rationalnewsletter

Issue #234

Skin colour affects the accuracy of medical oxygen sensors: They are often less accurate for people with dark skin. // www.nature.com

# Coronavirus

How much of China's Zero COVID policy is actually about COVID? // jmh, 1 min

# Instrumental

I learn better when I frame learning as Vengeance for losses incurred through ignorance, and you might too // chaosmage, 4 min

A game of mattering // KatjaGrace, 5 min

Be more effective by learning important practical knowledge using flashcards // markus-stenemo

# Epistemic

A common failure for foxes // RobbBB, 2 min

Calibration of a thousand predictions // KatjaGrace, 5 min

What if human reasoning is anti-inductive? // Q Home, 16 min

When should you defer to expertise? A useful heuristic (Crosspost from EA forum) // sharmake-farah, 2 min

# Ai

Counterarguments to the basic AI x-risk case // KatjaGrace, 41 min

Lessons learned from talking to >100 academics about AI safety // marius-hobbhahn, 14 min

Niceness is unnatural // So8res, 10 min

Contra shard theory, in the context of the diamond maximizer problem // So8res, 3 min

Possible miracles // akash-wasil, 9 min

# Meta-ethics

Against the normative realist's wager // joekc, 39 min

Utility In Faith? // Matt Goldwater, 6 min

# Longevity

Vegetarianism and depression // Maggy

# Anthropic

some simulation hypotheses // carado-1, 5 min

# Decision theory

Actually, All Nuclear Famine Papers are Bunk // derpherpize, 2 min

That one apocalyptic nuclear famine paper is bunk // derpherpize, 1 min

Why I think nuclear war triggered by Russian tactical nukes in Ukraine is unlikely // dave-orr, 3 min

Why So Many Cookie Banners? // jkaufman, 2 min

Does biology reliably find the global maximum, or at least get close? // sharmake-farah, 1 min

# Math and cs

Six (and a half) intuitions for KL divergence // TheMcDouglas, 13 min

# Books

From technocracy to the counterculture // jasoncrawford, 31 min

# Ea

We can do better than argmax // Jan_Kulveit

# Fun

AMC's animated series "Pantheon" is relevant to our interests // ben-smith

# Misc

Transformative VR Is Likely Coming Soon // jimrandomh, 2 min

The Balto/Togo theory of scientific development // pktechgirl, 2 min

Cleaning a Spoon is Complex // jkaufman, 1 min

Bounded distrust or Bounded trust? // M. Y. Zuo, 3 min

Replace G.P.A. With G.P.C.? // Robin Hanson, 4 min

# Podcasts

Did you enjoy Ramez Naam's "Nexus" trilogy? Check out this interview on neurotech and the law. // fowlertm, 1 min

Preventing an AI-related catastrophe (Article) // , 144 min

EP 167 Bruce Damer on the Origins of Life // The Jim Rutt Show, 116 min

Currents 071: Liam Madden on Rebirthing Democracy // The Jim Rutt Show, 71 min

# Rational fiction

The Epiphany of Mrs. Kugla // alexbeyman, 21 min

Perfect Enemy // alexbeyman, 56 min

The Space Between Moments // alexbeyman, 21 min

The Slow Reveal // alexbeyman, 30 min

# Videos of the week

Balaji Srinivasan: How to Fix Government, Twitter, Science, and the FDA | Lex Fridman Podcast #331 // Lex Fridman, 467 min