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Comment by Alex_Kennedy on Rational vs. Scientific Ev-Psych · 2015-04-06T22:49:30.590Z · LW · GW

If you do not have sight of your quarry but you suspect it to be in the area then you'll probably freeze. Animals, humans included, are excellent at spotting motion. Of course, both of our ideas are essentially baseless, I think we'd have a clearer picture if someone performed Eliezer's study (or similar).

Comment by Alex_Kennedy on Joy in Discovery · 2015-04-06T16:40:13.470Z · LW · GW

When I was in primary school (year 5 or 6) I struck upon the idea that humans could have variable perceptions. My friend, Charlie, had colour blindness, I did not know what this meant and assumed after a cursory explanation that he mistook red for green and green for red. Being a relatively inquisitive kid I struck upon a problem immediately and could not work out how he'd ever know he was colour blind.

It wasn't until later that day I was informed as to how colour blindness works. Still, I felt incredibly clever for several years until I was informed that the problem had been thought of before, I thought I had encountered a true wonder of the human mind for the first time and to me it was a pretty big high especially considering my age.

Comment by Alex_Kennedy on The Two-Party Swindle · 2015-02-25T13:53:26.520Z · LW · GW

An old comment I know but I thought it should be addressed from the perspective of a native Englishman.

Not really. Political fervour over here certainly appears to be lesser than in the States but partisanship certainly exists strongly...or did...a lot of things are changing and it looks like the UK's two-party politics is rupturing again. History would suggest that soon enough we'll have two 'different' parties to 'choose' between but one can hope that everything might change.

Sorry for diverting myself, saner? Maybe a little but not much. Granted, strength of support for the monarchy is...iffy, there are those who tribally oppose the monarchy and those who tribally support it...Perhaps the UK is not the greatest example for this? Any countries where the monarchy or some equivalently unchanging and undemocratic political figurehead(s) are universally (or close to) loved?