-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 0
/
Copy pathlife_advice.html
378 lines (377 loc) · 19.2 KB
/
life_advice.html
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
<html><head><title>niplav</title>
<link href="./favicon.png" rel="shortcut icon" type="image/png"/>
<link href="main.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"/>
<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<style type="text/css">
code.has-jax {font: inherit; font-size: 100%; background: inherit; border: inherit;}
</style>
<script async="" src="./mathjax/latest.js?config=TeX-MML-AM_CHTML" type="text/javascript">
</script>
<script type="text/x-mathjax-config">
MathJax.Hub.Config({
extensions: ["tex2jax.js"],
jax: ["input/TeX", "output/HTML-CSS"],
tex2jax: {
inlineMath: [ ['$','$'], ["\\(","\\)"] ],
displayMath: [ ['$$','$$'], ["\\[","\\]"] ],
processEscapes: true,
skipTags: ['script', 'noscript', 'style', 'textarea', 'pre']
},
"HTML-CSS": { availableFonts: ["TeX"] }
});
</script>
<script>
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function () {
// Change the title to the h1 header
var title = document.querySelector('h1')
if(title) {
var title_elem = document.querySelector('title')
title_elem.textContent=title.textContent + " – niplav"
}
});
</script>
</head><body><h2 id="home"><a href="./index.html">home</a></h2>
<p><em>author: niplav, created: 2021-02-22, modified: 2024-10-22, language: english, status: in progress, importance: 3, confidence: other</em></p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Inspired by others
(<a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/HJeD6XbMGEfcrx3mD/100-ways-to-live-better" title="100 Ways To Live Better">Falkovich 2019</a>,
<a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/7hFeMWC6Y5eaSixbD/100-tips-for-a-better-life" title="100 Tips for a Better Life">Ideopunk 2020</a>,
<a href="https://210ethan.github.io/knowledge/advice.html" title="Life Advice">Ethan 2021</a>)
I thought it might be useful to create a grabbag of strategies for
dealing with being human.</strong></p>
</blockquote><div class="toc"><div class="toc-title">Contents</div><ul><li><a href="#See_Also">See Also</a><ul></ul></li></ul></div>
<h1 id="Life_Advice"><a class="hanchor" href="#Life_Advice">Life Advice</a></h1>
<!--Separate into value-laden and value-agnostic advice-->
<!--Preparing for civilizational collapse? Which?-->
<ol>
<li>There is value-laden and value-agnostic advice. Most advice is value-laden. Before you carry out some advice, check whether it actually corresponds to your values.
<ul>
<li>This also applies to all advice in this post (yes, even self-referentially)</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Make things you endorse part of your identity (but not too much)
<ul>
<li> Example: On the subreddit
<a href="https://old.reddit.com/r/hydrohomies">/r/hydrohomies</a>,
people build a strong identity around drinking water. This
is probably good.</li>
</ul></li>
<li>If you are like me, you probably underestimate the value of good gear
<ul>
<li> Example: I spent around 200 hours meditating on
a folded sheet. Then I got a zafu, which was so much more
comfortable. Major improvement in my practice.</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Choose your hobbies so that they solve big problems in your life
<ul>
<li>Example for myself: I didn't get laid, so I made daygame one of my hobbies (going out quite a lot, for a 3 month period 2 hours a day 6 days a week)</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Try to identify addictive loops early and destroy them as early as possible
<ul>
<li>The longer you wait, the harder they become to root out</li>
<li>This will probably become a bigger problem in the future</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Sign up for <a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/2016/03/cryonics.html">cryonics</a> (if you can afford it).
<ul>
<li>It's <a href="./considerations_on_cryonics.html">likely worth it</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li> People have a strong sense that once they come into remote contact
with something bad, it makes them a bad person, no matter
how small the badness or how remote the contact. You probably
do this as well. This is both psychologically unhealthy and
makes no sense, since it usually doesn't take into account
the quantity of badness ("all bad things are equally bad")
and doesn't weigh it against the quantity of goodness produced
(disallowing offsetting). Try to recognize when you do this, and
if other people do this to you, and ignore it.
<ul>
<li> Example: If you start investing money,
some people will probably tell you that you might be
giving money to unethical companies. While this might
be true, due to market efficiency arguments (especially about
<a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/5ykoKBcHBz6pXHLHu/replaceability">replaceability</a>)
and the small number of unethical companies, this is probably
negligible, and it neglects the massive positive effects of economic growth <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/bsE5t6qhGC65fEpzN/growth-and-the-case-against-rand" title="Growth and the case against randomista development">Halstead & Hillebrandt, 2020</a></li>
<li>Instead, try to focus on the higher-order bits, e.g. <a href="https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/12/19/nobody-is-perfect-everything-is-commensurable/">Effective
Altruism</a>
or <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/gtGe8WkeFvqucYLAF/logarithmic-scales-of-pleasure-and-pain-rating-ranking-and">peak
experiences</a>, of course while still maximizing expected value</li>
<li>Related: <a href="https://blog.jaibot.com/the-copenhagen-interpretation-of-ethics/">The Copenhagen Interpretation of
Ethics</a>,
<a href="https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=40">Umeshisms</a>,
<a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/YRgMCXMbkKBZgMz4M">Asymmetric Justice</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li>Have a long-term plan to completely or nearly completely phase the internet out of your life
<ul>
<li> The internet will probably become more addictive over time,
and the increase in addictiveness will probably accelerate</li>
<li>Technology is becoming more powerful, while the power of the human brain stays pretty much constant (maybe cultural evolution linearly develops better defenses)</li>
<li>If this process crosses a certain
threshold, humanity is <a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/HBxe6wdjxK239zajf/what-failure-looks-like">probably
doomed</a>
<ul>
<li>But you can still spend the remaining time well!</li>
<li>Or even try to <a href="https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/05/29/no-time-like-the-present-for-ai-safety-work/">prevent it</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li>Post on this <a href="./leave.html">forthcoming some time</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li>If you are looking for solutions to problems, look for zero-willpower/zero-inspiration solutions first
<ul>
<li>The best example for this is buying a product that solves your problem</li>
<li>Example: I had trouble going to bed early, so I <a href="./reports.html#Melatonin">tried
Melatonin</a>, which pretty much
solved my problem</li>
<li>Example: I had trouble biting my nails, so I started <a href="./reports.html#Mostly_topping_to_Bite_My_Nails">cutting them regularly</a>, which also pretty much solved my problem</li>
<li>Example: I used to have a problem with getting distracted by the internet during hours when I wanted to be working. I moved to a place without internet, which made working easier.</li>
</ul></li>
<li>The benefits of small amounts of meditation are probably
overstated, while the benefits of large amounts of
meditation (north of 1 hour a day) are probably heavily
underestimated. I have had <a href="./reports.html#300_Hours_of_Meditation">very good experiences with
it</a>.
<ul>
<li> The basic foundational activity before meditation is just
doing nothing. It shouldn't be very hard to do, but it is.</li>
</ul></li>
<li>The ability to form habits is powerful.
<ul>
<li>Establishing low-value low-difficulty habits intentionally can train this
<ul>
<li>Example: Eating a small bar of chocolate a day <!--TODO: find Romeo stevens talk where he talks about this--></li>
</ul></li>
</ul></li>
<li>Trigger-Action plans. They're great.</li>
<li>Only consume media you actually enjoy consuming, not the media you brag about consuming in front of others
<ul>
<li>Seriously. If you don't enjoy the process, just don't do it.</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Instead of learning a language, learn a couple of poems. Most people
don't actually manage to learn a second (or, outside English speaking
countries, third) language. Also, most people can't recite a single poem,
even though it's much much easier to learn than a whole language.
<ul>
<li>Bonus points for learning a poem that inspires you, so that you can recite it in situations of hopelessness</li>
<li>This also applies to songs</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Use <a href="https://www.gwern.net/Spaced-repetition">spaced repetition</a> for, well, anything
<ul>
<li>This includes learning poems, songs, random facts, formulae</li>
<li>I especially like reading textbooks and saving the formulae and definitions
<ul>
<li>Not only does one remember the the things themselves, but is also continually reminded of the underlying structure, so that it is slowly baked into the brain</li>
</ul></li>
</ul></li>
<li>When trying to receive specific advice, look for people that had
a problem similar (or identical) to yours, and find the methods that
they used to solve their problem. If these methods don't work as well
you as they did for them, continue searching
<ul>
<li>The more similar their constraints to yours, the better</li>
<li>This probably disqualifies this whole text, but whatever</li>
</ul></li>
<li><a href="https://structuredprocrastination.com">Structured Procrastination</a> might work for you. It does for me.</li>
<li>Fight tooth and nail for <a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/yLLkWMDbC9ZNKbjDG/slack">Slack</a>.
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRE_movement">FIRE</a>, fewer
addictions (even small ones like mindless internet browsing), no
debt, fewer physical objects you own, and fewer social obligations
are all instances of having a lot of slack.
<ul>
<li> Example: I have a bad instance of completionism around
media. Once I have started a particular piece of media
(a podcast, a series, a blog), it feels bad to just not
finish it. This is a lack of slack!
<ul>
<li> I haven't solved the podcast problem yet, except
being very strict about which podcasts I start.</li>
</ul></li>
</ul></li>
<li>Don't destroy option value.
<ul>
<li> Becoming enemies with people is an instance of destroying
option value (you can become an enemy of your friend
more easily than you can become a friend of your enemy)</li>
<li>Dying destroys a lot of option value.</li>
<li>Becoming irrational destroys option value (it's easier to
become irrational when you're rational, than to become
rational when you're irrational).</li>
</ul></li>
<li>There are two ways of living more: making your life longer and
making your life feel longer.
<ul>
<li> Unfortunately, there is a tradeoff between how enjoyable an
activity is and how long it feels like.
<ul>
<li> Try to find activities that are at the pareto
frontier of enjoyability and subjective length
<ul>
<li>Meditation is probably a good example for this</li>
</ul></li>
</ul></li>
<li> Creating things probably feels longer than the same
time spent consuming things</li>
<li>Doing new activies also feels longer than <a href="http://theoryengine.org/life/tips-for-a-longer-life/">familiar ones</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li>If you want to get into X, the best way of doing so is probably
doing a little bit of X for a month, and then one week of X for
6 or more hours a day.
<ul>
<li>This probably works better for non-cognitive tasks</li>
<li>Unfortunately, you probably won't have the time for spending 6 hours a day on X for a week.</li>
</ul></li>
<li>If there is an item on this list that tells you to stop doing X,
but you truly enjoy doing X, then disregard the advice.</li>
<li>If you're writing a long commment on the internet, you're probably
better off writing it in a local text editor and copy-pasting it
once you're done. It has only happened to me a couple of times,
but losing a long, detailed comment through a reload or browser
crash or whatever was always frustrating.</li>
<li>Obvious computering advice:
<ul>
<li>Make backups
<ul>
<li> Ideally, use the 3-2-1 strategy (3 copies on the local
drive, 2 more copies on separate drives, and 1
copy on a remote server)</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Use a password manager
<ul>
<li> I prefer both remembering my passwords and using
a password manager, in case something breaks
irreparably</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Use an adblocker
<ul>
<li> People still don't do this. Don't be one of those
people.</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Touch typing reduces brain-to-screen viscosity</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Kimchi is amazing. Try it.
<ul>
<li> It's quite enjoyable to eat, but the real enjoyment
comes after having eaten it. I feel very refreshed
& alert.</li>
<li>I think it's also healthy?</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Money is important. Treat is as such.
<ul>
<li> I have the impression that many otherwise smart people
have ideological hangups about money, seeing it as
immoral and not worth thinking about. This seems
both untrue and harmful – money is extremely useful,
and having money <a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/TsjdF2Fpes7S7Syej/taking-money-seriously">is pretty important</a>.</li>
<li> Know how much you spend, on what, and what your longterm
financial plan is.</li>
</ul></li>
<li>For some people, sometimes being able to ground out ones problems
causally in the world (i.e. "Which
<a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/B7P97C27rvHPz3s9B/gears-in-understanding">gears-level</a>
processes lead to the situation I'm in, and which incentives
pushed which people to create/exacerbate those problems?")
can help dissolve negative emotions around the problem.
<ul>
<li> Related: Modeling other people as causal systems plays
into this very well</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Vitamin C might cause kidney stones to happen more often<!--[citation needed], TODO-->. <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/gtGe8WkeFvqucYLAF/logarithmic-scales-of-pleasure-and-pain-rating-ranking-and" title="Logarithmic Scales of Pleasure and Pain: Rating, Ranking, and Comparing Peak Experiences Suggest the
Existence of Long Tails for Bliss and Suffering">You
probably don't want to experience kidney
stones</a><!--TODO: better links for this-->. Therefore, consider not supplementing Vitamin C.</li>
<li>If you are about to start fighting someone, be aware that this happens. State it out loud: Does this mean we are now fighting? Surprisingly, this sometimes defuses the fight.</li>
<li>If you're already doing something unethical, it's better to be aware of that than to compartmentalize and push it away – for yourself <em>and</em> others.</li>
<li>Don't <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamonds_as_investment">invest money by buying
diamonds</a>.
Humanity is able to create synthetic diamonds that are as big as
natural ones, cleaner (fewer residual elements, e.g. nitrogen)
and ~10x cheaper<!--TODO: sources-->. It is easier to make
synthetic diamonds dirtier than to clean natural ones. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Beers">De
Beers</a> and other
diamond companies have been combatting this by giving out
certificates of authenticity – but the temptation to cheat on
these is probably too high and this looks like a major market
disequilibrium that will collapse at <em>some</em> point – I'm just
not sure when ("The market can stay irrational longer than you
can stay solvent—unless it can't anymore").
<ul>
<li> If you appreciate natural diamonds for their authenticity,
then by all means, go ahead. But don't
be disappointed when a years later, your
friends can buy bigger diamonds with the <a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/RLScTpwc5W2gGGrL9/identity-isn-t-in-specific-atoms">same carbon
atoms</a>
10x cheaper, and nobody cares about your authentic
diamond.</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Carrying around a USB stick on a keychain is pretty useful in some situations.</li>
<li>Don't put a backpack with a laptop in it on a chair.</li>
<li>If you really want something to get done, <a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/DRrAMiekmqwDjnzS5/my-experience-using-financial-commitments-to-overcome">use a money-as-commitment website</a> like <a href="https://www.beeminder.com/">beeminder</a>, <a href="https://taskratchet.com/">taskratchet</a>, <a href="https://www.forfeit.app/">forfeit</a> or <a href="https://intend.do/">intend</a>.
<ul>
<li>I've only used beeminder, sparingly, but it has worked very well every time.</li>
<li>For me, using this kind of commitment device feels uncomfortable, which is why I limit my usage of them. I suspect there's some significant amount of coërcion of subagents in my mind involved.</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Own multiple chargers for your laptop.</li>
<li>Do a little bit of stock-picking, based on your inside view, and then observe how well the picked stocks do.
<ul>
<li>In the beginning, don't do this for the returns, but for the value of information on whether you can outperform the market.</li>
<li>If you're performing worse than the market, go back to index funds.</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Do the obvious things
<ul>
<li>Exercise any amount
<ul>
<li> Even walking around outside for 10 minutes a
day is better than nothing</li>
<li> By my best guess, the 30th minute of exercise
a day probably has zero net marginal life
expectancy (taking a baseline of jogging,
high-intensity interval training probably needs
less). If you are at hat point, you're probably
in the 90th percentile of people doing exercise
anyway. More probably isn't really needed,
even for becoming better looking.</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Eat vegetables and fruit
<ul>
<li>Dates are very tasty</li>
<li>Raw salad can be snacked like chips while watching a movie</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Drink mostly water</li>
<li>Get enough sleep to not be tired during the day</li>
<li>Eliminate debt, invest money you have lying around</li>
<li>Spend less time sitting
<ul>
<li>The alternatives are standing (e.g. at a standing desk) and walking</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Try to spend less time in front of screens</li>
<li>Try to be better looking
<ul>
<li>General hygiene</li>
<li>Dressing better</li>
<li>Mannerisms, Voice, Posture, Smell</li>
<li> Some people seem to make not caring about how they
look like as part of their identity
<ul>
<li> I think this is a big mistake, being better
looking is net positive in nearly all situations,
including both finding partners and job interviews</li>
</ul></li>
</ul></li>
<li>Floss <!--TODO: find out whether the research supports this--></li>
<li>Follow the advice in <a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/s/oi873FWi6pHWxswSa/p/ZbgCx2ntD5eu8Cno9" title="How to Be Happy">Muehlhauser 2011</a>
<!--Link Interventions for longevity from LW--></li>
</ul></li>
</ol>
<p>Disclaimer: I only follow parts of the advice given in here, though my
idealized version follows it nearly completely. I also believe that
following this advice completely is probably too hard, but following
it has monotonically increasing gains.</p>
<p>However, as always, the <a href="https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/03/24/should-you-reverse-any-advice-you-hear/">law of equal and opposite
advice</a>
applies, <a href="https://everythingstudies.com/2017/04/24/people-are-different/">people are
different</a>.</p>
<p>And, as always, remember that I'm just a person on the internet.</p>
<h2 id="See_Also"><a class="hanchor" href="#See_Also">See Also</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/HEn2qiMxk5BggN83J/boring-advice-repository">Boring Advice Repository</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/iTzvJ7kKK2TYJhYHB/solved-problems-repository">Solved Problems Repository</a></li>
</ul>
</body></html>