><i>The Garden</i>, two men rip cotton out of a gay man's
suit and stick it to his forehead. They laugh hysterically throughout the process, delighting
over this simple act of bullying. They come off as primal
little creatures and they're difficult to empathize with. Although the scene feels so full of rage, </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: #323232;">we still feel very intensely the gay man’s
embarrassment and the stomping on his dignity, so even while the scene
feels like a violent expression of hatred by Jarman, I sensed an
affirmation of the dignity of man, the idea that <i>people matter</i>.</span></span><span style="color: #222222;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white; color: #323232;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>Jarman is not necessarily
indicative of the entirety of queer cinema, but his de-idealization of subjective
consciousness and static categories of mentality in favour of a de-centered
portrayal of (sexual) identity is very typical of the movement.<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><br />
</span><b><u><span style="background: white; color: #323232;"><br />
</span></u></b><span style="color: #222222;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
</span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="background: white; color: #323232;">Korine's Creatures:</span></b></span><span style="color: #222222;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white; color: #323232;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>Harmony Korine is not a queer
filmmaker but he is influenced by certain memes that originated in queer cinema
before being circulated into the popular consciousness. His characters are
comparable to Jarman's, primal and pathetic, and unable to fit in to the
pre-packaged roles middle America offers them.<span style="color: #222222;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
</span><span style="background: white; color: #323232;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>The characters in Korine’s
films are depraved mixtures of children and animals. Often this is shown
through prolonged scenes where adults behave and argue like kids. In these
scenes the characters are evidence of the banality of humans and their attempts
to adhere to socially constructed laws and standards of conduct. All humans are
losers and freaks that fail to live up to the social standards expected of
them. In fact, it is the very attempt to meet these standards and become normal
or cool that reveals a character as pathetic. The only places in Korine’s films
where characters truly fit in is when they let go of all thoughts of being
normal and accept themselves as freaks or else choose to live in the moment,
substituting a self-conscious monitoring of the self for honest, pure
experience. Every attempt to conform leads to unhappiness, like the novice
Buddhist clinging to his earthly desires. For Korine every moment is an end in
itself. Rather than focus on telling stories in the traditional Hollywood way,
he focuses on characters and moments, trying to make every scene memorable. In
these moments, characters reveal themselves, for all their oddities and
failures, as being perfect the way they are, simply miscast for the part that's
demanded of them.<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: #323232;">As his work consists of primarily youth
anthems, Korine pays quite of a bit of attention to detail when it comes to
sculpting the identities of his characters. He is known for being an impulsive
filmmaker, but in the script of</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #323232;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="background: white; color: #323232;">Gummo </span></i></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: #323232;">he pays particular attention to how people
dress, what shoes they wear, what brands they associate themselves with, even
pinpointing which stickers they would have on their bicycles. He understands
how people use brands and accessories to sculpt their identities, or how
automatisms form identities in the utter absence of a self-concept.</span></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: #323232;">Like Jarman's work, Korine's films are
radically anti-Hollywood in almost every way. In regards to characters, he
de-idealizes mental identities, highlighting the difficulties of really
connecting with others or of even understanding oneself. His films show the
frustrating constraints of social norms and conventions, welcoming those freaks
- i.e. all of us! - who simply do not fit into a typical vision of society.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="background: white; color: #222222;">Conclusion:</span></b></span><span style="color: #222222;"><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"></span>The self is an easily
manipulated abstract concept referring to a mental narrative that is in
constant flux. It is a highly complex entity that is not reducible to abstract
psychological states. Great art will acknowledge this by de-idealizing
consciousness and celebrating the dynamism of experience, especially in regards
to social interactions. Most films don't do this and thus fail to understand
one of the most fundamental aspects of our existence. Some filmmakers that
avoid the trap of subjectivized, Cartesian consciousness are Mike Leigh, Derek
Jarman, and Harmony Korine.</span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-89172499441840928282014-12-25T16:40:00.001-08:002014-12-25T16:40:06.166-08:00Neuroaesthetics<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"><i>[This is a throwback post from my old, failed attempt a blog: Rationalist Cinema Meme Catapult.]</i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">Neuroaesthetics is a new and still
somewhat controversial approach to unraveling the mysteriousness of art. It
uses neuroscience to understand the physical process of making aesthetic
judgements. It is closely related to neuromarketing, which uses brain science to identify mass preferences and predict mass consumer behaviour.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">The goal of neuroaesthetics is to replace our
half-formed understanding of the relationship between a
stimulus and the psychology it provokes with an understanding of the relationship between psychology and the physiological
properties of the brain. Some early progress has been made.</span><br />
</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="background: white;">The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is host to an interplay of various classes of emotions. For example, the medial OFC </span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;"><a href="http://bcn.tums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_id=84&slc_lang=en&sid=1&ftxt=1"><span style="background: white; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: purple;">has been shown</span></span></a><span style="background: white; color: #222222;"> to play a role in making aesthetic judgments when subjects are asked to express their reaction to paintings as either "beautiful," "neutral," or "ugly." But there is much more to experiencing art than "good-neutral-bad."</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background: white;">Neuroaesthetics is offensive to some traditional
aestheticians and art historians because it is reductive. I doubt most fans
of art, for instance, would appreciate </span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background: white; text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/archive/archive_home.cfm/volumeID_17-editionID_112-ArticleID_772-getfile_getPDF/thepsychologist%5C1104Rama.pdf"><span style="color: purple;">VS
Ramachandran's list of 10 universal laws of art:</span></a></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;">Peak shift</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;">Grouping</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;">Contrast</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;">Isolation</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;">Perception problem solving</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;">Symmetry</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;">Abhorrence of coincidence/generic viewpoint</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;">Repetition, rhythm, and orderliness</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;">Balance</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;">Metaphor</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-line-height-alt: 13.85pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-line-height-alt: 13.85pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;">Art culture is not fond of universal laws. Ramachandran's list looks like the start of a rulebook for calling some art good and other art bad. But we know that art is very difficult to explain or justify in quantitative terms and that attempts to do so are almost universally disliked.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-line-height-alt: 13.85pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-line-height-alt: 13.85pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;">For example, there are different kinds
of viewing and one would expect them to involve different neural
processes. </span><a href="http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/jocn.2010.21457"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: purple;">One study</span></span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> draws
such a distinction between "objective and detached" viewing and
"subjective and engaged" viewing. There are also a million offer factors that affect an aesthetic judgment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="http://ellendissanayake.com/publications/pdf/Brown_Dissanayake.pdf"><span style="background: white; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: purple;">Brown
and Dissayanake</span></span></a><span style="background: white; color: #222222;"> offer three
serious criticisms of neuroaesthetics:</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;">Neuroaesthetics is based on a class of emotions that applies to
much more than just art.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;">Art appreciation and production use more than just aesthetic
emotions.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;">The basic emotion theory (BET) first proposed by Darwin is
oversimple.</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-line-height-alt: 13.85pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;">They also bring up that a
neuroscientific theory of art must be able to account for all kinds of art, not
just Eurocentric visual art, which is what the pioneers of the field such as </span><a href="http://www.learningshark.com/WebDocs/Web%20PDF/ArtisticCreativityAndBrain.pdf"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: purple;">Zeki</span></span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> and
Ramachandran have focused on.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-line-height-alt: 13.85pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-line-height-alt: 13.85pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;">I think their second criticism needs to be taken most seriously. Art is a complex experience
that involves many factors: self-awareness, mood, environment, cultural
context, body positioning - almost too many elements to count. Aesthetic
judgements alone seem to tell us very little about how people actually engage
with works of art. After all, there could be - and I think there are - clashes between what's most aesthetically pleasing and what's most valuable or praiseworthy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">Brown and Dissayanake take </span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="http://www.cs.northwestern.edu/~ortony/Andrew_Ortony_files/Cognition_Emotion.pdf"><span style="background: white; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: purple;">Clore & Ortony's
three-part categorization of kinds of emotions</span></span></a><span style="background: white; color: #222222;"> and add a fourth group:</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li><b style="background-color: white; font-size: x-large; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">Outcomes:</span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;"> Emotions involved in the consequences of actions, often
goal-motivated</span></li>
<li><b style="background-color: white; font-size: x-large; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">Objects:</span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;"> Emotions involved in responses to objects (e.g. aesthetic
emotions)</span></li>
<li><b style="background-color: white; font-size: x-large; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">Agency:</span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;"> Emotions involved in making moral judgements of people</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;"><b>Social interactions:</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; text-indent: 0cm;"> Emotions involved in self- and
situation-conscious social interactions</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">This alternate approach to understanding
emotions is less simplistic and doesn't reduce art to aesthetics.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Useful as neurological experiments may be as the first
building blocks of a one-day fully developed understanding of the inner
psychophysics of appreciating art, the correlations drawn in neuroaesthetic
experiments to date are the equivalent of taking a snapshot of the view outside
your window and showing it to your friend, saying: "Look at this map I
made of North America."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">That Ramachandran predicts a galvanic skin
response will be activated by a particular technique (multiple viewpoints of
faces) used by a particular group of artists (Cubists) from a particular
culture (European) using a particular medium (painting) seems to tell us
almost nothing about how people actually engage with art.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">This is why Brown and Dissayanake propose that
neuroaesthetics be replaced with "neuroartsology," a field that tries
to account for all the varied neurological processes involved in the viewing of
art, rather than merely aesthetic judgements.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">For the most part, neuroaestheticians are aware
of the shortcomings of their findings and their limitations in describing art.
But their field is a legitimate one - after all, there is nothing theoretically
impossible about an inner psychophysics of aesthetics (or artsology) - and
their experiments bring us a tiny step closer to an understanding of aesthetics
that surpasses what we can do with rationality and intuition.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-80049881429145739292014-12-22T18:01:00.003-08:002014-12-22T19:07:44.776-08:00Summary of David Allen's Getting Things Done<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is a summary of David Allen’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo7vUdKTlhk"><span style="color: purple;">Google Talk</span></a> about his
book <i>Getting Things Done</i>. The book
teaches readers organizational skills and techniques for boosting productivity,
achieving goals, and reducing psychic weight.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Allen sees the ability to get things done (GTD) as a martial
art. It requires practice, technique, and control. It’s a very important martial
art because it helps us accomplish whatever it is we want to accomplish despite
the limitations of our evolved psychology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our brains aren’t very good at holding commitments. It’s
typical for people to take mental notes of tasks to do later – and then forget
all about them. The commonsense models we tend to use to stay on top of our
many commitments and goals are flawed to the point that they are often
disconnected from reality. Have you ever remembered something you needed to do
(e.g. take out the garbage), felt bad about not having done it yet, and then done
absolutely nothing about it? Our monkey brains say “taking out the trash sucks
and I don’t want to do sucky things so I won’t do it.” But reality says,
“taking out the trash is weighing on your mind and the longer you ignore it,
the suckier the situation will get and the more it will continue to weigh on
you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">These sorts of thoughts and worries pop into people’s heads,
doing nothing but stressing them out. There’s usually an inverse correlation
between the amount something’s on your mind and the amount of work on that
problem that still needs to get done. If you’re worrying about something,
you’re probably not making progress on it. All of that other junk – those
mismanaged commitments – steal your attention and energy, leaving you with
little left to focus on what you really need to be doing. You have a finite amount
of psychic RAM. Keep the amount of junk to a minimum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Allen says that most people have so much mental clutter that
it clouds them from engaging with present tasks and making progress. As a
result, you usually aren’t available with your full resources to deal with your
work. He explains that your ability to generate power is directly proportional
to your ability to concentrate. And your ability to concentrate is directly
proportional to your ability to eliminate distraction. And most of these
distractions come from mismanaged commitments. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you don’t give enough attention to what demands your
attention, it’ll start to take more attention than it deserves. So when things
start taking your attention, handle them before they start to bother you even
more. A three quarters full trash bag is easier to take out than an overflowing
trash bag. Doing the work immediately is actually a kind of laziness – it
reduces your overall amount of work and stress. (I once had a super productive professor
that referred to this as “future laziness.”)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In order to get things off your mind, you must clarify and
organize your commitments, and trust that you’ll engage consciously with those
commitments at the right time and place. Most people are most satisfied with their
jobs the week before they go on holiday. That’s because it’s a time of
organizing, arranging, and making preparations. Vacationers need to make sure
the neighbour’s picking up the email, a friend’s watching the cat, their
clothes are packed, the flight’s booked, etc. If people did this weekly instead
of yearly, they could feel a lot better and be a lot more productive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are two key aspects of self-management. Firstly,
obtaining methods to maintain the right <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">perspective</i>
is critical because things seem drastically different from different
perspectives. You need to remember what’s important to you, what needs to get
done, what your values are. Having perspective means that your ideas are
aligned and clear about your decisions, directions, and priorities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Secondly, you need to have <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">control</i> over your engagements and actions. You must have a “mind
like water,” the ability to appropriately respond to and engage with whatever
is present. Martial arts deal with surprise. You could be walking down an alley
and four people jump you out of the blue. Now you must defend yourself. So when
you train, you’re training yourself to better deal with surprise. Allen thinks
that a lot of your competitive edge comes from this skill. When you want to
apply for jobs but unemployment makes you so depressed that you instead just
lie in bed – that is a loss of control. You have fallen off the wagon. But
Allen adds that it’s as easy to get back on the wagon as it is to fall off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Too much control and no perspective makes you a micro
manager. High perspective and no control makes you unorganized. You need both
perspective and control to gain mastery of your workflow. At this point, you
are calling the shots and not just letting life happen to you, which is the
default mode.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Five
keys to gaining control of your workflow:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Collect everything that has meaning to you (needs to be
done, changed, or is in process).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Process things – get them done rather than putting them off.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Organize a reminder to do things that aren’t able to get
done.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review your commitments and to-do lists.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Do whatcha gotta do.</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
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<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-24141342010224893572014-12-20T12:28:00.001-08:002014-12-20T12:31:26.894-08:00Response to Gwern<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is a response to Gwern’s
“<a href="http://www.gwern.net/Culture%20is%20not%20about%20Esthetics"><span style="color: purple;">Culture is Not About Aesthetics</span></a>,” which argues that:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<ul>
<li><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-stretch: normal;">"</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There’s more fiction then anyone could hope to consume</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">People would be happier reading only the best fiction</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s easier to figure out what the good old fiction is, than it is
new fiction</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There’s also more good old fiction than good new fiction</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">People write too much new fiction</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">They also read too much</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Society shouldn’t subsidize economically inefficient things like
new fiction</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We might go so far as to suggest a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigovian%20tax" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" title="Wikipedia: Pigovian tax"><span style="color: #303c3c; font-size: large; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Pigovian tax</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> on new works because
they encourage their own consumption</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The uses of fiction are much less than one might think, and many
of those uses are propagandistic, dangerous, or both</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Subsidizing the nonfiction market may be justifiable"</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I agree with most of these
claims but I think it sells the biggest advantages of fiction short. Here are
some points that I think Gwern ignores or underestimates:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">People like different stuff<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Gwern acknowledges that
people have different tastes while kind of laughing at the idea that one person
could be so picky as to not find much of interest out of the millions of
existing artworks. I think the dismissal assumes that you’re part of a
demographic that is heavily targeted by the culture industries. If, for
example, you live in a third world country and speak a language that is unique
to your nation, there may not actually be such an abundance of art at your
disposal. Apart from the fact that you’ll likely have difficulty getting access
to most art, especially if its required to be dubbed or subtitled in a specific
language, the art that you do come across might not be relatable,
comprehensible, or appealing to you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">New art allows for the
discussion of new ideas<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">New stuff comes up: social
movements, cultural events, wars, policies, scandals, fashion trends,
technological advancements, natural disasters, popular memes, etc. New art
allows new generations of people to express new opinions – possibly even with
new mediums that were only recently invented. For example, queer people now
have queer cinema, literature, etc. In the past, this sort of content wasn’t
freely available. This art in turn pumps life into the gay rights movement. It
is now possible to find creative content on the terrors of factory farming, the
controversy over the latest privacy laws, etc. Shakespeare never wrote us any
classics on speciesism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: right 432.0pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Art’s persuasiveness can be hugely beneficial<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">More importantly, narrative
fiction possesses tremendous potential to do good in the world in a controlled,
systematic way. Organizations like <a href="http://developmentmedia.net/"><span style="color: purple;">Development Media International</span></a> use a brand
of fiction called entertainment-education (E-E) to change behaviours and save
lives in the developing world. E-E might not be able to compete with the
classics in terms of artistic value, entertainment value, or other popular criteria
for “greatness” but it often blows other artworks out of the water when it
comes to what I think matters most: the degree to which it makes people’s lives
better. This is counter-intuitive because we evolved in times when persuasiveness
wasn’t one of art’s most relevant functions. But now, fiction can target
specific demographics numbering in the millions of people around the world,
bolstered by decades of psychological and sociological research into behaviour
change. Using narrative devices to deliver the right health and social messages
to the right communities can now play a crucial role in fighting death and
disease – in short, making the world better. There is no evolutionary precedent
for a time when art could reach such large audiences that its persuasiveness
would become more profitable to humanity than its emotional and intellectual
appeal. But here it is. According to <a href="http://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities"><span style="color: purple;">GiveWell</span></a>, producing new fiction in this
way could even rank among the most evidence-backed, thoroughly-vetted, and underfunded methods
of improving the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think everybody in history
has been wrong about the effective use of art. As a result, the greatest art of
all time likely hasn’t been created yet. Rather than banning new art, we should
hope to reform art culture into something that isn’t terrible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-76676938316746508842014-12-15T20:54:00.004-08:002014-12-15T20:54:31.946-08:00Robert Cialdini's Influence <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A while ago, Peter Hurford told me he had a few books he wanted to see summarized and applied toward animal activism. From his list, I chose Robert Cialdini's <i>Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After 10k+ words and 20+ pages, <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LmdaPE3ABxfnrwqdDyyumv0_bv2eRtG3SmgbBM8WusQ/edit?usp=sharing"><span style="color: purple;">here it is</span></a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I previously <a href="http://a-nice-place-to-live.blogspot.ca/2013/11/daniel-gilberts-stumbling-on-happiness.html"><span style="color: purple;">wrote a summary</span></a> of Daniel Gilbert's <i>Stumbling on Happiness</i>.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-76660726162362213652014-12-13T14:18:00.001-08:002014-12-25T08:58:05.684-08:00Investing in Yourself<i style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">[This post is my submission for the December edition of Figuring Good Out, the new EA blogging carnival.]</i><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">On the quest to be frugal I think many EAs miss good opportunities to invest in themselves.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #444444;">General wisdom suggests that you shouldn't spend too much of your money on things that you don't need. And that makes perfect sense. As money, time, and attention are limited resources, you need to be selective about how you allocate them. There are </span><a href="http://effective-altruism.com/ea/c1/frugal_living_without_sacrifice/"><span style="color: purple;">a lot of changes</span></a><span style="color: #444444;"> most people can make that will save them time and money without sacrificing anything comparable. However, I do think this mindset can be limiting, especially for young people with big dreams and a long road ahead toward achieving them. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #444444;">Instead, I think that it's often right to spoil yourself by "wasting" time and money. I recommend spending "too much" on clothing, furniture, and other cool stuff. Whether or not you are materialistic or superficial, most other people are. Possessing nice stuff makes you come off as more impressive, more competent, more self-aware, and more attractive. (Yup, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_effect"><span style="color: purple;">halo effect</span></a><span style="color: #444444;">.) You'll also gain confidence, more relatable things to talk about, and, of course, some cool stuff.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">I don't think pinching pennies is the necessary way to live as an EA, especially if you're young and building up career capital. Overspending on nice stuff has social repercussions that most EAs could probably use.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">The same could be said for time. Taking breaks, having hobbies, learning about new subjects, and generally spoiling yourself can be really useful for keeping you motivated and on track. This might be especially true for those that feel as if they have unusually high potential. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;">In particular, I'm thinking of items and subjects that are generally considered to be for the superficial, materialistic, and hip: expensive clothing, accessories, pop culture, sports, plants, hip restaurants and cafes, etc.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">"Wasting" your time and money is sometimes an effective way of investing in yourself.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Note: I don't think this post applies to everyone but I believe it's often true of myself in my current situation.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-62837090290152312962014-12-01T14:47:00.000-08:002014-12-01T14:47:07.727-08:00Figuring Good Out: December<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Recently, I've been pitching the idea of an <a href="http://a-nice-place-to-live.blogspot.ca/2014/11/ea-blogging-carnival.html"><span style="color: purple;">EA blogging carnival</span></a> where each month, somebody picks a topic and then everybody blogs about it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As today is the first of the month, I'm going to announce the December topic for <b>Figuring Good Out*</b>, the new EA blogging carnival. If you'd like to participate, just write a post on the topic and mention that you'd like to include it in the carnival for this month.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The topic for December is <b>"Blind spots." </b>You can take that in any direction that you like. For example, w</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">hat is something altruistically important that you know about that you think most EAs don't know about? Is there a cause, organization, insight, or productivity tip that EAs are ignoring?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On December 31, I'll write a post linking to all the submissions. If you'd like to volunteer to host the January carnival, then let me know below. We can start a queue. As host, you can choose any topic you like but keep in mind that some topics will get more responses than others. If you intend to contribute to this month's carnival, I recommend commenting below.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">*The title "Figuring Good Out" is negotiable if everybody really hates it but it works for me.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-23027650641675637702014-11-14T15:05:00.000-08:002014-11-14T15:05:10.560-08:00Compilation: EA Epistemology<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In preparation for the start of the first EA blogging carnival, I am creating compilation posts for topics on which various EAs have expressed opinions. An example of this that has already been done is Julia Wise's post on <a href="http://www.effective-altruism.com/ea/4e/giving_now_vs_later_a_summary/"><span style="color: purple;">Giving Now vs Giving Later</span></a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This post is on the epistemology of cause and charity selection.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Holden Karnofsky - <a href="http://blog.givewell.org/2014/06/10/sequence-thinking-vs-cluster-thinking/"><span style="color: purple;">Sequence Thinking vs Cluster Thinking</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nick Beckstead - <a href="http://lesswrong.com/lw/iao/common_sense_as_a_prior/"><span style="color: purple;">Common Sense as a Prior</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Brian Tomasik - <a href="http://lesswrong.com/lw/iao/common_sense_as_a_prior/"><span style="color: purple;">Cost-Effectiveness in an Uncertain World</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Carl Shulman - <a href="http://reflectivedisequilibrium.blogspot.ca/2013/12/what-proxies-to-use-for-flow-through.html"><span style="color: purple;">What Proxies to Use for Flow-Through Effects?</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jonah Sinick - <a href="http://lesswrong.com/lw/hmb/many_weak_arguments_vs_one_relatively_strong/"><span style="color: purple;">Many Weak Arguments vs One Relatively Strong Argument</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jonah Sinick - <a href="http://lesswrong.com/lw/jlh/knightian_uncertainty_from_a_bayesian_perspective/"><span style="color: purple;">Knightian Uncertainty from a Bayesian Perspective</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Paul Christiano - <a href="http://rationalaltruist.com/2013/05/08/beware-brittle-arguments/"><span style="color: purple;">Beware Brittle Arguments</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Luke Muehlhauser - <a href="http://lesswrong.com/lw/hzu/model_combination_and_adjustment/"><span style="color: purple;">Model Combination and Adjustment</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Eliezer Yudkowsky - <a href="http://lesswrong.com/lw/vz/the_weak_inside_view/"><span style="color: purple;">The Weak Inside View</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Philip Tetlock - <a href="http://pup.princeton.edu/chapters/s7959.html"><span style="color: purple;">Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know?</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Robin Hanson - <a href="http://www.overcomingbias.com/2007/07/beware-the-insi.html"><span style="color: purple;">Beware the Outside View</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Peter Hurford - <a href="http://everydayutilitarian.com/essays/why-im-skeptical-about-unproven-causes-and-you-should-be-too/"><span style="color: purple;">Why I'm Skeptical About Unproven Causes</span></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-56176925985351280942014-11-11T09:46:00.004-08:002014-11-11T09:46:50.523-08:00EA Blogging Carnival?<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I discovered the concept of a "<a href="https://asexualagenda.wordpress.com/a-carnival-of-aces-masterpost/"><span style="color: purple;">blogging carnival</span></a>" through the asexual community. For all I know, they invented it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">How it works is that each month, a different blogger "hosts" the carnival by selecting a topic. Everyone interested in participating for that month then writes a blog post about that topic. The host then writes up a post linking to all the submissions. Here is <a href="https://asexualagenda.wordpress.com/2014/11/10/carnival-of-aces-religion-or-atheism-and-asexuality/"><span style="color: purple;">an example</span></a> of what a link roundup would look like.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Given that there are so people blogging about EA issues, I think this concept would transfer really well into the EA community. Each month, have somebody choose a topic such as "Donating Now vs Later" or "EA Outreach" or whatever and then accept submissions from the various contributors.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One advantage of blogging carnivals is that they draw attention to a variety of blogs, including those that fly under the radar.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A second advantage is that they provide a variety of voices on one topic. Rather than just reading one EA's thoughts on cause prioritization, you could get 8 of them side-by-side. There's something more democratic about hearing from multiple competing voices.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This then creates mini crash courses on what EAs tend to think about a particular subject at a particular time. If I want to read about issues regarding EA and religion, I can a whole bunch of posts from different people that take a different approach to the month's theme. I see this being especially useful to outsiders that want to catch up on EA quickly.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-25117398996406636882014-11-06T10:01:00.000-08:002014-12-27T17:09:49.133-08:00My Briefest Summary of Artistic Value<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A lot of people seem to believe in something called "artistic value." The idea is that some art is better than other art according to some set of criteria. Intuitively, this makes a lot of sense. If artistic value doesn't exist then we have to admit weird things like that any child's scribbled drawings are artistically equal to the <i>Mona Lisa</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The problem with conversations about artistic value is that nobody can define "great art" in a way that satisfies everyone else. Some people think great art must be timeless and universal. Other people think great art is art that expresses the most "truth" about what the world is really like. And so on. There's no real way to resolve these disagreements because there isn't much reason to favour one definition over another. You can define words however you like but nobody else is forced to use your definition.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thus I think tailoring art to score within the goalposts of any particular definition of "artistic greatness" is kind of arbitrary considering the existence of plenty of equally valid definitions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>HOWEVER</b> - I do think there's a way to sensibly evaluate art <i>without</i> appealing to artistic value. Okay, so maybe the Mona Lisa isn't inherently "artistically greater" than some kindergarden kid's drawings but that doesn't mean that art is a pointless waste of time and that there's no reason to try when you can just scribble. Art has plenty of positive (and sometimes negative) effects on the world - it can increase empathy, tolerance, improve social skills, deliver ideas across cultural boundaries, train people to think creatively, educate, etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">These don't seem like arbitrary accomplishments (although there's debate about that too that I won't get into here). They actually improve the world. And so I think it makes sense to think of art in this way, as a force for improving the world, and that the most meaningful way to evaluate art is to evaluate the degree to which it can be shown to make the world better or worse.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This isn't to say that you can't also have a working definition of "artistic value" and then go around saying weird things like "Film A is <i>artistically</i> better but Film B is <i>morally</i> better." You might <i>prefer</i> Film A but what you happen to prefer is based on all kinds of factors that aren't directly tied to the social effects of those preferences. And I think it's easier to justify the legitimacy of social effects than it is to justify the legitimacy of your subjective preferences.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In most conversations, it'll make more sense to replace the symbol with the substance. If a novel is more creative than another novel, call it "more creative," not better. If a painting looks nicer to you than another one, call it "nicer looking," not better. It's unhelpful to insist on a definition of "artistic value" that you know other people will reject.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590358285673767171.post-29638120412065662632014-08-30T21:04:00.000-07:002014-09-01T09:06:13.748-07:00Microvolunteering Resources<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My first experience with microvolunteering was with <a href="http://.impact/"><span style="color: purple;">.impact</span></a>. .impact is a decentralized network of volunteers working together to work on effective altruist projects. From what I understand, the original idea was that many low hanging fruit in philanthropy could be picked off by motivated volunteers. .impact is a place where individuals with free time can coordinate with each other to get small projects done. At worst, people get the experience of trying new things and discovering what works.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are also a lot of favours being exchanged between EAs on <a href="http://skillshare.im/"><span style="color: purple;">SkillShare.im</span></a>. I once used this platform to receive exercise advice from a stranger in Switzerland.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As far as I knew, these resources were unique. But comparable resources exist for the non-EA world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://helpfromhome.org/"><span style="color: purple;">Help From Home</span></a> is a microvolunteering website that allows individuals to contribute small bits of work to pre-existing causes. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you're young, these projects can be an easy way to pad your resume while learning new skills and getting stuff done. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The range of projects and jobs one can contribute to is pretty staggering. A quick browse through the site brings me to:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A posting to help the FBI catch a murderer by helping decipher a code in 30-minute sessions</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A call for someone to proofread Slovakian literature in order to preserve it for future generations to enjoy</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">An ad for a 10-minute game you can play online that will help train a robot to move coloured blocks</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A call to spend 20 minutes emailing members of US congress to ban land mines</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A million requests to sign a million petitions about a million different causes ranging from animal rights to global warming to war and peace</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Although the projects aren't geared toward EA, there is likely a lot of good stuff on there, and there's no reason for SkillShare ads not to be cross-posted on larger websites like this that will receive more views. This is a strange but realistic way to attract volunteer hours </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">from non-EAs </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">toward EA projects.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.koodonation.com/"><span style="color: purple;">Koodonation</span></a> is another service offering the same possibility. Not only can EA volunteers find projects to work on but EA organizations can actually recruit strangers to do unpaid work for them. It's pretty common for EA organizations to receive cheap help from members of the EA community. But websites like these can (1) introduce strangers to EA and (2) get work done while leaving EAs with free time to work on other projects that only they can do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Other online volunteering resources are <a href="http://www.skillsforchange.com/"><span style="color: purple;">SkillsForChange</span></a>, <a href="http://www.volunteermatch.org/"><span style="color: purple;">VolunteerMatch</span></a>, and <a href="http://www.beextra.org/"><span style="color: purple;">BeExtra</span></a>. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For Canadians like myself, there's </span><a href="http://getinvolved.ca/" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">GetInvolved.ca</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">, which offers more of the same thing but on a smaller scale.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Those in the UK have an interesting resource available to them. <a href="https://vinspired.com/"><span style="color: purple;">vInspired</span></a> is a website that helps young people contribute to and create social action projects. The "Cashpoint" program allows anyone in the UK between ages 14-25 to pitch a small project with a clear community benefit. If vInspired likes your project, they'll issue a grant of up to </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8); line-height: 29px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">£</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">500 to help get it done. Although there are tricky restrictions on what sort of project they're willing to fund, this program seems like it could be really useful to the Oxford contingent of EAs. Importantly, Cashpoint grants can be used to start websites. Brits might also be interested in <a href="http://www.do-it.org.uk/partners/posting-opportunities/how-do-it-works/"><span style="color: purple;">Do-it</span></a>, a comprehensive database of volunteering opportunities in the UK. Alternatively, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">there is the UK-based microvolunteering website </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://spotsoftime.org.uk/" style="color: purple; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Spots of Time</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.horsesmouth.co.uk/index.publisha"><span style="color: purple;">horsesmouth</span></a> is like a non-EA Skillshare. It's a place to give and receive informal mentoring on various topics. There's a pretty wide range of things you can receive mentoring for. There are people across the world offering to help you with your depression, eating disorder, alcoholism, nutritional deficiencies, unemployment, budgeting, student housing, etc. The idea is that almost no matter what experience you're going through, whether it's playing football or raising a baby, there are plenty of people out there that have already been through that experience. horsesmouth connects you with those people that have gone through what you're going through and can give you advice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Microvolunteering seems like a promising area that EA is giving little attention. Although the EA platforms are great, they leave out the possibility of recruiting non-EAs.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08064363064872625529noreply@blogger.com0