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Comment by dropspindle on Open thread, May. 1 - May. 7, 2017 · 2017-05-06T14:56:31.879Z · LW · GW

It doesn't seem like there's been any discussion on caloric restriction or intermittent fasting since 2014, and even then it didn't seem like any consensus was achieved. Have there been any more studies in the intervening years? Has anyone else started or stopped or failed or whatnot?

Here's Gwern's write up: https://www.gwern.net/intermittent-fasting

(I just noticed that their post was modified in May 2017, so SOMETHING new must have happened...)

Comment by dropspindle on Open thread, Apr. 24 - Apr. 30, 2017 · 2017-04-30T13:29:32.268Z · LW · GW

Even in your chart, the top 25% of janitors (the lowest IQ occupation) are smarter than the bottom 25% of college professors (the second highest IQ occupation). IQ ranges within an occupation are MUCH bigger than IQ ranges between occupations.

Comment by dropspindle on Open thread, Apr. 24 - Apr. 30, 2017 · 2017-04-29T13:12:29.862Z · LW · GW

in-home maid/handyman/nanny jobs are exactly the obedient, dutiful, vigilant, lower-IQ, blue-collar, conscientious-type people.

Your stereotypes are both inaccurate and harmful. All the handymen I know are extremely intelligent. Electrical systems, plumbing systems, etc. are both complex and require reasoning to work with. A lot of fix-it stuff is a mix of puzzles, and figuring out how to do things on the fly.

I myself am a nanny (if you do a SAT to IQ conversion, my IQ is 144, which I am only saying because that seems to be of particular importance to you). Nannies tend to be of about average intelligence, and if I were to think of the most common trait it's that they were pioneering enough to either immigrate or leave their entire family behind to come to America to work.

Comment by dropspindle on Stupid Questions May 2017 · 2017-04-27T03:01:23.090Z · LW · GW

I have four roomies and one bathroom.

I set my first alarm half an hour before I NEED to get up, which also happens to be right before anyone else gets up. If I get up with my first alarm (or within a minute or two), then I am very likely able to get the bathroom. (And if someone is already in there, I am guaranteed that they will be out before I need to leave.) I tell myself that if I get up and do everything I need to do in the morning besides getting dressed, I can go back to bed and turn off all my other alarms except for the one 5-10 minues before I have to leave.

If I don't get up with my first alarm, there's a possibility that I don't get to use the bathroom before I need to leave for work.

Ahh, the joys of NYC life.

Comment by dropspindle on I Want To Live In A Baugruppe · 2017-03-17T03:07:32.126Z · LW · GW

I want this, but somewhere like Appalachia where land and such is insanely cheap and you can do some homesteading too

Comment by dropspindle on Projects-in-Progress Thread · 2017-01-22T03:14:01.792Z · LW · GW

The self-hacking is going pretty well, considering that I started out absolutely hating programming. A problem that arises is that I don't currently like it enough for it to be self-motivating just through personal enjoyment. I actually got a lot more accomplished when the motivation was "Do the thing that I hate (and learn to like it/ change my self-identity of hating it) so that I can get a better job (...Eventually. I like my current job, so no rush)." Now I like it well enough that the motivation is "Do that thing you like because you like it", but there's usually something else to do that I like better.

I've also done self-hacking for math and mathy subjects, but it was before I would have known of the term. It worked rather well!

Odin Project is more of a slog, but it seems like it will get you where you need to go. I had a lot more FUN on sites like Codewars, which was more useful for the self-hacking part.

Comment by dropspindle on Projects-in-Progress Thread · 2017-01-21T23:22:54.824Z · LW · GW

I've been:

1) Self-hacking into liking programming

2)Learning programming (primarily using Odin Project)

Comment by dropspindle on John Nash's Ideal Money: The Motivations of Savings and Thrift · 2017-01-18T18:29:25.178Z · LW · GW

I am nearly certain Flinter is just Eugene's new way of trolling now that there aren't downvotes. Don't feed the troll

Comment by dropspindle on January 2017 Media Thread · 2017-01-03T04:35:21.972Z · LW · GW

I love the BBC's Ruth Goodman series because they answer questions about historical daily life that I never even thought to ask. For example, in Victorian and Edwardian times, a common way to clean a chimney was to climb to the roof and throw a chicken down it. As it flapped and scratched on its way down it would knock down all the debris and buildup. If you want to know the start-to-finish process of how to build a lime-ash floor, or a pig sty, or the details of how things were cleaned, cooked, gathered, farmed, or used, these shows will have it.

ETA- These are also probably pretty interesting if you are into survivalism

Links go to the first episodes of the series on YouTube, where they are all available.

Secrets of the Castle- Guedelon Castle is a current 20 year project in France where they are building a 13th century castle, using 13th century techniques. They show the entire process of building the castle. One thing I found interesting is that castles would have been limewashed, rather than left as the bare rock we see today. And one interior decoration was to paint the limewash as if it were exposed marble. So you cover up the rock to paint it to look like a more expensive rock. The human-powered hamster wheel that they would use to raise the stones up is also pretty nifty. This is a good one if you're interested in historic technology

Wartime Farm- Before the second World War, British farming was on a decline since 60% of their food was imported, but at the start of the war Germany started blockading British vessels. British farms had to double their production at a time when young men were gone, leaving women to do heavy labor. To do this, they had to completely switch focus from raising livestock (which were culled) to growing cereal crops. Manufacturing was focused on war goods so farming equipment had to be jerry rigged from scrap metal. Already crowded farms had to find ways to host the women and children that had been evacuated from cities. If your farm wasn't productive enough, it would get taken away from you

(I don't feel like typing much more but don't take that as evidence that the ones below are less interesting)

Tudor Monastery Farm- This is one of my favorites. Ruth and company live as tenant farmers, leasing their land from the monastery. One thing I enjoy about this series is how different their various holiday celebrations are from modern ones.

Victorian Farm- 1880s

Edwardian Farm- This one takes place on a Devon port, so there's also information about life by the sea (fishing, gathering algae and shrimp, boating, etc)

Victorian Pharmacy- How people attempted to cure common ailments in the 19th C. I haven't watched it yet, but I hear it's wonderful

Full Steam Ahead- About engineering and building the railway system, and how that changed daily life in the early 19th century. I haven't watched this one yet but it seems really good. TRAINS!

Tales from the Green Valley- This was an early series, and not as well done. I don't recommend this one unless you've already watched all the others and want more. It's a 1620's/ Stuart era farm

Comment by dropspindle on Open thread, Dec. 19 - Dec. 25, 2016 · 2016-12-22T06:32:26.614Z · LW · GW

Random Note: Since the push to put more content on here, I actually have been checking more frequently. I'm looking now maybe every three weeks instead of every three months, which is nothing compared to the daily checking when I was active and the site was active, but is at least more on my radar.

Just some positive reinforcement for all yall.

Comment by dropspindle on A quick note on weirdness points and Solstices [And also random other Solstice discussion] · 2016-12-22T06:28:24.694Z · LW · GW

I like having a community that supports children, but at the same time let's not close our eyes to the truth. If there actually is a child screaming throughout Solstice and running around rampant it will, in fact, ruin the experience. I don't know what the Bay Solstice was like, so I don't know if this was really the case or if it's an exaggeration.