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Comment by windmil on What are you working on? June 2012 · 2012-06-06T03:21:40.824Z · LW · GW

What data am I recording? The days since I last did it.

There are TED talks and other things people have said exist that say when you've messed up some of your reward circuitry in this way that keeping away from it for a while is a good way to go. I haven't really looked at them. I don't claim that it's the best way for everyone, or that people should abstain in general, but I do know that if I don't stop entirely for a little while it won't work. When I give in it's harder to keep from doing it again and I tend to binge. I suppose I would know if it helps if this goes well.

Comment by windmil on What are you working on? June 2012 · 2012-06-04T15:56:13.531Z · LW · GW

Not sure how much people would want to read about this, but I recently started the /r/NoFap challenge. I've been abstaining from masturbation because I do it too much. While I don't feel like I shouldn't do it at all, I need to get to at least the level of self control where I can do it not at all. Just a few days successfully, and a few weeks of unsuccessful attempts, but I feel like this time it's really coming along.

This is part of a larger plan to increase my general self control, and a concrete first step while I try other various little things.

Comment by windmil on Petition: Off topic area · 2012-05-14T20:41:21.742Z · LW · GW

Then why not for example just make a LW subreddit on Reddit or something? I thought the off topic section was a good idea as an initial response, but Konk has a good point.

Comment by windmil on Petition: Off topic area · 2012-05-14T00:02:15.136Z · LW · GW

Possibly, but not for being off topic.

Comment by windmil on Help! Name suggestions needed for Rationality-Inst! · 2012-02-06T02:34:48.187Z · LW · GW

Y'know, we came up with this idea for this institution and all the cool things we could do. We got so wrapped up in it that the name was kind of an afterthought.

Comment by windmil on Thinking Bayesianically, with Lojban · 2012-01-24T20:29:45.785Z · LW · GW

.a'uru'e I sort of like this because I sort of like almost any tinkering with lojban. Still, I'm not sure if using this for myself would have any more of an effect than just making sure to consciously register the probabilities of my expectations. Of course that conscious attention to it seems to be exactly the benefit you suggested it might have. It would probably take a little getting used to the logarithmic change, but after that period I feel like I would have a better feel for probability in general. I don't have a very good intuition grasp on them now.

ta'o The second column on your site about cniglic, the second column is using tengwar, isn't it?

Comment by windmil on Utopian hope versus reality · 2012-01-11T13:42:59.609Z · LW · GW

To be fair, living as one person for 10,000 years wouldn't necessarily let you experience everything that any one of many people did during the same amount of time.

Comment by windmil on Welcome to Less Wrong! (2012) · 2012-01-03T21:12:40.773Z · LW · GW

Hey! If I find the time I'll be making snarky comments on your snarky comment related posts.

Comment by windmil on Describe your personal Mount Stupid · 2012-01-03T20:55:18.060Z · LW · GW

I've had a bit of the same thing. I'm much faster than people who hunt each key, and I don't look at the keyboard anymore, but I'm far from touchtyping. I use about five fingers and one of them I only use for the letter 'a'.

Comment by windmil on Welcome to Less Wrong! (2012) · 2012-01-03T20:51:19.744Z · LW · GW

Good to meet you too. There's also Ozy in Florida. That's a whole Three People!

Comment by windmil on [deleted post] 2012-01-03T20:03:57.962Z

If this is anything like Reddit, (And I have reasons to believe it might be exactly like Reddit) There would be no way to change the name of an existing account and keep the comments, karma and such. You might have to make a new account. Of course this is smaller than Reddit, and maybe someone with magical admin powers could do it.

Comment by windmil on Describe your personal Mount Stupid · 2012-01-03T19:59:24.529Z · LW · GW

I remember realizing not too long ago how silly I was being after just having read the Quantum Physics sequence here. I would watch popular science shows and have to have a little rant about how they were ALL WRONG! (Though I still admit any given popular science show can say some silly things) I realized every time I went to explain how they were ALL WRONG I would just say some secondhand (at least) and very opinionated ideas, and realize I didn't have very deep understanding from all that. But I would keep going.

So I've decided to stop, because it's irrational and at least a bit annoying I'd bet.

Comment by windmil on January 2012 Media Thread · 2012-01-03T14:04:51.663Z · LW · GW

It's probably more an effort to practice rationality than refine it. Finding good media to entertain, and possibly bring new ideas is (at least) fun. And it's better to take the word of people who already know the quality of something than to spend too much effort or wasting time on things you end up not enjoying.

Comment by windmil on Advice Request: Baconmas Website · 2012-01-03T13:49:36.312Z · LW · GW

Wasn't that an add campaign for Denny's?

Comment by windmil on [META] Introduction thread attitudes and discussions · 2012-01-02T02:08:34.681Z · LW · GW

I only have my own impressions to talk about, and I only had one reply to my meager introduction. There was a minor criticism included, but the welcoming part of the reply left me with a possitive feeling about it. The criticism also made me feel a little more like I was part of a discussion. It was a bit more than just a "Hey, happy you're here".

Getting any reply at all encouraged me to post a few more comments (like this one). Though others may mind criticism more, or of course get more of it by mentioning more extreme views.

Comment by windmil on Where are we? · 2012-01-02T01:47:08.856Z · LW · GW

Florida, the central part.

Comment by windmil on Welcome to Less Wrong! (2012) · 2012-01-02T01:41:00.817Z · LW · GW

.ui lo du'u do cu se cinri la lojban. cu pluka mi

It's nice to see someone else interested in lojban.

Comment by windmil on Why some people seem to be proud of their ignorance? · 2011-12-31T23:46:56.244Z · LW · GW

Admitting you don't know something can show modesty. The issue brought up here is pride in ignorance, not the humble ability to admit it.

Comment by windmil on Welcome to Less Wrong! (2012) · 2011-12-28T13:36:44.405Z · LW · GW

That could be cool if we ever got around to it. I'm usually in either Daytona Beach or Gainesville, not that it's too big of a state to drive across... at least width-wise.

Comment by windmil on Welcome to Less Wrong! (2012) · 2011-12-28T03:59:55.622Z · LW · GW

The only LWer that I've noticed was from Florida! (Of course, people don't too frequently pepper their posts with particulars of their placement.)

Comment by windmil on Welcome to Less Wrong! (2012) · 2011-12-28T03:53:18.303Z · LW · GW

It might not be. Of course I don't feel like I'm on track to help suddenly make atomically precise, self replicating nanomachines. But it would be nice to get closer to some mechanically precise manufacturing, or just certain better materials for some applications. Also I could make some money.

I am an early engineering undergrad, so right now I'm mostly taking intro to anything at all classes and not doing any real work. I wouldn't be surprised if I changed directions at all.

Comment by windmil on [Link, Humor] The Best Christmas Ever · 2011-12-27T05:13:35.066Z · LW · GW

I automatically assumed that the boxes contained more Giftos, if the kid said that one Gifto made it the best Christmas ever.

Comment by windmil on Welcome to Less Wrong! (2012) · 2011-12-27T05:11:40.635Z · LW · GW

Hello all.

I've been lurking around here and devouring the sequences for about two years now. I haven't said much because I rarely feel like I have much that's useful, or I don't feel knowledgeable about the subject. But I thought I might start commenting a bit more.

I'm 19, in Florida and studying engineering. I really want to do something that will bring the world forward in some way, and right now that has me pointed at trying to put my personal effort towards nanotechnology. For now though I'm just trying to win classes and learn as much as I can.

Not too much more than 'hi', but there it is.

Comment by windmil on Drawing Less Wrong: Should You Learn to Draw? · 2011-11-24T22:34:49.560Z · LW · GW

The little thing at the top about how this post is part of a sequence says it's the third. Seemed like the second, and it is, but I still it still made me go check to make sure I hadn't missed anything.

Also, (since just pointing out a little error isn't really much of a comment, and neither is just saying I liked it) I found that this did really make me want to draw, at least temporarily. I'll see if I can keep that going long enough to actually do it.

Comment by windmil on How did you come to find LessWrong? · 2011-11-22T03:13:06.234Z · LW · GW

I probably took an odd route to get here. About two years ago I was just happily reading some Dresden Codak, and saw he went to a Singularity Summit. He commented briefly on some of the things presented, and I followed links to the websites of various speakers. Really though, Eliezer Yudkowsky's site caught me the most. I started with The Simple Truth and over the next few months read through the sequences.

Haven't really posted much here, though I come back and read a few things from time to time.

Comment by windmil on Where do I most obviously still need to say "oops"? · 2011-11-22T03:02:00.157Z · LW · GW

Even though if it were accepted it might be OFT used.

Comment by windmil on 2011 Less Wrong Census / Survey · 2011-11-02T13:12:26.407Z · LW · GW

That's about how I felt when I took it. Still fun whipping out those uninformed estimates to show what silly things I think.

Comment by windmil on Concepts Don't Work That Way · 2011-09-27T13:28:57.837Z · LW · GW

Your link to dualism early on is missing a closing parenthesis. I had to click a whole extra button. Thought I might let you know and save others from this taxing ordeal. Also, in the second block quote, there might be a typo, "philosophy close to the hone," instead of "bone".

Comment by windmil on A Crash Course in the Neuroscience of Human Motivation · 2011-08-20T00:14:24.283Z · LW · GW

Just a little error I saw in the Neoclassical Economics section:

If you are risk averse you might choose the blue box because it has higher expected subjective value even though it has higher expected objective value.

Should be "even though it has lower expected objective value." Also, I've really enjoyed the post so far.

Comment by windmil on That letter after B is not rendering on Less Wrong? · 2011-08-17T00:08:58.773Z · LW · GW

Also not showing up in some urls, like this.

Comment by windmil on That letter after B is not rendering on Less Wrong? · 2011-08-17T00:04:16.386Z · LW · GW

I don't know, they don't show up in the newest posts for me, but show up in any comments. I'm really curious why this is happening.