rationalnewsletter

Issue #42

Direct observation of problem-solving skills increases male attractiveness for budgerigars. This could contribute to the evolution of the cognitive abilities underlying such skills. // drive.google.com

# Instrumental

Combat vs Nurture & Meta-Contrarianism // abramdemski, 5 min Favorite

Optimizing for Stories (vs Optimizing Reality) // Ruby, 7 min

The 3 Books Technique for Learning a New Skilll // mr-hire, 2 min

Does freeze-dried mussel powder have good stuff that vegan diets don't? // DanielFilan, 1 min

# Epistemic

Paradigms All The Way Down // Scott Alexander, 1 min Favorite

Sequence introduction: non-agent and multiagent models of mind // Kaj_Sotala, 7 min

What are questions? // DonyChristie, 2 min

Hierarchical system preferences and subagent preferences // Stuart_Armstrong, 4 min

# Ai

Reframing Superintelligence: Comprehensive AI Services as General Intelligence // rohinmshah, 6 min

AI safety without goal-directed behavior // rohinmshah, 4 min

Supervising strong learners by amplifying weak experts // paulfchristiano, 1 min

AlphaGo Zero and capability amplification // paulfchristiano, 2 min

What emotions would AIs need to feel? // Stuart_Armstrong, 2 min

# Anthropic

Umpires Shouldn’t Be On Teams // Robin Hanson, 2 min

Most Progress Not In Morals // Robin Hanson, 3 min

# Decision theory

Failures of UDT-AIXI, Part 1: Improper Randomizing // Diffractor, 5 min

# Math and cs

No surjection onto function space for manifold X // Stuart_Armstrong, 8 min

# Books

Book Review: The Structure Of Scientific Revolutions // Scott Alexander, 22 min Favorite

Book Recommendations: An Everyone Culture and Moral Mazes // sarahconstantin, 4 min

# Ea

A general framework for evaluating aging research. Part 1: reasoning with Longevity Escape Velocity. // emanuele ascani, 26 min

# Relationships

Remembering Pierre Kabamba // Venkatesh Rao, 1 min Favorite

# Community

mindlevelup 3 Year Review // lifelonglearner, 13 min

Why is so much discussion happening in private Google Docs? // Wei_Dai, 1 min

LW/SSC Mixer // Senarin, 1 min

# Culture war

Gender Is Big // Robin Hanson, 3 min Favorite

# Misc

Megaproject management // ryan_b, 6 min Favorite

Disadvantages of Card Rebalancing // Zvi, 22 min

On Abstract Systems // Chris_Leong, 1 min

One Website To Rule Them All? // anna_macdonald, 12 min

Have A Thing // Robin Hanson, 2 min

# Podcasts

#9 Classic episode - Christine Peterson on the '80s futurist movement & its lessons for today // The 80000 Hours team, 79 min

Rationally Speaking #224 - Rick Nevin on "The long-term effects of lead on crime" // NYC Skeptics, 60 min

# Rational fiction

The Mirror Chamber: A short story about the matter of anthropic measure // MakoYass, 11 min

# Videos of the week

How to find the person who can help you get ahead at work | Carla Harris // TED, 13 min