rationalnewsletter

Issue #200

A randomized controlled trial shows that the use of meditation app reduces anxiety and depression by 0.44 standard deviations after 4 weeks - in the same range as drug treatment & cognitive behavioral therapy. // twitter.com

# Coronavirus

Covid 1/27/22: Let My People Go // Zvi, 19 min

What are the counterarguments to a Faustian Vaccine Hypothesis? ($2k charity bounty) // abstractapplic, 3 min

# Instrumental

What happened when I applied metrics to my piano practice (a five-part essay about the process of learning) // nicole-dieker, 3 min

Excessive Nuance and Derailing Conversations // alexander-1, 4 min

5x5 Go Board // jkaufman, 1 min

Iterating fast: voice dictation as a form of babble // gytis-daujotas, 4 min

You have to create your own personal finance system // nicole-dieker, 5 min

# Epistemic

Hyperpalatable Food Hypothesis: A LessWrong Study? // BDay, 1 min Favorite

List of Probability Calibration Exercises // KingSupernova, 1 min

Forecasting Newsletter: Looking back at 2021 // Radamantis, 11 min

Words are Imprecise Telepathy // Aquifax, 2 min

Bounded Distrust // Scott Alexander, 11 min

# Ai

Is AI Alignment a pseudoscience? // mocny-chlapik, 1 min

Search Is All You Need // blake8086, 3 min

[Intro to brain-like-AGI safety] 1. What's the problem & Why work on it now? // steve2152, 28 min

ML Systems Will Have Weird Failure Modes // jsteinhardt, 7 min

Aligned AI Needs Slack // shminux, 1 min

# Decision theory

NFTs, Coin Collecting, and Expensive Paintings // leogao, 6 min

Nuanced and Extreme Countersignaling // AllAmericanBreakfast, 7 min

Crypto low risk profits // ike, 1 min

Newcomb's Lottery Problem // Heighn, 1 min

Newcomb's Grandfather // yair-halberstadt, 1 min

# Math and cs

Why rationalists should care (more) about free software // RichardJActon, 5 min

# Books

Book notes: "The Origins of You: How Childhood Shapes Later Life" // juliawise, 10 min

Me on Tyler on Bryan on Labor // Robin Hanson, 3 min

# Ea

Long Term Charities: Apply for SFF Funding // Zvi, 28 min

# Community

Patron Saint Holidays // Raemon, 2 min

Vavilov Day Starts Tomorrow // pktechgirl, 2 min

Vavilov Day Discussion Post // pktechgirl, 1 min

# Misc

Lives of the Cambridge polymath geniuses // Owain_Evans, 3 min

Why do we need a NEW philosophy of progress? // jasoncrawford, 9 min

CICO is a weird reference class // andre-popovitch, 2 min

Advertising as a Parasite on the Semantic Commons // ThomasMore, 3 min

Disambiguating the ‘Observable Universe’ // sam-enright, 3 min

# Podcasts

154 – Two General Thinkers Discuss General Thinking // The Bayesian Conspiracy, 132 min

c37: Script Draft 1, Beats 2-3 // Constellation, 30 min

YANSS 224 – How to have better conversations with loved ones (and just about anyone) about difficult topics (and just about anything) //

# Rational fiction

Luna Lovegood and the Fidelius Curse - Part 3 // lsusr, 1 min

# Videos of the week

Never Share Your Phone With A Stranger | Offline Digital Security Tips // Sumsub, 16 min