mindspillage

Karma: 517

mindspillage 23 Sep 2010 5:14 UTC
0 points
in reply to: MartinB’s comment on: Open Thread, September, 2010-- part 2
I’m not a programmer. (Well, I can write code—and studied CS for two years in college—but I avoid it even better than most programmers do; it’s not a regular hobby and now I have to RTFM even for simple things.) I’ve lurked on various transhumanist lists for just about a decade and started following Overcoming Bias pretty early in its life, so I found LW from there.

I have some general technical background (lots of math and quite literally just enough engineering to be dangerous), actually managed to finish the music degree, but mostly I’m a translator between hackers and lawyers/policy types; I just finished law school and am waiting to be licensed. (Though I expect to remain more of a researcher than a litigator.) I appreciate the programming mindset but ultimately I like words better, and I think I have a comparative advantage in dealing with the fuzzy, illogical bits that drive real engineers mad.

Also I’m pretty sure this is my first comment here even though I’ve been a lurker for ages; I blame my recent dive into the IRC channel.

mindspillage 28 Sep 2010 6:27 UTC
2 points
in reply to: mattnewport’s comment on: Open Thread, September, 2010-- part 2
“Knowing what to do” and being able to do it well are different. I have had good photographers take pictures of me. They have used the appropriate lighting and angle and helpfully tried to coach me in what to do—how to pose, how to smile, what to wear. And indeed, their pictures turn out better than most snapshots. That doesn’t mean that I am able to use their advice effectively—to hold an unforced smile and keep my eyes open at the same time, avoid tilting my head funny, or not look frustrated and impatient after the 50th shot. It’s a difficult skill for me, and while I expect I could be better with practice, it’s not high on my list of desired skills to improve. So I’m not photogenic. Which means merely that I don’t have these skills now and don’t pick up on them quickly, but when you look at my awful pictures it’s no different than if photogenic-ness were some immutable inherent quality.

(But I’m off the market anyway. On the upside, my partner was pleasantly surprised when he first met me in person that I was better-looking than my photos suggested.)

mindspillage 28 Sep 2010 14:18 UTC
0 points
in reply to: Vladimir_M’s comment on: Open Thread, September, 2010-- part 2
I needed this too. It did in fact require a significant commitment, so she became a coauthor, which was fine for my situation.

I wrote a seminar paper that I couldn’t stand by the time I was “done” with it—did some things well and others unimpressively—but the prof pushed me to publish it. (I’ll skip the parts where I was making myself miserable about how terrible it was and the parts where I was running past deadline and agonizing that now it really needed to be good because I was late, so it became even later.)

His research assistant was a friend of mine with complementary skills—I am terrible at details, cleaning up loose ends, making sure ideas aren’t left half-finished and unattached to their surroundings; she is good at taking unpolished idea-dumps and turning them into real papers. So when I dreaded the thought of opening it, she did her first pass. (And, uh, then I dreaded opening it again, thinking “oh no, what if it’s bad and I have to figure out how to steer it back without making her feel bad”. But at least it was a different reason.)

Mostly we exchanged emails and met every week or so, and we finished (and got a publication offer, whee) because I would have felt like a real jerk otherwise for dragging her into it and then flaking out. Also because my role then was mostly reacting to her changes and seeing what they suggested as next steps for me, rather than simply staring at a page I’d already been staring at unproductively.

mindspillage 30 Sep 2010 23:22 UTC
1 point
on: How do you organize your research?
You might try Zotero—http://www.zotero.org. it’s a Firefox extension with an amazing set of features; I think most of what you’re looking for can be done in it to at least some extent. (It is a Firefox plugin only; if you don’t use Firefox, Zotero alone might be worth switching for.)

A huge sticking point I have tends to be keeping track of what I saw, where I saw it, and what I thought it was worth remembering for. It feels like stopping to notate is a big speedbump when I’m in chase mode, and not thinking about what a pain it will be weeks later when I don’t remember where things came from; I need to be better about saving, tagging, and notating things in Zotero, actually.

(Also the hardest problem I have with research is stopping, because that means I just have to write...)

mindspillage 2 Oct 2010 2:24 UTC
0 points
in reply to: humpolec’s comment on: Can you enter the Matrix? The deliberate simulation of sensory input.
I know that I subvocalize when reading at least sometimes, and usually when I am beginning to read a text. I believe that what I think of as the point where I “get really into” a book means the point where I stop subvocalizing. (I can read 2-3000 WPM—huge variance depending on what kind of text it is, and it’s usually more pleasant not to push so hard and read slower.) I don’t know how to consciously stop subvocalizing, though; it just happens.

mindspillage 2 Oct 2010 2:44 UTC
0 points
on: Can you enter the Matrix? The deliberate simulation of sensory input.
I’m very good at entering the auditory matrix—I can “listen to” music without needing to have an external source, though sometimes the record player in my mind gets stuck on certain parts. Most of my thoughts are auditory/verbal, as if I am constantly talking to myself. (And when I collaborate with someone or have an intense conversation I prefer to type it, because I feel like I can’t think when I can’t listen to my internal monologue—I feel like I am slow in conversation because the time I’m listening to someone else I’m not doing any thinking myself. It may just be in comparison with my SO, who speaks quickly and has no problem thinking and listening at once.)

There’s no other sense where my mental recreation of it is at all comparable to really experiencing that input. I can visualize things I already remember well, or with non-spatial alterations. There are not many visual things I remember well, and anything that requires spatial skills beyond the most basic (“picture this rotated 120 degrees and turned inside-out”) is quite difficult. I don’t try to imagine physical sensations much, so it doesn’t surprise me that trying to do so now is quite difficult. Smells are so-so; it doesn’t really feel like it’s real, the way I really hear the music in my head.

mindspillage 3 Oct 2010 4:07 UTC
2 points
on: Break your habits: be more empirical
Moderately related: a blog post by Ethan Zuckerman on the architecture of serendipity. Zuckerman is talking more specifically about enginnering serendipity in media, consuming information in such a way that you have a more diverse selection, rather than only consuming what you already think will appeal to you. But the point seems similar: we should build in opportunities for serendipity, breaking up a routine that is locally optimal to enable greater gains.

mindspillage 3 Oct 2010 11:24 UTC
2 points
on: Berkeley LW Meet-up Saturday October 9
How late do people usually hang around? I’ll be in the area but busy until ~9.

mindspillage 3 Oct 2010 11:29 UTC
1 point
in reply to: [deleted]’s comment on: Slava!
Me too. Although I am conflicted about performing it, and try to draw some lines in doing so: if it’s being played as concert music outside a religious context generally I will, but in a context where it will be understood as a religious expression/promoting religious values, I generally won’t…

mindspillage 3 Oct 2010 11:49 UTC
4 points
in reply to: multifoliaterose’s comment on: Slava!
I don’t generally enjoy Mozart, but his Requiem is incredible.

“Salvation is Created” is a choral piece by Pavel Tchesnokov, mindblowingly beautiful, especially with a good section of deep Russian basses.

Many Renaissance masses and motets also, Josquin and Palestrina especially.

I am almost grateful these aren’t usually performed in services—I won’t speak of Bach, since it is almost worth pretending to have found faith just to sing in the church choir.

mindspillage 7 Oct 2010 3:01 UTC
0 points
in reply to: LucasSloan’s comment on: Berkeley LW Meet-up Saturday October 9
That would be great, thanks.

mindspillage 14 Oct 2010 6:34 UTC
3 points
in reply to: James_Miller’s comment on: Fields Medalists on School Mathematics
Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School by Louis Sachar, a puzzle book companion to the silly Wayside School stories; I read it in elementary school to what I think was my great benefit. I posted a bit about it elsewhere—it was my first introduction to some of the concepts of logical thinking I’ve found generally useful now.

mindspillage 14 Oct 2010 6:46 UTC
4 points
on: LW favorites
Why Our Kind Can’t Cooperate—I do a lot of collaborative work with groups of people who are “our kind”. As someone who needs the reminder I reread this post frequently; it’s open in an earlier tab right now. Actually, I need to share it with some other mailing lists...

mindspillage 14 Oct 2010 7:16 UTC
2 points
on: Before you start solving a problem
One of the most useful pieces of advice I’ve gotten: where the solution method is not obvious, start by writing down what you do know about the problem, even the trivial bits (and then, what follows logically from that). Sometimes just seeing it all there and not having to hold those threads of thought in your memory is very helpful to making connections. Also, it is reassuring for me to see that I do know something about the problem and have somewhere to start—that my mind is not a complete blank.

mindspillage 14 Oct 2010 17:32 UTC
1 point
in reply to: James_Miller’s comment on: Fields Medalists on School Mathematics
Also, not specific to mathematics (although there is some, as a way of explaining various inventions), but I recommend The Way Things Work to pretty much everyone who asks about good books for children.

mindspillage 15 Oct 2010 16:00 UTC
0 points
on: You don’t need barefoot shoes to start walking differently.
If you want a very minimal shoe you might try dance slippers also—some are very inexpensive.

mindspillage 19 Oct 2010 18:36 UTC
7 points
on: Rally to Restore Rationality
I’m going, but I’m local and hosting a bunch of friends coming into the area, so not likely to be wandering off to other meetups.

(And contemplating writing “Politics Is The Mind-Killer” on my picket sign...)

LWers on last.fm

mindspillage24 Oct 2010 7:29 UTC

10 points

0 comments1 min readLW link

mindspillage 27 Oct 2010 5:22 UTC
3 points
in reply to: johnbgone’s comment on: HELP: Do I have a chance at becoming intelligent?
I like to be inspired by the works of others as well. I just have to remember what isn’t real about them!

When you find yourself impressed by fiction, it might be interesting to try to consciously think about what the author has glossed over, or the unrealistic leaps they take. Other commenters have mentioned that authors construct their works to be most favorable to presenting their worldviews—you might also note that, for example, Ayn Rand does not exactly include many technological details in her works on fiction: she doesn’t know, the characters don’t know. Much less impressive that way. What else are you impressed by that isn’t real? And then—what’s left that is real?

mindspillage 27 Oct 2010 5:26 UTC
6 points
in reply to: multifoliaterose’s comment on: HELP: Do I have a chance at becoming intelligent?

My experience has been that with very few exceptions, learning substantive subject for the first time is a struggle. I’ve often felt bewildered and disoriented for a significant period of time before things started to gel and coalesce.

One of my professors once told me that you only really understand the content of one math course when you’re taking the next one that builds upon it…