Category Archives: Rationality

Zeroing Out

Posted on November 5, 2017 by TheZvi

Related to (Eliezer Yudkowsky at Less Wrong): An Equilibrium of No Free Energy Related to (Satvik Beri at Less Wrong): Competitive Truth Seeking Follow-up to: Leaders of Men Markets Suppose you have an insight about Google. The efficient market hypothesis says you … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Rationality | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments

Leaders of Men

Posted on October 29, 2017 by TheZvi

Related to (Eliezer Yudkowsky): Inadequacy and Modesty Epistemic Status: Confident. No sports knowledge required. In 2005, Willie Randolph became manager of the New York Mets. In his first five games as manager, all of which he lost, Willie made more decisions … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Rationality, Sports | 22 Comments

Out to Get You

Posted on September 23, 2017 by TheZvi

Epistemic Status: Reference. Expanded From: Against Facebook, as the post originally intended. Some things are fundamentally Out to Get You.  They seek resources at your expense. Fees are hidden. Extra options are foisted upon you. Things are made intentionally worse, forcing … Continue reading →

Posted in Death by Metrics, Facebook Sequence, Good Advice, Rationality, Reference, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 55 Comments

Complexity Is Bad

Posted on July 25, 2017 by TheZvi

Previously: Choices are Bad, Change Is Bad Meta Note: Early drafts were too complex. Complexity is Bad. I simplified. Mark Rosewater, head of design at Magic: The Gathering who I recently praised for writing down his process, has a podcast called Drive … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic: The Gathering, Rationality, Reference, Uncategorized | Tagged | 26 Comments

Choices are Bad

Posted on July 22, 2017 by TheZvi

Epistemic Status: Spent way too long deciding what to put here Kind of a Follow-Up to: Change is Bad Will Hopefully Lead To, But No Promises: Some combination of, when and if I write them: Complexity is Bad, Choices Are … Continue reading →

Posted in Rationality, Reference, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 31 Comments

Why Rationality?

Posted on April 8, 2017 by TheZvi

Previously: Responses to Tyler Cohen on Rationality Recently: Yes, We Have Noticed the Skulls, When Rationalists Remade the World Repeat as Necessary: Principle of Charity A lot of people do not understand the appeal. I was surprised to find that Will Wilkinson was among … Continue reading →

Posted in Good Advice, Rationality | Tagged | 7 Comments

Responses to Tyler Cowen on Rationality

Posted on April 4, 2017 by TheZvi

In his recent podcast with Ezra Klein (recommended), Ezra asked Tyler his views on many things. One of them was the rationality community, and he put that response on Marginal Revolution as its own post. Here is the back and … Continue reading →

Posted in Rationality | Tagged | 7 Comments

Avoiding Emotional Dominance Spirals

Posted on March 30, 2017 by TheZvi

Follow Up to: Dominance, care, and social touch One thing Ben said in his latest post especially resonated with me, and I wanted to offer some expanded thoughts on it: Sometimes, when I feel let down because someone close to me … Continue reading →

Posted in Good Advice, Rationality | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

Posted on March 24, 2017 by TheZvi

Pick one. There will be a quiz. ADT – Acausal Decision Theory. Figure out what other agents want and do it, even if you can’t talk to them and they might not exist, if and only if they would do … Continue reading →

Posted in Rationality | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

On Automoderation

Posted on March 19, 2017 by TheZvi

Follow Up to: Trio Walks, Duo Talks Response to: Automoderation (Ferocious Truth) Hat Tip: Automoderation (Agenty Duck) In my post Trio Walks, Duo Talks I laid out the thesis that the key to a high-quality discussion with more than two participants … Continue reading →

Posted in Rationality | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments