Optimization, AI Safety, Rationality, Life Extension, EA, Movies, MMA, and the Occasional Interview
This is from my series on Optimizing Communication. There’s a great scene in Born on the Fourth of July, Oliver Stone’s second film on Vietnam. (WARNING: SPOILERS) Tom Cruise’s character has been told that the Viet Cong are moving into the area. His commanding officer then asks him if he sees their rifles. The pressure …
Continue reading “Do you See the Rifles? How to Better Ask and Answer Questions”
This is a link page to all my posts on optimizing communication. Granularity: How to Give Better Advice Do you See the Rifles? How to Better Ask and Answer Questions It’s dangerous to go alone. Have you subscribed yet? Thoughts, questions, or suggestions for how I can improve? Email me. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for the goodies I …
This is from my series on Optimizing Communication. “Only hire rock stars!” We’re two weeks into our incubator burning through our meager seed funding and that’s the advice that’s supposed to help? The people who know me know that I’m obsessed with optimizing and improving. I consume a lot of information on this topic and …
I signed up for a film class my second semester in college. I was looking forward to it since I love movies. I kept thinking about how fun it would be to talk film with my fellow classmates. Boy was I wrong. Think of your favorite thing. Whatever it is. And then imagine having to …
Continue reading “Film Class: Or Having to Sit and Listen to Dumb Opinions”
“Not every legend is a myth. Some are flesh and blood. Some legends walk among us.” Truly feeling inspired is euphoric. Anything feels possible: getting rich, going viral, getting into your top choice for college, buying your mom a fancy car. Obviously, this can be dangerous. Not everyone can do everything. I can’t play professional …
There are many reported health benefits of cold showers like increased testosterone levels and better circulation. I haven’t done any in-depth research but it seems like the data those claims are based on are not very strong. I recommend reading SlateStarCodex posts to help curb some of the gullibility we all have when it comes to …
Continue reading “The Benefits of Taking Cold Showers: A 3 Month Trial”
Imagine you’re at the tail end of a business meeting at a restaurant. Your plate is still 2/3 full since you didn’t get to eat as much as you wanted because you were too busy answering questions. (That’s a problem for a different post.) The check comes. “I’ve got it, Jim!” “No, Bob. Let me!” …
Guy Ritchie doesn’t only make British gangster films but they are to him what the View Askewniverse films (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Bob, etc.) are to Kevin Smith, in other words his bread and butter and best films. The Gentlemen is his latest installment in that genre. Most directors don’t have their …
Continue reading “Male Friendships, Witty Banter, and Violence: My Review of The Gentlemen (2019)”
You click the side of your phone for the sixth time in ten minutes. No likes. No comments. No snaps. No messages. No new notifications. No one. You stopped doing the dishes a week ago. The sink can’t fit any more and it’s starting to smell. You avoid thinking about it. Just like you flinch …
“Chink.” “Faggot.” Have you ever been bullied? Have you ever bullied someone else? Do those experiences still affect you? If so, how? If they don’t, when did they stop affecting you, and why? INT. NICE CHAPEL – DAY A choir of children in white dresses sings a choral Christian song in unison. Focus on JOHN, …