I really liked this post. Thanks for writing it. It seems like a hugely important topic. I see it as being part of a more general question of how to improve ones productivity. It feels like there are things most people can learn from this post that plausibly would multiply their productivity. And I think that is relevant to questions of AI safety and EA.
I’ve been reading about Richard Feynman recently. His dad was really awesome. He’d spend a lot of time with Richard as a kid having conversations with him, teaching him things, etc. An example that really stuck with me is the difference between knowing about a thing and knowing the name of a thing.
But this immersion in boredom is also a universal in the biographies of exceptional people.
Interesting. I wouldn’t have predicted that in advance. Cal Newport talks about the importance of boredom too in Deep Work and Digital Minimalism.
And who knows, having 950 von Neumanns at the same campus might also supercharge them into world-destroying feats of genius.
I wonder if this was said in a tongue-in-cheek manner. I like to think that “genius” requires enough wisdom to think about alignment as well as capabilities and not do things that are “world destroying”, but I also realize that the way people commonly use the term “genius”, it isn’t really about alignment.
If you want to, you can do this, too
It sounds like this is saying “you can raise your kids this way too”. But I suspect that even as an adult, you can benefit from these sorts of things.
I really liked this post. Thanks for writing it. It seems like a hugely important topic. I see it as being part of a more general question of how to improve ones productivity. It feels like there are things most people can learn from this post that plausibly would multiply their productivity. And I think that is relevant to questions of AI safety and EA.
Also relevant: Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by Anders Ericsson.
I’ve been reading about Richard Feynman recently. His dad was really awesome. He’d spend a lot of time with Richard as a kid having conversations with him, teaching him things, etc. An example that really stuck with me is the difference between knowing about a thing and knowing the name of a thing.
Interesting. I wouldn’t have predicted that in advance. Cal Newport talks about the importance of boredom too in Deep Work and Digital Minimalism.
I wonder if this was said in a tongue-in-cheek manner. I like to think that “genius” requires enough wisdom to think about alignment as well as capabilities and not do things that are “world destroying”, but I also realize that the way people commonly use the term “genius”, it isn’t really about alignment.
It sounds like this is saying “you can raise your kids this way too”. But I suspect that even as an adult, you can benefit from these sorts of things.