The first, boring option is to make fewer bold claims. I personally would not prefer that you take this tack. It would be akin to shooting yourselves in the foot. If all of your claims vis-a-vis saving the world are couched in extremely humble signaling packages, no one will want to ever give you any money.
The second, much better option is to start doing amazing, high-visibility things worthy of that arrogance. Muflax points out that you don’t have a Tim Ferriss. Tim Ferriss is an interesting case specifically because he is a huge self-promoter who people actually like despite the fact that he makes his living largely by boasting entertainingly. The reason Tim Ferriss can do this is because he delivers. He has accomplished the things he is making claims about—or at least he convinces you that he is qualified to talk about it.
I really want a Rationality Tim Ferriss who I can use as a model for my own development. You could nominate yourself or Eliezer for this role, but if you did so, you would have to sell that role.
I’m certainly going to try to be a Rationality Tim Ferris, but I have a ways to go.
Eliezer is still hampered by the cognitive exhaustion problem that he described way back in 2000. He’s tried dozens of things and still tries new diets, sleeping patterns, etc. but we haven’t kicked it yet. That said, he’s pretty damn productive each day before cognitive exhaustion sets in.
I had the impression of Tim Ferris as being no more trustworthy than anyone else who was trying to sell you something. I would expect him to exaggerate how easy something is, exaggerate how likely something is to help, etc. Now, not having read his stuff, that’s second hand and not well informed, but you are asking about you come across, so it’s relevant. The doing amazing things part is great if you can manage it.
I have read about half of his book and skimmed the rest, and I pretty much share that impression. To put it succinctly, that man works a 4-hour workweek only if you adopt a very restrictive definition of what counts as “work”.
For what it’s worth, that sounds virtually identical to a problem psychologists have told me is ADHD. (I also had a catastrophic school attendance failure in seventh grade, funnily enough.) Adderall has unpleasant side-effects but actually allows me to sit down and work for eight or ten consecutive hours, whenever I want to. Not perfectly, but the effect is remarkable.
You sound like Tim Ferriss and you make me want to ignore you in the same way I ignore him. I don’t want to do this because you seem like a good person with a genuine ability to help others. Don’t lose that.
You sound like Tim Ferriss and you make me want to ignore you in the same way I ignore him.
It sounds like you place high importance on public image. In particular, on maintaining a public image that is self effacing or humble. I wonder if, over all, it is more effective for luke to convey confidence and be up front about his achievements and capabilities and so gain influence with a wide range of people or if it is best to optimize his image for that group of people who place high importance on humble decorum.
I don’t want to do this because you seem like a good person with a genuine ability to help others. Don’t lose that.
Tim Ferris is a good person (as far as people go) and he has been able to positively influence far more people by mastering self promotion than he ever would have been if he restrained himself. Is this about “being a good person and helping others” or keeping your approval? The two seem to be conflated here.
Fortunately for you when luke says “try to be a Rationality Tim Ferris” he does not mean anything at all along the lines of “talk like Tim Ferris”. He is talking about being as productive, efficient and resourceful as Tim Ferris. He’s talking about Tim’s strong capability for instrumental rationality not his even stronger capability for self promotion.
(Incidentally I don’t think Tim would make the kind of boast that Luke made there, simply because it is an awkward and poorly implemented boast. Tim boasts by giving a specific example of the awesome thing he has done rather than just making abstract assertions. At least give Tim the credit of knowing how to implement arrogance and boasting somewhat effectively!)
Yeah, I think you pretty much called it. It doesn’t really work for me, but I guess that if such a communication style is the most effective way to go, drive on.
Wow, that link is really interesting. Especially this bit:
I was, once again, pondering the question of why I didn’t have any mental energy, and I tried thinking about the occasions when I did find mental energy. It occurred to me that when I started a new project, my energy level went up briefly before crashing. Maybe, I thought, energy was produced by new ideas. And that’s when the light went on. “Maybe both the genius and the energy deficit were produced by overloading a single force, the force that resists thoughts moving repeatedly in the same channel.” (24). And then I thought: “Maybe that’s why my genius isn’t an evolutionary advantage.”
I don’t know if that hypothesis is true, but if it is, I probably have a mild version of it. It would explain a lot about my akrasia issues.
There are two obvious options:
The first, boring option is to make fewer bold claims. I personally would not prefer that you take this tack. It would be akin to shooting yourselves in the foot. If all of your claims vis-a-vis saving the world are couched in extremely humble signaling packages, no one will want to ever give you any money.
The second, much better option is to start doing amazing, high-visibility things worthy of that arrogance. Muflax points out that you don’t have a Tim Ferriss. Tim Ferriss is an interesting case specifically because he is a huge self-promoter who people actually like despite the fact that he makes his living largely by boasting entertainingly. The reason Tim Ferriss can do this is because he delivers. He has accomplished the things he is making claims about—or at least he convinces you that he is qualified to talk about it.
I really want a Rationality Tim Ferriss who I can use as a model for my own development. You could nominate yourself or Eliezer for this role, but if you did so, you would have to sell that role.
I like the second option better, too.
I’m certainly going to try to be a Rationality Tim Ferris, but I have a ways to go.
Eliezer is still hampered by the cognitive exhaustion problem that he described way back in 2000. He’s tried dozens of things and still tries new diets, sleeping patterns, etc. but we haven’t kicked it yet. That said, he’s pretty damn productive each day before cognitive exhaustion sets in.
I had the impression of Tim Ferris as being no more trustworthy than anyone else who was trying to sell you something. I would expect him to exaggerate how easy something is, exaggerate how likely something is to help, etc. Now, not having read his stuff, that’s second hand and not well informed, but you are asking about you come across, so it’s relevant. The doing amazing things part is great if you can manage it.
I have read about half of his book and skimmed the rest, and I pretty much share that impression. To put it succinctly, that man works a 4-hour workweek only if you adopt a very restrictive definition of what counts as “work”.
For what it’s worth, that sounds virtually identical to a problem psychologists have told me is ADHD. (I also had a catastrophic school attendance failure in seventh grade, funnily enough.) Adderall has unpleasant side-effects but actually allows me to sit down and work for eight or ten consecutive hours, whenever I want to. Not perfectly, but the effect is remarkable.
I think prescription antidepressants also tend to have a similar energy-boosting effect.
I’ve observed the same problem and solution as well.
Please no. Here’s an example. When you say stuff like:
“As an autodidact who now consumes whole fields of knowledge in mere weeks, I’ve developed efficient habits that allow me to research topics quickly.”
http://lesswrong.com/lw/5me/scholarship_how_to_do_it_efficiently/
You sound like Tim Ferriss and you make me want to ignore you in the same way I ignore him. I don’t want to do this because you seem like a good person with a genuine ability to help others. Don’t lose that.
It sounds like you place high importance on public image. In particular, on maintaining a public image that is self effacing or humble. I wonder if, over all, it is more effective for luke to convey confidence and be up front about his achievements and capabilities and so gain influence with a wide range of people or if it is best to optimize his image for that group of people who place high importance on humble decorum.
Tim Ferris is a good person (as far as people go) and he has been able to positively influence far more people by mastering self promotion than he ever would have been if he restrained himself. Is this about “being a good person and helping others” or keeping your approval? The two seem to be conflated here.
Fortunately for you when luke says “try to be a Rationality Tim Ferris” he does not mean anything at all along the lines of “talk like Tim Ferris”. He is talking about being as productive, efficient and resourceful as Tim Ferris. He’s talking about Tim’s strong capability for instrumental rationality not his even stronger capability for self promotion.
(Incidentally I don’t think Tim would make the kind of boast that Luke made there, simply because it is an awkward and poorly implemented boast. Tim boasts by giving a specific example of the awesome thing he has done rather than just making abstract assertions. At least give Tim the credit of knowing how to implement arrogance and boasting somewhat effectively!)
Yeah, I think you pretty much called it. It doesn’t really work for me, but I guess that if such a communication style is the most effective way to go, drive on.
That was fascinating to read. Eliezer certainly has toned down the arrogance a bit recently.
I look forward to watching this.
Wow, that link is really interesting. Especially this bit:
I don’t know if that hypothesis is true, but if it is, I probably have a mild version of it. It would explain a lot about my akrasia issues.
Has he tried anything related to breaking movement/tension habits?