rationalnewsletter

Issue #126

Meta-analysis: It is easier to shift people towards skepticism of climate change than belief in it, independent of political affiliation. Policy attitudes are even more resistant. Best bets: emotion, psychological distance, and religion. // osf.io

# Coronavirus

Covid 8/20: A Little Progress // Zvi, 21 min

What price would you pay for the RadVac Vaccine and why? // bgold, 1 min

Exposure or Contacts? // jkaufman, 2 min

How much can surgical masks help with wildfire smoke? // gworley, 1 min

Coronavirus and Rents II // jkaufman, 1 min

# Instrumental

On Systems - Living a life of zero willpower // neel-nanda-1, 14 min Favorite

"The Holy Grail" of portfolio management // Alexei, 6 min

Live a life you feel excited about // neel-nanda-1, 8 min

On Creativity - The joys of 5 minute timers // neel-nanda-1, 7 min

# Epistemic

Multitudinous outside views // Davidmanheim, 3 min

Epistemic Comparison: First Principles Land vs. Mimesis Land // ozziegooen, 3 min

How More Knowledge is Making Us Dumber // jdampolargo, 3 min

On Defining your Terms // Chris_Leong, 2 min

Which way should we update about uncertain events, over time? // Milton, 1 min

# Ai

Forecasting Thread: AI Timelines // Amandango, 2 min Favorite

Looking for adversarial collaborators to test our Debate protocol // beth-barnes, 1 min

AI safety as featherless bipeds *with broad flat nails* // Stuart_Armstrong, 1 min

Alex Irpan: "My AI Timelines Have Sped Up" // Vaniver, 1 min

Mesa-Search vs Mesa-Control // abramdemski, 8 min

# Anthropic

RE "Technology and the Future of Persons", by Lynne Rudder Baker (2013) // Callmesalticidae, 6 min

Lost Advanced Civilizations // Robin Hanson, 6 min

# Decision theory

The Wrong Side of Risk // gilch, 4 min

Market Misconceptions // gilch, 6 min

Why don't countries, like companies, more often merge? // vishrut-arya, 1 min

Efficient Market Frontier // Alexei, 12 min

A way to beat superrational/EDT agents? // abhimanyu-pallavi-sudhir, 1 min

# Math and cs

What's a Decomposable Alignment Topic? // elriggs, 1 min

# Ea

Becoming an EA-influencer on YouTube etc. // culturechange, 1 min

# Community

Survey Results: 10 Fun Questions for LWers // Benito, 4 min

Should we write more about social life? // AllAmericanBreakfast, 1 min

Updating My LW Commenting Policy // curi, 4 min

Spending Update 2020 // jkaufman, 3 min

Branch from the Apricot Tree // apricotSwarm, 1 min

# Culture war

The US Already Has A Wealth Tax // jkaufman, 1 min

The Human Condition // sustrik, 6 min

Status for status sake is a fact of political life // rockthecasbah, 1 min

Breadth, Humor Show Privilege // Robin Hanson, 1 min

# Misc

Why haven't we celebrated any major achievements lately? // jasoncrawford, 14 min Favorite

Search versus design // alexflint, 44 min

What am I missing? (quantum physics) // kithpendragon, 1 min

Inoculating against Psychedelic Woo // mikkel-wilson, 7 min

# Podcasts

#85 - Mark Lynas on climate change, societal collapse & nuclear energy // The 80000 Hours team, 128 min

EP72 Joscha Bach on Minds, Machines & Magic // The Jim Rutt Show, 109 min

# Videos of the week

Art in the age of machine intelligence | Refik Anadol // TED, 12 min