Posts

What is the current state of knowledge around COVID-19 at-home remedies? 2020-07-12T22:50:49.516Z
Do nasal decongestants increase risk associated with cardiovascular (and respiratory via second-order effects) symptoms from COVID-19? 2020-05-10T19:17:16.584Z
Dorikka's Shortform 2020-05-10T19:14:43.104Z
How do humans assign utilities to world states? 2015-05-31T20:40:33.151Z
Quotes Repository 2015-02-10T04:36:19.814Z
Musings on non-stability of mind-states, etc. 2014-11-02T02:43:39.423Z
Mistakes repository 2013-09-09T03:32:20.194Z
Open Thread, June 16-30, 2013 2013-06-16T04:45:04.761Z
Health/Longevity Link List 2013-05-05T03:17:30.281Z
Book Summary: Willpower by Baumeister, Tierney 2012-05-24T23:34:25.446Z
AI Box Log 2012-01-27T04:47:49.429Z
[LINK} Bayes' Theorem in New York Times 2011-08-07T03:55:47.315Z
Get data points on your current utility function via hypotheticals 2011-04-24T18:44:35.928Z
[SEQ RERUN] The Proper Use of Humility 2011-04-22T11:48:48.616Z
[SEQ RERUN] ...What's a bias, again? 2011-04-21T19:18:16.923Z
The right kind of fun? 2011-04-16T23:20:51.350Z
Hunger can make you stupid 2011-04-13T16:17:49.897Z
Ithaca Meetup? 2011-03-30T00:51:11.793Z
When to scream "Error!" 2011-02-26T17:40:35.688Z
Tool for combating undue hesitation 2011-02-20T05:19:16.058Z
A Possible Solution to Parfit's Hitchiker 2011-01-28T19:21:15.400Z

Comments

Comment by Dorikka on The Long Long Covid Post · 2022-02-11T14:20:56.906Z · LW · GW

Thank you for this post! One feedback - I found this post much harder to navigate than your other posts (and eventually resorted to summary+bookmark); it is much easier for me to parse/navigate when post sections follow your own line of thinking than when they are structured as replies to sections of other peoples' posts.

Comment by Dorikka on Covid 12/30: Infinity War · 2021-12-30T22:54:01.890Z · LW · GW

i have worn this on an airplane with a surgical mask over the exhale valve

 

https://www.amazon.com/GVS-SPR457-Elipse-Respirator-Medium/dp/B013SIIBFQ/ref=sxts_rp_s1_0?cv_ct_cx=gvs+elipse+p100&gclid=CjwKCAiAzrWOBhBjEiwAq85QZyLzBYwxwOZcFGAMZbn4S6OVwxcQXnl1L6L9xWu1dQgzAFdKK8oxOhoCqo0QAvD_BwE&hvadid=409918312011&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9014238&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=6118992613772945421&hvtargid=kwd-267611734495&hydadcr=20509_11115072&keywords=gvs+elipse+p100&pd_rd_i=B013SIIBFQ&pd_rd_r=03b1c070-7191-4557-b0bb-79b3930e0ac8&pd_rd_w=JYxDi&pd_rd_wg=uF7dV&pf_rd_p=53ef7f8b-c1cb-4ebe-8d67-39f3ca0ebaf7&pf_rd_r=PE758N16XDW0FMZ1MZXD&psc=1&qid=1640904683&sr=1-1-5e1b2986-06e6-4004-a85e-73bfa3ee44fe

Comment by Dorikka on Bupropion and CBD oil · 2021-08-19T17:13:06.918Z · LW · GW

Without knowledge of potential interactions, melatonin might be another option - I don't take bupropion, but suspect that one would take daily dose in morning to minimize chance of this side effect as well

Comment by Dorikka on ($1000 bounty) How effective are marginal vaccine doses against the covid delta variant? · 2021-07-24T07:39:57.885Z · LW · GW

Depending on when you got your second mRNA dose, the Israeli data suggests there is significant vaccine decline in vaccine efficacy after 3 months (see  https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/reports/vaccine-efficacy-safety-follow-up-committee/he/files_publications_corona_two-dose-vaccination-data.pdf ) This does not of course indicate whether a third dose would restore efficacy (presumably by reigniting the immune response in some way) - I suspect it would, however. No need for prize money if relevant - just resharing a link that was already in Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/07/23/pfizer-shot-just-39-effective-against-delta-infection-but-largely-prevents-severe-illness-israel-study-suggests/?sh=ca1146c584f1

Comment by Dorikka on Covid 7/15: Rates of Change · 2021-07-15T19:51:38.402Z · LW · GW

Thanks for this as always! Any thoughts on the variant effectiveness estimates in this paper?

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.22.21257658v1.full-text

Comment by Dorikka on Covid 5/13: Moving On · 2021-05-17T16:17:59.767Z · LW · GW

The initial pfizer efficacy study and followups in Israel specifically come to mind.

Comment by Dorikka on MIRI location optimization (and related topics) discussion · 2021-05-09T20:46:47.150Z · LW · GW

Potential metrics which may be helpful to consider (from a previous location search for me to live): Minimum sunlight per month, months under 200 hrs of sunlight, days above 90F, days below 32F, snow/rain days per year, violent crime level, property crime level, number of internet providers, average speed test result of internet providers, top advertised speed of internet providers, quality of healthcare, attends religious services at least once per week, rate of cigarette use, rate of alcohol use, rate of binge drinking.

Some of these are direct metrics on experience (ie number of days where climate makes being outside less pleasant), others towards the end of the list are more proxy metrics of concrete data that may give some indication of general level of religiosity/stress/need for escape in the local environment.

Comment by Dorikka on Better air is the easiest way not to die · 2021-04-30T00:26:09.993Z · LW · GW

Great, thank you

Comment by Dorikka on Better air is the easiest way not to die · 2021-04-29T08:09:38.259Z · LW · GW

Would love any context here - not sure if I should parse the linkpost as random person on internet saying things or if any background that would give me a higher prior that their models are accurate and/or useful.

Comment by Dorikka on The Case for Extreme Vaccine Effectiveness · 2021-04-18T17:59:16.564Z · LW · GW

Fluvoxamine is a prescription drug in the FDA, so your doctor can prescribe it; https://www.pushhealth.com/ might work as well. Antiviral procurement is similar if the antiviral you're seeking is a US prescription drug (in any case I'd consider Googling the antiviral name.)

Comment by Dorikka on The Case for Extreme Vaccine Effectiveness · 2021-04-14T02:37:31.212Z · LW · GW

Apologies in advance for not engaging in detail with the analysis itself - my overall synthesis here is that residual risk does exist post-vaccination and is potentially non-negligible. Personally I'll be using my Oura ring to detect nighttime temperature spikes and use a high-accuracy at-home test (https://checkit.lucirahealth.com//) if I detect a spike, followed by aggressive treatment with fluvoxamine (+potential antiviral) if the test comes back positive - these safeguards feel sufficient to travel (airplane) to see family, etc without incurring significant risk of long-term health impacts. Appreciate the work to get a tighter bead on the risk itself (and depending on conclusions, some of the above may not have great marginal risk reduction), but wanted to share as one possible mitigation strategy that I expect to be robust even in pessimistic risk-branches.

Comment by Dorikka on Why aren't we all using Taffix? · 2021-02-27T18:49:13.781Z · LW · GW

I'm curious if anyone knows of research comparing effectiveness of this to povidone iodine nasal spray? I make a 0.8% solution of that and use it in nose and gargle before going out (in addition to mask)

Comment by Dorikka on Why aren't we all using Taffix? · 2021-02-27T09:59:27.975Z · LW · GW

ebay

Comment by Dorikka on Still Not in Charge · 2021-02-10T22:57:36.695Z · LW · GW

Thank you both! Zvi - makes sense re short duration of increased interest and effective to capitalize on it while that lasts. Rob - the part I'm not seeing is the causal link between these posts and influencing/improving decisions made by the FDA and CDC.

Comment by Dorikka on Still Not in Charge · 2021-02-09T22:20:23.954Z · LW · GW

Out of curiosity, how come the strong speed premium on these posts? AFAICT there's nothing here that informs short-term decisions for readers; I've been skimming and mostly tossing into my to-read pile for that reason. Know I'm not exactly an important stakeholder here, but personally I'd sorta prefer to read the synthesis from a chat between yourself and Scott rather than the blow-by-blow.

Comment by Dorikka on You can send people KN95s · 2021-01-25T09:01:37.270Z · LW · GW

You can even send them actual N95s https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/kdkFnRnZv4ut5qGhR/?commentId=RaLK7uGHynTdny6Zf#RaLK7uGHynTdny6Zf

Comment by Dorikka on (USA) N95 masks are available on Amazon · 2021-01-19T01:00:33.083Z · LW · GW

Thanks - this is super helpful! Wanted to quickly mention in case helpful for calibration - higher quality protection equipment has been available for quite some time given sufficiently dedicated searching; full face respirators were available on Amazon near the beginning of the pandemic; N95 masks and P100 filter cartridges have been reliably available via eBay.

This post is awesome info as arrival time and price are both superior to pre-existing options, but just wanted to mention the above as an update-point: if folks truly believed that this PPE was not purchasable (albeit at a higher price point previously), might be worth updating in the direction of "most things can be purchased on the internet."

Comment by Dorikka on Covid 1/14: To Launch a Thousand Shipments · 2021-01-15T21:19:43.828Z · LW · GW

As always, a huge thanks to Zvi for the synthesis. I'm posting a comment similar to last week's meeting to consolidate information regarding treatment, as it's a topic that will remain very relevant to many of us for a while.

I continue to follow the guidance provided in the link Zvi previously posted (https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-current-treatment-for-Covid-19) - I would love if anyone has better next actions specifically re treatment than those listed in the Quora response.

Comment by Dorikka on Covid 12/31: Meet the New Year · 2021-01-01T05:59:26.928Z · LW · GW

My current main selfish takeaway from this is that given the new strain and likely properties of it, I and my loved ones will likely get infected (whereas in the previous world I estimated our precautions as sufficient to prevent infection.)

Hence my main thoughts turn to treatment. I am currently acting on the recommendations provided in the link Zvi previously posted (https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-current-treatment-for-Covid-19) - I would love if anyone has better next actions specifically re treatment than those listed in the Quora response.

Comment by Dorikka on Covid 9/24: Until Morale Improves · 2020-09-26T07:19:24.399Z · LW · GW

Thanks for the info! Two questions:

  1. The linked article indicated that 10% solutions were widely available on Amazon, and links this one, but doesn't seem to give any indication why he picked that one in particular - just wanted to check if you might have seen this reasoning somewhere/if it exists.

  2. I'm not familiar with Chris Masterjohn - his web page looks like he's a content creator trying to leverage his Nutritional Science PhD into being seen as knowledgeable about a wide variety of things - is this human known to say true and useful things?

Comment by Dorikka on Covid 9/24: Until Morale Improves · 2020-09-25T19:49:17.736Z · LW · GW

Thanks Zvi, these are super informative!

Use of povidone-iodine as mouthwash and nasal spray looks promising as prophylaxis (and potentially treatment, but lower confidence on that.) The study Zvi linked (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology/fullarticle/2770785#ooi200049r25) appears to be the latest in discussions occurring in otolaryngology since April (https://www.google.com/search?q=povidone+iodine+nasal+spray&oq=pobidone&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j35i39l2j0l2.2542j0j4&client=ms-android-att-us&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8). Other informative articles here (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0145561320932318) and (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3563092).

I plan to start using appropriately diluted povidone iodine solution as nasal spray and mouthwash when I'm in contact with (or proximity to) strangers. I'm pretty comfortable using Betadine 10% as the base for mouthwash (diluting it with water since the commercially sold mouthwash version is somewhat difficult to procure.)

I'd love any insights/thoughts on the correct product to use as the base for nasal spray (prior to mixing with saline), as the above protocol does not reference a particular product, and the additives in different povidone-iodine solutions seem to vary a fair amount.

Comment by Dorikka on What is the current state of knowledge around COVID-19 at-home remedies? · 2020-07-21T19:02:03.237Z · LW · GW

Would also love your thoughts on this one I posted a while back if convenient - not sure if I'm thinking about this one correctly or not: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/GoBBmmKzvT8XFwE8g/do-nasal-decongestants-increase-risk-associated-with

Comment by Dorikka on What is the current state of knowledge around COVID-19 at-home remedies? · 2020-07-21T18:59:17.643Z · LW · GW

Thanks for this, super helpful! Is NAC something to start taking when feeling symptomatic or something to start taking way ahead of time (like vitamin D)? Re indomethacin, it sounds like this is something that it would be worth getting a prescription of when feeling symptomatic (assuming it's not a controlled substance or something similarly difficult for a doctor to prescribe) - wanted to feedback this to you to make sure I'm understanding correctly.

Comment by Dorikka on Open Thread, Aug 29. - Sept 5. 2016 · 2016-09-04T18:55:49.404Z · LW · GW

Thanks. I haven't used liquid products much before. Anything you've noticed that's significantly different in terms of onset time, effect duration, etc?

Comment by Dorikka on Open Thread, Aug 29. - Sept 5. 2016 · 2016-09-04T18:01:19.435Z · LW · GW

Anyone know where I can find melatonin tablets <300 mcg? Splitting 300 mcg into 75 mcg quarters still gives me morning sleepiness, thinking smaller dose will reduce remaining melatonin upon wake time. Thanks.

Comment by Dorikka on Attention! Financial scam targeting Less Wrong users · 2016-03-02T22:14:02.116Z · LW · GW

Surely, as rationalists, we should

So awkward it hurts that this is even a thing.

Comment by Dorikka on Attention! Financial scam targeting Less Wrong users · 2016-03-02T07:14:22.411Z · LW · GW

Thanks for noting this.

Comment by Dorikka on Open Thread, Dec. 28 - Jan. 3, 2016 · 2015-12-27T16:26:33.281Z · LW · GW

Aren't new open threads usually posted on Mondays? Today is the 27th, not 28th.

Comment by Dorikka on Open thread, Nov. 23 - Nov. 29, 2015 · 2015-11-24T02:18:33.983Z · LW · GW

404: Generalized model not found

Comment by Dorikka on Open thread, Oct. 19 - Oct. 25, 2015 · 2015-10-20T02:49:15.045Z · LW · GW

Any particular evidence in favor of this approach, anecdotal or otherwise?

Comment by Dorikka on Crazy Ideas Thread - October 2015 · 2015-10-08T13:01:39.494Z · LW · GW

Seem to be implying that you are more likely to be in a simulation if historixcally impt. Interesting

Comment by Dorikka on Wear a Helmet While Driving a Car · 2015-09-26T16:13:32.804Z · LW · GW

No other source, but keep in mind that helmets are tuned for a certain force level. Too durable and helmet does not reduce peak force as it does not crush. Too weak and it crushes quickly, again with little reduction in peak force. This should just empasize to use the 25% number here though since the forces are more representative.

Redacting "won't do much of anything" except as implied by 25%, but keep in mind that if peak accelerations are much higher than the given case, the helmet will be less effective due to the above. This may or may not be the case in car crashes depending on speed.

Comment by Dorikka on Wear a Helmet While Driving a Car · 2015-09-26T15:58:48.827Z · LW · GW

Interesting - thanks for checking this. If the Severity Index is claiming no significant damage below 1200, I think it may be incorrect or may have a different criterion for severe damage. Some helmet standards seem to be fairly insensitive, only accounting for moderate or severe brain injury whereas MTBI can have long lasting effects. Yes, I discount Severity claims as the metric does not appear to give reasonable results. 188g is a crapload of linear acceleration, but metric puts it under threshold...I dont buy it, so am left to judge on peak linear accel instead (shame that rotational accel was not measured...)

Comment by Dorikka on Wear a Helmet While Driving a Car · 2015-09-21T11:29:00.249Z · LW · GW

The data is posted above, unlikely to get around to Dropboxing it so I can link (as it was from an email). I agree with you re body movement in a vehicle collision. However, at some point your body would stop. If your head hit something while your body was in motion, thr impacted object would likely have enough strength to bring the head to an abrupt halt. (Contrast with a knife being punched through paper mache - I would expect the force on the lnofe to be much lower than if hitting concrete, as it would go through the paper mache without much velocity change.)

Comment by Dorikka on Open Thread August 31 - September 6 · 2015-09-03T16:00:04.815Z · LW · GW

I am curious about your terminal goal here.

Comment by Dorikka on Yudkowsky's brain is the pinnacle of evolution · 2015-08-25T04:33:55.495Z · LW · GW

shrug The pdf for sincerity looks bimodal to me.

Comment by Dorikka on Yudkowsky's brain is the pinnacle of evolution · 2015-08-25T04:32:07.556Z · LW · GW

This is the most tantalizing thread on the page.

Comment by Dorikka on Yudkowsky's brain is the pinnacle of evolution · 2015-08-25T04:31:14.007Z · LW · GW

What is this, and why is it here?

(Original response was remarkably vehement, rather like I found a pile of cow dung sitting on my keyboard. Interesting.)

Comment by Dorikka on Open Thread - Aug 24 - Aug 30 · 2015-08-25T04:20:26.219Z · LW · GW

Thanks. How does one go about learning more about this, preferably while encountering minimal bullshit on the way?

Comment by Dorikka on List of common human goals · 2015-08-24T16:27:16.824Z · LW · GW

Thanks for posting this. Just a quick note, many of the things listed above I would consider may be "common" terminal values, not goals. Might just be a wording thing, but I think of goals as instrumental, with values propagating to actions via the hierarchy values->strategies->campaigns->goals->actions.

Convergent instrumental goals might be an interesting collection as well.

Comment by Dorikka on Open Thread - Aug 24 - Aug 30 · 2015-08-24T16:21:25.425Z · LW · GW

A few nutrition-related questions:

  • Why does Soylent 2.0 have so much fat? They appear to be going for 45% of calories from fat, whereas the typical recommendation is 10%-35%.

  • Why does the Bulletproof stuff include so much saturated fat? It appears that the consensus is that saturated fat significantly increases blood cholesterol and arterial plaque formation - curious why such a deviation here.

Comment by Dorikka on Open Thread - Aug 24 - Aug 30 · 2015-08-24T12:57:54.105Z · LW · GW

Personal experience that it is useful or just from the indirectly linked papers?

Also, note that it may potentiallly insta-fuck your liver.

Comment by Dorikka on Open thread, Aug. 17 - Aug. 23, 2015 · 2015-08-23T03:47:14.599Z · LW · GW

A few nutrition-related questions:

  • Why does Soylent 2.0 have so much fat? They appear to be going for 45% of calories from fat, whereas they typical recommendation is 10%-35%.

  • Why does the Bulletproof stuff include so much saturated fat? It appears that the consensus is that saturated fat significantly increases blood cholesterol and arterial plaque formation - curious why such a deviation here.

Comment by Dorikka on A list of apps that are useful to me. (And other phone details) · 2015-08-23T03:00:44.829Z · LW · GW

Thanks for writing this. A few notes:

  • I find Evernote to be an exceptionally great notetaking app.

  • If you end up using Google Calendar, I like Smooth Calendar as a widget that shows a few appts and lets you click through to the full calendar.

  • I previously had an S4, now an S5. I use the InvisibleShield Glass screen cover - people seem to keep finding ways to damage the glass on their phone screen, so the durable cover might pay dividends. (And already did on my S4, when I dropped it about a meter onto slate. I currently have a BodyGlove phone case.

  • I am totally mystified as to how you "go through" a phone case every month - I tend to use rubber ones or semi-flexible plastic, so the phone electronics would probably be mauled by the shock before the case suffered significant damage. Do you use a very different type of case?

Comment by Dorikka on Instrumental Rationality Questions Thread · 2015-08-23T02:48:25.906Z · LW · GW

I haven't heard of psuedoephedrine having nootropic effects before - what have you heard? (On a related note, it mostly makes me unable to sleep. :( )

Comment by Dorikka on Soylent has been found to contain lead (12-25x) and cadmium (≥4x) in greater concentrations than California's 'safe harbor' levels · 2015-08-17T01:51:20.488Z · LW · GW

Lower threshold on safe doses of lead and other contaminants for frequent and infrequent consumption. Mostly just wanted to check if you knew of any such guidelines that you considered sane. :P

Comment by Dorikka on Soylent has been found to contain lead (12-25x) and cadmium (≥4x) in greater concentrations than California's 'safe harbor' levels · 2015-08-16T04:59:20.061Z · LW · GW

Got it. Do you know of a sane set of guidelines that I can reference?

Comment by Dorikka on Soylent has been found to contain lead (12-25x) and cadmium (≥4x) in greater concentrations than California's 'safe harbor' levels · 2015-08-16T04:10:26.370Z · LW · GW

Citations not really necessary, but would like to know why you have that opinion. I don't know much about contaminant quantities.

Comment by Dorikka on Soylent has been found to contain lead (12-25x) and cadmium (≥4x) in greater concentrations than California's 'safe harbor' levels · 2015-08-16T01:37:55.252Z · LW · GW

How do the California guidelines compare to other recommendations?

Comment by Dorikka on Peer-to-peer "knowledge exchanges" · 2015-08-10T13:30:13.920Z · LW · GW

What topics might you be able to teach others about?