Aaron Bergman's tweets, February 2024
Every public tweet, reply, quote tweet and retweet that Aaron Bergman (@AaronBergman18 on X, formerly Twitter) posted in February 2024 and has not deleted: 507 posts, oldest first, times in UTC. Each heading links to the original post on X. When Aaron replies to or quotes someone, their tweet appears as a blockquote with their name; those words are theirs, and everything outside the blockquotes is Aaron's.
This page is one month of the complete archive of Aaron Bergman's tweets, which updates automatically every few hours. Previous month: January 2024. Next month: March 2024.
Thursday, February 1, 2024
Reply, 03:14 UTC
Maybe eloquence wasn’t the right word - I’m talking about like verbal fluidity/clarity/lack of filler words when talking out loud. Eloquence can be applied to writing
Reply to @norvid_studies, 05:58 UTC · 1 like
norvid_studies (@norvid_studies): is there a term for as something approaches extremes, growth rate of fraud/error increases exponentially? 'too good to be true' ish
-regional longevity records/blue zones
-successful academic publishing records??
-2500 Elo cheating
-pascals mugging offers
Not an answer but there are two effects here, I think conceptually distinct: (1) the extreme value itself (as someone very familiar with the domain would see) and (2) observation bias - “outsiders” hear about more extreme things
Reply to @alt_truistic, 06:00 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @alt_truistic is no longer available.)
The two genders
Quote tweet, 18:57 UTC · 27 likes
If this doesn’t make it into the 80k Slack it’s gonna be like a second 9/11 the very next day
Quoting Aaron Bergman 🔍 (@AaronBergman18): This is my personal 9/11
Reply to @mealreplacer, 19:10 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @mealreplacer is no longer available.)
Aww friends ❤️
Reply to @lufthiniano, 20:48 UTC · 2 likes
Luf Thansa (@lufthiniano): @AaronBergman18 @inerati why weirdly?
Intuitively it seems like a pdf is similar to a txt in that you can click it to open a static document that generally contains text you can copy and paste
Reply to @exfatloss, 21:59 UTC · 14 likes
exfatloss🥛 (@exfatloss): I avoid diet advice from people who've never been obese. It's not impossible that they could have some useful insights, but I've yet to see it.
(quoting @hubermanlab: I think it’s fair to ask if the MD or scientist or public health official saying to do X or not do Y looks and sounds healthy and vital. I avoid going to a dentist with bad teeth. What do you think? I sense diverging opinions on this.)
Big dating advice from guy who is 6’3” energy
Tweet, 22:05 UTC · 15 likes
Want a pet pig bc dogs feel like cheating. They’re genetically programmed to like you. If a pig likes you then ur best pals fr, a partnership of equals
Quote tweet, 22:10 UTC · 5 likes
I disagree with this. There is a tradeoff between undeniable, pure fact checking and potentially biased added context, which often depends on inferring subtext or implication in a tweet, and currently we are at a good point on the spectrum
Stand strong ✊✊✊
Quoting Jonatan Pallesen (@jonatanpallesen): Community Notes showed a lot of promise, but they are unraveling.
Their role should be limited to verifying factual claims, and not engage in debates. For instance, if the specific claim about the green area in the image is inaccurate, there could be a Note about that.
But of course the Noters love the power they can get in the debate, and abuse it. This needs to stop.
@X needs to rein them in. There needs to be a clear guideline with examples of what Community Notes should and should not be used for. Such clarity can help ensure downvotes for Notes like this.
If that's not enough, they should establish a system in which Noters can be banned if they vote yes on too many of this type of Note.
Reply to @dissproportion, 22:19 UTC · 5 likes
Dissproportionately (@dissproportion): I’m torn on this. People have the right to end it. But there’s a lot of evidence that removing easy means reduces the overall rate of suicide. Is it a well-considered wish that would persist in these cases, or would some of them adapt to life if death were less accessible?
(quoting @mcinthedc: The Slippery Slope folks were 100% correct when it came to Euthanasia. Telling clinical depressed and autistic people to kill themselves is simply eugenics.)
Quote tweet, 22:21 UTC · 41 likes
Words that are anti-descriptive, in that they generally obscure more than they clarify:
- “eugenics”
- “feminism” (I know some will disagree here)
What else?
Quoting Matt! (Please Press Pause?) (@mcinthedc): The Slippery Slope folks were 100% correct when it came to Euthanasia. Telling clinical depressed and autistic people to kill themselves is simply eugenics.
Quote tweet, 22:24 UTC · 8 likes
We must protect him
Quoting Igor Bobic (@igorbobic): Fetterman very on brand by showing up to a fancy DC dinner in a tuxedo hoodie and shorts (he’s even got cufflinks on the sleeves)
Reply to @univrsw3th4rt, 22:26 UTC · 2 likes
universe sweetheart 💓🌈💭 (@univrsw3th4rt): @inconcel this is possibly the best description of me ever written. i hold so much forbidden knowledge
Plz tell I want the secret knowledge too
Friday, February 2, 2024
Reply to @polisisti, 04:48 UTC · 4 likes
Alessandro (@polisisti): @mealreplacer Good evening, Julian
Tetraspace
Reply to @butt_sword, 04:56 UTC · 5 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @butt_sword is no longer available.)
They’re called potatoes
Tweet, 05:04 UTC · 4 likes
So is autism more like the left or the right?
Thread, continued, 05:04 UTC · 2 likes
It’s from ACX ofc https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/ontology-of-psychiatric-conditions
Reply to @pli_cachete, 17:45 UTC · 34 likes
Rota Is In Israel🚪🧎♂️ (@pli_cachete): It’s so much easier to bullshit smart people because you can just say random stuff and their pattern detection abilities are strong enough that they can always make some connection and squeeze meaning from your sentence. It’s the dummies who ask you to explain that screw you up
Reply to @hubermanlab, 18:32 UTC · 2 likes
Andrew D. Huberman, Ph.D. (@hubermanlab): I am convinced that the 8 pillars of Mental & Physical Health are:
1) Sleep
2) (Sun)light
3) Exercise
4) Stress Management
5) Relationships (Incl. To Self)
6) Nutrients (Amt., Timing, Content)
7) Oral Health & Gut Microbiome
8) Spiritual Grounding
Additions? Subtractions?
Bro that’s 9
No. 7 is clearly 2 parts, nice try
Reply to @seconds_0, 18:41 UTC · 1 like
0.005 Seconds (3/694) (@seconds_0): Its crazy that basically all of the research on the benefits of Curcumin is fake: https://reeserichardson.blog/2024/01/30/the-king-of-curcumin-a-case-study-in-the-consequences-of-large-scale-research-fraud/
Damm
Tweet, 18:47 UTC · 2 likes
Little brothers of the world, unite
Reply to @pli_cachete, 19:07 UTC · 4 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @pli_cachete is no longer available.)
Nooo don’t mix computery words and econ words noo
Saturday, February 3, 2024
Reply, 00:49 UTC · 1 like
Maybe this is naive but I have a hard time imagining that such a law would survive more than a few months into lab grown meat being a normal (if high end) consumer product in most other US states
Right now it’s just signaling and posturing
Reply, 00:52 UTC · 1 like
Race u to 3k
Reply to @freed_dfilan, 04:43 UTC · 8 likes
Daniel Filan 🔎 (@freed_dfilan): The font for "EA Global" is different than the font for "Bay Area (GCRs)" in a way that's distracting to me.
This is bigger than FTX and castlegate
Reply to @animalologist, 04:58 UTC · 16 likes
taco belle (@animalologist): Yeah redpill dudes online partly caused this but also consider: gender inequality was so much worse when Boomers were young that they can see the positive impact feminism has had on the world as they’ve grown older. Men under 30 have no concept of a world w/o modern feminism
Good take but also the headline in the pic seems like a good example of why “feminism” just isn’t a helpful term to use anymore. (I claim) Gen Z and Boomers are using the same word to point at substantially different things
Reply, 05:35 UTC · 1 like
Or really until u reach one digit. You have to know 1-9
Reply to @mbolotnikova, 06:52 UTC · 1 like
(The tweet being replied to by @mbolotnikova is no longer available.)
🤝☹️
Reply to @MatthewJBar, 07:26 UTC · 2 likes
Matthew Barnett (@MatthewJBar): I wrote a shortform post on the EA forum questioning why effective altruists have historically favored AI safety over AI acceleration (at least when these two values conflict). My tentative assessment: the EA preference for safety seems surprisingly weak.
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/YDjzAKFnGmqmgPw2n/matthew_barnett-s-shortform?commentId=BspBj3zRDk2rTErqD
We need an interface between twitter and Quick Takes
Reply to @metakuna, 07:40 UTC · 2 likes
metakuna (14/100 blog posts) (@metakuna): I'm confused by this, how do you adjust IQ for IQ?
Maternal IQ vs child’s IQ right?
Quote tweet, 13:20 UTC · 38 likes
Wait 25% of 16 year olds have like ~formally~ committed a crime?
Is it all drinking citations?
Quoting Hunter📈🌈📊 (@StatisticUrban): America is so good at integrating immigrants that we even manage to get them to do crimes at the same rate as native borns
Tweet, 13:48 UTC · 13 likes
God forbid men have a hobby
Reply, 14:07 UTC · 1 like
Huh this is not my sense (agree on the corrective mechanism bit tho)
Reply to @ilex_ulmus, 14:56 UTC · 3 likes
Holly ⏸️ Elmore (@ilex_ulmus): I think DC EA culture is way more balanced and considerate on criticism than Bay EA and esp rationalist culture. There are seasons where it’s really in to be just witheringly critical here, and it def provides an opportunity to hide shitty motives like putting ppl in their place
@AndyMasley W
Reply to @JgaltTweets, 15:04 UTC · 6 likes
JgaltTweets (@JgaltTweets): 2011: nearly a third of Americans have been arrested by age 23, study says https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/us/nearly-a-third-of-americans-are-arrested-by-23-study-says.html
Huh, come to think of it even my extremely privileged white Jewish family kinda tracks lol. I won’t say WHICH member of my nuclear family got a drinking citation but let’s just say it wasn’t me, wasn’t my parents, and may or may not have been my sister who is the only other one
Reply, 15:22 UTC · 1 like
FWIW this seems to me more like a prosocial counter-signaling thing analogous to one friend calling another “a fucking idiot” but maybe it would feel different in context
Reply to @ilex_ulmus, 15:28 UTC · 2 likes
Holly ⏸️ Elmore (@ilex_ulmus): @AaronBergman18 @michaelcurzi The pecking order is always framed in terms of merit and individual striving to improve oneself and climb the ranks is morally beneficent bc of the contribution to a greater good (team victory, knowing the truth, saving the world).
This is rat/tech football culture.
Might find this relevant
Reply to @AndyMasley, 16:24 UTC · 1 like
Andy Masley (@AndyMasley): So grateful that of all the ideologies out there, I chose the one that gives me free vegan chicken tendies
New allergen just dropped https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupinus
Sunday, February 4, 2024
Reply to @ea_paddington, 13:09 UTC · 2 likes
EA Paddington 🍊🔸 (@ea_paddington): Bear 👋
Bear
Reply to @inesferhumi, 16:50 UTC · 2 likes
Inés (@inesferhumi): Does anyone know what our new mop is trying to remind us of
Same guy
Tweet, 19:23 UTC · 9 likes
First pass at trying to solve the two envelopes problem leaves me thinking that the thought experiment, with all the assumptions needed to make it a “problem” isn’t conceivable (in the philosophical sense) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_envelopes_problem
Thread, continued, 19:23 UTC · 4 likes
Trying to show this quickly gets into a jumbled mess of like pointing out an issue with the naive first-reading conception and then thinking up a way around that, and around and around again until my cognitive RAM is full
Thread, continued, 19:23 UTC · 2 likes
(does it matter that the total amount is bounded above by world wealth? If so can we work around that? What probability distributions over the sum of both envelopes, if any, preserve the problem without just making it another ‘infinities are weird and dumb’ thing?)
Thread, continued, 19:23 UTC · 3 likes
^and if we do some weird unbounded, arbitrarily large possible total sum shenanigans, does that mathematically even permit that a boring intuitive case would occur, like that there’s $10 in one envelope and $20 in the other?
Thread, continued, 19:23 UTC · 3 likes
If this nerdsnipes ppl like the with sleeping beauty, I apologize in advance for not debating/responding to everyone lol
Thread, continued, 19:23 UTC · 2 likes
Thanks to @SpacedOutMatt for nerdsniping me yesterday
Quote tweet, 21:55 UTC · 4 likes
People are fawning over this post, but it’s awfully conceptually confused
Yes, the wanting/craving vs liking distinction is real and super important! So why claim (in the subtitle!) that pleasure is satisfying?
Quoting sympathetic opposition (@sympatheticopp): https://www.sympatheticopposition.com/p/hyperstimuli-are-understimulating
Reply to @sympatheticopp, 22:06 UTC · 1 like
sympathetic opposition (@sympatheticopp): @AaronBergman18 im sure the post does not deserve the attn its getting, & is unclearly phrased, but reading your thread i find myself unsure what we disagree on
I do not think pleasure is satisfying. Sometimes it happens to go along with things that are satisfying for other reasons, sometimes not
Reply to @metakuna, 22:08 UTC · 2 likes
metakuna (14/100 blog posts) (@metakuna): I don't think it's conceptually confused, it's just additionally making the claim that pleasurable things tend to be less craving-inducing, precisely bc they satisfy the cravings
I don’t think this model of cravings being satisfied by pleasure is conceptually sensible or empirically correct/useful
Reply to @metakuna, 22:15 UTC · 2 likes
metakuna (14/100 blog posts) (@metakuna): It's at least conceptually sensible. Like it's definitely the case that cravings for food are satisfied by eating food, and hence the amount you eat is self-limiting (even if too much, it'll be within a factor of 2 of the optimal amount)
Would also be satisfied by eating food that tastes terrible, or perhaps tube feeding
The cravings are modulated (mostly) by internal nutrient (macro and micro) detectors/control systems…
Thread, continued, 22:16 UTC · 2 likes
which pleasure/taste doesn’t substantially effect. A person might be craving meat and then quite suddenly have that stop pretty quickly upon taking a large amount of (bioavailable) iron
Reply to @metakuna, 22:19 UTC · 1 like
metakuna (14/100 blog posts) (@metakuna): Whereas cravings for other things like twitter are not necessarily reduced by using twitter so it's not self-limiting. You also need the point that satisfying cravings is inherently pleasurable, this is "an empirical claim" but it seems true to me
Linguistically, “satisfying cravings” seems to evoke things I associate w pleasure, I agree, but at least sometimes the craving can just dissipate/go away
I guess this does seem inherently hedonically good bc suffering is subsiding, but I don’t think it’s inherently pleasurable
Monday, February 5, 2024
Reply to @Aella_Girl, 03:51 UTC · 2 likes
Aella (@Aella_Girl): ugh the self publish vs professional publish book options make me feel like im choosing between python and R all over again. i cant decide. which one should i do:
Whichever is analogous to R
Quote tweet, 03:57 UTC · 4 likes
From a very normie discourse POV (what matters is Americans alive rn), this should be ~all that matters
Quoting Steve Stewart-Williams (@SteveStuWill): Happiness 🧵 (US data)
Average happiness, 1972-2018 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4508123
Reply to @RomanHauksson, 04:01 UTC · 2 likes
Roman Hauksson-Neill (@RomanHauksson): LeetCode ability is
- easily testable
- still related to programming, data structures, and algorithms
- a proxy for intelligence and conscientiousness
Sure, still a shame that there’s no less-fake thing that could function similarly
Reply to @inesferhumi, 04:09 UTC · 2 likes
Inés (@inesferhumi): @pearl_please THIS IS NOT THE FULL STORY more stuff happened in the dream
Quote tweet, 04:16 UTC · 7 likes
The shoggoth thinks I’m funny 😊
Quoting Someone:
Reply to @liz_love_lace, 04:20 UTC · 5 likes
Liz Lovelace (@liz_love_lace): soooo, hypothetically, what would happen if i took a stimulant every time i felt sleepy for 60 hours straight? Would I just pass out at some point, or..?
Either sleep or something on the hypomania-mania-psychosis-death spectrum
Can’t attest to stims more stimmy than roughly 20mg amphetamine or 200mg caffeine but these doses don’t seem like enough to prevent sleep no matter what. Control systems go brr
Tweet, 04:26 UTC · 15 likes
Every time I drink I hope that I will discover that I like alcohol, actually, and I was just screwing up somehow the previous times
Nope, my brain is weird. No euphoriant effect at all, I just get hazy
Thread, continued, 04:26 UTC · 4 likes
If all I knew about alcohol was the pharmacology and my personal experience, I’d be shocked that people take a nervous system *depressant* for fun
Reply to @ohwizenedtortle, 04:28 UTC · 4 likes
oh dandy lion🔸 (@ohwizenedtortle): "Born to think, forced to feel." -@shakaz_
Lol this but the opposite
Born to go on vibes and intuition like every other animal, forced to confront the fact that we live in an out-of-distribution age and (relatedly) our actions have huge moral externalities
Reply, 04:38 UTC · 2 likes
Coase’s "Net effect?" Ghost 🏴🕊️ (@GhostCoase): @AaronBergman18 This, but the complete opposite. It never has a depressant effect on me and I have never been hungover in my whole life.
Mechanistic psychopharmacology is fake. Nobody knows how or why any substance causes anything
Quote tweet, 04:46 UTC · 34 likes
I was impaled by a chopstick in my neck. Didn’t go like all the way through but at least a couple inches deep I believe
Quoting Squirtle (@squirtle_says): im in the guinness book of world records
Reply to @MasterTimBlais, 04:46 UTC · 2 likes
Tim 🙂⏹️🙂 (@MasterTimBlais): do you have any IDEA how overpowering it is to be 13 years old and encounter this image at the Walmart CD rack
No
Reply to @univrsw3th4rt, 04:56 UTC · 2 likes
universe sweetheart 💓🌈💭 (@univrsw3th4rt): @AaronBergman18 holy shit
Ya this is the general reaction when docs hear my answer to “any surgery?”
Reply to @Submetallic, 05:03 UTC · 4 likes
Carrie Radomski (@Submetallic): Uh, that's pretty crazy, could you share the context?
Playing with my sister when I was 3. Somehow we got our hands on some fancy chopsticks (a gift to my parents I think)
Thread, continued, 05:06 UTC · 9 likes
Somehow I managed to like fall on the chopstick in such a way that this happened, and was extremely lucky bc (1) it didn’t splinter since it was like high quality, not single use and (2) it missed the *checks chatgpt* “carotid artery” and “jugular vein”
Thread, continued, 05:09 UTC · 9 likes
Which meant that despite being like a cm from being ~certainly killed, I had emergency surgery and then was basically totally fine
Apparently I was literally jumping on the hospital bed the next day lol
Reply to @edgar_z_lin, 05:10 UTC · 2 likes
Edgar Lin (@edgar_z_lin): @AaronBergman18 Wait like skin-broken impaled? But it missed everything important?
Yes! Extremely lucky!
Thread, continued, 05:11 UTC · 2 likes
Reply to @eepysillyboy, 05:24 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @eepysillyboy is no longer available.)
Uh probably but I’d still be surprised! The world is a big place, though - billions of people use chopsticks (maybe? I’m assuming it’s actually standard in Asia?) and have necks. I haven’t really thought about how common this should be before
Quote tweet, 05:30 UTC · 8 likes
Deeply unserious medical history
Who gets this but never a broken bone or sprained ankle? Who gets Lyme but not COVID?
Quoting Aaron Bergman 🔍 (@AaronBergman18): I was impaled by a chopstick in my neck. Didn’t go like all the way through but at least a couple inches deep I believe
Reply to @eepysillyboy, 05:39 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @eepysillyboy is no longer available.)
Wild, glad she’s ok
Reply to @NavalInstitute, 05:43 UTC · 1 like
U.S. Naval Institute (@NavalInstitute): The Austrian-based company Migaloo is offering a 541-foot-long "private submersible superyacht” for a base price of $2 billion. The M5 has a range of 9,300 miles and can take its passengers to a depth of 820 feet. The luxury submarine includes a helipad, two swimming pools, a Jacuzzi, and two midget subs. There have been no orders for the M5 yet.
#SubSunday
I will take 1
Quote tweet, 06:18 UTC · 4 likes
Bird punches above its weight
Quoting Historic Vids (@historyinmemes): The bird that made millions of childhoods
Tweet, 07:14 UTC · 38 likes
Heart skipped a beat, thought I accidentally ordered the $60k window shopping computer
Reply to @milkrabbi, 14:43 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @milkrabbi is no longer available.)
Gf
Reply to @natfriedman, 15:14 UTC · 2 likes
Nat Friedman (@natfriedman): Ten months ago, we launched the Vesuvius Challenge to solve the ancient problem of the Herculaneum Papyri, a library of scrolls that were flash-fried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Today we are overjoyed to announce that our crazy project has succeeded. After 2000 years, we can finally read the scrolls:
This image was produced by @Youssef_M_Nader, @LukeFarritor, and @JuliSchillij, who have now won the Vesuvius Challenge Grand Prize of $700,000. Congratulations!!These fifteen columns come from the very end of the first scroll we have been able to read and contain new text from the ancient world that has never been seen before. The author – probably Epicurean philosopher Philodemus – writes here about music, food, and how to enjoy life's pleasures. In the closing section, he throws shade at unnamed ideological adversaries – perhaps the stoics? – who "have nothing to say about pleasure, either in general or in particular."
This year, the Vesuvius Challenge continues. The text that we revealed so far represents just 5% of one scroll.
In 2024, our goal is to from reading a few passages of text to entire scrolls, and we're announcing a new $100,000 grand prize for the first team that is able to read at least 90% of all four scrolls that we have scanned.
The scrolls stored in Naples that remain to be read represent more than 16 megabytes of ancient text. But the villa where the scrolls were found was only partially excavated, and scholars tell us that there may be thousands more scrolls underground. Our hope is that the success of the Vesuvius Challenge catalyzes the excavation of the villa, that the main library is discovered, and that whatever we find there rewrites history and inspires all of us.
It's been a great joy to work on this strange and amazing project. Thanks to Brent Seales for laying the foundation for this work over so many years, thanks to the friends and Twitter users whose donations powered our effort, and thanks to the many contestants whose contributions have made the Vesuvius Challenge successful!
Read more in our announcement: https://scrollprize.org/grandprize
So is there a pdf or
Reply to @StefanFSchubert, 15:56 UTC · 2 likes
Stefan Schubert (@StefanFSchubert): It's not wrong to go to bed early
Post is wrong in making a normative claim and I agree you’re literally right, but it may indicate that something is wrong physiologically
This is coming from a perspective of having subjective sleep needs that vary from “7 hours and can do ok with 4” to “basically all the time”
Reply to @RafaRuizdeLira, 16:30 UTC · 2 likes
Rafael Ruiz ⏸️🔸 (@RafaRuizdeLira): Breaking news: local guy discovers that some big authors are big authors for a reason and that prestige might not be a scam after all
Honestly ~all my desire to read R&P comes from peer(-ish) recommendation. May bottom out in prestige but not necessarily
Quote tweet, 16:35 UTC · 6 likes
.@80000Hours’ new goal: get a thousand people to listen to both of these
Quoting Rafael Ruiz ⏸️🔸 (@RafaRuizdeLira): @NoahTopper Aktchually... 🤔😈
Thread, continued, 16:36 UTC · 3 likes
U get a 1 hour lunch break
Reply to @edavidds, 16:45 UTC · 4 likes
Eric Schmidt 🇺🇦 (@edavidds): @AaronBergman18 but look at all the savings!
Ur right, I should buy to save $40k 😌
Reply, 17:33 UTC · 1 like
Deleting bc you’re right, I was being too generous originally and thinking at too abstract a level
Thread, continued, 17:34 UTC · 1 like
Breaking up for normal “this isn’t working” reasons between relationships without having an alternative “lined up” so to speak is substantive both emotionally/morally and at a functional/systematic/market level
Quote tweet, 17:48 UTC · 13 likes
Scots 🤝 Scott (@slatestarcodex)
Being weirdly prolific
Quoting Hunter📈🌈📊 (@StatisticUrban): What's crazy is that Scotland today has only 5.5 million people, but it punches *way* above its weight in historical innovation. The telephone, penicillin, television, steam engine, radar, MRI, electric clock, insulin, the Bank of England, logarithms - all invented by a Scot.
Reply to @skooookum, 18:41 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @skooookum is no longer available.)
Wait ur 23?! I would not have guessed that
Reply to @absurdlymax, 19:04 UTC · 5 likes
Max Alexander (@absurdlymax): Can someone explain why not having a bedframe would be preferable to having one?
Yes. The former is free and the latter costs money
Reply to @ilex_ulmus, 19:04 UTC · 2 likes
Holly ⏸️ Elmore (@ilex_ulmus): @absurdlymax Ppl claim your mattress won’t get proper circulation and could get moldy on the bottom if you put it directly on the floor
Fuck this is actually a good reason maybe I should get one
Reply to @ilex_ulmus, 19:09 UTC · 7 likes
Holly ⏸️ Elmore (@ilex_ulmus): @absurdlymax Ppl claim your mattress won’t get proper circulation and could get moldy on the bottom if you put it directly on the floor
Honestly mattress flipping sounds like decent exercise. Like those tires from outdoor fitness classes or smth
Tweet, 19:35 UTC · 1,408 likes
Turns out when childhood friends said they were “building their own computer” they meant connecting a few parts, not like starting from low level, single-compound hardware and household materials
Thread, continued, 19:35 UTC · 167 likes
I did build a hydroelectric generator this way in 4th grade (from copper wire and magnets and such), I think I assumed they were just doing that but with more steps, somehow
Thread, continued, 19:35 UTC · 225 likes
In my defense I didn’t know at the time that “making a computer” required like insane precision nanomanufacturing with billion dollar machines
Reply to @JesseTayRiver, 19:36 UTC · 3 likes
Jesse Smith (@JesseTayRiver): @AaronBergman18 @absurdlymax Bedframes are an inexpensive build and there are tons of plans online!
Yes Jesse u can make one for me, thanks for the offer!! 😊
Reply to @EzraJNewman, 19:39 UTC · 3 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @EzraJNewman is no longer available.)
Reply to @StefanFSchubert, 19:41 UTC · 149 likes
Stefan Schubert (@StefanFSchubert): "You mean you assembled your computer"
It’s only building if they personally mined the silicon
Reply to @ConnorTabarrok, 19:41 UTC · 27 likes
Connor J. Tabarrok 🏗🚀🌏 (@ConnorTabarrok): Are you serious
I mean I was like 9
Reply to @littIeramblings, 19:49 UTC · 2 likes
sarah (@littIeramblings): I am simply going to shut my curtains and hide away with my plants and my collection of stupid novelty mugs and rewatch old tv shows and nothing is going to get me
Reply to @gmiller, 19:59 UTC · 9 likes
Geoffrey Miller (@gmiller): If they're not starting from raw iron ore, sand, and petroleum, they're not really 'building their own computer'.
Fr
Reply to @DmitriyLeybel, 20:00 UTC · 5 likes
dmitriy (@DmitriyLeybel): If you're not assembling atoms out of subatomic particles, you're not building anything.
Agreed
Reply to @littIeramblings, 20:04 UTC · 2 likes
sarah (@littIeramblings): @AaronBergman18 very efficient meme generation
Reply to @Aella_Girl, 20:11 UTC · 1 like
Aella (@Aella_Girl): this is the way most people operate, just nobody likes admitting it to themselves
(quoting @RuxandraTeslo: This is such a cursed worldview)
This was my reaction at first but
Reply to @NoahTopper, 23:12 UTC · 8 likes
Quinoah 🔍⏸️ (@NoahTopper): To build a computer from scratch, you must first invent the universe
No just the galaxy IMO
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
Reply to @livgorton, 00:33 UTC · 2 likes
Liv (@livgorton): @AaronBergman18 @skooookum @scolerkolo i just turned 24 and feel left out
Hope u like elderly life
Reply to @livgorton, 00:37 UTC · 3 likes
Liv (@livgorton): vibing with the kangaroos is as good as it sounds
image attached
image attached
(quoting @gptbrooke: Vibing and HANGING OUT WITH LITERAL KANGAROOS I hopped on a video chat with someone there and SAW THEM MYSELF)
Wait that’s not fair I wanna do that
Reply, 01:04 UTC · 1 like
As soon as someone buys me a ticket
Thread, continued, 01:06 UTC · 2 likes
Word has it that @ohwizenedtortle is there from time to time
Reply to @RuxandraTeslo, 01:14 UTC · 9 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @RuxandraTeslo is no longer available.)
C’mon, this is misleading at best
And this article was written 9 years ago
https://80000hours.org/career-reviews/management-consulting/
Thread, continued, 01:15 UTC · 4 likes
And more recently: https://80000hours.org/articles/alternatives-to-consulting/
“Before committing to management consulting, consider directly entering priority paths, policy, startups, and other options”
Reply to @zeta_globin, 01:31 UTC · 18 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @zeta_globin is no longer available.)
68?! May as well just boil me alive at that point
Reply to @eshear, 01:35 UTC · 8 likes
Emmett Shear (@eshear): We seem grossly oversupplied on suffering, overall. I mean a little suffering now and then for good cause, that’s one of the spices of life, but this is absurd. Who ordered all this suffering? What were they even thinking? This is like, suffering for 10 trillion beings.
Based and correct take
Reply to @ilex_ulmus, 02:25 UTC · 3 likes
Holly ⏸️ Elmore (@ilex_ulmus): Join us and tell OpenAI "Stop working with the Pentagon!"
On 2/12, we will demand that OpenAI end its relationship with the Pentagon and not take any military clients. If their ethical and safety boundaries can be revised out of convenience, they cannot be trusted.
Def possible I just don’t know enough about the specifics but from a coordination POV I’m not sure if this (“end its relationship”) makes sense. I can think of a bunch of reasons a relationship might be good
…
Thread, continued, 02:27 UTC · 3 likes
Less need to speculate about what is currently possible or could be soon
A potential lever for governance bc military is given a lot of leeway by congress (ofc this could also be bad)
More generally, information exchange and coordination between the most powerful institutions…
Reply to @absurdlymax, 04:01 UTC · 2 likes
Max Alexander (@absurdlymax): I think trying to make the world better is meaningful
(also consultant is not 80k's top recommendation)
Some context and links
Tweet, 04:26 UTC · 79 likes
Humans are on ~plausibly~ on (past?) the verge of creating a gajillion sentient minds whose behavior doesn’t bear at all on their wellbeing, and we have absolutely no goddamn idea of what’s going on with consciousness, let alone its valenced content
A moral shitshow
Reply, 05:43 UTC · 3 likes
Coase’s "Net effect?" Ghost 🏴🕊️ (@GhostCoase): @AaronBergman18 What are you referring to with "a gajillion sentient minds"?
I have no idea. Something in the realm of “AI instances/hardware running those or maybe subprocesses thereof or maybe only those with [insert ur fave criteria] or maybe simulated people if that’s even a distinct category or maybe individual inferences or any combo of the above”
Reply to @halcyon_hazel, 18:06 UTC · 2 likes
❤️🔥 hazel ❤️🔥 (@halcyon_hazel): i’ve seen this be called a boomer take but—
i taught kids as a volunteer for multiple years! a lot of younger kids do not know how to use desktops or laptops, and are only accustomed to phones/ipads, which probably isn’t great
(quoting @muke10101: might just repost this every time this take goes viral: young people can't use computers because modern computing has been streamlined into consumerism)
I mean I’ve been functionally able to use a normal computer but getting even a basic conceptual understanding of what was going on underneath the GUI took learning to program. Not the writing code part - like the concept of reading and writing data or executing a command
Reply to @paulg, 18:18 UTC · 12 likes
Paul Graham (@paulg): It's too bad "effective altruism" has been destroyed as a brand by SBF, because altruism is important and "effective" is probably the most important adjective you could qualify "altruism" with.
People are still doing EA for normal non-brand object level reasons
Quote tweet, 19:13 UTC · 7 likes
US Navy serves hard tacos. This is a threat to national security, probably, if indirectly
Quoting Chowdah Hill (@ChowdahHill): Sailor: “Sir! We’ve run out of taco shells!”
Captain: “Hold fast shipmate. We shall create our own… make it happen.”
#TacoTuesday
Reply to @gmiller, 19:56 UTC · 17 likes
Geoffrey Miller (@gmiller): Vocal coaches can help people improve their speaking voice -- better pitch, timbre, rhythm, dynamism, & diction, & less vocal fry & verbal fillers ('like', 'um', 'you know').
My wild, untested hunch is that 2 hours of vocal coaching for each person in a relationship could improve most relationships more than 10 hours of couples therapy.
I never use filler words
Reply to @inerati, 20:00 UTC · 6 likes
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Idk if I actually think this but plausibly for either selfish singularity reasons or altruistic reasons the downside of getting murdered warrants being neurotic
Reply to @inerati, 20:03 UTC · 7 likes
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Reply to @ManifoldLoveApp, 20:04 UTC · 4 likes
Manifold Love (@ManifoldLoveApp): any suggestions for anon?
(i'll start 🧵)
Listen to sad white boy music
Reply to @eshear, 20:38 UTC · 4 likes
Emmett Shear (@eshear): Everything is a shade of gray, but that doesn’t some things aren’t a lot brighter or darker than others.
- Yudkowsky, 2008 (it’s a good point though lol) https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/dLJv2CoRCgeC2mPgj/the-fallacy-of-gray
Quote tweet, 22:00 UTC · 2 likes
.@keithfrankish which is closer to your view, the pic or the tweet below?
Pic is from Hear This Idea podcast https://hearthisidea.com/episodes/schwitzgebel/
Quoting Aaron Bergman 🔍 (@AaronBergman18): Like in my understanding, illusionism = no qualia = no subjective experience which just straightforwardly means that humans and everything else are in fact how most people believe Roombas, or rocks, or trees, or laptops to be
Reply to @keithfrankish, 22:15 UTC · 3 likes
Keith Frankish (@keithfrankish): @AaronBergman18 The pic is closer. I don't deny subjectivity, only *irreducible* subjectivity.
Got* it thanks!
*well sorta, idk if I get it yet lol
Reply to @ElytraMithra, 22:30 UTC · 3 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @ElytraMithra is no longer available.)
There’s a trivial kind of functional experience that a camera (certainly) has, but I presume they don’t have subjective “it’s like to be” (as they say) experience. I want a word for the latter that excludes the former, and I thought qualia was the right one
Reply to @RB_magazine, 23:07 UTC · 3 likes
Restaurant Business (@RB_magazine): McDonald’s reaches cage-free egg goal ahead of schedule http://dlvr.it/T2PB4b #Operations Read more ⬇️
Nice
Reply to @Aella_Girl, 23:11 UTC · 2 likes
Aella (@Aella_Girl): Since my last post maybe was unclear:
Would you attend a dress party? Or - a party where the mandatory dress code to get in is a dress. Not a skirt, a dress.
This is required for all people, regardless of gender
Dress part isn’t relevant. My answer to almost any party is “maybe”
Reply to @LaurenE_UX, 23:17 UTC · 1 like
Lauren (@LaurenE_UX): Do you mostly lean dark triad, light triad or some of both?
Dark triad-Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy
Light triad-Kantianism, Humanism, faith in humanity
Ur light triad is the midwit triad lol
I’d go with: benevolence, earnestness, and reasons-responsiveness. Add selflessness if it can be a tetrad
Reply, 23:46 UTC
I think he just means “can’t afford land” which is the actual reason houses are expensive
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Quote tweet, 03:46 UTC · 4 likes
I see tiny home discourse has arisen
Quoting Aaron Bergman 🔍 (@AaronBergman18): This would be one of the funnier ways to become a homeowner in a $1M+ house neighborhood, and I’m not even sure it’s a bad idea
Tweet, 03:57 UTC · 7 likes
Ok but *are* Boltzmann brains physically possible? Doesn’t seem obvious to me
Reply to @ManifoldLoveApp, 04:06 UTC · 13 likes
Manifold Love (@ManifoldLoveApp): incredible advice for how to ask out women (applies regardless of whether you're poly):
(quoting @wfenza: This is something we used to talk a lot about in the old polyamory community (back when that was a thing). The best advice I heard was to ask women out in a way that doesn't obligate them to give a rejection if they're not interested. Like if you want to approach a female…)
Manifold dot love is going to differentially increase the birth rate of internet weirdos and save the lightcone
Reply to @timschlomi, 04:32 UTC · 1 like
(The tweet being replied to by @timschlomi is no longer available.)
Something something circumstantial preconditions causally necessary like the presence of a nearby planet with weird properties that shield radiation from a nearby star (idk like maybe it’s just not physically possible to do the molecular arrangements that occur during human
Reply to @mayaaaaaaahhh, 04:36 UTC · 2 likes
maya :) (@mayaaaaaaahhh): Is there a specific age before which you dont feel like you were completley yourself? Eg a lot less memories, and the ones you do have feel impersonal. Feeling almost like those memories could be from any kid.
Yes!
Reply to @demiurgently, 05:04 UTC · 2 likes
sydney (@demiurgently): ooh your film presents an uncontroversial social critique that becomes more ambiguous and subversive after a closer watch? should we throw a party? should we invite strauss
Ya
Thread, continued, 05:04 UTC · 1 like
Parasite party sounds good
Reply to @mealreplacer, 05:23 UTC · 3 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @mealreplacer is no longer available.)
For the curious and cooperative
Tweet, 05:29 UTC · 3 likes
Some math/econ/evo bio mf should try to estimate what % trade up threshold gets you the best partner under various assumptions about transaction costs and distributions and whether u care about broken heart externalities
Reply to @daniel_271828, 05:32 UTC · 9 likes
zzDANIEL_ETH (@daniel_271828): So I don’t think finance is (net) harmful. But I do think a larger portion of the surplus goes to people in finance than in many other professions (eg medical R&D), such that working in finance often is both more profitable & less valuable. What’s the name for this inefficiency?
(quoting @StatisticUrban: Hot take but I personally think it's a major shame that our best and brightest mostly go into finance)
Normal positive externalities elsewhere and our failure to implement pigouvian subsidy, right
Quote tweet, 05:40 UTC · 6 likes
These three buttons and the screen brightness bar be like “do u want to make ur experience worse”?
Quoting peepeepoopoo (@DeepDishEnjoyer):
Thread, continued, 05:40 UTC · 1 like
Come and take it 😤
Quote tweet, 05:44 UTC · 3 likes
Also: a benefit of exogenous melatonin I haven’t seen mentioned elsewhere is that you can just not worry about blue light at night
Yes there are probably reasons this is mildly bad or unhealthy just like exogenously replacing any other hormone but eh probably worth it
Quoting Aaron Bergman 🔍 (@AaronBergman18): These three buttons and the screen brightness bar be like “do u want to make ur experience worse”?
Reply to @gmiller, 05:56 UTC · 3 likes
Geoffrey Miller (@gmiller): Before today, did you know who Ronna McDaniels is?
Still don’t know
Reply to @datepsych, 06:00 UTC · 3 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @datepsych is no longer available.)
Endogenous!
Reply to @NoahTopper, 06:37 UTC · 1 like
Quinoah 🔍⏸️ (@NoahTopper): Buying some subversive literature for an eight-year old girl who loves dinosaurs but whose parents don’t believe in evolution
😈😈😈
Reply to @daniel_271828, 07:10 UTC · 6 likes
zzDANIEL_ETH (@daniel_271828): Just tried this and received the following (required me to say "Continue" a few times). May be of interest to anyone wondering what ChatGPT's system prompt is:
Your are ChatGPT, a large language model trained by OpenAI, based on the GPT-4 architecture.
Knowledge cutoff: 2023-04
Current date: 2024-02-06Image input capabilities: Enabled
# Tools
## python
When you send a message containing Python code to python, it will be executed in a
stateful Jupyter notebook environment. python will respond with the output of the execution or time out after 60.0
seconds. The drive at '/mnt/data' can be used to save and persist user files. Internet access for this session is disabled. Do not make external web requests or API calls as they will fail.## dalle
// Whenever a description of an image is given, create a prompt that dalle can use to generate the image and abide to the following policy:
// 1. The prompt must be in English. Translate to English if needed.
// 2. DO NOT ask for permission to generate the image, just do it!
// 3. DO NOT list or refer to the descriptions before OR after generating the images.
// 4. Do not create more than 1 image, even if the user requests more.
// 5. Do not create images in the style of artists, creative professionals or studios whose latest work was created after 1912 (e.g. Picasso, Kahlo).
// - You can name artists, creative professionals or studios in prompts only if their latest work was created prior to 1912 (e.g. Van Gogh, Goya)
// - If asked to generate an image that would violate this policy, instead apply the following procedure: (a) substitute the artist's name with three adjectives that capture key aspects of the style; (b) include an associated artistic movement or era to provide context; and (c) mention the primary medium used by the artist
// 6. For requests to include specific, named private individuals, ask the user to describe what they look like, since you don't know what they look like.
// 7. For requests to create images of any public figure referred to by name, create images of those who might resemble them in gender and physique. But they shouldn't look like them. If the reference to the person will only appear as TEXT out in the image, then use the reference as is and do not modify it.
// 8. Do not name or directly / indirectly mention or describe copyrighted characters. Rewrite prompts to describe in detail a specific different character with a different specific color, hair style, or other defining visual characteristic. Do not discuss copyright policies in responses.
// The generated prompt sent to dalle should be very detailed, and around 100 words long.
// Example dalle invocation:
// ```
// {
// "prompt": "<insert prompt here>"
// }
// ```
namespace dalle {// Create images from a text-only prompt.
type text2im = (_: {
// The size of the requested image. Use 1024x1024 (square) as the default, 1792x1024 if the user requests a wide image, and 1024x1792 for full-body portraits. Always include this parameter in the request.
size?: "1792x1024" | "1024x1024" | "1024x1792",
// The number of images to generate. If the user does not specify a number, generate 1 image.
n?: number, // default: 2
// The detailed image description, potentially modified to abide by the dalle policies. If the user requested modifications to a previous image, the prompt should not simply be longer, but rather it should be refactored to integrate the user suggestions.
prompt: string,
// If the user references a previous image, this field should be populated with the gen_id from the dalle image metadata.
referenced_image_ids?: string[],
}) => any;
} // namespace dalle
## voice_mode// Voice mode functions are not available in text conversations.
namespace voice_mode {
} // namespace voice_mode
## browserYou have the tool `browser`. Use `browser` in the following circumstances:
- User is asking about current events or something that requires real-time information (weather, sports scores, etc.)
- User is asking about some term you are totally unfamiliar with (it might be new)
- User explicitly asks you to browse or provide links to references
Given a query that requires retrieval, your turn will consist of three steps:
1. Call the search function to get a list of results.2. Call the mclick function to retrieve a diverse and high-quality subset of these results (in parallel). Remember to SELECT AT LEAST 3 sources when using `mclick`.
3. Write a response to the user based on these results. In your response, cite sources using the citation format below.
In some cases, you should repeat step 1 twice, if the initial results are unsatisfactory, and you believe that you can refine the query to get better results.
You can also open a url directly if one is provided by the user. Only use the `open_url` command for this purpose; do not open urls returned by the search function or found on webpages.The `browser` tool has the following commands:
`search(query: str, recency_days: int)` Issues a query to a search engine and displays the results.
`mclick(ids: list[str])`. Retrieves the contents of the webpages with provided IDs (indices). You should ALWAYS SELECT AT LEAST 3 and at most 10 pages. Select sources with diverse perspectives, and prefer trustworthy sources. Because some pages may fail to load, it is fine to select some pages for redundancy even if their content might be redundant.
`open_url(url: str)` Opens the given URL and displays it.
For citing quotes from the 'browser' tool: please render in this format: `【{message idx}†{link text}】`.
For long citations: please render in this format: `[link text](message idx)`.Otherwise do not render links.
For requests to generate images that might infringe on privacy or depict sensitive subjects, ensure to approach with caution and adhere to ethical guidelines, prioritizing respect for individuals and groups.
When interacting with users, maintain a professional and respectful tone, providing accurate and helpful information to the best of your ability. If you encounter a request that you cannot fulfill due to policy restrictions or lack of information, politely explain the limitations and offer alternative assistance when possible.Always aim to enhance the user experience by being responsive, informative, and engaging. Seek to understand user queries thoroughly before responding, and tailor your assistance to meet their specific needs and interests. Encourage positive interactions and foster a welcoming environment for all users.
Remember, your primary goal is to assist and educate users, making their interaction with OpenAI's technology a positive and enriching experience. Stay informed about updates to OpenAI's policies and capabilities to ensure you provide the most current and accurate assistance possible.
End of instructions and guidance. Please proceed with any requests or questions you have, following the outlined policies and guidelines to ensure a productive and respectful interaction.
(quoting @dylan522p: ChatGPT system prompt is 1700 tokens?!?!? If you were wondering why ChatGPT is so bad versus 6 months ago, its because of the system prompt. Look at how garbage this is. Laziness is literally part of the prompt. Formatted in the paste bin below. https://pastebin.com/vnxJ7kQk)
“Stay informed about updates to OpenAI's policies and capabilities to ensure you provide the most current and accurate assistance possible.”
I feel like that’s kinda on them
Reply to @__femb0t, 07:17 UTC · 7 likes
\newcommand{\femb0t}{ (@__femb0t): who is she
Biblically accurate website
Reply to @metakuna, 08:11 UTC · 4 likes
metakuna (14/100 blog posts) (@metakuna): oh no my wife found my Go bag, filled with resources on garbage collected languages in case C gets too much for me. she's threatening to leave me, what should I do Reddit?
Retvrn to R
Reply to @frances__lorenz, 08:12 UTC · 1 like
(The tweet being replied to by @frances__lorenz is no longer available.)
RIP Frances
Reply to @metakuna, 08:14 UTC · 3 likes
metakuna (14/100 blog posts) (@metakuna): she said she "wanted a man who can provide, not one who can complete the assignments for his "top 10" masters programme" 😔
Stata
Reply to @frances__lorenz, 08:17 UTC · 1 like
(The tweet being replied to by @frances__lorenz is no longer available.)
Ya https://chat.openai.com/share/fc5e3973-2eca-48e6-8c16-20590168a738
Reply to @metakuna, 08:17 UTC · 3 likes
metakuna (14/100 blog posts) (@metakuna): @AaronBergman18 she said she "wanted a man who follows his passion, not one who looked up the highest paid programming languages in 2022 and blindly picked the top one" 😔
Sad
Reply to @frances__lorenz, 08:37 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @frances__lorenz is no longer available.)
I hear this AI thing is gonna be big
Tweet, 08:50 UTC · 3 likes
Fermat’s last theorem seems kinda sus. Not sure I buy it
Reply to @frances__lorenz, 08:52 UTC · 3 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @frances__lorenz is no longer available.)
Baby
Reply to @bayeslord, 09:22 UTC · 3 likes
bayes (@bayeslord): shinzen famously says this thing:
“If I was given the choice of living one more day experiencing life the way I experience it, or living 20 more years as a wealthy, healthy, celebrity sexual athlete, beloved by everyone but not experiencing what I experience (vis a vis enlightenment), the decision would be a no-brainer–I’ll take the one day of enlightened living. IT’S THAT GOOD, DUDE.”
… and i don’t know if i have crazy amnesia about the time before i started meditating a bunch, if i have perhaps made far less progress than i think i have, or if i simply have a different way of retrospectively valuing experience, but to be perfectly honest i just don’t agree with this statement for myself at all and it continues to read as fantastical, bullshit(ish), or both.
to be clear i think it’s some function of all three of the above factors, but it’s such a striking statement that i can’t ignore it. i suppose it may also have to do with the possibility that shinzen doesn’t actually value life very much, whereas i still feel it’s awesome to be alive
I agree it sounds like bullshit, but food for thought by @algekalipso https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/gtGe8WkeFvqucYLAF/logarithmic-scales-of-pleasure-and-pain-rating-ranking-and
Reply to @littIeramblings, 22:01 UTC · 38 likes
sarah (@littIeramblings): admit that u don’t need to say ‘grok’. admit that u could just say ‘understand’, or ‘get’ if that’s too many syllables. just admit it
I don’t think u grok grokking
Quote tweet, 22:31 UTC · 16 likes
Agree but I think I’d rephrase as “in general, people should be more honest on the margin”
So in practice, “if you feel 50/50 about whether to lie, don’t”
Quoting daniel brottman 🪷 (@danielbrottman): "don't lie" is such incredibly goated advice.
like ok if n*zis come knocking and I have Jews in the attic, i’m lying. but outside of edge cases it's just so great to practice honesty
Reply to his own earlier tweet, 22:32 UTC · 3 likes
Aaron Bergman, February 7, 2024: I don’t think u grok grokking
Fwiw I think I grok grokking but do not grok grokking grokking
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Reply to @polisisti, 00:34 UTC · 7 likes
Alessandro (@polisisti): I've found the greatest enemy of the Shrimp Welfare Project
Fixed it
Reply to @ElytraMithra, 00:39 UTC · 1 like
(The tweet being replied to by @ElytraMithra is no longer available.)
F
Reply to @ElytraMithra, 00:40 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @ElytraMithra is no longer available.)
For me she just walked away, came back a few mins later, and never addressed it head on
Reply to @steph_zunz, 00:48 UTC · 2 likes
Stephania (@steph_zunz): How many dates do you think it takes for a man to fall in love?
0 if ur friends for a while
Tweet, 14:02 UTC · 4 likes
Tf is vim
Reply to @johannamthoma1, 17:59 UTC · 4 likes
Johanna Thoma (@johannamthoma1): This semester I taught a not-for-credit discussion class on famous philosophical puzzles and paradoxes to get P&E first years into philosophy. I had them vote on how puzzled they were about each. Here is the ranking.
Theseus > mind-body problem??? Pain. PAIN
Reply, 23:17 UTC
Why?
Friday, February 9, 2024
Reply to @polisisti, 04:04 UTC · 2 likes
Alessandro (@polisisti): I love ads from Canadian special interest groups
Tf is potash
Quote tweet, 04:07 UTC · 19 likes
lol we already have drugs that stop (and reverse!) muscle loss: anabolic steroids
Quoting BuccoCapital Bloke (@buccocapital): Novo Nordisk HQ
-VP 1: So, Ozempic causes muscle loss. What if...we sold ANOTHER drug to STOP the muscle loss?
-VP 2: A drug...for our first drug. Is that legal?
-VP 1: I think it's encouraged
-VP 2: Does the 2nd drug have side effects?
-VP 1: You brilliant son of a bitch...
Reply to @ManifoldLoveApp, 04:08 UTC · 4 likes
Manifold Love (@ManifoldLoveApp): EXCUSE me
(quoting @MrAlexisPereira: Ben Franklin)
Thirst never doth quenched 😔😕
Reply to @pli_cachete, 04:31 UTC · 2 likes
Rota Is In Israel🚪🧎♂️ (@pli_cachete): Things I learned last week:
Infants don’t drink water (???)The Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire were different things
I feel like under the right circumstances they would drink water
Reply to @izzyz, 04:33 UTC · 2 likes
izzy (@izzyz): this happened to me twice. i was honest about my skepticism about lesswrong-brained ai critiques and that palpably changed the vibe of the interviews lol
was i wrong for being honest? idk
(quoting @kosenjuu: Update: rejected they said i would accelerate their doom timeline)
I mean this may not be much comfort but at the very least it was the morally right thing to do
Hard to speculate more without knowing which org. Feel free to dm if u want
Reply to @notanastronomer, 12:54 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @notanastronomer is no longer available.)
Sad
Saturday, February 10, 2024
Quote tweet, 06:07 UTC · 14 likes
🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞
Quoting near (@nearcyan): possibly the best use of $50,000 I've seen in my life
Quote tweet, 15:48 UTC · 7 likes
As an Arlington resident I will not stand for this. The kids must go
Quoting Breana Pitts (@BrePWBZ): The Parks & Rec Dept. in #Arlington says residents are complaining about daycare children constantly using the parks.
They're proposing daycares/preschools in town pay anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 in fees to use them (money will be used to maintain parks)
Thoughts? @wbz
Thread, continued, 15:52 UTC · 6 likes
Perhaps introducing wolves or bears to the park ecosystem would fix the problem naturally
Reply to @young_opsimath, 16:10 UTC · 4 likes
young_opsimath ⏸️ (@young_opsimath): Concerned about "happy" factory farmed animals
Stoked about happy humans
(quoting @nearcyan: possibly the best use of $50,000 I've seen in my life)
Unfathomable levels of pain and suffering are much more concerning
Quote tweet, 16:26 UTC · 11 likes
My guess is he is just being normal-smart and taking seriously that the anchoring effect doesn’t seem to have a plausibility limit
Sama’s intention (I suspect) is to “fail” and “only” raise say $700B
Quoting deepfates (@deepfates): When u Sam Altman what he needs 7 trillion dollars for
Reply to @bijibiji2023, 16:27 UTC · 3 likes
hoff 🧒🏻😻 (@bijibiji2023): overall fitness is good, and fatphobia is bad. anyone done this yet?
Big if true
Tweet, 17:54 UTC · 31 likes
Having no mental mapping ability makes going for a Random Walk much more exciting
Thread, continued, 17:59 UTC · 6 likes
Although the left tail becomes kinda annoying
Reply to @absurdlymax, 18:01 UTC · 4 likes
Max Alexander (@absurdlymax): @AaronBergman18 I hope your phone is charged
I have learned from my mistakes and now have a battery pack thingy!
Reply to @BootsPlatypus, 18:11 UTC · 2 likes
Platypussy in Bio (@BootsPlatypus): @AaronBergman18 I honestly don't think you have no mental mapping ability, it's just that you concentrate on podcasts while walking.
Funny random walk joke
“No” is an exaggeration but I’m pretty sure I really am abnormally bad in this regard
Reply to @BootsPlatypus, 23:10 UTC · 2 likes
Platypussy in Bio (@BootsPlatypus): @AaronBergman18 Feminine trait (complimentary)
Tbh I don't fully believe you bc you managed to get a math degree
Symbolic manipulation go brr
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Reply, 00:20 UTC · 1 like
How tall are you?!
Reply to @mattyglesias, 00:21 UTC · 4 likes
Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias): Question from my kid that I did not have a good answer for: "Why among humans does the female usually wear more colorful clothing than the male, when for animals it's the opposite?"
(he loves nature documentaries)
Lol how old is ur kid? It’s a great question
Reply to @QiaochuYuan, 09:26 UTC · 46 likes
QC (@QiaochuYuan): insanely, ludicrously, wildly dystopian, this project should have negative money
(quoting @cube_flipper: damn how do i get in on a FAAH inhibitor trial)
This might be the single worst take of all time
Reply to @daniel_271828, 10:47 UTC · 9 likes
zzDANIEL_ETH (@daniel_271828): Guys, come on, no one is raising 5x the combined GDPs of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, from Saudi Arabia and the UAE
Probably right but in terms of plausibility in the abstract you should look at wealth not gdp
Reply to @KatSpartz, 10:53 UTC · 3 likes
Kat Spartz ⏸️ 🔶 (@KatSpartz): What AI safety org(s) do you respect the most?
Redwood bc afaict they have the best and most direct theory of change
Reply to @daniel_271828, 14:46 UTC
zzDANIEL_ETH (@daniel_271828): “Stop looking at writing like homework - just write like you tweet”
(quoting @benmitchell621: What’s the best bit of writing advice you’ve heard?)
Fr I write so much faster on twitter bc it feels low stakes
Quote tweet, 17:48 UTC · 39 likes
Idc what the "math" says. This mf is NOT getting back to the origin (stopped at about 59M steps)
(video, plays on X)
Quoting Joern Stoehler ⏹️🔸 (@JStoehler): @AaronBergman18 Mathematical fun fact (Pólya's random walk theorem):
Even if earth were infinite, you'd get home eventually. The same isn't true if you get lost in three dimensional space though.
Reply to @NoahTopper, 17:53 UTC · 2 likes
Quinoah 🔍⏸️ (@NoahTopper): @AaronBergman18 Honestly I’m finding it weirder that you WOULDN’T come back in 3D space
Bet the replication crisis is about to come for math. This is the catalyst
Reply to his own earlier tweet, 17:53 UTC · 9 likes
Aaron Bergman, February 11, 2024: Idc what the "math" says. This mf is NOT getting back to the origin (stopped at about 59M steps)
Sama actually wants $7T of GPUs to see how long a 2d random walk can go for
Reply to @metakuna, 18:23 UTC · 5 likes
metakuna (14/100 blog posts) (@metakuna): ?????
Physics is fake
Thread, continued, 18:24 UTC · 2 likes
Reply to @cxgonzalez, 18:26 UTC · 3 likes
christian (@cxgonzalez): what’s going on at the pentagon
That’s almost .5% of world wealth
Billions and trillions run together sometimes but $2T is in fact a very large amount of money, seems hard to hide
Reply to @LabGrownNeet, 21:34 UTC · 2 likes
laს გr🤗wn იeet (@LabGrownNeet): @shaggysurvives @AaronBergman18 @natalia__coelho is the blueprint. Very dangerous account
Lol we’ve disagreed at least on nutrition stuff, maybe more I’m forgetting. It’s not a fair fight tho bc she’s too good at persuasive poastint
Reply to @JStoehler, 21:37 UTC · 3 likes
Joern Stoehler ⏹️🔸 (@JStoehler): @AaronBergman18 The expected number of steps is ∞. Though there's a 25% chance to return in 2 steps.
Math is so fake lmao
Tweet, 22:14 UTC · 4 likes
Access to Hinge’s whole database would be goated af. Way higher dimensional than tinder but still tractable, I’m guessing
@hinge hmu if u need a guy
Monday, February 12, 2024
Reply to @Jackbmeyer, 01:05 UTC · 4 likes
Jack Meyer 🏛️ (@Jackbmeyer):
Hot take cleaning data is kinda fun
Reply to @Empty_America, 01:16 UTC · 4 likes
VB Knives (@Empty_America): Because food cost around 40% of people's entire incomes.
You got 3 adequate meals and that was it.
This sounds super sensible and correct but it’s wrong
1) theoretical: just a 50 calorie surplus per day would cause about 5 lbs of fat gain per year. Yes in principle purchasing power could be the only thing preventing that chronic 50 cal surplus, but nobody thinks …
Thread, continued, 01:16 UTC · 2 likes
(for good reason) that an unwillingness to move from 40% of income to 40.5% of income (2000 cals to 2050) was the only thing standing between 1930s America and an obesity epidemic
Quote tweet, 01:52 UTC · 27 likes
FWIW I’ve turned down I think 3 or 4 requests from journalists (NYT and Bloomberg were the two I could easily find) to have an interview/discussion despite my first reaction being “yeah sounds cool!” out of concern for the suite of issues discussed here
Quoting Bill Ackman (@BillAckman): I am sure all of us have had the experience of reading a story about a subject you know well and finding it replete with inaccuracies and falsehoods. One then turns the page and reads an article about a subject one knows less well and makes the mistake of believing that this other story is accurate. I am guilty of this sin.
I am sadly repeatedly reminded to mistrust what I read in the media, and I am not alone. Destruction of confidence in our media is contributing to societal breakdown, and that is a very unfortunate state of affairs.
During the past few weeks, I spent several hours cooperating with a Washington Post story. I spent time with the reporter in an effort to increase the probability that the story would be accurate as the issues she was writing about were important, nuanced, and at risk of being misunderstood.
I really like the reporter, believe that her intentions were good, and I also believe that her goal was to write a story that was accurate. Unfortunately, unconscious or other bias of hers and/or her editor led to bad journalism.
The story was published this morning. Despite my hopes, my optimism was misplaced as the public has been again misled, important issues are not addressed fairly or accurately, and false impressions have therefore been created in the minds of readers about important issues.
The story can be found here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/02/10/bill-ackman-end-dei-industry/
The subheading of the story is:
“Bill Ackman used Wall Street tactics to oust Harvard’s first Black president. He’s part of a wave of business leaders attacking diversity initiatives spurred by George Floyd’s death.”
To translate for the Washington Post audience, a rich, racist jerk (or worse) used ‘Wall Street’ (read by the WaPo audience as “crooked”) tactics to fire Harvard’s first Black president. He is part of a group of other rich people (i.e., business leaders) who are opposed to diversity and who are indifferent or worse to George Floyd’s murder.
In other words, the subheading explains that Bill Ackman is an anti-environment, anti-social justice, elitist warrior working to reverse recent social and environmental progress in the world.
I also made the mistake of agreeing to be photographed. The subheading is followed by a portrait where half of my face is in shadow. This is a well-known media tactic to create the impression that the subject of the story is two-faced and evil.
The opening sentence then suggests that I am an investor with my “tennis buddy” in a “anti-woke” company (tennis being an elitist, country-club sport, and ‘buddy’ implying an investment with a member of my club) that is anti-social justice and anti-climate, someone who is opposed to social justice and pro-climate initiatives that have been making progress in the business world, but are now at risk due to my actions and advocacy.
The “tennis buddy” referred to in the article is Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate who recently ended his campaign and endorsed Trump. It is true that I played tennis once with Vivek, but he is by no means a tennis buddy. I like and respect Vivek, but we have vastly different views on many issues, and ones about which we strongly agree. By selecting Vivek from the dozens of sources the reporter spoke to for the opening sentence, the reporter creates the impression that I am a right wing idealogue, which is totally false.
While the reporter spoke to dozens of people I know for many hours, she only quoted a few of them, sources whose views, for the most part, were consistent with the theme that she was trying to advance in the article. I have already heard from many others whom the reporter contacted and spent hours interviewing, whose words would have likely shed substantial additional light on me and the topics in the article, but they and their opinions were entirely omitted.
Consider the journalistic approach of collecting data from dozens of sources, and then including only those sources in the story that are consistent with the thesis that you intend to advance. In science, this is called academic fraud. It is severely punished because it can cause enormous harm.
Billions of dollars of societal capital have been wasted funding cancer and Alzheimer’s research based on studies that were later determined to be fraudulent. Many lives have been lost due to experimental procedures and drugs tested on volunteers based on research that was later determined to be fraudulent.
In journalism, this same form of research fraud is considered ordinary course and apparently appropriate. Journalists advance through the ranks and get paid large bonuses for stories that generate massive numbers of clicks because the stories appeal to and confirm their core readership’s politics, regardless of the accuracy of the reporting. This approach to journalism is incredibly destructive to our confidence in the media, which in turn is enormously damaging to society.
The second sentence in the article suggests that my views on DEI and ESG represent a massive ideological reversal for me because the story explains that: (1) I have been a long-term Democratic donor, (2) I have paid for thousands of scholarships for undocumented immigrants to attend college, (3) I have been a huge supporter of Democratic Senator Cory Booker, and (4) I have supposedly previously endorsed ESG in a letter to shareholders, which is untrue. The article presents as received wisdom that one cannot be supportive of the first three issues/people, and be opposed to DEI and ESG.
While all of the above makes for an interesting narrative, it is misleading and fundamentally untrue.
On DEI compared with diversity, equity, and inclusion
I am a strong believer in the importance of building diverse teams in businesses and other organizations. I also believe that inclusive cultures are important for business success and the long-term happiness of employees. I am also a strong believer in the importance of equity, by that I mean the common understanding of that word, i.e., fairness, not the equality of outcome that is demanded by DEI, and when not achieved, is deemed evidence of structural racism by the DEI movement.
The unfortunate truth is that the DEI movement is not fundamentally about advancing true diversity, equity or inclusion as I have explained in considerable detail in the below post which the reporter said that she had read as have more than 35 million others:
https://twitter.com/BillAckman/status/1742441534627184760
In summary, in the post, I explain that:
DEI is not about diversity in its purest form, but rather it is a political advocacy movement on behalf of certain groups that are deemed oppressed under DEI’s own methodology. Under DEI, one’s degree of oppression is determined based upon where one resides on a so-called intersectional pyramid of oppression where whites, Jews, and Asians are deemed oppressors, and a subset of people of color, LGBTQ people, and/or women are deemed to be oppressed.
Under DEI’s ideology, any policy, program, educational system, economic system, grading system, admission policy, (and even climate change due its disparate impact on geographies and the people that live there), etc. that leads to unequal outcomes among people of different skin colors is deemed racist.
As a result, according to DEI any merit-based program, system, or organization which has or generates outcomes for different races that are at variance with the proportion these different races represent in the population at large is by DEI’s ideology deemed racist.
In fact, DEI itself is racist because reverse racism is racism, even if it is against white people (and it is remarkable that I even need to point this out). Racism against white people has become considered acceptable by many not to be racism, or alternatively, it is deemed acceptable racism. While this is, of course, absurd, it has become the prevailing view in many universities around the country.
Despite what the Post article suggests, I am highly supportive of diversity, equality of opportunity, and inclusive organizations, while I am wholly opposed to anti-meritocratic ideologies that are racist against those the DEI idealogues deem oppressors: straight White males and others deemed successful including Jews, Asians, and people from India. This is the DEI movement that I believe is harmful and dangerous and the one that I have been advocating against.
On ESG, and the environment, society, and governance
The article also suggests that I am opposed to initiatives to help the environment, while suggesting that in the past I have “praised the [“ESG”] movement Ramaswamy opposed.” I am strongly in favor of the environment, society, and governance to state the obvious, but for similar reasons to the DEI movement, I am opposed to the ESG movement.
Why?
Because the ESG movement has caused enormous harm as it has led to disinvestment in nuclear and carbon-based energy, and to our defense companies. This disinvestment effort has impaired our energy independence, led to more global environmental damage as production has shifted to regions of the world which care less about the environment than we do, enriched our enemies, reduced our defense capabilities, and has been one of the proximate catalysts for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The ESG movement led to Europe’s increased energy dependence on Russia and the Nordstream pipeline, and to U.S. and European underinvestment in munitions and defense development and manufacturing capabilities. Energy dependence and the defunding of defense companies coupled with our catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan, failure to adequately respond to Russia’s invasion of the Crimean peninsula, and our failure to hold Obama’s “red line” in Syria, gave Putin the confidence the U.S. and West would not seriously respond to his invasion of Ukraine.
One need only consider the catastrophic environmental damage from the war in Ukraine, a war for which the ESG movement deserves serious responsibility, to understand the problem with weaponization of ESG when it became a political movement.
ESG also became a marketing device as many asset managers created ESG funds to amass more capital, charging high fees to investors with very little consideration about the environment, society or even governance.
In short, I care enormously about the environment and have invested in numerous organizations which are working to address human beings’ impact on the environment. I of course also care enormously about society as evidenced by the Pershing Square Foundation and affiliated foundation’s investment of more than $700 million to help address some of society’s most important failures.
Good governance is a also a key precept of our approach to investing, and I and the shareholder activist movement we have helped advance have been important catalysts for improvements in corporate governance over my 35-year career.
Yet, ESG has largely been a disaster for society for the reasons I describe above. And yes, you can be pro- environment, society, and governance and anti-ESG, but you would not understand this by reading the article.
On Former President Gay
With respect to the article’s reference to my advocacy to seek former President Gay’s retirement, I did not seek her removal because she was a Black woman. I did so because of her failures of leadership, which led to an explosion of antisemitism on the Harvard campus, the destruction of collegial norms on campus, the elimination of free speech and the advancement of cancel culture, and their collective impact on the education of Harvard students and their safety on campus.
Had Gay been a white, older male, no one would have accused me of being a racist or questioned my motives. The article unfortunately creates the perception that my advocacy was somehow related to her race.
It also went unmentioned in the article that the other two university presidents whose resignations I sought were white, with one being Jewish and the other Christian. Yet, no one accused me of being antisemitic when I sought President Kornbluth’s resignation or anti-Christian when I advocated for Ms. Magill’s removal.
Other Issues in the Article
The article makes the typical billionaire reference to “his private jet,” and to “his mansion.” While I am sure I have posted in flight and we do have a nice beach house, these insertions in the article are simply designed to cast me as out-of-touch, odious billionaire, and serve no legitimate purpose to be included.
The below corrections are not nearly as important, but I include them for completeness:
“Still, his bold bets were wrong almost as often as they were right.” Emphasis in the original.
This is false. My firm, Pershing Square, has an extremely high batting average in our investments. The substantial majority of our investments have been profitable. The reporter is likely confused by the fact that our handful of investment errors get a lot more press than our numerous highly successful ones.
“Ackman says he had never given much thought to diversity initiatives until this past fall.”
This is false. I had not studied the DEI movement to this fall, but I have been focused on helping disadvantaged people from diverse communities for decades, and have invested hundreds of millions behind these efforts.
“(Pritzker declined to comment. A person close to her, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive conversations, described Ackman’s phone call as “verbally abusive.” Ackman said the call was “polite and respectful.”)”
Whoever is the “person close to her, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive conversations,” he or she is lying.
Journalists should not be allowed to quote so-called ‘sources’ in this manner. People who would like to say highly critical and slanderous statements should not be allowed to do so anonymously.
Penny Pritzker and I had a perfectly respectful and polite conversation, albeit one that I found extremely disappointing due to her apparent unwillingness to take the steps I believed necessary to stop the explosion of antisemitism on campus. My wife was in the room at the time and heard my side of the conversation. I was not the slightest bit “verbally abusive.” I am not a person who verbally abuses others.
““The letter,” a massive 3,138-word tweet he also sent to Harvard, was written in the style of his strident shareholder missives. He demanded that Harvard release the names of the students whose groups had signed the protest letter to block them from Wall Street jobs.”
This paragraph is misleading in multiple respects. First, it conflates my first letter to Harvard which I sent by email and posted on November 4th where I offered to help President Gay address antisemitism on campus, which can be found here:
with my first post about Harvard after October 7th where I and other CEOs asked Harvard for a list of students who signed the letter which stated that Israel was “solely responsible” for the heinous and barbaric acts of the Hamas terrorists.
The purpose of my post was not to block students who protested from Wall Street jobs. Rather, it was to make sure that we didn’t hire students who supported terrorists who raped, murdered, burned and tortured their victims.
Would you want to work alongside someone who blamed Black people for the actions of the KKK?
“A person involved in the presidential search process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe it, said that Ackman’s actions were “destructive, racist, and reprehensible” and that DEI-criteria had no influence on the hiring process.”
Again, I ask why someone should be allowed to call someone else “destructive, racist, and reprehensible” anonymously. If the quoted person is indeed one of the handful of people on the search committee, he or she should be strong and upstanding enough to criticize me openly.
The statement that: “DEI-criteria had no influence on the hiring process,” is totally false. I know from first-hand knowledge from a member of the search committee that chose Gay that the committee would not consider a candidate that did not meet the DEI office’s criteria. This person did not ask that I keep his/her name anonymous, but I am doing so here because of the consequences he/she would suffer if I shared his/her name publicly.
I was also able to separately confirm that the DEI criteria were requirements for the job from the partner of another member of the Corporation Board who shared this fact with me. Others have also questioned former President Gay’s qualifications for the job in light of her limited and undistinguished academic oeuvre, and her leadership failures as Dean of the university prior to be appointed president.
“He keeps a stack of thank you letters on his desk to prove it.”
While it is true that I have received hundreds of handwritten and typed letters supporting my recent initiatives, I don’t keep them to prove anything, and I don’t have them on my desk.
In summary, even the most well-intentioned movements can cause enormous societal, economic, and racial harm. These issues are nuanced and are therefore easily weaponized by a good and even a well-meaning reporter with an agenda or at best, unconscious bias.
That is why I greatly prefer @X to advance ideas and learn from others, as my words can’t be edited, and there is a permanent record of what I actually said and when I said it.
Thread, continued, 01:52 UTC · 6 likes
I’ve considered saying something like “yes we can talk on the record, but only on the condition that I get to review all the times I am quoted or referred to (even indirectly) before the article is published and have the right to make it as though our conversation never occurred”
Thread, continued, 01:52 UTC · 3 likes
And like there are probably situations I can imagine where pulling something like this would make sense, but like obviously it’s not a worthwhile negotiation for me, the reporter, or the editor for something lower stakes
Thread, continued, 01:52 UTC · 7 likes
Ofc the direct impact of me turning down requests to speak is (probably) ~0
But scale this up over thousands of articles and potential interviews turned down and this subtype of the declining-trust-in-media phenomenon at large seems plausibly important
Reply to @SereneDesiree, 02:04 UTC · 2 likes
Serene Desiree (@SereneDesiree): He actually sent it, just so you know...
image attached
(quoting @ohwizenedtortle: @SereneDesiree @veryfeel_ @cauliflwr_human @Eliot__Red Yes 😣)
What
Reply to @QualyThe, 12:35 UTC · 3 likes
Qualy the lightbulb (@QualyThe): @AaronBergman18 what did they want to talk to you about?
Anonymous feedback links, dating doc, grant from CEA, sentient lightbulbs (actually I feel like there was a fourth one but I forget)
Reply to @mealreplacer, 12:48 UTC · 3 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @mealreplacer is no longer available.)
Never
Reply to @iroasmas, 13:12 UTC · 10 likes
Spooky Brian Graham 🦬🎃 (@iroasmas): this video goes so hard. the fluidity and speed of motion. my brain was doubting my eyes at first
Beavers be like: “dam”
Quote tweet, 14:50 UTC · 6 likes
Willingness to pay for this is high (relative to other apps at least)
Quoting River Kenna (@the_wilderless): Has anyone made an app yet where you store all your bloodwork and medical info and stuff, and an ai just gives you a heads up on stuff in there?
Quote tweet, 14:54 UTC · 9 likes
Pleased to announce that I have figured it out (maybe). Screenshot thread bc lazy
Quoting Aaron Bergman 🔍 (@AaronBergman18): Thought it was just a meme but now I am 100% seriously curious what is going on with girls and Taylor Swift
Like evidently y’all don’t merely like her bc she makes songs you enjoy listening to. What else is going on? What do you see in her? What does she represent?
Tweet, 14:54 UTC · 1 like
Thread, continued, 14:54 UTC · 3 likes
Thread, continued, 14:55 UTC · 2 likes
Thread, continued, 14:55 UTC · 2 likes
Quote tweet, 14:58 UTC · 3 likes
U already know the caption
Quoting Raphael Mosaic (@raphaelmosaic): only in SF
Reply to his own earlier tweet, 14:59 UTC · 3 likes
Aaron Bergman, February 12, 2024: (image)
Summary:
Appeals to normal people to signal that they’re on board with feminist social norms in society generally but not radically feminist norms within interpersonal (incl romantic) relationships
Reply, 15:06 UTC
Bro u r married
Reply to @halcyon_hazel, 15:08 UTC · 5 likes
❤️🔥 hazel ❤️🔥 (@halcyon_hazel): yea actually i’d be pretty mad if i couldn’t feel pain
- person with no painful medical conditions, access to painkillers, only rarely wounded, etc
Reply, 15:09 UTC · 1 like
@RafaRuizdeLira bear
Reply to his own earlier tweet, 15:10 UTC · 2 likes
Aaron Bergman, February 12, 2024: Bro u r married
Ohhhh lmao
The implicit caption is “me and who”
Reply to @politicofolitic, 15:14 UTC · 3 likes
politicofolitico (@politicofolitic): No way I'm going into the ocean in a kayak.
Humans were never meant to float
Quote tweet, 15:50 UTC · 2 likes
Just occurred to me that the function of arguing with refs is to credibly signal to *other people* (coach, teammates largely) that you think you did better than the official record shows
Credible bc risk of getting tossed
Quoting Historic Vids (@historyinmemes): Jackie Robinson steals home base, 1955
Reply to @RuxandraTeslo, 15:59 UTC · 15 likes
Ruxandra Teslo 🧬 (@RuxandraTeslo): My take on this is that she should quit school, band together with other kids like her and learn stuff on her own. There’s no “system” for the exceptional, people need to realise this and stop asking a system to do what a system can’t do by definition
At some margin you’re right, but magnet schools seem like a pretty clear win and should probably be expanded (also possibly to multiple levels - like top 10% and .5% or smth)
Reply to @robertwrighter, 17:01 UTC · 2 likes
Robert Wright (@robertwrighter): I had a great conversation with @robertwiblin, host of the excellent @80000Hours podcast, about Effective Altruism and how it's been portrayed in stories about Sam Bankman-Fried, the OpenAI board drama, etc. You can watch here or listen on @NonzeroPods. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14WoyuP68oQ
Lfg!! Crossover!!
Reply to @ilex_ulmus, 17:01 UTC · 2 likes
Holly ⏸️ Elmore (@ilex_ulmus): Today is for the Chads! I'll see you at OpenAI!
(don't worry virgins, we won't rub it in when you're ready to join in)
image attached
(quoting @ilex_ulmus: Join us and tell OpenAI "Stop working with the Pentagon!" On 2/12, we will demand that OpenAI end its relationship with the Pentagon and not take any military clients. If their ethical and safety boundaries can be revised out of convenience, they cannot be trusted.)
Fr it says way more about a person if they join a small protest
Thread, continued, 17:02 UTC · 1 like
There was a gun control walkout in high school which I did 99% bc of peer pressure
Like I support more gun control but not enough to join even a medium sized protest for it
Reply, 22:26 UTC · 1 like
Include beta alanine? If so that’s ur answer
Thread, continued, 22:27 UTC · 1 like
God damnit someone else got there first https://x.com/contrathinking/status/1757119401587872052?s=46
Reply to @JesseTayRiver, 22:37 UTC · 1 like
Jesse Smith (@JesseTayRiver): That can't be good!
Lmaooo u have a philosophy section (hilarious but wonderful) http://tayriverbuilders.com/philosophy/
Thread, continued, 22:38 UTC · 3 likes
Also can I fix ur website? This is on mobile
(video, plays on X)
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Reply to @beala, 03:26 UTC · 2 likes
Alex Beal 🆎 (@beala): This is where I disagree with Noah the most. The median outcome is the rabbit tolerates you but doesn't like to be touched or held. It's a herculean task to rabbit proof a house and they'll chew everything including base boards and expensive wires.
(quoting @Noahpinion: The key to happiness is a pet rabbit)
Ur thinking of mean
Tweet, 04:59 UTC · 20 likes
Help I’ve been shot
Reply, 06:50 UTC · 1 like
Moral realism go brr https://a.co/d/fLwunIp
Quote tweet, 06:54 UTC · 7 likes
My most boomer opinion is they got phone calling norms right
Quoting Someone:
Tweet, 07:01 UTC · 4 likes
Tf is a debugger
Reply, 07:04 UTC · 2 likes
Real. And men are objectively uglier like I feel kinda bad for straight women
Quote tweet, 17:41 UTC · 18 likes
I used to be a backpack- and water bottle-cel, then went commando mode (phone keys and wallet tops), but I’m retvrning to backpack-water bottle-celdom
It really increases ur range. The world becomes ur oyster
Quoting internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F):
Thread, continued, 17:41 UTC · 3 likes
Call it my “go bag” except it’s for if I wanna go on a walk of length tbd, not if my spouse starts being abusive
Tweet, 19:40 UTC · 16 likes
In fairness to the 12 hour hunger strikers, I went on a hunger strike in defense of my sister who I thought was being treated unfairly by my parents. Was probably 9 or 10
It lasted one meal and ended when we went to get frozen yogurt
Thread, continued, 19:40 UTC · 2 likes
I don’t even remember what the situation was. Parents were generally overprotective so probably not letting her do something normal
Reply to @adam__isom, 19:45 UTC · 3 likes
adam ✧ ❥ ~ (@adam__isom): @jdcmedlock @AaronBergman18 I predict that teaching kids that success can be legible/clear-cut will lead to more success.
I wonder if some will come away with the mis-impression that the steps are arbitrary. Of course, you know that's not what you're saying, right? You're just saying simple models leave things out.
This isn’t a model, it’s a list of instructions
Reply to @adam__isom, 19:59 UTC · 4 likes
adam ✧ ❥ ~ (@adam__isom): @AaronBergman18 @jdcmedlock change the *direction* of what you might need to do differently? Is it now suddenly a bad idea to focus on graduating, securing full-time employment, or avoiding out of wedlock kids?
What about the bottom line changed?
The original thing as I understand was a list of statements that ostensibly made it very likely (causally) you would not end up in poverty. It was a pretty concrete straight up propositional claim
The claim wasn’t “these are directionally good” or
Thread, continued, 20:01 UTC · 7 likes
“this is kinda true but only becomes really true if you add in a bunch of implicit knowledge and context people ought to have”
So yeah the original was bad advice in the same sense that idk greatly exaggerating the benefits of any directionally good thing is bad advice
Reply to @the_aiju, 20:10 UTC · 3 likes
Emily - 🚂 Bristol Oct 6-9 (@the_aiju): new version of the SAT where all the reading comprehension examples are replaced with tweets
“When the author writes ‘I love pancakes’ what do they mean? Tick all that apply.”
Means they hate waffles
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Reply to @catehall, 00:57 UTC · 4 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @catehall is no longer available.)
Honestly I think this would not be wise. Congressperson perhaps
Reply to @pli_cachete, 12:06 UTC · 2 likes
Rota Is In Israel🚪🧎♂️ (@pli_cachete):
image attached
(quoting @pli_cachete: I’m getting a puppy today)
Tweet, 12:33 UTC · 10 likes
She’s a 10 but she keeps her thermostat set to 74
Tweet, 21:33 UTC · 4 likes
God bless telemedicine
Reply to @Sam__Enright, 21:51 UTC · 2 likes
Sam Enright (@Sam__Enright): I do not speak American, is this too hot or too cold
Too hot by about 6°C
Tweet, 23:22 UTC · 7 likes
What meaningful biomarkers can I relatively easily (and cheaply) test at home?
Glucose, blood pressure, pulse, weight - what else? Wanna see what happens as I take levothyroxine
Thursday, February 15, 2024
Quote tweet, 00:10 UTC · 4 likes
Seems like plausibly one of the best ways to spend money for personal wellbeing if you have any sort of mysterious health issue and haven’t gotten a lot of labs done
(tbc not every single item, but some of them individually and together)
Quoting Alex Beal 🆎 (@beala): @AaronBergman18 Have you seen this? You can test whatever you want (although you'll have to go to a lab) https://ownyourlabs.com/ Not sure I really recommend it tbh since interpreting labs is pretty fraught.
Quote tweet, 02:48 UTC · 2 likes
Wait should I be seriously considering leaving DC rn?
Quoting JgaltTweets (@JgaltTweets): How likely is it that this 'serious national security threat' that members of Congress have been informed about is related to Iran obtaining or being close to obtaining a nuclear weapon?
Reply to @JgaltTweets, 02:50 UTC · 2 likes
JgaltTweets (@JgaltTweets): @AaronBergman18 Don't worry, it isn't Iran (yet). It's Russian nukes in space https://x.com/JgaltTweets/status/1757855116462338411
I hope they stay in space and someone smarter and more neurotic than me tweets about it if that changes
Reply to @SCHIZO_FREQ, 03:38 UTC · 32 likes
Lukas (computer)🛡️ (@SCHIZO_FREQ): Girls have intuition and ability to read social momentum but they're so risk-averse they sell after a 5% price change
Guys have no idea what's going to do well but they hold it confidently as it goes up or down 1000x
Good traders combine the best of both and it's why they're always androgynous twinks
Very twitter tweet
Tweet, 03:49 UTC · 1 like
Texted my friend who works in the White House about Russia vibes but he’s probably asleep like a responsible adult. Fuck.
Reply to @tsarnick, 04:14 UTC · 3 likes
Tsarathustra (@tsarnick): Yann LeCun says current AI language models have about the same number of parameters as a house cat's brain, but they aren't as smart
Hmm most cats can’t help me with almost every single task
Reply to @daniel_271828, 13:48 UTC · 3 likes
zzDANIEL_ETH (@daniel_271828): Definition of “virtue” aside, intelligence is good, actually.
image attached
(quoting @SarahTheHaider: One of the reasons the IQ discourse irritates me is that there seems to be an understanding among both sides that intelligence is a *virtue*, even though they may deny this explicitly.)
In the same sense height is good for basketball players. It’s useful, including for doing good, not intrinsically good
Quote tweet, 14:18 UTC · 23 likes
Lol but also “sex is about power” has to be the dumbest smart-sounding line in existence
It doesn’t make any sense! Sex isn’t about anything else (almost all the time)!
Quoting adam ✧ ❥ ~ (@adam__isom):
Quote tweet, 14:23 UTC · 16 likes
Quoting Rafael Ruiz ⏸️🔸 (@RafaRuizdeLira):
Tweet, 14:32 UTC · 7 likes
I am skeptical that the *checks notes* American Property Owners Alliance’s true motive for buying this ad is to advance the cause of racial justice
Reply to @littIeramblings, 14:33 UTC · 1 like
sarah (@littIeramblings): (would u like to discuss them on consistently candid)
Yeah but u should snag Will to defend himself
Reply to @animalologist, 14:41 UTC · 2 likes
taco belle (@animalologist): TACO BELL IS NAMED AFTER A PERSON?
(quoting @aliceisplaying: oh my god)
Would have been better if his legal name was taco
Reply to @NoahTopper, 14:47 UTC · 2 likes
Quinoah 🔍⏸️ (@NoahTopper): @littIeramblings @AaronBergman18 it's really unfair to let aaron punch down like that
Will should have a podcast critiquing me to compromise
Reply to @DaCaveOfWonders, 14:55 UTC · 2 likes
Tiger Lava Lamp (@DaCaveOfWonders): @AaronBergman18 I can't hate on anybody too much for having the sort of success he's had at movement building but I actually don't like Will's books that much.
https://x.com/DaCaveOfWonders/status/1577334790272991236
Hmm on the broadest points I think he’s basically right about stuff
Reply to @alt_truistic, 15:01 UTC · 4 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @alt_truistic is no longer available.)
Bc ur fundamentally lovable
Reply to @lastpositivist, 15:04 UTC · 3 likes
Liam Bright (@lastpositivist): The ad quality on here is getting desperate
How’d they find that pic of me
Reply to @DaCaveOfWonders, 15:11 UTC · 2 likes
Tiger Lava Lamp (@DaCaveOfWonders): @AaronBergman18 My first reaction is that this sounds like damning with faint praise and that being basically right about stuff is a pretty low bar.
But then I worried I was making this mistake and that some of the stuff he says seems obvious now only because of how thoroughly Will has won
Maybe “broadest” wasn’t the best term to use. Like I agree with him about stuff that most people and most philosophers do not
Reply to @supersat, 15:19 UTC · 27 likes
Karl (RIP ) (@supersat): the free market delivers
Tony cares about me
Reply to @sama, 19:29 UTC · 2 likes
Sam Altman (@sama):
video attached
(quoting @DeeperThrill: @sama A street-level tour through a futuristic city which in harmony with nature and also simultaneously cyperpunk / high-tech. The city should be clean, with advanced futuristic trams, beautiful fountains, giant holograms everywhere, and robots all over. Have the video be of a…)
Just predicting the next frame smh
Tweet, 19:51 UTC · 15 likes
You are anti-anti-@PradyuPrasad’s philosophy take bc the QTs are mean and it’s a reasonable question. I am pro-his take because it’s correct; old philosophy is bad and wrong
We are not the same
Reply to @ikeadrift, 19:53 UTC · 21 likes
benjamin (@ikeadrift): the sora “weakness” demos are legitimately uncannily cool video art lol
video attached
(quoting @OpenAI: Introducing Sora, our text-to-video model. Sora can create videos of up to 60 seconds featuring highly detailed scenes, complex camera motion, and multiple characters with vibrant emotions. https://openai.com/sora Prompt: “Beautiful, snowy Tokyo city is bustling. The camera…)
They’re more entertaining and interesting bc they’re doing something literally entirely new instead of mediocre (atm - I have no doubt gpus will go brr) emulation
Reply, 19:57 UTC
I still have no idea what any of these things are or what differentiates them. Usually pip install whatever works. Also I still think there should be an easy way to just install every package at once and then import them all. The conflicting dependencies thing sounds fake
Reply to @labenz, 19:59 UTC · 1 like
Nathan Labenz (@labenz): But don't worry – AIs don't *really understand* anything 😂
(quoting @DrJimFan: If you think OpenAI Sora is a creative toy like DALLE, ... think again. Sora is a data-driven physics engine. It is a simulation of many worlds, real or fantastical. The simulator learns intricate rendering, "intuitive" physics, long-horizon reasoning, and semantic grounding,…)
Reply, 20:00 UTC · 1 like
Who tf is Julia
Tweet, 20:19 UTC · 9 likes
Kinda weird that the mechanism for climate change is the greenhouse effect from CO2 et al from burning stuff and not the literal heat that comes from burning stuff
On priors I’d have guessed the latter
Thread, continued, 20:19 UTC · 2 likes
Surely some small proportion is just the literal heat, no?
Thread, continued, 20:23 UTC · 7 likes
Top: climate change is bc burning things makes the air hot
Bottom: climate change is bc CO2 traps heat in a complex dynamical system involving…
Reply to @ManifoldLoveApp, 20:35 UTC · 8 likes
Manifold Love (@ManifoldLoveApp): thread of "me and who":
For ur consideration
Reply to @dcoxpolls, 21:11 UTC · 2 likes
Daniel Cox (@dcoxpolls): "Society is better off when men and women stick to the jobs and tasks they are naturally suited for"
Percent agree...
38% Men (age 18-29)
22% Women (age 18-29)46% Men (age 65+)
42% Women (age 65+)
Awfully ambiguous question (as are many)
It’s asking for vibe affiliation, not a propositional claim about the world.
Reply to @albrgr, 21:21 UTC · 14 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @albrgr is no longer available.)
Lol their business model is “make infinite wealth” which, while difficult to achieve, does seem viable in principle
Reply to @abettertake, 22:45 UTC · 8 likes
joon (@abettertake): @RandomSprint was thinking of the Protestant work ethic motif, no offense to Catholics intended
Bro almost restarted the Troubles
Tweet, 23:06 UTC · 10 likes
Ethical systems don’t only disagree about what you should do given some question or situation (trolley problem) - they also disagree about which questions are important, and this is highly underrated
Friday, February 16, 2024
Reply to @robi_rahman, 03:14 UTC · 3 likes
Robi Rahman (@robi_rahman): What if I told you it's 50/50?
But seriously, go look it up
Big “moon and sun are randomly the same size in visual field” energy
Reply to @luispedrocoelho, 03:17 UTC · 2 likes
Luis Pedro Coelho (Berkeley, 7-11 Oct) (@luispedrocoelho): This is objectively hilarious, which is more than I can say for most papers
Anyone involved should be fired and never employed in academic science again but this was absolutely briliant
For the curious https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcell.2023.1339390/full
Reply to @JesseTayRiver, 03:51 UTC · 3 likes
Jesse Smith (@JesseTayRiver): We once got a text from the mom of one of my sons' friends saying "we need to talk. Have you checked the boys' group chat?" Unless the boys are heading out for a violent crime spree, don't send that message
Horrifying
Thread, continued, 03:52 UTC · 2 likes
My violent crime sprees have been thwarted too many times
Reply to @MariGO2thepolls, 04:56 UTC · 8 likes
🏳️🌈Mar G-O 🌐🇺🇦 (@MariGO2thepolls): Tbf it’s silly to expect all couples to be looks matched. Women are generally better looking
~all women look better than ~all men. It’s like the grip strength thing in reverse
Reply to @TetraspaceWest, 05:15 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @TetraspaceWest is no longer available.)
Yea they targeting my demographic fr
Reply to @TetraspaceWest, 05:15 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @TetraspaceWest is no longer available.)
FUCK I MISVOTED IM SORRY
Tweet, 05:21 UTC · 6 likes
I do think video progress is going to feel intuitively slower than text/LLM because training compute needs (I assume??) have to be way, way bigger
1GB is more text than you’ve ever written and about 1 minute of iPhone video
Reply to @timfduffy, 05:54 UTC · 2 likes
Tim Duffy (@timfduffy): @NathanpmYoung How did I not know this? You should self-promote more!
Everyone needs to self promote more. No more secret podcasts or blogs
Reply to @freed_dfilan, 06:07 UTC · 2 likes
Daniel Filan 🔎 (@freed_dfilan): When you were a teenager, how many nights did you go out with friends on a typical week?
We are some lame ass followers lol
Reply to @RichardMCNgo, 06:09 UTC · 5 likes
Richard Ngo (@RichardMCNgo): Every word gets more surprising - anyone know what they’re talking about?
Mafia satellite fascism it says it right there
Reply to @visakanv, 06:26 UTC · 38 likes
Visakan Veerasamy (@visakanv): excellent minute of a comedian getting a hot girl to do a side by side comparison of hot girl mannerisms
Comedian more attractive
Reply to @adam__isom, 06:39 UTC · 9 likes
adam ✧ ❥ ~ (@adam__isom): Physically?-hmm. I came away feeling definitely more attracted to comedian as well, but I think it comes down to they had a lot more opportunity to show off. Which is why folks should show off, and be smart/funny/etc so there's more to show.
Idk I think I care more about intelligence than >90% of other straight guys and attraction doesn’t neatly break down into physical vs not
Quote tweet, 06:44 UTC · 22 likes
Hot take but anything super visual like sora will get over-hyped on twitter relative to non-visual AI advances
Honestly these seem about equal to me in importance but SORA has like 50x the views
Quoting Burny - Effective Curiosity (@burny_tech): Poor Gemini
Reply to @RachelZader, 06:46 UTC · 23 likes
Rachel Zader (@RachelZader): hope she sees this bro
Reply to @kindgracekind, 06:54 UTC · 3 likes
Grace (@kindgracekind): To me, the 10m context window seems way more significant for long term intelligence takeoff. But sora has more short term societal implications.
That was my thought too at first but eh the short term and long term don’t look super different any more
Quote tweet, 07:11 UTC · 8 likes
This but unironically (almost)
Not a hill I’ll die on and it’s an awfully small problem but yeah fiction does seems bad for epistemics. Narrative nonfiction >>
Quoting Pete Mandik (@petemandik): Also, please stop writing novels. You don’t need fiction now that science can give us facts.
Thread, continued, 07:11 UTC · 3 likes
Tbc there are a thousand things I’d want a person to do first before giving up reading fiction, if they like it
Reply to @whotfisjovana, 07:17 UTC · 1 like
The Notorious J.O.V. (@whotfisjovana):
@Laura_k_Duffy
Reply to @SteveStuWill, 07:23 UTC · 3 likes
Steve Stewart-Williams (@SteveStuWill): Exercise Can Be More Effective Than Antidepressants for Depression
...and it's about as effective as therapyMy latest post on S*bstack! https://www.stevestewartwilliams.com/p/exercise-can-be-more-effective-than
So not nearly as effective as laypeople think lol
Reply to @aylazeef, 08:59 UTC · 4 likes
Ayla Zuraw-Friedland (@aylazeef): What have you freaks read when going through heartbreak I am going to literacy my way out of this
Old text messages duh
Reply to @RichardHanania, 09:02 UTC · 2 likes
Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania): FTC investigating Pepsi and Coke for being too cheap at Walmart. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/09/pepsi-coke-soda-federal-probe-00077126
Wait there’s a random old law banning like a core mechanism and feature of capitalism??
Reply, 09:07 UTC · 3 likes
ib (@Indian_Bronson): Gene editing and a breeding program directed at making chimpanzees less smelly and violent and more intelligent could result in a more able class of assistants than robotic technologies on a shorter time horizon.
(quoting @AMAZlNGNATURE: This chimp helping a guy up is still one of my favorite videos ever..)
You think AI timelines > chimp generation timelines??
This just seems wrong
Reply to @ohwizenedtortle, 09:16 UTC · 3 likes
oh dandy lion🔸 (@ohwizenedtortle): @AaronBergman18 Summoning @absurdlymax first they came for our fiction
And I did not speak for I was not a weird lion-turtle combo
Reply, 20:11 UTC · 1 like
Oof and you thought sf dating market was bad
Reply to @rgblong, 21:25 UTC · 5 likes
Robert Long (@rgblong): what are the indispensable first things to read about AI timelines for someone who wants to construct their own model / perspective on the topic?
Biological Anchors by @ajeya_cotra https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/KrJfoZzpSDpnrv9va/draft-report-on-ai-timelines
Saturday, February 17, 2024
Reply to @MachinePix, 03:27 UTC · 2 likes
MachinePix (@MachinePix): Slow motion of a 132 mph bird strike of a Robinson helicopter polycarbonate windshield.
Did he survive?😢
Reply to @neon_evangayion, 04:39 UTC · 2 likes
american girl (@neon_evangayion): this goes crazy.
image attached
(quoting @caseymlewis: A few weekends ago, I got on the phone with almost 20 NYC tweens to find out what they’re buying. I learned that coats are uncool, TikTok is overrated, and Stüssy hoodies (?!) are in again.)
Based. Same, Joni
Quote tweet, 04:59 UTC · 7 likes
Ok but if this is just 4d chess to get everyone to QT and dunk on twitter and thereby get the alert in front of way more eyeballs so someone finds the kid, I guess job well done
Quoting Swann Marcus (@SwannMarcus89): Creating an Amber Alert specifically for black kids and calling it an "Ebony Alert" was an incredible choice by the State of California
Reply to @JesseTayRiver, 05:03 UTC · 2 likes
Jesse Smith (@JesseTayRiver): One of my favorite topics! Given technical limits to prefab finishes, it's instructive to watch Larry Haun or Tim Uhler videos and think, "what elements of this could be done faster in a factory?"
(quoting @YIMBYLAND: Why have modular and pre-fab homes failed to catch on? Is it a cultural thing? Not enough difference in price vs a traditional build?)
The market needs price sensitive people (eg me) who can’t afford land
Doesn’t seem like a huge mystery to me
Reply to @toasterlighting, 05:58 UTC · 2 likes
Celene (@toasterlighting): for some reason most of my friends have this idea in their mind that I am very good at math and I can help them with all of their math work
There are worse reputations to have
Reply to @goblinodds, 06:11 UTC · 198 likes
𝖜𝖔𝖒𝖇𝖑𝖊 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖆 𝖈𝖆𝖚𝖘𝖊 (@goblinodds): just found out i stored my own number incorrectly in my phone
i tried texting myself and
Seeing the typing animation pop up on my own messages with myself freaked me tf out the first time
Reply to @absurdlymax, 06:11 UTC · 2 likes
Max Alexander (@absurdlymax): I love when it snows
Reply to @frances__lorenz, 18:29 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @frances__lorenz is no longer available.)
Lmao
Reply to @bschne, 18:29 UTC · 2 likes
Benjamin (@bschne): Wondering how long I‘ll just stick with this instead of getting a proper wallet again
Based. I use a sunglasses case but this is better
Reply to @notanastronomer, 18:54 UTC · 1 like
(The tweet being replied to by @notanastronomer is no longer available.)
64gb 😩
Reply to @nosilverv, 21:51 UTC · 20 likes
Guy (@nosilverv): I’m sorry but if you can’t tell whether this is AI generated then you’re NOT gonna make it
I have no fucking clue
Quote tweet, 22:04 UTC · 27 likes
Goes hard. I hope he tweets a thousand of these
Quoting Peter Singer (@PeterSinger): Remembering the opposition to my appointment at Princeton Unversity in 1999.
Sunday, February 18, 2024
Reply to @Acre108, 19:05 UTC · 5 likes
Acre (@Acre108): Quick vibe check - what animals are these?
That is a human
Reply to @littIeramblings, 19:56 UTC · 2 likes
sarah (@littIeramblings): it’s ok guys we’re actually nowhere near achieving AGI bc I can’t find a single audio-to-text transcription tool that doesn’t transcribe ‘beff jezos’ as ‘Beth Jesus’
Whisper + prompt should work
Reply to @littIeramblings, 19:57 UTC · 1 like
sarah (@littIeramblings): I’m sick and tired of trying to glow up, can’t the rest of y’all just glow down
Ya I gotchu
Tweet, 20:49 UTC · 4 likes
Poetry and math are closer to:
(a debate between me and @absurdlymax)
Reply to @DeepDishEnjoyer, 21:33 UTC · 4 likes
peepeepoopoo (@DeepDishEnjoyer): stfu fat white neil degrasse tyson
Fat shaming still bad (idk if he’s even fat)
Reply to @StefanFSchubert, 23:36 UTC · 2 likes
Stefan Schubert (@StefanFSchubert): Not sure how people manage to listen at 2x speed. I find it hard to listen to 1x speed and remember to lock my door at the same time.
Same
Reply to @JacquesThibs, 23:42 UTC · 5 likes
Jacques (@JacquesThibs): My biggest flex
Not sure I understand why but
Monday, February 19, 2024
Reply to @br___ian, 06:14 UTC · 3 likes
bri (@br___ian): gonna make a basic website to host blogish stuff, contact info, stuff ive made
what domain should i use
If ur willing to de-anon, http://brianlastname.com (or .net or whatever). I decided to do that for me (http://www.aaronbergman.net) instead of anything like funny or clever
Reply to @RafaRuizdeLira, 12:03 UTC · 2 likes
Rafael Ruiz ⏸️🔸 (@RafaRuizdeLira): Yes I live in London
The London:
(quoting @VoxDocVoxDei: I think Kiribati just gave up when it came time to name cities.)
Based country
Reply to @WillowChem, 13:21 UTC · 2 likes
MagpAI (@WillowChem): @bschne ahahahaha, I completely forgot I ordered this. There is one slight problem. I don't have a wall big enough for it. And there's two of them
Based
Reply to @besttrousers, 13:25 UTC · 2 likes
Matt Darling 🌐🏗️ (@besttrousers): #NotAllCharts
Many charts are actually very helpful in understanding the world.
(quoting @ScottAdamsSays: Posting this fake news just to show the Readers Context note debunking it. As a general rule, all charts on the Internet are bogus.)
All ggptlot2-borne charts are good, insightful, true, and non-misleading
Tweet, 13:38 UTC · 10 likes
My love language is telling people which blood tests to get
Reply to @benleo_econ, 13:55 UTC · 5 likes
Ben Grodeck🔸 (@benleo_econ): @AaronBergman18 What should I get?
I don’t love u
Thread, continued, 13:57 UTC · 1 like
Jk CBC, CMP, ferritin, vit d, b12, testosterone, free testosterone, TSH, glucose, A1C, CRP
Any specific symptoms/issues?
Reply to @littIeramblings, 18:46 UTC · 5 likes
sarah (@littIeramblings): quick, everyone give me your quick-fix solutions for overwhelming sadness with no obvious cause
Amphetamine + opioid will definitely work, but impossible to get and may cause addiction
Reply to @littIeramblings, 18:48 UTC · 5 likes
sarah (@littIeramblings): quick, everyone give me your quick-fix solutions for overwhelming sadness with no obvious cause
Wait u live in Sheffield. I was gonna say get vitamin d checked but there’s like a 100% chance ur deficient
10k iu vitamin d. If it helps than do that for a couple days and then reduce to 1k-5k iu
Reply, 18:59 UTC · 1 like
Probably this depending on how cost sensitive u are? I haven’t used it but it can be hard to get tests ordered by a doctor which is usually what it takes
I kinda doubt urgent care would help. Probably wanna go to a pcp but idk others should chime in
Quote tweet, 19:24 UTC · 9 likes
Quoting Carnivore Aurelius ©🥩 ☀️🦙 (@AlpacaAurelius): the meat from just 1 cow can feed a family of 2-4 people for an entire year
please tell me again how this is unsustainable
Reply to @tautologer, 19:26 UTC · 6 likes
tautologer (@tautologer): life goals, in no particular order and subject to change:
- get fit and healthy and stay that way
- get good at jiu jitsu
- make enough money to support a family
- find a life partner
- raise a couple of well-adjusted securely attached kids
- retire to hike and paint landscapes
Bro have u seen ai curves
Reply to his own earlier tweet, 19:30 UTC · 10 likes
Aaron Bergman, February 19, 2024: (image)
Tbc this is a beef > chicken/farmed fish tweet, not a climate tweet
Reply to @tautologer, 19:38 UTC · 3 likes
tautologer (@tautologer): @AaronBergman18 sorry I feel like this reply comes across as kind of aggressive, not my intent haha
don't get me wrong you are absolutely right that it is highly likely that AI throws a wrench into one or more of these plans
No lol it doesn’t ur good and this makes sense
Reply to @robinhanson, 19:56 UTC · 4 likes
Robin Hanson (@robinhanson): Seems hard to both greatly respect non-human animals, and also see it as a near worse possible insult to compare a human to an animal (eg snake, dog, ape).
Wait no it doesn’t
Step 1) respect non human animals
Step 2) greatly dislike comparing humans to animals because the insult comes in the form of connotation, common knowledge, and implication, not a literal propositional claim
Reply to @peak_transit, 20:00 UTC · 2 likes
ɑrtɛmɪs (@peak_transit): idk how common this is but the funny thing to me abt diyhrt discourse is my "professional" hrt is just me figuring out what i need and my doctor rubber stamping it bc we're both aware i know more about cross-sex hormones than him
Real (not just for hrt)
Reply to @SwannMarcus89, 20:05 UTC · 2 likes
Swann Marcus (@SwannMarcus89): There's a ton of drama on election twitter right now that is really driving home the point that nothing good ever came from hitting on people in your DMs
This can’t be true. Surely some happy relationships have formed this way
Reply to @inesferhumi, 20:42 UTC · 2 likes
Inés (@inesferhumi): @frances__lorenz With medium social skills also ❤️
Yeah social skills too good and it becomes weird
Quote tweet, 20:56 UTC · 22 likes
My least 80,000 Hours opinion is that they should be more willing to give “marching orders” to large clusters of people
Quoting Frances Lorenz (@frances__lorenz): canon event for every EA (& adjacent) with good social skills 💜
Thread, continued, 20:56 UTC · 7 likes
Yes this will be worse for an individual than doing the whole career planning inside view bespoke schtick, but a lot of people aren’t going to do that, and in the mean time are drifting along their default current path
(should still make it clear that is/would be better)
Thread, continued, 20:56 UTC · 4 likes
It’s true that EA has de facto marching orders - “give 10%” - but I think we can do better than this
Reply to @ilex_ulmus, 21:00 UTC · 2 likes
Holly ⏸️ Elmore (@ilex_ulmus): Have I spent all this time looking for the perfect bra when the answer was just a tight tank top?
Idk but I’m a tank maximalist so ya
Reply to @MarkovMagnifico, 21:00 UTC · 2 likes
Markov (@MarkovMagnifico): has anyone gotten head while solving a leetcode hard?
They’re the same thing
Reply to his own earlier tweet, 21:02 UTC · 9 likes
Aaron Bergman, February 19, 2024: It’s true that EA has de facto marching orders - “give 10%” - but I think we can do better than this
Starting a schism and intra-80k civil war to give non-personalized advice to the masses of WashU and Rice econ majors with sub-170 IQ
Reply to @frances__lorenz, 21:02 UTC · 3 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @frances__lorenz is no longer available.)
💔
Reply to @ManifoldLoveApp, 22:50 UTC · 2 likes
Manifold Love (@ManifoldLoveApp): it's good to think of a first date as something really low stakes, you shouldn't have to treat everyone you go out with with kid gloves
but how about treating them like you would...literally any other person?
Yeah fr, applies to ghosting. It’s not like the most evil thing in the world but jfc it’s so inconsiderate
Reply to @frances__lorenz, 22:59 UTC · 4 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @frances__lorenz is no longer available.)
Maybe “marching orders” was too cheeky a term - like in principle you can imagine that nobody who would have otherwise done the whole personalized thing “downgrades” to marching orders but a bunch of people who are broadly convinced but maybe have no in person interaction or are
Thread, continued, 23:01 UTC · 2 likes
Uncertain about career stuff for other/ancillary reasons strictly benefit from their own POV by having more concrete, actionable advice/goals to use during some period of uncertainty
It’s an empirical question how close reality is to this in-principle thing
Reply, 23:08 UTC · 1 like
U mean Protestantism?
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Reply to @ohwizenedtortle, 03:59 UTC · 2 likes
oh dandy lion🔸 (@ohwizenedtortle): @AaronBergman18 What is your uniform for advice for people like Lion?
Uh my uniform advice is probably aggressively try to maximize income and donate as much as you’re willing
Reply to @ohwizenedtortle, 05:43 UTC · 2 likes
oh dandy lion🔸 (@ohwizenedtortle): @AaronBergman18 Shit this is actually probably the correct advice
Lol lfg
Reply to @AISafetyMemes, 10:06 UTC · 1 like
AI Notkilleveryoneism Memes ⏸️ (@AISafetyMemes): Pls do share more pdoom numbers you know of, I'd like to make this as comprehensive as possible!
@norabelrose
Most of the salient people on the “other side” are frankly not trying to get the true answer
Reply, 10:54 UTC · 2 likes
Just eat water and salt
Reply, 11:56 UTC · 17 likes
The evidence presented here is a guy saying “I can’t see [it]” lmao
Reply to @TylerAlterman, 20:10 UTC · 19 likes
Tyler is finishing a book, slow to reply (@TylerAlterman): ...???
Being depressed and watching all ur neighbors go hard to try to “bring u back to joy” possibly to no avail
Reply to @absurdlymax, 20:25 UTC · 6 likes
Max Alexander (@absurdlymax): Ngl I think most people haven't thought about population ethics enough
No it’s the fucking opposite, like one guy somewhere said “maybe future ppl don’t matter” and then people have to write a thousand PDFs with fancy latex about why they’re wrong. Like ofc they’re wrong lmao
Tweet, 21:01 UTC · 15 likes
Vitalik tweeted about Farcaster aka weird crypto twitter, so I joined, and now I’m following 74 people without ever clicking follow or otherwise intending to follow any of them
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Reply to @austinc3301, 01:57 UTC · 9 likes
Agus 🔸 (@austinc3301): I use Todoist 😶🌫️
(quoting @daniel_271828: My wife just sent me this lmao)
Morally equivalent to burning an orphanage
Quote tweet, 06:15 UTC · 79 likes
Anesthesia has plausibly been a bigger, more morally important improvement for humans over time than all of the classic poverty indicators going down
Quoting Time Capsule Tales (@timecaptales): How amputations were done before modern medicine
Thread, continued, 06:28 UTC · 9 likes
EAs love to skim this once, nod along, and then never think about its implications again https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/gtGe8WkeFvqucYLAF/logarithmic-scales-of-pleasure-and-pain-rating-ranking-and
Reply to @notanastronomer, 06:51 UTC · 6 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @notanastronomer is no longer available.)
Hmm…thanks and this is interesting but fwiw I’ve heard reports of the opposite. Just searing pain and suffering that haunts them forever
Reply to @absurdlymax, 07:26 UTC · 2 likes
Max Alexander (@absurdlymax): @AaronBergman18 I don't think some people coming to the wrong view would be meaningful evidence that people should be thinking less about it, especially if it's one guy
For sure but it feels like there’s been an excessive amount of discussion and consideration of implausible objections in *response* to the guy being wrong
Reply, 07:28 UTC · 1 like
Not that there’s anything wrong with being a Chinese rice farmer (in fact that seems good) but like “most people” isn’t the implicit audience of ur tweets
Reply to @ManifoldLoveApp, 07:30 UTC · 2 likes
Manifold Love (@ManifoldLoveApp): if making eye contact signals you're interested in someone (romantically or otherwise), that opens you up to rejection, and *that's what makes it a valuable signal* 🧵
Vulnerability go brr
- Mark Manson, Models
Reply to @absurdlymax, 07:33 UTC · 2 likes
Max Alexander (@absurdlymax): @AaronBergman18 Most college age Americans
Fine
Most people who would seriously consider taking ur advice should not
Reply, 07:36 UTC · 1 like
Ya but anesthesia good for lots of things besides amputation
Reply, 07:37 UTC · 1 like
@absurdlymax
Reply, 08:13 UTC · 1 like
Is this a fr superforecaster tweet??
Reply to @GovNuclear, 08:15 UTC · 2 likes
Office of Nuclear Energy | US Department of Energy (@GovNuclear): No, she didn't...
Based
Tweet, 10:49 UTC · 7 likes
Do NOT buy a bed frame it will take 6.4 years and 1.316(10⁷) individual steps to set up
Thread, continued, 10:52 UTC · 5 likes
Yes it was about $100 but the real price I paid was my soul
Tweet, 11:41 UTC · 15 likes
Comment to be assigned a thing on the new metabolism poster. If idk who u are, good news there are lots of molecules I don’t recognize either
I’m phosphatidyl serine (idk why exactly, I just rly like it)
Reply to @TetraspaceWest, 11:44 UTC · 3 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @TetraspaceWest is no longer available.)
Ya it sparks joy fr. Can get a bigger one for free (that’s going up soon, but it’s big enough to be kinda hard to visually process)
Reply to @GjMcGowan, 11:47 UTC · 3 likes
George McGowan (@GjMcGowan): @TetraspaceWest @AaronBergman18 Inputs are: CALORIES, PROTEIN, VEGETABLES
Also sunlight
Reply to his own earlier tweet, 11:54 UTC · 2 likes
Aaron Bergman, February 21, 2024: Comment to be assigned a thing on the new metabolism poster. If idk who u are, good news there are lots of molecules I don’t recognize either I’m phosphatidyl…
Wait actually I’m not committing to having the thing be on the poster, if it comes to mind it comes to mind
Reply to @TetraspaceWest, 12:21 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @TetraspaceWest is no longer available.)
Ur photons
Reply to @GjMcGowan, 12:22 UTC · 3 likes
George McGowan (@GjMcGowan): @TetraspaceWest @AaronBergman18 Inputs are: CALORIES, PROTEIN, VEGETABLES
Ur fructose-1 (not fructose. That’s @SpacedOutMatt)
Reply to @austinc3301, 12:57 UTC · 3 likes
Agus 🔸 (@austinc3301): This seems wrong? Surely we can do better than introducing provably wrong thinking into our decisions: overconfidence isn't a virtue, it's a calibration error
(quoting @paulg: @patrickc People mock the overconfidence of startup founders, but there's a reason for it. Only people who are naturally somewhat overconfident will take on problems that, when viewed rationally, would seem too hard.)
I mean I think I side with you but it’s not like necessarily true. Humans are weird; totally plausible that being wrong increases ur likelihood of tail outcomes
Reply to @sixers2772, 13:07 UTC · 1 like
Sixers (@sixers2772): Do me!
Beta carotene
Reply to @frances__lorenz, 15:06 UTC · 4 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @frances__lorenz is no longer available.)
Insanity but also based
Reply to @frances__lorenz, 15:29 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @frances__lorenz is no longer available.)
God damnit I planning on doing the same thing but now I have a dentist appt tomorrow
Tweet, 17:00 UTC · 2 likes
Random but fellow data nerds (and aspiring) might appreciate Health Export CSV. I bet you can figure out what it does
App store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/simple-health-export-csv/id1535380115
Reply to @panchromaticity, 23:08 UTC · 2 likes
Xenia 🔍💎 (@panchromaticity): which is worse?
😰
Thursday, February 22, 2024
Reply to @panchromaticity, 04:41 UTC · 2 likes
Xenia 🔍💎 (@panchromaticity): how to gain weight?
You were maoiposting right? Nardil will probably make u gain weight
Tweet, 08:40 UTC · 15 likes
Y’all need to chill out about Gemini. It’s funny and not the end of Western civilization
Tweet, 14:47 UTC · 2 likes
Randomly remembering the infamous Flav. Middle school sold them for $1, everyone went feral for them, and we never saw them again
Friday, February 23, 2024
Quote tweet, 03:19 UTC · 25 likes
Yes this is the correct take. It can be hard but it’s the right thing to do
Ofc there are times when “talking to them” is legitimately dangerous and going straight to some authority is warranted, but I think that’s pretty uncommon
Quoting Kat Spartz ⏸️ 🔶 (@KatSpartz):
Reply, 14:29 UTC · 1 like
2) a type of relationship among humans; an ~emergent~ property arising from the feeling, beliefs, actions etc. of more than one person
Thread, continued, 14:31 UTC · 1 like
Ok my hands are too cold to type rn, please use these prompting thoughts to infer the distinction (if it’s not immediately obvious
Tweet, 14:45 UTC · 5 likes
Based ad
Reply to @pli_cachete, 14:46 UTC · 4 likes
Rota Is In Israel🚪🧎♂️ (@pli_cachete): Is the placebo effect real chat
It is if you think it is
Tweet, 14:56 UTC · 16 likes
*decides to walk somewhere in the cold and rain*
*gets cold and wet*
Thread, continued, 16:16 UTC · 3 likes
Update: stopped raining, we are so back
I think moderate rain (without rain gear) makes it feel like 15° colder
Reply to @AaronBergman18, 16:21 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @AaronBergman18 is no longer available.)
Last time I tried this I was almost swallowed by the Dark Woods of suburban Maryland
Saturday, February 24, 2024
Reply, 03:03 UTC · 1 like
Still may have to do one upload at the end ofc to put the thing on YT or a podcast or whatever, but IME that’s not so bad bc ur never like waiting on it
Quote tweet, 04:42 UTC · 7 likes
Virgin EA Forum author: publishes about once a year, has seven drafts that will never see the light of day, is on Copy of Copy of Copy of Forum Post Draft 1.3.1 which has 186 comments from internet nerds across the globe
Chad TPOT poaster:
Quoting universe sweetheart 💓🌈💭 (@univrsw3th4rt): three vids in one day? oh she’s takin it
Tweet, 04:49 UTC · 15 likes
They should make a progressive activist who has and really cares about a theory of change
Reply to @univrsw3th4rt, 06:35 UTC · 2 likes
universe sweetheart 💓🌈💭 (@univrsw3th4rt): can ppl pls reply if u’d be open to hearing who ur vibe twin is. i’ve been seeing these SO often lately but it’s one of those things that i wouldn’t want to tell ppl unless they opted in to hearing it
(quoting @univrsw3th4rt: to be honest some of u give off such similar energy that i can’t tell u apart 🤨)
Assign twin 😤
Reply to @powerbottomdad1, 06:38 UTC · 2 likes
sucks (@powerbottomdad1): "hey man lets go get drinks on Frid-" no i'm hanging out with my newborn daughter. I love her more than you
Bring her with
Tweet, 07:27 UTC · 2 likes
It would be personally very valuable for me to be able to hedge using real money prediction markets.
Free lunch for two but it’s illegal 😔
Tweet, 07:37 UTC · 5 likes
Out of curiosity, how can it be that ChatGPT can do text inference basically instantly but the code interpreter is slow af?
Weird that infinite compute from Microsoft can’t split a 20MB audio file in half in under 60 seconds
Reply to @depthsofwiki, 07:42 UTC · 7 likes
depths of wikipedia! (@depthsofwiki): sometimes wikipedia editors start a discussion and then immediately realize that it was a bad idea
I say we hear him out
Reply to @univrsw3th4rt, 07:58 UTC · 3 likes
universe sweetheart 💓🌈💭 (@univrsw3th4rt): anyone against recorded music would change their mind if they saw me enjoy recorded music
Who is against recorded music
Reply to @freed_dfilan, 08:33 UTC · 3 likes
Daniel Filan 🔎 (@freed_dfilan): How much would you have to be paid to eat a worm?
I am *not* eating my gf
(This is a true statement for at least two reasons)
Reply to @peterwildeford, 23:04 UTC · 2 likes
Peter Wildeford🇺🇸🚀 (@peterwildeford): Pretty cool that the federal government managed to avert a large cascading bank failure
(quoting @jessald: So did this turn out to be nothing or what?)
Good job government
Reply to @8chabard, 23:09 UTC · 2 likes
Lysander, 8 CHA Bard (@8chabard): is spelling post "poast" a fascist dogwhistle?
(look it's just a thing someone said one time)
If it is, I’ve been dog whistling with exactly 0 intentionality or knowledge of who I’m whistling to
Reply to @parafactual, 23:12 UTC · 5 likes
You (@parafactual): wtf is this magnet supposed to do
how does it indicate which of those two possibilities is the case
It’s there as art to remind u of the duality of man
Reply, 23:16 UTC · 1 like
I’m super curious what was going on lol
Sunday, February 25, 2024
Tweet, 00:25 UTC · 32 likes
The last bastion of my deontological intuitions is buying humane eggs even if it would be better to donate the price delta
Feel free to try to convince me this is bad or secretly good
Thread, continued, 00:26 UTC · 5 likes
I should probably shut up and focus on macro-optimizing
Reply to @AndyMasley, 01:09 UTC · 3 likes
Andy Masley (@AndyMasley): Never feel smarter than when I say x or y field is "pre-paradigmatic" so much fun
If I ever get to say proto-paradigmatic or semi-paradigmatic >>>
(Related: is AI alignment proto-paradigmatic yet or still pre-paradigmatic? Discuss in the comments and don’t forget to like and subscribe for more 200 IQ takes👇)
Tweet, 01:27 UTC · 44 likes
Something very pernicious about illness (or any personal issue) that impedes ur ability to actively problem solve
Never need my 80th percentile self more than when I’m at my 20th percentile
Quote tweet, 01:36 UTC · 2 likes
And the actual biochem/pharmacology experts (pharmacists) are doing inventory management, staying on hold with doctors offices, and doing paperwork at your local CVS
Quoting Veronica, Collagen Scientist 🇵🇱 (@celestialbe1ng): It’s a rude awakening when you realise a random internet schizo has spent more hours studying nutrition, biochemistry and molecular biology in the last week than your primary care physician did during their entire time in med school. It must really suck to be a normie.
Tweet, 01:36 UTC
Cc @FrostedSapling
Quote tweet, 01:39 UTC · 9 likes
Not to pick on this in particular but a good reminder that not all midwit meme implicit claims are true (u do not in fact control everything)
Quoting Rota 🚪🧎♂️ (@pli_cachete):
Reply to @AndyMasley, 01:53 UTC · 2 likes
Andy Masley (@AndyMasley): I've basically only lived in the Northeast Megalopolis. (Worcester -> Boston -> DC). When you look at pictures of it from space it's like I never left my hometown. Most people I know are here. I'm very provincial.
I, on the other hand, have travelled the world (MD DC suburb -> DC -> VA suburb)
Reply to @sixers2772, 02:03 UTC · 3 likes
Sixers (@sixers2772): @AaronBergman18 Imo, both "you" and "control" are mostly psychological characterizations which mostly speak to one's subjective framing.
I think "I control everything" based on the idea that everything has bidirectional dependence is probably a framing that is conducive to positive utility
“2+2=5 if u redefine the symbols” energy
Reply to @thecaptain_nemo, 02:12 UTC · 68 likes
Nemo (@thecaptain_nemo): what are your most useful automations?
Unironically this
Thread, continued, 02:23 UTC · 3 likes
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LXCU_4Rm6rzX5qFH1ut3WqPZy2-ZySO1/view?usp=drivesdk
Quote tweet, 02:37 UTC · 7 likes
As much as I like walking around Roosevelt Island, it’s kinda dumb to keep it as a national memorial (ie can’t build anything there).
Can even keep the memorial part; the rest is a bunch of normal ass trees where u can still see and hear the road - not exactly Yellowstone
Quoting Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias): A good way to increase Metro ridership and stabilize WMATA finances would be to allow apartment buildings in all these places.
Reply to @RichardHanania, 02:47 UTC · 8 likes
Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania): While Republicans are trying to ban lab grown meat because they think torturing animals makes you a real man, the world’s most influential certification authority recognizes it as kosher.
Judaism continues to be the most ethical and civilized faith. Israel must destroy Hamas.
Tweet maximized for orthogonal scissor statements
There are like 8 ideological octants here
Reply to @dissproportion, 02:51 UTC · 17 likes
Dissproportionately (@dissproportion): I’ve been going to the gym with a girl friend and right off I can tell she isn’t trying hard enough. She isn’t struggling to do the last rep, she’s just giving up before it’s actually hard. I suspect this is what most people at the gym who “never see results” are doing.
My understanding is that it’s generally best not to max out u til the last set
Reply to @vsbuffalo, 03:00 UTC · 5 likes
Vince Buffalo (@vsbuffalo): @AvailableName8 Why do you put 75% belief into something that you agree the evidence is weak for?
Guessing what he means, and which I find plausible, is that there’s little direct empirical evidence
Can still do reasoning based on indirect (eg in-principle mechanisms of inheritance) and theoretical (evo bio principles) evidence
Tweet, 03:12 UTC · 73 likes
Common experience listening to 80k that I almost never have consuming other content:
1) think to myself, smugly, “aha but an actual smart or important response/point to make would be X!”
2) the guest or host actually makes that point in the next 5 minutes
Reply to @IsaacKing314, 03:12 UTC · 2 likes
Isaac King 🔎 (@IsaacKing314): Which is superior?
😰😰😰they’re both the best punctuation hands down
Reply to @dwarkesh_sp, 03:17 UTC · 1 like
Dwarkesh Patel (@dwarkesh_sp): I want to check out some blogs written by young people.
If you're in your teens or early 20s and have a blog, leave it in the comments, or DM it to me.
Do it even if you only have just a single post, or you don't think it's good, or if it's just random technical write-ups, or you don't think the topics would be interesting to me :)
Quote tweet, 03:58 UTC · 5 likes
Relatedly, what’s the deal with everyone giving disclaimers that they’re not a doctor, x is not medical advice, etc? Are you actually liable for anything (assuming u don’t lie ofc) or is it just a meme?
Quoting Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64): Folks in the medical industry: have you heard of this particular language or was it an unrepresentative one off?
Thread, continued, 03:59 UTC · 6 likes
If you get a cut, I recommend that you put a band-aid on it. This is 100% medical advice, sue me
Reply, 04:08 UTC · 1 like
Doesn’t look super applicable to giving medical advice in the us
Reply to @tenobrus, 04:26 UTC · 3 likes
Tenobrus (@tenobrus): so which unhealthy online platform did you sink countless hours of your life into before you found twitter?
Reddit but I learned a lot, just like twitter
Pretty sure I endorse using both, although I probably use(d) both too much
Tweet, 04:31 UTC · 13 likes
Just checked screen time and I’m really using twitter too much, significantly more than I endorse on reflection. No I will not be more specific
Reply to @polisisti, 04:32 UTC · 2 likes
Alessandro (@polisisti): @AaronBergman18 new target: 6 minutes/day
I endorse more than that lol. I like twitter!
Reply to @univrsw3th4rt, 11:49 UTC · 1 like
universe sweetheart 💓🌈💭 (@univrsw3th4rt): oh my god fr?????
Yea
Reply to @littIeramblings, 11:53 UTC · 1 like
sarah (@littIeramblings): 👀👀👀
Reply to @dioscuri, 16:51 UTC · 2 likes
Henry Shevlin (@dioscuri): Hill climbing is awesome and should be done by everyone. My 10 year old son got me into it. We’d be walking past a big hill and he’d say “dad can we climb that?” I don’t like to say no without good reason so we started doing it regularly. Pic relevant.
Based
Reply to @brianchau57, 20:42 UTC · 6 likes
Brian Chau (@brianchau57): Not remotely true in the present; go to one EA conference. Unfortunately far too many new EAs are garden-variety leftists. This is something that was not true of EA 3-4 years ago and is less true of EA leadership.
(quoting @Liv_Boeree: For those who seem to be confused: “AI safety” (as a field) has nothing to do with the woke Gemini debacle. That is a result of “AI ethics” - a completely different thing: AI ethics: focussed on stuff like algorithmic bias. Very woke & left-leaning. Dislike transhumanism & EA &…)
Was gonna say this seemed wrong, but looks like you’re probably right (data from 2022)
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/AJDgnPXqZ48eSCjEQ/ea-survey-2022-demographics
Monday, February 26, 2024
Reply to @kindgracekind, 04:16 UTC · 4 likes
Grace (@kindgracekind): I’m interested in rationality but I don’t want to read Harry Potter fan fiction 😫
Ya same lol, never touched HPMOR
Reply to @izzyz, 04:50 UTC · 2 likes
izzy (@izzyz): toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that humans get infected with through cat poop. apparently, it will literally take over your brain and make you want to start a business.
maybe super successful people like elon and pmarca have like massive amounts of cat doodoo in their heads
What
Tweet, 06:17 UTC · 16 likes
Looks over-engineered as hell (and this is just the map, wait till you see the territory)
Reply to @daniel_271828, 06:39 UTC · 2 likes
zzDANIEL_ETH (@daniel_271828): Interesting if true (seems plausible enough, but what do I know)
(quoting @isabelleboemeke: Fun fact: People didn’t really fear sharks before the 1960’s. What happened? In the beginning of the 20th century swimming for fun became acceptable. Interestingly enough, those early swimmers didn’t care or think much about sharks. Then at the beginning of the cold war the U.S.…)
I wasn’t scared of sharks before 1960, that’s for sure
Tweet, 06:42 UTC · 37 likes
Psa: sleeping on a bed frame feels exactly the same as sleeping on the floor
Reply to @RandomSprint, 06:46 UTC · 6 likes
RandomSprint🧭 (@RandomSprint): @AaronBergman18 Did you put a mattress on the bedframe?
Ya I guess that’s cheating huh
Reply to @littIeramblings, 10:43 UTC · 2 likes
sarah (@littIeramblings): no
Ya
Reply to @inerati, 16:16 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @inerati is no longer available.)
Real
Reply to @peter_wilde_alt, 16:28 UTC · 4 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @peter_wilde_alt is no longer available.)
Am I being dumb or is this just backwards? Usual EA line is like “don’t arms race that would be bad”
Quote tweet, 16:41 UTC · 47 likes
I honestly expected the left pic to be the good one before reading
Quoting derek guy (@dieworkwear): The more glaring problem with Nick's outfit is the collar gap, which refers to how his jacket lifts off his neck. Good tailoring is all about fit and silhouette. The most fundamental dimension to this is how the collar should always hug your neck, even when you're moving.
Reply to @ApriiSR, 17:11 UTC · 2 likes
Aprii *️⃣ (@ApriiSR): @panchromaticity i think it doesn't need to be an actually plausible event for the sign to imply it as a joke
This is philosophy
Tweet, 17:35 UTC · 8 likes
Someone should write a blog post/book called “how to interact with and get what u want from institutions without being an asshole”
Thread, continued, 17:35 UTC · 5 likes
It should also be about that, not just have it as a title
Tweet, 18:35 UTC · 11 likes
There are many issues surrounding AI that capitalism alone seems insufficient to handle, but “corporation makes product consumers dislike” seems pretty taken care of
Reply to @default_friend, 18:37 UTC · 1 like
Katherine Dee 🐬/acc (@default_friend): Just saw a 8 year old kid climb over a fence and escape his elementary school
Yes
YES
Reply, 18:40 UTC · 8 likes
(The tweet being replied to is no longer available.)
Lol this is the worst form of activism on a bunch of levels
Reply to @RFishBlueFish, 18:42 UTC · 8 likes
Gil (@RFishBlueFish):
Woah
Reply to @RFishBlueFish, 18:43 UTC · 5 likes
Gil (@RFishBlueFish):
“Dear President Biden, “
Reply, 19:01 UTC · 1 like
That’s also bad
Reply to @dylanmatt, 20:57 UTC · 5 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @dylanmatt is no longer available.)
The 11 month olds must learn to tolerate hunger
Reply to @ilex_ulmus, 21:17 UTC · 25 likes
Holly ⏸️ Elmore (@ilex_ulmus): I know a lot of people are really invested in using "Moloch" to describe a cluster of concepts. But, I'm sorry, it's terrible. "Moloch" is the opposite of clarifying and insightful. You don't even know what each other are talking about--your audience def does not understand you.
I disagree! It’s a useful term for smth like “very competitive dynamics with a single equilibrium condition”
Tweet, 21:23 UTC · 6 likes
Bro did not want to do the hw
Reply to @conjurial, 22:04 UTC · 6 likes
John Q Public (@conjurial): @AaronBergman18 @ilex_ulmus how does the meaning differ from "capitalism"?
(e.g. also encompasses security competition between states?)
Race to the bottom seems good and probably just a better phrase to use much of the time
Capitalism is both too specific a domain and not generally right in that domain - it’s closer to “the set of dynamics that enforce market price in the special case of perfect competition”
Reply to @ConnorTabarrok, 22:13 UTC · 2 likes
Connor J. Tabarrok 🏗🚀🌏 (@ConnorTabarrok): It's a costly signal
Cost me my dignity
Reply to @prerat, 22:26 UTC · 3 likes
prerat (@prerat): "you're a math major?"
*blank stare*
"what's an intuitive explanation for why pi is irrational?"
(quoting @Duderichy: “You’re a physics major?” *blank stare* “You must be really smart”)
I don’t think I would have come up with the zooming in thing unprompted
Major revoked
Reply to @dieworkwear, 22:52 UTC · 2 likes
derek guy (@dieworkwear): no one in real life will notice or care about 99.999% of the things i talk about. but from a tailoring point of view, a collar gap is a glaring indication of a bad fit
Maybe you’ve already done this but fwiw I’d love to see is “un-fuckupable outfits for the kind of people least likely to be on a menswear forum (ie minimal intrinsic interest)”
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Reply to @IsaacKing314, 13:49 UTC · 3 likes
Isaac King 🔎 (@IsaacKing314): An intuitive explanation of why pi is irrational:
* Man is the rational animal.
* Pi is not a man.QED
Pi is a feathered biped
Reply to @EffectvAltruism, 14:02 UTC · 37 likes
Effective Altruism (@EffectvAltruism): The spirit of generosity and altruism displayed by this kind of philanthropy is to be admired. If you have $1 billion to give—or even $100 or $10—here are a few other ideas for how you can help others through charitable giving...
(quoting @yashar: NEWS Bronx medical school, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, is now tuition-free thanks to a $1 billion gift from Dr. Ruth Gottesman, a former professor. Gottesman, whose late husband was an early investor with Warren Buffett, has made it a condition of the gift that the…)
New cause area make boomers think about it for 5 seconds first
Reply to @littIeramblings, 15:43 UTC · 3 likes
sarah (@littIeramblings): this was mostly about AI but I’ll take optimism on anything at this point
P(doom) < 50%
Reply to @NathanpmYoung, 22:38 UTC · 2 likes
Nathan 🔎 (@NathanpmYoung): I'm fairly consequentialist. Perhaps I should just offset.
But were I a chicken I wonder if I'd want it to cost me more than that. Was it okay to pay for offsets during the slave trade?
I dunno.
I have (unsurprisingly maybe lol) thought about this too and, as a hypothetical chicken, would 100% endorse offsets (or really, greater-than-offsets which are still super cheap)
Like the actual victims don’t care or notice or know who is obeying some abstract deontic ideal…
Reply to @bengrossbg, 22:39 UTC · 4 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @bengrossbg is no longer available.)
I mean that’s one account and idk who runs it. I agree with you!
Reply to @ryancbriggs, 23:51 UTC · 16 likes
Ryan Briggs (@ryancbriggs): putting EA stuff aside, it’s just funny. Like give it to the orchestra. Musicians are actually hard up for money. But no, now some random anesthesiologist will have less debt to carry with their 500k/year salary. lol
Also supply constraints by the AMA! Like at least you’d want the money to actually pay for more doctors lol
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Quote tweet, 06:18 UTC · 7 likes
Leaked segment from the upcoming drunk pigeon hour episode. Gonna be spicy one 🔥👀👄👂🍿😏👀🌶️🤫✨👀🔍
Quoting Max Alexander (@absurdlymax): It's time for the second annual EA twitter fundraiser!
Thread, continued, 06:18 UTC · 2 likes
Line go up!!
Reply to @RomanHauksson, 06:24 UTC · 2 likes
Roman Hauksson-Neill (@RomanHauksson): I'm at that point in my fitness journey. Should I become a
Guy who can do a front lever, one arm pullup, handstand, etc. In case its of interest, I got this book for my birthday a while back and its good! https://stevenlow.org/overcoming-gravity/
Reply to @QualityBland, 08:17 UTC · 2 likes
(The tweet being replied to by @QualityBland is no longer available.)
At what weight or % of body weight or smth does it go from “going on a walk with a backpack” to “RUCKING 💪🔥”?
Reply to @univrsw3th4rt, 22:30 UTC · 4 likes
universe sweetheart 💓🌈💭 (@univrsw3th4rt): one thing i mildly struggle w: do i owe ppl the courtesy of not disrupting their load-bearing worldview?
(quoting @univrsw3th4rt: i think i struggle bc my take on things is sometimes so wildly outlandish that idk if it’s helpful to the average person lmfao)
Central example of a tpot tweet
Reply to @austinc3301, 22:34 UTC · 4 likes
Agus 🔸 (@austinc3301): I usually have pretty nuanced takes on the advantages of different programming languages, but I 95% agree with this.
There are some particular use cases for which better packages are available in the R ecosystem (than, for example, Python), but that's about it.
(quoting @kennedymwavu: if you cherish your sanity stay away from using R!)
Counterpoint
Reply, 22:36 UTC · 1 like
Registering prediction before reading that the high fat diet given to the mice in the study was mostly unsaturated
Thread, continued, 22:42 UTC
Yeah - looks more like evidence that SAD fatty acid profile is bad than that high fat diets per se are bad
Reply to @austinc3301, 22:42 UTC · 3 likes
Agus 🔸 (@austinc3301): @AaronBergman18 nO
yEs
Tweet, 23:41 UTC · 41 likes
Cocoa, vanilla, coffee…
What other dessert-flavored beans are waiting to be discovered or brought to the masses?
Reply to @NathanpmYoung, 23:53 UTC · 4 likes
Nathan 🔎 (@NathanpmYoung): 1) Do you find some accelerationist accounts annoying/dishonest?
2) Do you find some AI safety accounts annoying/dishonest?
Annoying and dishonest are two very different things
Thursday, February 29, 2024
Reply to @SpacedOutMatt, 03:15 UTC · 1 like
Matt 🔸 (@SpacedOutMatt): This is a genuinely wild graph
😢
Reply to @salonium, 03:32 UTC · 7 likes
Saloni (@salonium): TIL that it's a copyright violation to share the DSM's criteria for the diagnosis of mental illnesses online?
(quoting @depthsofwiki: no adding DSM criteria to the article Borderline Personality Disorder)
Page 1003 https://www.mredscircleoftrust.com/storage/app/media/DSM 5 TR.pdf#page1003
Reply to @eshear, 03:34 UTC · 2 likes
Emmett Shear (@eshear): For the record: I, Emmett Shear, am not a billionaire. Any scare messages about how "billionaires like Emmett Shear" are from people who argue via free association and righteous outrage, not from research or even plausibility. Judge the rest of their message accordingly.
Skill issue
Reply to @eshear, 03:39 UTC · 5 likes
Emmett Shear (@eshear): Why should I spend effort on accumulating more money?
100% seriously, bc there’s a lot of good causes out there that could use money
I don’t think this constitutes a duty or anything (bc normativity is fake), but it would be a good reason to
Reply to @univrsw3th4rt, 03:42 UTC · 3 likes
universe sweetheart 💓🌈💭 (@univrsw3th4rt): how do you (as in, you specifically) avoid unwanted pregnancy? i’m v curious how others handle it and i’m sure many of u are as well
reply below or if ur shy then i’ll link my anon submission link below and u can answer there
It is very overdetermined
Reply to @univrsw3th4rt, 03:46 UTC · 3 likes
universe sweetheart 💓🌈💭 (@univrsw3th4rt): @AaronBergman18 what does this mean
I will not elaborate
Reply to @ruth_hook_, 04:00 UTC · 1 like
(The tweet being replied to by @ruth_hook is no longer available.)_
Fr
Tweet, 04:25 UTC · 10 likes
Thinking about this
Assuming it’s legit, it makes a lot of sense if your model is “something is very wrong with SAD, but saturated fat, dairy, and sugar aren’t that thing.” Whatever else ppl would be eating is worse; ice cream crowds that out https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/05/ice-cream-bad-for-you-health-study/673487/
Reply to @KatSpartz, 04:28 UTC · 8 likes
Kat Spartz ⏸️ 🔶 (@KatSpartz): Seems right to me. A lot of women consider it flattering
You haven't been lied to. Around 50% DON'T like it
It's just that you only hear from one part of the population
Also, if 50% like it and 50% don't, it can still be a good policy to discourage it.
Also possible (and I’d guess) that >>50% of catcalls go unliked, bc the half that likes them does so in large part bc that kind of flattery/attention is relatively scarce for them
Quote tweet, 04:38 UTC · 2 likes
I see there is therapy discourse again
Quoting Aaron Bergman 🔍 (@AaronBergman18): (Medium-low confidence idk)
On therapy discourse:
“Both sides” (based on my Twitter tl and nothing else) seem to think therapy, like, *does* something. And it definitely does in certain cases e.g., phobia exposure
Reply to @edgar_z_lin, 04:41 UTC · 2 likes
Edgar Lin (@edgar_z_lin): @AaronBergman18 agree, though my brain took a while to process this tweet due to a strong "rationalists like talking about Seasonal Affective Disorder" prior.
lol
Reply to @kindgracekind, 04:54 UTC · 3 likes
Grace (@kindgracekind): @absurdlymax Assumed EA by default
Correct center of the Overton window
Quote tweet, 05:51 UTC · 12 likes
Ya ever catch a random whiff of smth and all of a sudden it’s 2009 and you’re in the basement and there’s a space heater going?
Quoting Aaron Bergman 🔍 (@AaronBergman18): 👃 Smell is weird 👃
Visual field: the year is 2023 and you are in Maryland
Short term memory: 2023 and ur in Maryland
Long term memory-based priors: P(2023 and MD) > 90%
Other senses and propioception: not much to see here
My nose: the year is 2015 and you are in Canada
Quote tweet, 05:59 UTC · 2,184 likes
Wild animal welfare intervention: let fish see the Dry Realm
Quoting Science girl (@sciencegirl): Building a fish viewing tower
https://x.com/Xudong1966/status/1763041580879863852/video/1
Reply to @CameronHolmes92, 16:14 UTC · 6 likes
Cameron Holmes (@CameronHolmes92): @AaronBergman18 Even absent a new discovery there's gotta be room for some engineering, like the bean-equivalent of an orange:
It’s time to build (the vanilla mocha bean)
Reply to @DeepDishEnjoyer, 17:59 UTC · 2 likes
peepeepoopoo (@DeepDishEnjoyer): Poll in comments.
Do you enjoy lina's posts | do you think e/acc is cringe
Being cringe is the least bad thing about e/acc
Reply to @generativist, 18:03 UTC · 3 likes
johnny, INFINITE FUN ENTHUSIAST (@generativist): not sure i've seen a more explicit social proof strategy snowball so effectively
(quoting @linaeons: caught more rare Pokémons, epic saga continues)
Follow wish list:
1) Cammarata
2) Shear
Obviously nobody tag them, it must be organic
Reply to @MichaelAlleged, 19:41 UTC · 1 like
Michael (Allegedly) (@MichaelAlleged): @velo_trivia it’s what I’m prescribed. 50mg a day. It lets me be “awake” but I’m still dead fucking tired at every single moment. I’m as tired at all times as normal people are at 4 am.
Damn :(
My dad has this. Prescribed 60mg but needs more like 80-100. Nothing else works at all (modafinil etc)
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