Sherincall

Karma: 187

Sherincall 2 Jul 2013 19:44 UTC
7 points
in reply to: Michael Wiebe’s comment on: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 20, chapter 90
This list has been compiled on reddit some time ago. It goes up to chapter 85. Some things have been resolved since then.

Sherincall 3 Jul 2013 2:27 UTC
0 points
in reply to: Qiaochu_Yuan’s comment on: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 20, chapter 90
I don’t think Tom Riddle would show up on the map, as Dumbledore drew a circle around Quirrell and presented him to the Hogwarts Security System as “The Defense Professor”. I’m guessing the map just taps into that system, so that is all they’ll see. It could be the constant one, as all the others show up by name. but I’m not sure they’d make a fuss about that.

As for the intermittent, I’m guessing it’s Harry when he wears the Cloak—It is explicitly said that it doesn’t just turn you invisible like other cloaks, but hides you completely (except for the eye, apparently).

My other candidate for the intermittent one is Time Turned people, but since several students have Time Turners I’m guessing the twins would figure it out eventually. More likely, it just shows the ‘current’ version of the person.

...Actually, if that were the case, the map could be used to figure out which of the copies isn’t time turned. Not sure what you’d do with that info, though.

Sherincall 3 Jul 2013 9:31 UTC
0 points
in reply to: gjm’s comment on: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 20, chapter 90
True.

Also, I assume if they saw Tom Riddle or Salazar Slytherin or some other name they consider utterly evil, they’d tell Dumbledore immediately, rather than dismiss it as a bug. Even if they’ve never heard of Pascal’s Mugging, that’s just the sane thing to do.

Sherincall 3 Jul 2013 13:55 UTC
6 points
in reply to: robryk’s comment on: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 20, chapter 90
You are right. I’m updating in favor of “Tom Riddle” showing on the map. Still not convinced because when Dumbledore says “Show me Tom Riddle” the twins don’t go “Hey, that’s the guy that keeps popping up!”. That might have happened off screen, but we don’t see any evidence that it did.

EDIT: I have re-read that part, and Dumbledore waits until he is alone in the room to say “Find Tom Riddle”.

On the other hand, I admire the poetry where having a taboo on the name and story of Voldemort ultimately dooms you, just because you didn’t want to remember and talk about the bad things. Harry even talks about this in one of the early chapters, I believe.

Sherincall 4 Jul 2013 15:27 UTC
3 points
in reply to: CAE_Jones’s comment on: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 21, chapters 91 & 92
Unlikely to ever make an appearance, due to meta-knowledge:

Jura Ryvrmre fgnegrq guvf fgbel, ur unqa’g ernq gur obbxf, naq gubfr fprarf qba’g nccrne va gur zbivrf. Jr nyfb xabj gung ur xarj rknpgyl jung unccraf sebz gur fgneg, fb ur unq guvf cynaarq orsber ernqvat nobhg gur QbZ oenvaf.

Sherincall 23 Jan 2014 21:29 UTC
1 point
on: Studying and Part-time work/supplementary income
If your school hours are flexible, and you can find such a job, you can also consider an inverted approach:

Find a full time job that doesn’t require constant action, something where you spend most of the time on stand by—Let’s say a not-so-busy call center, or a rarely visited shop. That way, you can spend all of the standby time studying.

The downsides are obvious—The job itself will likely be something you don’t enjoy, and the hours you spend doing it won’t give you any new skills. The upside is that you pick any skill to improve in the standby hours, and you get a fulltime pay.

Now, it isn’t easy to find a job where you have that much downtime, and where they tolerate you doing something unrelated, but if you could meet all the prerequisites, I think it would be worth it.

Sherincall 14 Feb 2014 4:09 UTC
11 points
in reply to: mwengler’s comment on: Open Thread for February 11 − 17
After a brain surgery, my father developed Anterograde amnesia. Think Memento by Chris Nolan. His reactions to different comments/situations were always identical. If I were to mention a certain word, it would always invoke the same joke. Seeing his wife wearing a certain dress always produces the same witty comment. He was also equally amused by his wittiness every time.

For several months after the surgery he had to be kept on tight watch, and was prone to just do something that was routine pre-op, so we found a joke he finds extremely funny and which he hasn’t heard before the surgery, and we would tell it every time we want him to forget where he was going. So, he would laugh for a good while, get completely disoriented, and go back to his sofa.

For a long while, we were unable to convince him that he had a problem, or even that he had the surgery (he would explain the scar away through some fantasy). And even when we manage, it lasts only for a minute or two.. Since then, I’ve developed several signals I would use if I found myself in an isomorphic situation. I had already read HPMoR by that time, but have discarded Harry’s lip-biting as mostly pointless in real life.

Sherincall 20 Feb 2014 16:56 UTC
5 points
in reply to: John_Maxwell’s comment on: Open Thread for February 18-24 2014
While expanding your selection pool has obvious benefits, I think there is a good alternative route with regards to your tiny circle of friends and acquaintances.

Suppose you can easily quantify the partner-compatibility of a person, let’s say on a 0-10 scale, probably exponential distribution. The best you can find among your friends is a 6. That’s unsatisfactory, so you start searching, and after a while you find an 8, which is satisfactory, and you marry them.

However, this model is flawed: The grades can change over time—both the other person and you can change. These changes are more likely to happen earlier in life, such as during teen years or early twenties. Thus the model would have to be expanded to account for the potential compatibility, or even a function how the compatibility changes with time.

If we were to look at this model, that 6 from high school has a much better potential. In a long term relationship, people effect other people, slowly changing them towards themselves. This process works both ways, so you have two entities slowly pulling each other closer. What can easily happen is that in a few years time that it took to find the 8, you have created an 8. Furthermore, since you were also changed in the process, that 8 might no longer be an 8. It could be a 7, or a 9. It could also have a better rate of change, meaning a potential 10.

I would, however, assume the rate of change slows down as people grow older (I haven’t any data to confirm this assumption), meaning a change from a self-made 8 to a natural 8 wouldn’t yield much benefits.

To expand on the business metaphor: You are running a business, and you need someone to take the position of CTO. You can look for skilled CTOs, but your existing employees have the advantage of already knowing the company and the business process. No doubt, many external applicants, given two years would be better than any of the existing employees, but how many would be better than existing employee with two extra years of experience as CTO? Basically, you need to plot grade(time) for all applicants, see how long will it take for one of the external ones to beat the employee, and decide whether the loss is worth it.

Sherincall 21 Feb 2014 2:36 UTC
3 points
in reply to: moridinamael’s comment on: [Open Thread] Stupid Questions (2014-02-17)
This seems easily testable. Though I cannot recommend any, I’m sure there are online memory tests that let you know how you performed relative to all the other subjects. Maybe not good enough, as there is a selection bias in the sample of people who take those tests, but it will give you some info.

However, I think that you have an above average memory and are only noticing this because you usually hang around people who have above average memory as well[1]. Perhaps a more useful test would be getting your friends to take the test as well and compare the results. Maybe ask on LW for subjects? I’d participate.

[1] Assumptions:
- You have an above average IQ. I a priori assume this of all LWers.
- There is a positive correlation between IQ and memory. A quick search gives results in favor of the assumption, but I didn’t dig deeper.
- You hang around people of similar IQ.

Sherincall 3 Mar 2014 23:47 UTC
0 points
in reply to: Scott Garrabrant’s comment on: Polling Thread
Can the friend and myself come up with a protocol beforehand?

Sherincall 21 May 2014 19:51 UTC
1 point
on: Open Thread, May 19 − 25, 2014
Suppose you have the option that with every purchase you make, you can divert a percentage (including 0 and 100) of the money to a GiveWell endorsed charity that you’re not personally affiliated with. Meaning, you still pay the same price, but the seller gets less/none, and the rest goes to charity. Seller has no right to complain. To what extent would you use this? Would it be different for different products, or sellers? Do you have any specific examples of where you would or wouldn’t use it?

Also, assume you can start a company, and that the same thing applies to all purchases the company makes, would you do it? Any specific business?

Sherincall 21 May 2014 20:24 UTC
3 points
in reply to: Lumifer’s comment on: Open Thread, May 19 − 25, 2014
It is just a thought experiment, not something that could realistically exist. Suppose the president/king/whoever gave you (and only you) this power, and while the sellers are furious, they can’t do anything about it. They are not participating by choice.

Sherincall 21 May 2014 21:03 UTC
−2 points
in reply to: Nornagest’s comment on: Open Thread, May 19 − 25, 2014
Yes, pretty much. Has this been discussed before? I did a search and found nothing similar here.

EDIT: I found this somewhat related post: Really Extreme Altruism.

If it is a well known controversial issue, how about a poll to satisfy my curiosity without sparking any flames..

So: legal issues aside, is it ethical to steal from businesses in order to give to [EA-approved] charity?

[pollid:700]

Sherincall 21 May 2014 21:38 UTC
0 points
in reply to: Lumifer’s comment on: Open Thread, May 19 − 25, 2014
Great example. It is an isomorphic situation, that paints it in a completely different light.

If you are asking me personally, I can see myself doing just that in some cases, though definitely not as a standard way of obtaining goods. The reason for the original question was to see what the rest of you think of the matter.

Sherincall 22 May 2014 2:33 UTC
3 points
in reply to: DanielLC’s comment on: Open Thread, May 19 − 25, 2014
That was actually the original topic of a conversation that inspired this question.

Sherincall 1 Jul 2014 14:02 UTC
4 points
in reply to: GraceFu’s comment on: Open thread, 30 June 2014- 6 July 2014
Tuxedage’s (And EY’s) ruleset have:

Neither party may offer any real-world considerations to persuade the other within the experiment itself. For example, the AI party may not offer to pay the Gatekeeper party $100 after the test if the Gatekeeper frees the AI… nor get someone else to do it, et cetera. The AI may offer the Gatekeeper the moon and the stars on a diamond chain, but the human simulating the AI can’t offer anything to the human simulating the Gatekeeper. No real-world material stakes should be involved except for the handicap (the amount paid by the AI party to the Gatekeeper party in the event the Gatekeeper decides not to let the AI out).

Suppose EY is playing as the AI—Would it be within the rules to offer to tell the GK the ending to HPMoR? That is something the AI would know, but Eliezer is the only player who could actually simulate that, and in a sense it does offer real world out-of-character benefits to the GK player.

I used HPMoR as an example here, but the whole class of approaches is “I will give you some information only the AI and AI-player know, and this information will be correct in both the real world, and this simulated one.”. If the information is beneficial to the GK-player, not just the GK, they may (unintentionally) break character.

Sherincall 1 Jul 2014 16:37 UTC
2 points
in reply to: GraceFu’s comment on: Open thread, 30 June 2014- 6 July 2014
Would you consider it the same as threatening to share some information to the GK, and thus the GK-player as well, which would be damaging to both? While the GK would probably hold against such torture, the GK-player doesn’t care enough about the game to withstand it himself.

I have some specific approaches in mind, but I’d rather not share them. I’m just trying to understand where the limits between the game and the real world are, and how dirty the AI can be.

Also, slightly on topic—even if the AI persuades the simulated GK, can’t the GK-player override that because losing the game has negative real world consequences, as opposed to perceived positive in game ones?

The Gatekeeper party may resist the AI party’s arguments by any means chosen – logic, illogic, simple refusal to be convinced, even dropping out of character

This is the main reason why I can’t comprehend how the AIs actually win in these experiments.

Sherincall 1 Jul 2014 17:01 UTC
0 points
in reply to: GraceFu’s comment on: Open thread, 30 June 2014- 6 July 2014

Not really sure what you mean by “threatening information to the GK”. The GK-player probably cares less about this information than the GK, right? In that case, the GK is given an advantage, not a disadvantage.

As a less extreme example, the AI starts spoiling all the books/tv shows/etc. While the GK would just shrug it off, it also has a negative effect on the GK-player, potentially one strong enough for them to just forfeit.

Sherincall 25 Aug 2014 17:16 UTC
3 points
in reply to: jaime2000’s comment on: Open thread, 25-31 August 2014
On a similar note, if the documents you are writing will end up printed, or in PDF format, I recommend TeX. It’s significantly more complex than Markdown, but also far more powerful. And absolutely irreplaceable if you are writing something Math/Formula heavy.

I also make a point of editing all my documents in a text editor, and then compiling them. Seconding Jaime’s recommendation.

Sherincall 25 Aug 2014 17:54 UTC
7 points
on: Open thread, 25-31 August 2014
Are the European meetups in English or the native language? I’m moving to Germany soon, and would love to attend some closer meetups (Germany/Netherlands/Belgium), iff they are English by default.