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Comment by itsunder9000 on Reason as memetic immune disorder · 2010-11-02T21:39:06.473Z · LW · GW

Yeah, rule numero uno of the internet is to remain ANON as much as possible.

Comment by itsunder9000 on Reason as memetic immune disorder · 2010-11-02T21:29:45.956Z · LW · GW

Why? To have a reasonable measure for the intelligence of their children.

Heard of regression to the mean? An unusually smart person from a background of dumb hick proles, is not going to have kids nearly as smart as they are.

People understand this at a genetic level when picking out mates. "Meet the family" before you decide to keep the girl/guy.

Comment by itsunder9000 on Reason as memetic immune disorder · 2010-11-02T21:27:43.733Z · LW · GW

-wtf am i reading-

that "1/6" black came from a funky genetics test.

A reasonable test for percentage of blackness, is going back say, about 5 generations, and seeing how many black people are in his ancestry.

There were none, since his parents/grandparents,yada yada came from Europe.

Wonder how he felt about it? He understood it was a bullshit media piece.

Comment by itsunder9000 on Call for Volunteers: Rationalists with Non-Traditional Skills · 2010-11-02T17:22:09.548Z · LW · GW

Too many people run marathons and lift heavy weights for me not too say them.

I don't think that increased strength and increased metabolism are great benefits now. There are few instances in today's world where strength matters, and increased metabolism is really only important if you really like food, or are a competitive food eater.

Beyond not being obese and being able to play a game of pick up basketball with the guys, I am not convinced that exercise really means anything, beyond increasing status to some groups of people.

I would simply recommend doing the type of exercises that will make your body type appeal to those who you want to impress, or get along with, that don't have a high risk of injury(unless you like impressing the risky crowd, up to you)

Comment by itsunder9000 on Call for Volunteers: Rationalists with Non-Traditional Skills · 2010-11-01T03:20:38.294Z · LW · GW

Well, after researching this topic for several years, i can condense it into this.

Lifting unusually heavy things, and running unusually long distances do more long term harm than good. Think doing heavy squats, and running marathons.

The only benefit I can think of for doing heavy lifts, is to impress to bros, and get buff for a party fast, while taking a semi-legal supplement. heavy lifting does not have long term advantages.

Comment by itsunder9000 on Call for Volunteers: Rationalists with Non-Traditional Skills · 2010-10-31T02:26:53.106Z · LW · GW

Eh, I am 18 now. I currently live in riverside, at the college.

Yeah, needless to say, any advise I could give, I would give online.

Comment by itsunder9000 on (Virtual) Employment Open Thread · 2010-10-30T05:10:34.108Z · LW · GW

Read "the bell curve"

basically, smart parents were more likely to go to a higher ranking school, and move themselves up in the social heirarchy.

Smart people tend to have smart kids. Dumb people tend to have dumb kids. Hence, the scores.

For the race aspect of this, you can find the stats where poor east asian kids do better than rich white kids.At least on the math portion.

Comment by itsunder9000 on Call for Volunteers: Rationalists with Non-Traditional Skills · 2010-10-30T00:27:59.891Z · LW · GW

I got the American bench press record for 15 year olds.

Its been about a year since I was into weightlifting intensely, but I am happy to help out with anything you might need.

Comment by itsunder9000 on (Virtual) Employment Open Thread · 2010-10-24T23:36:44.324Z · LW · GW

Want some brutally truthful tests designed to see how competent you are?

Take the SAT test, , which measures math ability, and verbal ability. Find a few psychology tests that try and measure memorization ability(like, how quickly and well you can memorize a topic)

Why? Because real world success, in intellectual endeavors, is largely a combination of how large your fluid intelligence is+memorization ability+ work ethic. The rest is due to combos of other factors.

Besides the SAT, you can take the LSAT, and study for a few things on there that require specific knowledge. The test is the single largest predictive factor of success in law school, and blind tests of competence.

There are a few other tests you can take. I recommend the AMC, which requires studying some topics outside of the regular school curriculum, but not too much.

Or, you could play starcraft for 3 months, and see how high you end up ranking.

Beyond these,I don't know of many good tests to see how competent you are.

Comment by itsunder9000 on (Virtual) Employment Open Thread · 2010-10-24T23:26:59.955Z · LW · GW

Kid, hate to break it to ya, but have you looked at all the studies about nootropics?

There are "veerrrryy few" done in normal healthy adults. Their actual effects, are very contradictory, and not that great. Sure, there are a few glowing reports about it....but there are also a great deal of "this is bunk"

Even those studies done in rats and the elderly have few solid and stable results. They are often different for each study.

As a good rule, anything that works is either illegal or prescription, or there is a movement to make it illegal(like salvia) Why? Because, stuff that works, the word gets around quickly. Quickly enough, that worried parents and politicians with ambition find out about it too.

Comment by itsunder9000 on (Virtual) Employment Open Thread · 2010-10-24T23:14:05.578Z · LW · GW

If any decent percentage of this singularity stuff pans out, any plans greater than 20 years are bunk.

Hell, within the next 6-15 years, the price for models will plummet. Why?

Because, computer graphics are getting so good and cheap, that simply creating a model that looks beautiful, will be easier and cheaper just using the computer.

Reading, and contemplating all of these technology trends really changed thought process of what constitutes a solid job.

But, some advice I would give, is perhaps try and double major in computer science and electrical engineering. Go to a good grad school after college(since as he dropped out of HS, the only decent college he can get in to, is one that has a guaranteed acceptance program by sat scores), then work from there.

Solid, but boring.