LessWrong 2.0 Reader

I'm less confident than you are about your opening claim, but I do think it's quite likely that we can figure out how to communicate with orcas. Kudos for just doing things.

I'm not sure how it would fit with their mission, but maybe there's a way you could get funding from EA Funds. It doesn't sound like you need a lot of money.

In your opinion, why do kids need such devices to get that independence if kids had that independence before those devices existed?

Are you aware that this is a line item for basically all the service staff of a 100-bed, 30,000 sq. ft. conference center/hotel? 

I don't think I understand how not living in the Bay Area and making flights there instead would work. This is a conference center, we kind of need to be where the people are to make that work.

"Climate change would be a top priority if it weren't for technological progress. However, because technological advances will likely help us to either mitigate the harms from climate change or will create much bigger problems on their own, we probably shouldn't prioritize climate change too much."

I think this attitude deserves a name: technocrastinating.

Technological progress has been happening for a while. At some point, this argument will stop making sense and we must admit that no, this (climate change, fertility, whatever) is not fine, stop technocrastinating and actually do something. That time might be right now, and the best time already past.

Related XKCD.

Proposal: if you're a social media or other content based platform, add a long-press to the "share" button which allows you to choose between "hate share" and "love share".

Therefore:
* quick tap: keep the current functionality, you get to send the link wherever / copy to clipboard
* long press and swipe to either hate or love share: you still get to send the link (optionally, the URL has some argument indicating it's a hate / love share, if the link is a redirect through the social media platform)

This would allow users to separate out between things that are worth sharing but that they hate / love and want to see less / more of, and it might defang the currently powerful strategy (with massive negative social externalities) of generating outrage content just to get more shares.

Social media companies can, in turn, then use this to dial back the viraility of hate share vs love share content, if they choose to do so.

That would be great! Let’s hope they say yes :)

I am working on it! Will post here in the coming week or two about how it’s going.

links 12/03/2024: https://roamresearch.com/#/app/srcpublic/page/12-03-2024

• https://sashachapin.substack.com/p/my-mind-transformed-completely-and Sasha Chapin on how meditation changed him
  • it doesn't seem clear to me whether this is better or not!
  • reduced anxiety seems great, but reduced sense of narrative drama is a big cost. part of what makes life seem meaningful to me is the sense of being part of a story, and if anything i feel like my current arc involves gaining abilities to envision myself as inside a narrative.
• https://www.wired.com/story/murderbot-she-wrote-martha-wells/ Martha Wells seems like a lovely person
• https://www.orcasciences.com/articles  recommended by Ben Reinhardt, great example of rigorous analyses of potential future technologies.
  • https://www.orcasciences.com/articles/checking-my-prejudices-on-materials-decarbonization eg: where does it make economic sense to use electrochemical or biological manufacturing? (compared to "thermochemical", fossil-fuel-powered). For biomanufacturing, only for complex molecules like proteins; for electrochemical processing, mostly metals and things with big voltage potentials in the chemical reaction (zinc, cobalt, copper, lithium, etc) but not simple organic molecules (methane, ethanol, etc)
• https://www.biotech.senate.gov/press-releases/interim-report/ "US National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology", a congressional advisory committee led by Jason Kelly of Gingko Bioworks
  • their purpose seems to be getting biotech-friendly policies through congress, with the rationale that this is good for national security/defense.
  • a lot of naive boosterism about biomanufacturing without engaging with the question of "is this better than alternative manufacturing techniques?"
• https://www.aria.org.uk/request-for-opps/ new opportunities for program managers at ARIA: lead a scientific research program!

Here's $1649 from me. Lighthaven is one of the most incredible places in the world, largely because of its people. I hope to see you all there next year at LessOnline and Manifest!

If you already live in a city, I think you are unlikely to move away to start the family at a cheaper place. You still need to keep a job, and city is where the jobs are.

So the necessary amount of money is:

• to buy (not rent) a place to live
• in a city
• with at least three rooms
• (optionally) enough that the wife can stay at home with kids, if necessary

Hm, maybe we could build a lot of new apartments, and sell them for a subsidized price to families with small children. With the condition that they cannot sell the apartment for N years, or they need to pay the subsidy back. Also, build kindergartens near the apartments (maybe even in the same buildings).