I think we’re much closer to AGI than we are to being able to upload human minds.
So, although an aligned AGI would probably accelerate research for uploading, I don’t think it’s guaranteed it would succeed in short order or even ever.
I think we’re much closer to AGI than we are to being able to upload human minds.
So, although an aligned AGI would probably accelerate research for uploading, I don’t think it’s guaranteed it would succeed in short order or even ever.
FWIW, I’ve never heard anyone use the term spoons to refer to their degree of willpower. Rather, I’ve always heard people use the term spoons to refer to their level of physical energy/stamina.
For example, someone might say that having to stand (rather than sit) on public transit wiped out their spoons for the day.
If I heard someone say that clearing out their email inbox wiped out their spoons for the day, I would be surprised. I would assume they were using the term at an additional level of remove from the original metaphor. That’s fine, but nonstandard in my experience.
Many tasks take both physical and mental energy, like running errands. So I can see how some people might assume, from hearing spoons refer to such tasks, that it meant both kinds of energy. Or they could assume the opposite from me in terms of which one it refers to more. Or, the consensus on its definition could be different now than a decade ago when I formed my impression. Still, here’s my data point.
As a gardener, a simple rain meter like this one has been a useful tool I found in recent years. AcuRite 5″ Capacity Easy-to-Read Magnifying Acrylic, Blue (00850A2) Rain Gauge https://a.co/d/iRd0phK
Weather forecasts will often predict how many inches of rain are probably coming, but it’s surprisingly hard to find records after the fact of how much rain actually fell. So you might not know, especially if the rain falls at night or when you’re out of the house.
Knowing whether we got 0.1 inches or 1 inch of rain can make a difference in my watering plans.
A soil moisture meter probe can also be useful, but usually I don’t think about using it, so it hasn’t done much for me personally other than calibrating my instincts the few times I did use one. I would recommend one for gardeners with less experience or less willingness to kill plants than I have.
I am a fan of combined bus + bike + right turn lanes. But I say this as a bicyclist and motorist, not a bus user.
The benefit to bicyclists is that we get a real full-width lane to bike in the center of, without much traffic. This provides generous distance from debris on the right, and from traffic in the lane to the left, as well as optimal sight lines to and from traffic at intersections. And bus drivers are more courteous, attentive, and law-abiding than the average motorist. I have never had a problem using the full lane ahead of a bus.
However, after reading your post I have a new appreciation for how much that could slow down buses, depending on how common bicyclists are. Of course buses can change lanes to pass just like everyone else, and buses in a bus lane have to change lanes to make left turns anyway, but in heavy traffic it would reduce some of the benefit to buses of having a special bus lane.
Hopefully you’re joking. Given the common (average?) reaction of two days of feeling flu-like and feverish after Covid vaccination, not to mention people who predictably react worse than average, I can think of a lot of times I’d rather schedule that sadly worthwhile experience than the first two days of an international trip.
This isn’t a criticism that would be easy to improve your calculator based on. Still, I will report that the main impediment to its practicality for me is that I usually try to stay in the shade. I don’t have a good way of adjusting the weather report’s UV index to account for being in the shade. For example, today I spent 2.5 hours in the shade at midday without sunscreen and got a slight burn on my chest.