Posts
Comments
I warn those of you with a Netflix account that Redbelt is one awful mess of a movie. Yes, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor refuses to compete against the evil Brazilians, but it's not because prize fights are inherently different from grappling matches. It's for some sort of dedication to an ideal of honoring a Japanese-looking master that even he can't coherently articulate. Brazilian jiu-jitsu is built upon wrestling others - in class, in tournaments, in MMA fights and in real life.
It's one thing to have an arbitrary restriction; it's another to have one that's simultaneously a contradiction of the core principles of your profession and so unclear even the person following it can't tell you what it is. And it's yet another thing to reward the instructor with a redbelt - the supposed highest honor in jiu-jitsu - solely for getting angry, beating up security guards and brawling in the hallways of an arena to protest the stealing of his stupid idea.
Mamet tried to do about eleven different things with his script and only Eijofor's performance gave that movie its sole redeeming feature.
That being said, this "do not hit a girl" thing has always annoyed me. There are biological difference between genders, but if someone deserves to be punched, they deserve to be punched.
Word of warning: I have had a couple glasses of Firefly vodka mixed with lemonade. The everloving devil's brew, I tell you.
Yvain is most likely smarter than me and has the additional bonus of caring intensely about subjects I dabble in. However, he always delivers on the entertainment. That eardrop thing was ludicrously fun.
it seems to me that "a general strategy for approaching this sort of problem" has the same pitfalls as always trusting conventional wisdom over contrarian wisdom.
Yes, I mean relative to the rest of the martial arts community.
"What would a rationality fan who didn't actually practice rationality look like?" Jim Cramer on the Daily Show? (I refer not to the verbal destruction, but Cramer's stated appreciation of Stewart's points without any subsequent change in his behavior.)
Well, the Cornhuskers had a big thing for the Option I offense for a very long time, and recruited talent specifically for it - despite the growing utility of more "modern" offenses. There was a huge hullabaloo about the switch to the West Coast under Callahan. A significant portion of Husker fans still grumble about it, and mostly do so with the "tradition" criticism.
I can't wait until a college or pro team does the A-11 offense: http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=825031
Are you insane? Professional team sports are a bastion of epistemic viciousness. A surprising amount of professional athletes and coaches do not have a coherent grasp of why they are able to do what they do, are awful at evaluating themselves and recognize, yet dismiss, what they should do to get better. Case in point: Shaquille O'Neal, with his free throws and rejuvenation once he encountered the Phoenix medical staff.
Or any number of idiotic football coaches who refuse to implement strategies that Madden video games and real life show as valid, winning strategies. On the other hand, there's Don Nelson - who appears to be playing a demented brand of basketball in a bizarro dimension.
Disclosure: I have done Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for eight months and dabble in mixed martial arts. I have watched more than a few hundred hours of videos of all kinds of martial arts, been active in individual and team sports and did taekwondo a long time ago.
My experiences in BJJ and MMA have shown me a population of people unusually aware of the strengths and limitations of almost every martial art out there. There's a strong institutional emphasis (from the instructor) to do techniques shown in class specifically as shown; however, there's also a strong unofficial emphasis on watching YouTube videos, grappling with other people and coming up with stuff on your own time. Both pathways are tested in grappling. The OODA loop works so much better within the BJJ/MMA groups than it does in people outside.
I have no idea why this is, but I suspect it is primarily because of the UFC and other MMA organizations showing the continual development of individual combat (within rules). The personal fighting has also borne this out, but isn't nearly as capable of influencing other people.
By continual testing against others, the chinks are eventually shown and either patched up or styles reconfigured. A variety of styles and strategies have been shown to work - swarming (old Shogun, old Wanderlei), counterfighting (Evans, Rampage), Muay Thai (Anderson Silva), submissions from the top (Maia), submissions from the bottom (Minotauro), wrestling (St. Pierre) etc. [Note: almost all of the previously mentioned are world-class experts in multiple disciplines]
Bruce Lee sorta gave up Kung Fu. Pro sports are a way of life for many, many millions.
Rationality dojo: isn't this place one?
Michael Vassar: I have no idea who you are, but I'll proceed on the assumption that the "job" you mention is one of representing Eliezer and/or the other OvercomingBias authors in some sort of business capacity.
I don't know Max on a personal level. We've talked a few times on his board and he might be dimly aware of my existence, but I make no claims as to what he will do if contacted by Eliezer or an agent of Eliezer's.
Serious discussions of potential OvercomingBias projects/movies and whatnot should be sent to Max's assistant, Ian Claudius - ian.claudius(AT)gmail.com. The Rudius people are smart and good content creators (multiple book contracts, one soon to be hit movie and stuff I actually like).
I know that Tucker Max, whose movie I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell will be out sometime this year, has read this site since July of 2007 at least. He's actually how I discovered Overcoming Bias.
He's said numerous times that Eliezer would be absolutely fantastic if his posts weren't so ridiculously long and wandering at times.
He'd be a good person to talk to about making a movie (since his own was designed specifically to avoid that "dumbing-down process") and is probably going to make several tens of millions over the next few years.
Any Kwisatz Haderach can totally do this with the Spice of Life and certain Fremen rituals...