P. João

[Question] High-Re­sis­tance Sys­tems to Change: Can a Poli­ti­cal Strat­egy Ap­ply to Per­sonal Change?

De­bug­ging De­s­pair ~> A bet about Satis­fac­tion and Values

• P. João 31 Oct 2025 10:25 UTC

  1 point

  0

  in reply to: Dagon’s comment on: What is LessWrong ex­plic­itly try­ing to op­ti­mize?(And what per­centage of its struc­ture cur­rently serves that goal?)

  Yes! Many goals, but do you have priorities among those goals?

• P. João 28 Oct 2025 22:19 UTC

  1 point

  0

  in reply to: Sean Herrington’s comment on: How can I pre­vent de­spair in my­self, with­out im­mi­nent AI death

  I`m confusing, this is what I found:
  
  Last year, however, Yudkowsky admitted defeat. On April 1, 2022, he announced that MIRI was changing its mission to “Death With Dignity,” estimating the chances of human survival to be 0%. This was no April Fools’ joke: MIRI doesn’t do 401(k) matching, because, a spokesperson explains, they believe that AI will be “so disruptive to humanity’s future—for worse or for better—that the notion of traditional retirement planning is moot.” https://​​time.com/​​collection/​​time100-ai/​​6309037/​​eliezer-yudkowsky/​​?utm_source=chatgpt.com
  
  

• P. João 28 Oct 2025 11:52 UTC

  2 points

  1

  on: Death and Des­per­a­tion

  I also despair at seeing so many people being wasted. Many worry about cans and recycling, but they don’t seem to realize how rare a person is to the universe and how expensive they are.

  Mainly, due to my time working with therapy in prisons, I find it very difficult to direct a (very complex) person toward something useful. What I could do is encourage them to look for ways to be useful.

  The first thing I see as the kindest thing to do would be something like asking: “Are you absolutely sure it’s impossible to contribute in a more positive way?”

  Then ask them if they wouldn’t like to seek something better for everyone, along with me… but the chances of that seem very slim, even though I’m very involved, actually helping to have a stable minimum would be unlikely. Although it’s the best I have.

  I’ve included a link to my work with therapeutic humor in prisons below, if you’d like more details.

  https://​​www.lesswrong.com/​​posts/​​K9jFm9P5o258LDDW8/​​da-prisão-com-humor-terapêutico-ao-raciocínio-difícil

• P. João 28 Oct 2025 11:46 UTC

  2 points

  1

  in reply to: jimmy’s comment on: Do you com­pletely trust that you are com­pletely in the shit? - de­spair and in­for­ma­tion -

  First thanks! Your empathy makes me vibrate! if it was devastating, mainly for the reasons that tube que dejar todo.

  NOoo! I’m in agreement, my goal, it wouldn’t be to have the prestige at the same time, but at least manage to have a minimum stable income of say 800 dollars, which I’ve been waiting for for 13 years. I don’t have so much trouble taking care of gardens, walking dogs or working in prison. that are the things that im working now. But I didn’t see enough stability to be able to have a peaceful child or family.

• P. João 27 Oct 2025 19:31 UTC

  2 points

  1

  in reply to: Ustice’s comment on: Do you com­pletely trust that you are com­pletely in the shit? - de­spair and in­for­ma­tion -

  I understand that “that’s a lie” works for you, and especially “first be kind.” I feel an enormous sweetness in your words and responses. And I read the description of the scene with your son, very tender! Like a loving sitcom, “Modern Family.”
  However, personally, if I tell myself that, it’s already another burden I have: “I’m a liar.” So I prefer to ask myself something more gentle, like: “Are you 100% sure you’ll do this later? Is it worth the risk of not doing it?”

• P. João 27 Oct 2025 19:26 UTC

  2 points

  1

  in reply to: jimmy’s comment on: Do you com­pletely trust that you are com­pletely in the shit? - de­spair and in­for­ma­tion -

  Wow! I was thrilled with the answer! Good definitions help me understand better. Even if they don’t have much in common, right? Fear or belief, they both have a hypothesis that I believe in to act, or not? From what you say, I see that the main difference is each person’s level of urgency. Could that be it?

  Yes, I still find myself losing action because of this fear of being in the shit. That I have almost no chance of getting the salary I used to have or the prestige. In that sense, I would be in the shit. But then I ask myself the question: “Are you 100% sure that you’re completely in the shit and have nothing worthwhile?” In other words, the tiger exists, but it would still be possible to do something. And then there’s the opening to question more about what to do and see how in the shit I really am. Or am I talking nonsense?
  
  For me, this is the best question that helps me not to be paralyzed by fear and to gain the openness to question myself and value other things in the shit. and for you?

• P. João 27 Oct 2025 11:03 UTC

  2 points

  1

  in reply to: Sergii’s comment on: Do you com­pletely trust that you are com­pletely in the shit? - de­spair and in­for­ma­tion -

  Highly regarded, Sérgio,
  ”suicidal from imortal”, perhaps I failed, but my intention was not to alarm people, with a touch of humor. Thank you for that tip. I’ll leave the precise version as well as the poetic one. It would be that I went from having an average of 13 thoughts of self-destruction per day to an average of 2 per month.

• P. João 27 Oct 2025 10:59 UTC

  2 points

  1

  in reply to: Ustice’s comment on: Do you com­pletely trust that you are com­pletely in the shit? - de­spair and in­for­ma­tion -

  Yes! I have everything tied to my body with strings so I don’t lose anything, like keys, my phone, and even my glasses are tied to my ears. “Later is a lie” is a bit harsh, isn’t it? Doesn’t it drain your energy to accuse yourself like that? Haha. Don’t you see a more considerate alternative?

• P. João 27 Oct 2025 10:51 UTC

  2 points

  1

  in reply to: jimmy’s comment on: Do you com­pletely trust that you are com­pletely in the shit? - de­spair and in­for­ma­tion -

  Hi Jimmi,
  Can you offer me a definition: fear vs. belief? Yes?
  And the line between the two is that fear can change, right?

  The bridge between the two is recognizing what type of statement we’re dealing with: belief vs. fear. That distinction decides whether we’re victims of an internal dogma or explorers of our own mental world.
  Yes, that was perhaps what I wanted to say: what more powerful question do I have that reveals to me what’s a fear and not a belief?

• P. João 26 Oct 2025 10:47 UTC

  2 points

  1

  in reply to: Ustice’s comment on: Do you com­pletely trust that you are com­pletely in the shit? - de­spair and in­for­ma­tion -

  Yes, the unpredictable of LessWrong. I don’t quite understand why my other posts are positive. I was asked to reflect on everything that happened, and I’ve already tried rewriting this text about five times, and the karma is negative. haha. Thanks to my friend, I corrected my reasoning from “I don’t fit in and I hold people back” to “how can I not fit in so that I help others fit in?”

  And this also led me to a kind of diary. I spent three months recording myself every 30 minutes, looking for factors, haha, to study myself. Many are very random, right? it can be exhausting because so much is random. Today, I solve this a bit by noting more amodal moments, especially my most motivated moments, and looking for the most likely factors that led to them. As if I were betting on the factors that most contribute to my motivation and satisfaction.

  Cognitive loss would be deadly, even though I lost my social life and was confused about how I was nothing without my job. I took constant cognitive tests to see if I was losing my cognition. and seems that I have a variation: on average, I process well for two days, I process avarege about four days, and I process poorly for two days (a sine curve? haha). And having these graphs and studies as quantitative as possible of how I rely on myself makes my bad days much easier.

  I use moments of maximum motivation as a reference, you know? Because I see that when I’m shaken, the main thing is that I lose my reference points. Personal sharing points? Haha. I don’t know. That would be the second question I ask myself when I feel terrible: What are you terrible at compared to? Is it really negative or just less positive? Because of this bias, right? We only see part of the graph and see a worsening as negative, and we lose the whole graph. Do you know?

  And how has your cognition been? There are a lot of things that help with Alzheimer’s and ADHD these days, right? What have you tried or are trying?

  Thanks for responding!

• P. João 25 Oct 2025 19:14 UTC

  1 point

  0

  on: The hos­tile telepaths problem

  While it’s easier to delegate this responsibility to society, I’m much more likely to fix myself than to change incentives or power structures. Therefore, I continue to invest in my own change.

• P. João 25 Oct 2025 18:23 UTC

  1 point

  0

  in reply to: Ustice’s comment on: Do you com­pletely trust that you are com­pletely in the shit? - de­spair and in­for­ma­tion -

  Thanks for opening up!
  I didn’t mean to alarm people. I’m much better today, “from suicidal to immortal,” haha. I see it’s mainly thanks to information theory and finding the best questions.

  As for your question about “who should I ask for help?”

  Personally, largely due to my story I posted here, I have a hard time trusting. It’s not that I didn’t try; I went to four psychologists, two psychiatrists, and checked myself into a sanatorium. When I couldn’t trust anyone anymore, not even myself, I told the police I’d committed a crime to isolate myself from society.

  But I also had a friend who didn’t give up, and since I didn’t want to hurt him, I started looking for information and books that helped me through the process:
  The Drunkard’s Way,
  Rationality from A to Z, and
  Superforecasting.

  And I’m here to try to rethink what I see with the community with the fewest errors I can find, haha. Although, as a Brazilian dyslexic who lived in Argentina, I find it extremely difficult to write.

  Perhaps my path isn’t very relevant to many, but I find it interesting to practice all these books to question yourself and find the best questions for self-confidence. Or am I just talking nonsense?

Do you com­pletely trust that you are com­pletely in the shit? - de­spair and in­for­ma­tion -

• P. João 20 Oct 2025 19:25 UTC

  1 point

  0

  in reply to: P. João’s comment on: How to sur­vive in the storm of un­cer­tainty (and shit)?

  https://​​pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/​​articles/​​PMC4401172/​​

• P. João 20 Oct 2025 19:24 UTC

  2 points

  0

  in reply to: Sergii’s comment on: How to sur­vive in the storm of un­cer­tainty (and shit)?

  Yes, you’re right. I tried to be as quick and brief as possible.

  I was talking about the state of the lab rat that stops exerting itself and tries medication for depression in this state. In the forced swimming test (FST), the rat gives up trying to escape “learned depression.” However, it could be because it changes its strategy: it conserves energy and floats passively, as if in a reflective, introspective moment… perhaps S1? That could help it search its memories for a way out.

  Many researchers have interpreted this as “learned depression” and medication, but others see it more as an adaptive adjustment to negative information.

  What happens if we think of depression as a “system failure,” as a low-energy mode while the brain searches for a new model of the environment?

  My hypothesis is that my supposed depression is correlated with a bias in the interpretation of reality and my memories, and that I should seek a system to reorganize them with the best possible cost-benefit.

  I could treat my life like a science experiment, but that would be expensive and I’d miss out on life. So, what scientific method could I apply, using probabilities to organize my memories and expectations, to increase my chances of experiencing fewer biases and depression?

• P. João 20 Oct 2025 11:36 UTC

  2 points

  0

  in reply to: abstractapplic’s comment on: How to sur­vive in the storm of un­cer­tainty (and shit)?

  If you can’t believe in the possibility of Success, you can still reorient around (what our community has been calling) Dignity: “I’m going to conduct myself such that when the inevitable failure happens it’s going to be as little my fault as possible”. Your call as to whether that’s better for you vs just straight-up trying to win.

  Is this enough to keep you motivated and increase your life satisfaction?

• P. João 20 Oct 2025 11:29 UTC

  2 points

  0

  in reply to: P. João’s comment on: How to sur­vive in the storm of un­cer­tainty (and shit)?

  I mean, I’m embarrassed to share all this stuff I’ve posted, but it might help to see if I’m not too biased.

• P. João 19 Oct 2025 23:12 UTC

  3 points

  2

  in reply to: Sergii’s comment on: How to sur­vive in the storm of un­cer­tainty (and shit)?

  maybe it’s Dunning–Kruger effect? or maybe you are being delusional.

  How could we prove this?