[{:path-categories #{} :path "content/docs/all-posts.md" :backlinks nil :title "All Posts" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{}\n---\n# All Posts\n\nAll posts on this site, ordered by last modification time.\n\n{{< all_posts >}}" :name "all-posts.md" :private false :categories #{} :dir? false :links [] :size 91 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1783131747 1783114952 1783111705]} {:path-categories #{"Books"} :path "content/docs/books/The-Black-Swan.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/society/gerrymandering.md"} :title "The Black Swan" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/society/gerrymandering.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Books\"}\n---\n# [_The Black Swan_ by Nassim Taleb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Swan:_The_Impact_of_the_Highly_Improbable)" :name "The-Black-Swan.md" :private false :categories #{"Books"} :dir? false :links [] :size 213 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1668469041]} {:path-categories #{"Books"} :path "content/docs/books/The-Enigma-of-Reason.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/understanding-the-world/what-to-believe.md"} :title "The Enigma Of Reason" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/understanding-the-world/what-to-believe.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Books\"}\n---\n# [The Enigma of Reason](https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674237827)" :name "The-Enigma-of-Reason.md" :private false :categories #{"Books"} :dir? false :links [] :size 184 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1740866322 1734296474 1734296082]} {:path-categories #{"Books"} :path "content/docs/books/What's-Our-Problem.md" :backlinks nil :title "What's Our Problem" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Books\"}\n---\n# [What's Our Problem?]()" :name "What's-Our-Problem.md" :private false :categories #{"Books"} :dir? false :links [] :size 77 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1758474249]} {:path-categories #{"Books"} :path "content/docs/books/antifragile.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/society/utopia.md"} :title "Antifragile" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/society/utopia.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Books\" \"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# [Antifragile by Nassim Taleb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifragile)\n\nReally insightful book into types of systems in the world and how they behave.\nSpecifically those that manifest \"antifragile\" behaviors.\n\n## What is Antifragility?\n\nFragile - hurt by random variation\nRobust - not sensitive to anything\nAntifraile - hurt by lack of variation\n\n\n## Convexity/Concavity\n\nThe fragile is well represented by a concave distribution - outcomes are fine\nmost of the time, but can sometimes be catastrophic.\n\nThe antifragile is well represented by a convex distribution - outcomes are\nfine most of the time, but can sometimes be very good.\n\n\n## Theorizing vs Tinkering\n\nTheorizing involves making many (tested or untested) logical steps to explain a\nbehavior. This is most effective in simple systems with little\nself-interaction (e.g. toy physics models). When applied to complex systems,\ntheorizing can be fragile.\n\nRandom tinkering is done by making immediate decisions (hopefully with multiple\noptions) in a more near-sighted way. The results of these decisions feed back\ninto the process, hopefully stumbling the tinkerer closer to a solution. This\nis antifragile - your expectations are low most of the time, but sometimes you\nstumble onto something very groundbreaking." :name "antifragile.md" :private false :categories #{"Books" "Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1391 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1667703247 1667452680]} {:path-categories #{"Books"} :path "content/docs/books/everyday-utopia.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/society/communal-living.md"} :title "Everyday Utopia" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/society/communal-living.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Books\"}\n---\n# Everyday Utopia\n\n_What 2,000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life_\n\nBy Kristen R. Ghodsee" :name "everyday-utopia.md" :private false :categories #{"Books"} :dir? false :links [] :size 208 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1699041494 1698384423]} {:path-categories #{"Books"} :path "content/docs/books/fooled-by-randomness.md" :backlinks nil :title "Fooled By Randomness" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Books\" \"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# [_Fooled by Randomness_ by Nassim Taleb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fooled_by_Randomness)\n\nMakes me want to read Karl Popper, e.g. [The Open Society and Its Enemies]({{<\nrelref \"/docs/books/the-open-society-and-its-enemies.md\" >}})." :name "fooled-by-randomness.md" :private false :categories #{"Books" "Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/books/the-open-society-and-its-enemies.md"] :size 314 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1667762893 1667703247 1667452680]} {:path-categories #{"Books"} :path "content/docs/books/the-beginning-of-infinity.md" :backlinks nil :title "The Beginning Of Infinity" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Books\" \"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# [_The Beginning of Infinity_ by David Deutsch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beginning_of_Infinity)\n\nExcellent book that addresses (a theory for) how knowledge is created and the\nimplications that has for humankind, and \"people\" more generally. David's\ntheory is that knowledge is created by filtering many creative conjectures into\nthose that give the best explanations for things via a tradition of criticism." :name "the-beginning-of-infinity.md" :private false :categories #{"Books" "Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links [] :size 494 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1667510508 1667452680]} {:path-categories #{"Books"} :path "content/docs/books/the-open-society-and-its-enemies.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/books/fooled-by-randomness.md"} :title "The Open Society And Its Enemies" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/books/fooled-by-randomness.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Books\" \"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# The Open Society and Its Enemies by Karl Popper\n\nNOT READ YET!" :name "the-open-society-and-its-enemies.md" :private false :categories #{"Books" "Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links [] :size 188 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1667703247]} {:path-categories #{"Books"} :path "content/docs/books/why-greatness-cannot-be-planned.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/gaming/gamedev/mechanic-ideas/random-technologies.md" "content/docs/me/manifesto.md" "content/docs/me/potential-life-missions.md" "content/docs/society/utopia.md" "content/docs/understanding-the-world/what-to-believe.md"} :title "Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/gaming/gamedev/mechanic-ideas/random-technologies.md\" \"content/docs/me/manifesto.md\" \"content/docs/me/potential-life-missions.md\" \"content/docs/society/utopia.md\" \"content/docs/understanding-the-world/what-to-believe.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Books\" \"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# _Why Greatness Cannot be Planned_ by Kenneth O. Stanley and Joel Lehman" :name "why-greatness-cannot-be-planned.md" :private false :categories #{"Books" "Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links [] :size 381 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1698001732 1688412623 1667703247]} {:path-categories #{"Books"} :path "content/docs/books/zero-to-one.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/understanding-the-world/influences.md"} :title "Zero To One" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/understanding-the-world/influences.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Books\" \"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# [_Zero to One_ by Peter Thiel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_to_One)\n\nBook that tries to answer the question of (1) what kinds of work\nwill have the highest (positive) impact on humanity and (2) how to do that\nwork.\n\nMy short synopsis: _Zero to One_ argues that completely novel ideas that don't\ndirectly compete in any existing markets lead to the most successful businesses\nand the most positive change for humanity. Therefore, we should focus our\nenergy on being different, \"thinking for ourselves\", and coming up with the\nmost bold, creative ideas possible as opposed to diversifying our interests and\nseeking incremental change.\n\nInteresting criticism at\nhttps://medium.com/@LouisGudema/zero-to-some-a-critique-of-peter-thiels-zero-to-one-a3df11d484de." :name "zero-to-one.md" :private false :categories #{"Books" "Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links [] :size 896 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1667452680]} {:path-categories #{"Climbing"} :path "content/docs/climbing/breaking-point.md" :backlinks nil :title "Breaking Point" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Climbing\"}\n---\n# Physical \"Breaking Point\"\n\nOne interesting thing I've noticed about myself as I progress through a\nclimbing session is that my ability degradation due to tiredness is not linear,\nor really consistent at all. There are some days where I can crush hard route\nafter hard route, and it feels like each new hard ascent makes me feel **more**\nenergized than I was before. Then on some days, if I fall on a route early,\nthe rest of the session will be a struggle.\n\nI think this is because falling involves a last extreme effort from my body\nright before the actual fall that leads to a long lasting fatigue. This puts a\nparticular strain on me that climbing many difficult routes without falling\ndoes not." :name "breaking-point.md" :private false :categories #{"Climbing"} :dir? false :links [] :size 756 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1653110865]} {:path-categories #{"Climbing"} :path "content/docs/climbing/gym-sends.md" :backlinks nil :title "Gym Sends" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Climbing\"}\n---\n# Gym Sends\n\nClimbs I'm proud of doing at gyms.\n\n## Orange 5.12\n\nReally interesting climb with a lot of horizontal movement.\nEspecially proud of very large dyno towards the top.\n\nVideo: https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipPrgxsE6C2NL0mxyHhUHgj_ax1899bgLtBoVmZM\n\n## Black 5.12+ \"Darkrai\"\n\nSpent a long time on this one, with the crux being a very balancy and precise\nleft hand gaston sidepull to a really bad right hand sloping crimp.\nThe angle of my flagging right foot was critical to do it!\n\n![start](/docs/climbing/darkrai-start.jpg)\n![rest](/docs/climbing/darkrai-rest.jpg)\n![crux](/docs/climbing/darkrai-crux.jpg)" :name "gym-sends.md" :private false :categories #{"Climbing"} :dir? false :links [] :size 674 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875 1755409361]} {:path-categories #{"Climbing"} :path "content/docs/climbing/injuries.md" :backlinks nil :title "Injuries" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Climbing\"}\n---\n# Injuries\n\n## Climbers Elbow\n\nFor 2+ years I suffered from a mild, or at least easily avoided, inner elbow pain that I found very hard to accurately define. Eventually, I learned that it was likely climber's elbow. \n\nAfter learning this, it still took me some trial and error to address it properly. I tried several exercises:\n\n - Dumbbell eccentric wrist extensions\n - These were time consuming to do and it was hard for me to notice them\n working my forearm or having any other real effect.\n - [Hammer\n rotations](https://trainingforclimbing.com/treating-climbers-elbow-medial-epicondylitis/)\n - These felt effective, but only at high weight.\n Unfortunately, at high weight my left wrist also really started to hurt,\n making these not very viable to fix my problem.\n - **Eccentric bicep curls (barbell or resistance bands)**\n - These are awesome!\n Very easy to do in a way that works my muscle, and seem to have a strong\n effect towards reducing my elbow pain.\n Plus they make my arms look strong while I am doing them :).\n\nSome more notes at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y8MYx9GGeIE7VZtD-RxeXZNkHAlSygasY8N6iRFDrv4." :name "injuries.md" :private false :categories #{"Climbing"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1215 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755409361]} {:path-categories #{"Climbing"} :path "content/docs/climbing/media.md" :backlinks nil :title "Media" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Climbing\"}\n---\n# Climbing Media\n\n## My Experiences\n\nSee \"Climbing > Event reports\" on the sidebar for a couple trip reports.\n\nI also gave an overview presentation to some colleagues at work, see [my\nslides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AfhC_PR0d9JveDDStUo8NyT9wMPWAXF8UB3B3bsMCVs/edit?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-SdJHRlr5GhVkgTPE1CkMeQ)\nfor details\n\n## Other Media\n\n* [Thai Climbing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlB_4tOJqZ4)\n* [Change 9b+ by Stefano Ghisolfi](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8AETvINyAk&ab_channel=StefanoGhisolfi)\n* [The Arch by Irina Kuzmenko](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_2t3b1-l1o&ab_channel=mellow) - super cool looking problem!!" :name "media.md" :private false :categories #{"Climbing"} :dir? false :links [] :size 708 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757135665 1756919393 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1648002128 1647920983 1630546295 1613251448]} {:path-categories #{"Climbing"} :path "content/docs/climbing/resources.md" :backlinks nil :title "Resources" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Climbing\"}\n---\n# Climbing Resources\n\n - https://www.mountainproject.com/international-climbing-grades\n - https://climbingdangers.net/\n - [Too Rainy To Climb](http://toorainy.com/) - weather forecast estimating how\n wet rock will be." :name "resources.md" :private false :categories #{"Climbing"} :dir? false :links [] :size 273 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755409361 1728452011 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1653190047]} {:path-categories #{"Climbing"} :path "content/docs/climbing/routesetting.md" :backlinks nil :title "Routesetting" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Climbing\"}\n---\n# Routesetting\n\n## 9/11/2025\n\nEvening set, played:\n\n - Wave Machine, Makari\n - I Don't Know What I Am, Reliqa\n - Slow Burn, Conquer Divide\n - Rush, Maneskin\n\nSet 2 routes on overhanging tall wall rope 20.\n\n - Blue:\n - Dual texture big half moon holds. Hard to fit :/\n - Green:\n - Lots of upside down \"tubelike\" horn holds.\n - Probably lots of heel hooks to stabilize necessary.\n\n## 8/10/2025\n\n2 routes on \"two crack\" rope 13. \n\n - Purple:\n - Exaggeratedly long start traverse that people could boulder.\n Found some good crimps deep in upper roof crack.\n - Green:\n - Thin, with double baby heads facing each other on underside of upper roof.\n\n## 7/12/2025\n\n2 routes on long overhanging pillar.\n\n - Brown:\n - Lots of foot hand matching.\n Hard gaston to large knob hold at roof, then thin holds to finish.\n Fun to watch people lead!\n - Black:\n - Soo many hoolds!\n Used everything even though I brought up a lot.\n Felt mediocre.\n\n## 6/28/2025\n\n3 routes right by window. Needed to toe hook window to get over enough to put some holds in!\n\n - Red:\n - Blood holds, exploring fun rightmost side of wall that is usually empty\n - Grey:\n - Fin pinch holds, barn door inducing.\n A hold near the top broke while someone was trying to climb it!\n - Brown:\n - Sidepull jugs, more of a warmup.\n\n## 5/31/2025\n\n2 routes on rope 22 next to bouldering wall.\n\n - Yellow \"comPRESS me\":\n - Cool start with big mantle move to sloping hold.\n Then some diabolical compression climbing on the corner which I'm not sure\n is even possible.\n - Black \"dark growth\":\n - Fun growth like holds that flowed well for me.\n May be a bit reachy, especially at the top :/.\n\n## 5/17/2025\n\nBoulder setting.\nEspecially proud of a yellow route with big rectangular holds where you start\nwith your back to the wall.\n\n![yellow](/docs/climbing/yellow-back-to-wall.jpg)\n\n## 4/6/2025\n\n2 routes on \"two crack\" rope 13. \n\n - Grey \"imPRESS me\":\n - Very proud of this one.\n Cool press moves, and interesting roof manuvering\n\n![impress](/docs/climbing/impress-me.jpg)\n\n - Red:\n - Less good, tried to make easy but still ended up 5.10.\n Roof area was particularly awkward.\n Big holds do not make for an easy fun time when there are no feet.\n\n## Rain city send 2/2025\n\nVery happy with the \"crawling out of a hole\" vibe this black one I set gave off:\n\n![black](/docs/climbing/rcs-black-knobs.jpg)" :name "routesetting.md" :private false :categories #{"Climbing"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2463 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757654732 1755995343 1755409361]} {:path-categories #{"Climbing"} :path "content/docs/climbing/safety-checklist.md" :backlinks nil :title "Safety Checklist" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Climbing\"}\n---\n# Climbing Safety Checklist\n\nAt time of writing, I recently finished reading [*The Checklist\nManifesto*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Checklist_Manifesto) by Atul\nGawande. This book makes the strong point that human beings are not inherently\nperfectly disciplined, and will inevitably cut corners when doing a task many\ntimes. This is especially true when the corners that are cut are usually not\nimportant, even if sometimes they are crucially so.\n\nReading this made me think of the process of climbing, which has many such\nsteps. So, in the interest of not skipping these steps myself, here is my\nattempt at a *Manifesto* style checklist. As in the book, I tried to make this\nchecklist as useful and evidence driven as possible. I'm hoping to make it\nshort enough to be usable, yet not skipping any steps that commonly lead to\ninjuries/death.\n\nBefore writing the checklist, I wanted to get an idea of what mistakes most\ncommonly cause injuries when climbing. According to [The epidemiology of\nmountaineering and rock climbing\naccidents](https://doi.org/10.1580/0953-9859-1.4.235), in Grand Teton National\nPark from 1981 to 1986 these were:\n\n * Bad fall, usually on lead (34 cases).\n * Rock fall when climbing (11 cases).\n * Getting lost off route (6 cases).\n * Rappelling off the rope end (1 case).\n * Rappelling with a bad anchor (2 cases).\n * Not using proper protection (7 cases).\n * Not using a rope (4 cases)!\n * Not wearing a helmet (3 cases).\n\nMost of the injuries discussed in the paper happened on snow/ice, which I'm\nignoring for the purposes of this checklist.\n\nInterestingly, most of these injuries occurred on the easiest routes (5.1-5.3!),\nwhich is in line with most of the anecdotes in *The Checklist Manifesto*.\n\nAnother study, [\"Rock climbing rescues in Boulder County, Colorado and Eldorado\nCanyon State\nPark\"](https://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(12)00109-3/fulltext), has\nsimilar statistics. This study references [a similar Australian study](https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://dokumen.tips/google-reader?url%3D1f38b04767057b7e61e6dc6a385532b059b9b5300a6f6922794715af97edb0c5608cd6855462c07b7ba9cea7b73d0370607ca69c30fd13c15abf5be6377add0d0l3DstEzNe1rGgKhO86Pa2B8IPxt6MgbB7vDfkU6/MsrdOoc4hxPjwR14utxof5RNCM++vnYL5Odac67f5xzvR2iiLMcwgP3Ulsaap3JrFaa6/vvh1ZZtnGJLHA9eH4nIknPKMtUfEBtFjzLPKxkRQ%3D%3D) with more interesting results.\n\nCheck [this cool data\nvisualization](https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/nate.downer/viz/MostCommonAccidentCausebyState/Dashboard12)\nusing American Alpine Club data for another view into accident data. And [this\nvisualization](https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/nate.downer/viz/CausesofRockClimbingAccidents/MyRiskFactors)\nby the same author.\n\nHere is the current checklist:\n\n```\nBEFORE CLIMBING:\n - Ensure harnesses are on correctly.\n - Ensure belay device is locked and through two harness hard points.\n - Ensure rope is tied through two harness hard points.\n - Ensure rope has stopper knot at non-climber end.\n - Determine if any extended slings will be needed to avoid rope running over\n rock.\n - Discuss rock fall hazard and what to do if it happens.\n\nBEFORE RAPPELLING:\n - Ensure both ends of rope have stopper knots.\n - Weight rope while still using personal anchors.\n```\n\nSee also https://climbingdangers.net/." :name "safety-checklist.md" :private false :categories #{"Climbing"} :dir? false :links [] :size 3369 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1728452011 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1651527431 1651527406 1651527222 1613251448]} {:path-categories #{"Climbing"} :path "content/docs/climbing/tips-and-tricks.md" :backlinks nil :title "Tips And Tricks" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Climbing\"}\n---\n# Tips and Tricks\n\n## Gradient Rope\n\nIt would be really useful to have a color gradient gradually tell you how close\nyou are to the end of the rope.\nThis sometimes happens when ropes get dirty, but it would be cool to find one\nexplicitly manufactured this way." :name "tips-and-tricks.md" :private false :categories #{"Climbing"} :dir? false :links [] :size 314 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1667703247]} {:path-categories #{"Climbing" "Cragging"} :path "content/docs/climbing/cragging/bobs-area.md" :backlinks nil :title "Bobs Area" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Climbing\" \"Cragging\"}\n---\n# Bob's Area\n\n## The Magician Longs to See - 5.11d\n\n### Beta\n\nLeft hand on good start\nRight hand on good start,\nreach left hand to good sidepull,\nleft foot up to slopy top of good initial left hand,\nthrow right hand to left side of top of sloapy chalk.\n\nThen idk." :name "bobs-area.md" :private false :categories #{"Climbing" "Cragging"} :dir? false :links [] :size 328 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757135665 1756777024]} {:path-categories #{"Climbing" "Cragging"} :path "content/docs/climbing/cragging/crag-of-the-20s.md" :backlinks nil :title "Crag Of The 20s" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Climbing\" \"Cragging\"}\n---\n# Crag of the 20s\n\n## Quadratic Cave\n\n### Orthogonal Projection - 5.11b\n\nExtremely cool route.\nHaven't yet figured out how to get out of the cave with the hanging chain clip.\nClipping that chain is exciting, as I need to rotate my upper body 180 degrees\nwhile stemming with my legs to do so!\n\n### Urination Equation - 5.12c/d\n\nSurprisingly close on TR, need to go back for this one.\n\n## Waterfall Wall\n\n### Concentrated Moisture - 5.12-\n\nWorked with Jakob helping finish what another party started.\n\nJakob had a very harrowing lead:\n\n - Dropping a quickdraw which bounced into the woods when trying to unclip it\n from an unnecessary bolt.\n - Blowing a clip while I was trying to detangle the rope from a stick clip,\n leading to me getting pulled through a handrail fixed line and him taking a\n big (luckily safe) fall.\n - Extremely tense final chain clip.\n Honestly this is kinda the crux of the route.\n Not much to work with when mantling over the final ledge." :name "crag-of-the-20s.md" :private false :categories #{"Climbing" "Cragging"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1036 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875 1755409361]} {:path-categories #{"Climbing" "Cragging"} :path "content/docs/climbing/cragging/little-si.md" :backlinks nil :title "Little Si" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Climbing\" \"Cragging\"}\n---\n# Little Si - Exit 32\n\n## World Wall\n\nLeft to right.\n\n### Dairy Freeze - 5.12b\n\n### Bust a Move - 5.12a\n\n#### Beta\n\nFor \"the move\", I need to gaston undercling left hand above rest crimp, get my\nfeet up, then throw strait for the right hand undercling/sidepull.\nFrom there I should be able to continue getting my feet up to throw for the next\ngood holds.\n\n### Spent - 5.11b\n\nSent!\nVery long on mostly good holds, but still a test of endurance towards the top.\nCrux section in the middle much harder than everything else and perplexing.\nLuckily you can stem before/after to rest and think.\n\n### Rainy Day Woman - 5.12a\n\nDone on lead on 9/8/2025!\nSuper intense crux clip.\nI think I got my right foot too high, and was barn dooring off the right hand\nhold and foot as I clipped.\nManaged to keep it together then very slowly finished the route, resting a lot\non the good final holds.\nDidn't really feel that exciting at the end; I didn't feel like I really\nmastered the route.\n\n#### Beta\n\nKey is to recover effectively at rests.\nAt the upper roof I need to not be scared and get my feet up constantly,\n\"perching\" on the holds. Meanwhile with my hands:\n\n - Left hand on crimp above roof\n - Right on lower stair step\n - Left hand on upper stair step\n - Reach right across to clipping sidepull\n\nThen foot up on crimp above roof, then onto stairsteps.\n\n## World Wall 2\n\n### Orgasmatron - 5.12a\n\nVery cool endurance route.\n\nFirst time up I didn't make it all the way to the anchor and my partner decided\nto TR it with extreme swing potential.\nThen after we were done we tried to set up a TR on renaissance, and I got too\nfar away from the wall, subjecting my partner to _another_ \"swing-y\" TR session.\n\n### Renaissance - 5.12b\n\nSooo hard.\nPockets are better than they appear, but I still had to usually crimp the\noutside of them, then readjust to get my fingers in deeper.\n\n## Other\n\n### Lay of the Land - 5.12a\n\nMy first 5.12 on lead!\n\nVery easy start that is a good warm up, then just gets harder until the top.\n\n#### Beta\n\nImportant to go far right at the two draws on the right side of the corner; better holds over there.\n\nAfter turning the corner is the crux.\nI found later that the easiest way to do the crux is actually to lieback the\ncorner and smear my feet on nothing, then reach up for the good rail.\nThis felt better than putting my foot on the crux foolhold and going up from\nthere.\nAt least that move is very low percentage for me." :name "little-si.md" :private false :categories #{"Climbing" "Cragging"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2504 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1758045180 1757394474 1755995343 1755974875 1755409361]} {:path-categories #{"Climbing" "Event Reports"} :path "content/docs/climbing/event-reports/2019-10-7-namaste-wall-zion.md" :backlinks nil :title "2019 10 7 Namaste Wall Zion" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Climbing\" \"Event Reports\"}\n---\n# Namaste Wall - Zion National Park\n\nDone on October 7th, 2019.\n\nI heard originally of this wall from lots of beautiful Reddit posts on\nr/climbing. Claire and I took a trip to the area together and took the\nopportunity to visit the place for ourselves.\n\nThe rock was absolutely incredible, forming many shapes I've never climbed on\nbefore. Most features were easy to grab, which was good, as the wall was quite\noverhanging and the sandy rock meant it was a bit tricky to get a firm grip.\n\n![Handle](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2019-10-07-namaste-wall-zion-pics/handle.jpg)\n\n![Height](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2019-10-07-namaste-wall-zion-pics/height.jpg)\n\n![Looking Down](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2019-10-07-namaste-wall-zion-pics/looking-down.jpg)\n\n![Profile](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2019-10-07-namaste-wall-zion-pics/profile.jpg)\n\n![Clip](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2019-10-07-namaste-wall-zion-pics/silouette-clip.jpg)\n\nOne close mishap we had was the first climb I tried with Claire as my belay.\nThe large overhang made her swing more that we anticipated into a nearby rock\nwhen I uncliped my first quickdraw from the wall (after getting lowered).\nLuckily she wasn't hurt, but it was a good lesson to be very sure about rope\ngeometry before unclipping!\n\n![Claire Belay](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2019-10-07-namaste-wall-zion-pics/claire-belay.jpg)\n\nWe were extremely luckly to run into a pair of Canadian guys with a nice camera\nthat were also climbing at Namaste at the same time. In exchange for me taking\npictures of them, we traded belays, which let me try several more routes than I\nwould have otherwise with just Claire as my belay.\n\nHere is a complete album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/kLGvWTqGBEjh2Dzv7\n\n![Rock](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2019-10-07-namaste-wall-zion-pics/rock.jpg)\n\n![Trees](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2019-10-07-namaste-wall-zion-pics/trees.jpg)" :name "2019-10-7-namaste-wall-zion.md" :private false :categories #{"Climbing" "Event Reports"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1968 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755409361 1662924312 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1627965261 1627964978]} {:path-categories #{"Climbing" "Event Reports"} :path "content/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-10-lake-erie.md" :backlinks nil :title "2020 8 10 Lake Erie" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Climbing\" \"Event Reports\"}\n---\n# Mt. Erie Climbing\n\n\nDone in Mid-August 2020.\n\n\nMatthew's review and recap of the day:\n $\"Matthew's$ \n\n![The trees and the islands](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-10-lake-erie-pics/lake-view-with-trees.jpeg)\n![Better view of the water](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-10-lake-erie-pics/lake-view.jpeg)\n![Cliff](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-10-lake-erie-pics/cliff.jpg)\n![View of the powerlines](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-10-lake-erie-pics/powerlines.jpeg)\n![All business rappel shot](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-10-lake-erie-pics/rappel2.jpeg)\n*Kovas on rappel.*\n\n\n\n![The approach\nscramble](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-10-lake-erie-pics/approach-scramble.jpg)\n*Our approach scramble to get to the crag.*\n\n\n![Blurry base](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-10-lake-erie-pics/blurry-base.jpg)\n*A bad (artsy?) shot of the cliff base.*\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Event Reports]({{< relref \"/\" >}}?Event-Reports=true)" :name "2020-8-10-lake-erie.md" :private false :categories #{"Climbing" "Event Reports"} :dir? false :links ["/"] :size 1357 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1662924312 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1613251448]} {:path-categories #{"Climbing" "Event Reports"} :path "content/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club.md" :backlinks nil :title "2020 8 12 Mile High Club" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Climbing\" \"Event Reports\"}\n---\n# Mile High Club\n\nDone in Mid-August 2020.\n\nA climb I discovered on [Mountain\nProject](https://www.mountainproject.com/route/112553808/mile-high-club) to do\nwhile I was in the area on a camping trip.\n\nWe started the day a bit after 8, taking a quick sub-30 minute drive to get to\nthe trailhead from our camp site. The road down to the Sunrise Mine trailhead\nwas a bit rough in places, with at least a single large washout that I was\nimpressed our large van could handle - the clearance was better that I thought!\nOur hike down the trailhead started around 8:30ish, after a quick banana/peanut\nbutter breakfast.\n\nThe hike in was really pretty, with 3-4 stream/river crossings and some amazing\nmountain views as the trees thinned. Pardon the mediocre image quality : ).\n\n![Stream](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/stream.jpg)\n\n![Mountain Through Trees](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/mtn-through-trees.jpg)\n\n![Cliff Through Trees](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/cliff-through-trees.jpg)\n\n![Matthew Hiking](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/matthew-hiking.jpg)\n*Matthew on the trail*\n\nEventually the trail turned into a treeless alpine meadow...\n\n![Meadow](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/meadow.jpg)\n\n...and then into a talus field. The transition was marked by this cute\ncampsite: \n\n![Talus Campsite](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/talus-campsite.jpg)\n\n![Meadow opening](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/matthew/approach.jpeg)\n*Kovas trying to find which switchback is the last one, so we could break off. Don't \nworry, you still have a ways to go.*\n\nA short ways up we saw this ice cave, reminiscent of the Big Four Ice caves we\nvisited the previous day:\n\n![Ice Cave](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/ice-cave.jpg)\n\nOn the talus, the trail became hard to follow, and we lost it on our way up.\nWe knew we had to leave the trail at some point, but were not sure which\ndirection. On the Mountain Project guide there were directions to break off\nbefore the last set of switchbacks. But because we didn't have a map, we didn't\nknow when the last set were. Luckily we eventually found this trail marker,\nwhich marked our fork left, with the pass trail going right. This whole\nprocess led to a lot of confusion on the approach, and likely added 30 minutes\nto it.\n\n![Turn Right](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/turn-right.jpg)\n\n![Switch Back Marker from Mountain Project](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/matthew/where-the-switchbacks-are.jpeg)\n*A view from much higher up that shows the switchback clearly.*\n\n\nAfter finding our turn off, it still embarrassingly took us a bit to\ndisambiguate which of the peaks we were actually planning to climb...\n\n![Mountain Talus](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/mtn-talus.jpg)\n\n...but we found it eventually!\n\n![Vega North Tower](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/vega-north-tower.jpg)\n\nAs we closed in on the peak the Mountain Project description for how to\napproach got a lot clearer, as did the pass tail with its many switchbacks.\n\n![Pass Trail](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/pass-trail.jpg)\n\nThis reddish colored rock with a slight trickle of water marked the end of our\nhike and the start of our climb. We stopped here briefly for our last\nbanana+bread wraps, left our bag on a ledge, and continued up! Our climb\nstarted at around noon; we lost some time on the approach pathfinding.\n\n![Red Rock](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/red-rock.jpg)\n\n![Looking Up](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/looking-up.jpg)\n\nThe climb up was very easy to track both by scanning for the bright, new bolts\nand referencing the Mountain Project description. The first pitch had a very\nobvious start, with three close bolts through a slightly overhanging juggy\nstart. It was a bit intimidating as a first lead, but quickly confidence\nboosting as I realized the moves were actually quite natural.\n\n![First Belay](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/first-belay.jpg)\n*Looking down from the first belay.*\n\nThe second pitch was more relaxed, and the third, long, pitch had a couple\nsections of hiking-with-a-rope. The views were beautiful the whole way.\n\n![Climb View](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/climb-view.jpg)\n\n![Mountain View](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/mtn-view.jpg)\n\n![At Anchors Dark](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/at-anchors-dark.jpg)\n\n![At Anchors](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/at-anchors.jpg)\n\n![Corner Pitch](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/pitch-4-or-5.jpg)\n*Matthew starting up pitch 4 or 5.*\n\n![Corner Pitch Kovas](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/matthew/from-belay.jpeg)\n*Kovas starting up pitch 4 or 5.*\n\n![Looking Up](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/looking-up.jpg)\n*The summit!?*\n\n![Cool Rock](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/cool-rock.jpg)\n\n![Finishing Corner Pitch](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/matthew-corner-pitch.jpg)\n\n![I think this is near the top](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/matthew/setting-up-anchor.jpeg)\n\n![Across the Valley](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/grand-cliff.jpg)\n\n![Pass Trail](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/pass-trail.jpg)\n*Looking back at the switchbacked pass trail from a better vantage.*\n\nWe reached the summit at around 4pm (behind schedule), but were treated with an\namazing view anyway : ). \n\n![Mordor Snow](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/mordor-snow.jpg)\n*Looking over into the next valley. The snow reminded me of the lava flows in\nthe Lord of the Rings films. I wonder if they shot those scenes by just\nrecoloring snow?*\n\n![Summit View](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/summit-view.jpg)\n\n![Summit Rock](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/summit-rock.jpg)\n\n![Summit Register](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/summit-register.jpg)\n*Official! Funnily enough some of our friends from the UW IMA had just\nsummited a week before.*\n\nRappelling down was met with some trickiness at first; our first rope through\nwent a bit off route and we needed to find our way back kinda awkwardly. The\nnext couple rappels were very straightforward, until we got to pitch 3. \n\n![Rappel Corner](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/rappel-corner-pitch.jpg)\n\nFirstly, this pitch was very long to rappel. I remember having to daisy-chain\nsome quickdraws together in order to keep a hold of both rope ends, but still\ncouldn't make it all the way to the anchors. Instead I had to stop at this\ntree with a sling around it (perhaps others had the same issue).\n\n![Up Pitch 3](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/up-pitch-3.jpg)\n\nOnce Matthew had also rappelled down, we decided to pull the rope through and\nbelay each other off the tree as we walked down to the ~20ft away anchors.\nThis is where we ran into another snag:\n\nSo far, I had been rappelling down the climb with this technique:\n\n![GriGri Rappel](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/grigri-rappel.jpg)\n*Image source: https://ropeandsummit.wordpress.com/technique/belaying-rappeling/*\n\nThis allowed me to use my GriGri for a more comfortable and safer rappel.\nUnfortunately, this method had the before unforseen drawback of making it much\neasier for the rope to get stuck in constrictions when pulling it through.\nThis is exactly what happened when pulling our rope through on this pitch. Our\nknot got stuck about 5 feet from the upper anchor, and no amount of wiggling\nand pulling would set it free!\n\nVery very luckily, the other end of the rope was still in reach. I was able to\ngrab it, pull it down, attach my GriGri, and then part climb/part jug up the\nwhole climb back to the anchors. I noticed a clear spot where the knot had\ngotten stuck. I am extremely grateful that this spot was not further down the\nclimb; had we not been able to use the other rope end to climb up we would have\nbeen very stuck. I then set up a more traditional rappel, rappelled down, and\npulled the rope with no issues.\n\nThis extra \"climb\" burned even more time, and now we were very eager to make a\nhasty descent. We quickly finished the rest of our rappels and started\nscrambling back to the trail over the talus fields.\n\n![Looking Back](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/looking-back.jpg)\n\nBy the time we had reached the trail proper, the sun was already (beautifully)\nsetting.\n\n![Sunset](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/sunset.jpg)\n\nWith the solid trail beneath our feet, we started moving faster, breaking\nalmost into a jog as the trail got flatter. On the way down, we passed a very\ntired, but very chilled out family hiking up on a backpacking trip. Their\ncalming influence was very welcome.\n\nOnce we had made it into the forest, we had to pull out our phone flashlights,\nas it was now completely dark. We managed to do this part of the trail in\nrecord time, only getting lost a bit on the largest river crossing. Luckily we\nwere both able to quickly retrace our steps and re-locate the trail on the\nother side of the river without too much more time.\n\nWe got to the car around 9:30pm and drove as quickly as we could to get back to\nour campsite just after they closed at 10pm. The gatekeeper took pity on us\nand let us in without a fine or any other trouble. Our fellow campers were\npretty worried about us though. Reflecting back on our botch rappel this trip\nmade me realize that I really want to either have cell service or a satellite\ncommunication device the next time I go on a trip like this.\n\nBesides our rushed finish, this climb was truly spectacular. It was also a\ngreat sport -> alpine climbing introduction. I wouldn't go so far as to call\nit \"pleasure climbing\" like a roped soloer we met two days before at Mt. Erie\ncalled it, but it was a really cool alpine climbing experience. Just make sure\nyou give yourself enough time!\n\n![Matthew Looking Back](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2020-8-12-mile-high-club-pics/matthew-looking-back.jpg)" :name "2020-8-12-mile-high-club.md" :private false :categories #{"Climbing" "Event Reports"} :dir? false :links [] :size 10731 :modtime 1784607407 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755409361 1662924312 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1613251448]} {:path-categories #{"Climbing" "Event Reports"} :path "content/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak.md" :backlinks nil :title "2024 7 Enchantments Prusik Peak" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Climbing\" \"Event Reports\"}\n---\n# Prusik Peak and the Enchantments\n\nDone at the beginning of July 2024.\n\nComplete photo album can be found at https://photos.app.goo.gl/U7eW6R2zFRehbVT3A.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/map.jpg)\n*A map of our route, with our approximate campsite shown as a purple dot.*\n\n## Day 0: Leavenworth\n\nWe arrived in Leavenworth the day before starting our backpack to give us the\nmost time possible on our hike in.\nWe mostly just explored the town on this day; my favorite part was the sauce\nshop that had probably 50 different sauces (mostly hot sauces) available to\nsample.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/leavenworth.jpg)\n*Dinner in Leavenworth*\n\nAfter our dinner, it started to rain very heavily, and some members of our party\nwere starting to reconsider our plans to camp nearby that night.\nEventually we split up, with some staying in a hotel and some (my cheap self\nincluded) camping in the rain.\nLuckily, the rain petered out by bed time and our tent held out the moisture.\nWe did at least have to endure a very wet, but surprisingly tolerable, campfire\nwhile we waited for bedtime.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/leavenworth-camping.jpg)\n\n## Day 1: Colchuck, Aasgard, and Finding Camp \n\nWe woke up early and headed to the trailhead to start our adventure.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/trailhead.jpg)\n\nThe trail in was very well maintained and easy going, with us quickly making it\nto Colchuck Lake, our first destination.\nThere were some bugs here which made me nervous for the rest of the trip, but\nluckily here was the worst they would be.\n\nOn the hike in I was pretty happy to have some old beat up ski poles that\noriginally I had brought for someone else (who ended up refusing them).\nI had never backpacked with poles before, and was surprised at how much they\nhelped me stay stable on the trail.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/dragontail.jpg)\n*The imposing Dragontail Peak, towering over Colchuck Lake.*\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/misty-mountains.jpg)\n*Mist was rolling over the mountains around the lake, making for a very dramatic view at times.*\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/aasgard-pass.jpg)\n*Aasgard Pass, our next obstacle, to the left of Dragontail.*\n\nWe next made our way around the lake to the start of Aasgard Pass.\nThe trail somewhat disappeared here into a boulder field, but all the landmarks\nnearby made it impossible to get lost.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/aasgard-boulders.jpg)\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/up-aasgard.jpg)\n*Heading up Aasgard!*\n\nThe pass was very steep, but I was able to make it more fun for myself by going\nsomewhat off trail and scrambling between the boulders.\nFrequently I would have to stop and think about the best way to navigate the\nrocks.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/boulders-of-aasgard.jpg)\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/dragontail-from-aasgard.jpg)\n*Dragontail Peak from Aasgard Pass.*\n\nTowards the top of the pass I started running into more and more snow, under\nwhich I could hear the roar of water.\nBefore the trip I had read a harrowing report of a hiker walking on this very\nsnowfield.\nThe hiker fell through the snow and was swept downhill by the water, only being\nsaved by a lucky constriction in the underground river.\nMade me glad I was on the rocks.\n\nI noticed some climbers on a route to the left of me, on a beautiful very\nexposed spire.\nI also noticed a mountain goat and excitedly gestured towards it to some\nclimbers at the base.\nThey didn't seem very excited and later I felt a bit silly, as the goats were\neverywhere over the pass.\nIn fact, for the next couple miles there would always be at least one in sight.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/first-goat.jpg)\n*My first goat sighting!\nLater I would not need to zoom in so much to get a good shot.*\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/climbers-by-aasgard.jpg)\n*See if you can spot the climbers towards the top of the spire!*\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/goat-1.jpg)\n*A more normal goat sighting, just a little while further up the trail.*\n\nOnce we rounded the top of Aasgard, the valley below was like another world.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/over-aasgard.jpg)\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/snow-walkers.jpg)\n*Wending our way through the snow.*\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/blue-lakes.jpg)\n\nThe extremely cold lakes were a welcome way to fill up our water.\nOne of my companions had a neat squeezable bottle with a built in filter, so we\ncould easily drink directly from the snowmelt.\n\nThe next part of the hike was a bit of a slog, as we descended through lots of\nsnow looking for a good campsite.\nI was pretty tired at this point, so constantly not running into a good spot\nas we passed lake after lake was a bit disappointing.\n\nWe did have one exciting moment where we needed to cross a pretty steep\nsnowfield.\nI was first, and I tried to follow some goat tracks that made their way across.\nAs I was crossing, I slipped into an uncontrolled slide down the hill!\nLuckily the bottom petered out safely, but this was my first firsthand\nexperience with the dangers of steep snow travel, and why always being ready to\nself-arrest is so important.\n\nOthers tried to descend without sliding, but everyone slipped just like me so\neventually we just started having fun with it.\n\n[Sliding Video](https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOFMA41w7gbJRZeE4GOA0smt5OtV2XbNeQMEoZ8ZQHn3VXhaGVXOssPaNZjwn2zmQ/photo/AF1QipP5hc1v3dNjKZ_23Y8v5hxkoKLzCXLYlm5VRqKm?key=YXZsU3UxUkNPc2hWMVFVeElhRVFnTDQyeFFodkpR)\n\nTowards the end of our day, we finally found a good place to camp.\nThere was only one more obstacle to overcome: a rushing river draining out of a\nnearby lake.\nOur best way across after much searching was one of the snowbridges crossing the\nwater.\n\n[Snowbridge Video](https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOFMA41w7gbJRZeE4GOA0smt5OtV2XbNeQMEoZ8ZQHn3VXhaGVXOssPaNZjwn2zmQ/photo/AF1QipNPd3MisNH2f0zmVL9zHSAbqjcVtOnqDm9f5GeU?key=YXZsU3UxUkNPc2hWMVFVeElhRVFnTDQyeFFodkpR)\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/snowbridge-from-below.jpg)\n*None of the snowbridges were particularly confidence inspiring...*\n\nFinally, we started setting up camp.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/setting-tent.jpg)\n*Yours truly setting up a tent in my climbing shoes while unsuccessfully\nattempting to dry my boots.\nPrusik Peak, our goal for tomorrow is in the background.*\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/goat-at-camp.jpg)\n*The ever present goats were with us even at camp.\nOnce when taking a pee one came right up behind me and spooked me!\nThey seem to be attracted to pee residue.*\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/baby-goat.jpg)\n*Goats usually traveled in adorable families.*\n\n## Day 2: Prusik Peak\n\nThe next day, my climbing partner and I set out to climb Prusik Peak, whilst the\nothers went off on other various adventures.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/goat-prusik.jpg)\n\nFinding our way to the base of the climb was pretty fun; the wide open terrain\nmade it easy to see where we were going, yet still was engaging to traverse.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/rock-and-snow.jpg)\n*Walking on the gently sloping rock was pleasant and made the world feel wide\nopen for exploration.*\n\nFairly quickly, after needing to walk back on the trail from yesterday for a\ntime, we found ourselves at the base of the climb.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/prusik-topo.jpg)\n*A useful map we used to try to navigate up the west ridge of Prusik.\nWe still got somewhat lost at least once.*\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/prusik-base.jpg)\n\nAs you may see, the first \"pitch\" of the climb was really just a hike/scramble up what felt like a pile of boulders.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/down-first-pitch.jpg)\n*Looking down the first pitch.*\n\nThe views were, as expected, incredible.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/looking-at-camp.jpg)\n*Looking back at our camp (located by the waterfall draining into the lake) from\nearly on in the climb.*\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/prusik-panorama.jpg)\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/balance-rock.jpg)\n*Doing pitch 1 of climbing above \"Balanced Rock\".*\n\nThe climbing continued to be mostly an adventurous scramble more than a\ntechnical climb.\nI remember one moment distinctly where I was following my partner around a\ncorner while on belay.\nAs I rounded the corner, I couldn't help but smile as I saw the rope just\nhanging in the wind with no protection between me and my partner fairly far\naway, and the rest of the pitch just consisting of a flat - yet quite exposed -\nridge. Falling would have been bad, but really it was unprotectable.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/pitch-2-and-3.jpg)\n*Looking up pitches 2 and 3, the crux slab pitch.*\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/prusik-west-ridge.jpg)\n*A shot of us, as well as several parties ahead of us.\nUnfortunately, our route did not take us up the beautiful steep slabs to the\nright.*\n\nThe route wound its way around large rock formations that made it hard to\ncommunicate and find the next belay.\nAs an illustration, the trickiest part of the climb was not actually physically\nchallenging, but a test of routefinding.\nJust after the crux slab (pitch 3), my partner, leading, had veered too far\nright and ran low on gear.\nWe think he may have found a belay for one of the steeper routes heading up the\nsouth side of the peak.\nEventually he was able to backtrack and get back on route, but there was a time\nI was just sitting there nervously waiting - walkie talkies would have been\nnice.\n\nThe best climbing in my opinion was at the very top (pitch 5), where we found\nsome solid cracks to climb and even a chimney to squeeze through!\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/crack.jpg)\n*A crack on pitch 5.*\n\nAfter these pitches, we found ourselves at the summit.\nIt was cool to see all the other, harder routes on the south side of the peak\nfacing our camp site from above.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/prusik-summit.jpg)\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/prusik-summit-from-camp.jpg)\n*A picture of (we think) us at the summit, taken from our campsite.\nShows off some of the harder routes, one of them being currently climbed!*\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/summit-spires.jpg)\n*From the summit we could see other sheer spires continuing down the ridge.\nThis area really has so much high quality climbing to explore!*\n\nSoon enough, we started descending, almost directly behind another party.\nAll the rappel stations were rap rings through slings of a questionable age,\nbut they all had 3-4 slings piled up redundantly so I felt pretty good about\nthem.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/dark-rappel.jpg)\n*It started getting a little gloomy as we descended, giving us some extra\nmotivation to get down.*\n\nOnce we got to the bottom, we found ourselves right in the middle of some steep\nsnowfields.\nThe party ahead of us had completely disappeared, without even leaving\nfootsteps, so we were quite confused about where to go.\nWe ended up having to do a lot of rough traversing of steep snow to get back to\nthe start of the climb.\nWe kicked our climbing shoes into the snow toe first up to our heels to stay\nsecure and avoid slipping into a slide like yesterday on the trail - the runout\nhere was much less friendly looking!\nI felt bad for my partner, who had tighter, less comfortable shoes than me.\n \n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/prusik-descent-snowfields.jpg)\n*The snowfields we had to traverse to get back to the start of the climb.*\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/steep-snowfields.jpg)\n*Some fields were extremely steep and we spent a lot of time trying to find the\nsafest way around them.*\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/return-to-balance-rock.jpg)\n*The start of our climb in sight: \"Balanced Rock\"!*\n\nLuckily, we eventually made it back to the start of the climb without incident.\nThe hike back to camp was just as enjoyable as the walk there - a relaxing\nadventure finding our own way over the fields of rock slab.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/prusik-looking-back.jpg)\n\nDinner time!\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/diet.jpg)\n*My diet throughout the trip: I pretty much just ate raw rolled oats, peanut\nbutter, and dried mango for every meal.\nNormally my digestion wouldn't tolerate this very well (especially the peanut\nbutter), but something about the constant exercise or environment made me feel\ngreat digestive speaking the whole time!*\n\nThat night we played some cards and tried our best to ignore the incessant loud wind rushing through our campsite while sleeping.\n\n## Day 3: The Long Walk Out\n\nOur last day started with us packing up camp and chatting with other hikers making their way through the same trail.\n\nAs one of these groups passed by, one of their members tried to jump over the\nsketchy snowbridge we had crossed the day before and landed full force right in\nthe middle of it.\nOf course, their heel broke through and I watched in horror as I expected them\nto be swept away by the river.\nAmazingly, the rest of the snow held, letting them get out of the way, but the\nbridge was destroyed.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/snowbridge-broken.jpg)\n*Note the footsteps leading up to the broken bridge.*\n\n[This\nvideo](https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOFMA41w7gbJRZeE4GOA0smt5OtV2XbNeQMEoZ8ZQHn3VXhaGVXOssPaNZjwn2zmQ/photo/AF1QipPndRWhlthwdO6l4w8ZbopSRoKgSFsD9Dp6jgW6?key=YXZsU3UxUkNPc2hWMVFVeElhRVFnTDQyeFFodkpR)\nshows the entire snowbridge area, post destruction.\nNote that the snow on the far side of the river was too steep to allow access to\nthe bridge downstream to the right of the initial frame.\n\nAfter the breakage, the rest of the group opted to wade through the river\nupstream, which was treacherous in its own right (deep cold water with slippery\nstones below), but at least was a known quantity.\n\nOnce packed up, we started our hike out.\nAt first we traversed through the fun rock slabs we had explored all of\nyesterday, but soon the trail became a much more standard walk in the woods.\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/rebar-steps.jpg)\n*The trail was very well maintained, with steel traction bars added to this\nparticularly steep and wet section.*\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/transition.jpg)\n*The transition from rocky alpine terrain to forest.*\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/forest-and-lakes.jpg)\n*A typical view on the way down.*\n\nThe temperature got steadily more hot and humid as we descended and,\nthematically, the final area we walked through to get to the car was a hot, dry,\ndusty valley full of burned trees from a forest fire.\nBy the end I was very thankful the hike was over!\n\n![](/docs/climbing/event-reports/2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak-pics/before-and-after.jpg)\n*Us before and after the trip.*\n\n## Lessons Learned For Future Trips\n\n - The squeezable water bottle with a built in filter I used a couple times was\n super handy - I should get one.\n - Poles were particularly useful when backpacking.\n - Wind at night can be very loud and annoying.\n It may be worth trying earplugs or something similar for future trips.\n - Walkie talkies would have been very useful for communication on the climb,\n and possibly even on the hike depending on their range.\n - Staying as high as possible on the rappel down from the climb may have given\n us some opportunities to avoid the steep snowfields.\n - Someone in our group had a Garmin watch which showed our exact position on a\n map and our progress on an elevation gain chart.\n This was very nice to refer to every so often to satisfy curiosity.\n - My boots got very wet after the first day of hiking, and I had trouble drying\n them for the rest of the trip.\n Next time I should bring a second pair of shoes besides climbing shoes, and\n do some research about the best way to dry boots overnight in the wilderness." :name "2024-7-enchantments-prusik-peak.md" :private false :categories #{"Climbing" "Event Reports"} :dir? false :links [] :size 17451 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755409361 1740866322 1740862760 1740859090 1740853128 1740814356 1740814083 1740813541 1740812280]} {:path-categories #{"Climbing" "Event Reports"} :path "content/docs/climbing/event-reports/first-512.md" :backlinks nil :title "First 512" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Climbing\" \"Event Reports\"}\n---\n# My First 5.12!\n\nI projected this route for a while and still can remember its movements.\nPosting it here mostly for my own personal nostalgia : ).\n\nHere is the route: https://photos.app.goo.gl/fvva4kiMPeRbi6tP9." :name "first-512.md" :private false :categories #{"Climbing" "Event Reports"} :dir? false :links [] :size 283 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1742167498 1741372686 1662924312 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1613251448]} {:path-categories #{"Computers"} :path "content/docs/computers/my-computer-configuration.md" :backlinks nil :title "My Computer Configuration" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\" \"Computers\"}\n---\n# My Computing Environment\n\nMy complete configuration files (\"dotfiles\") can be found at\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/dotfiles. \n\n## Color and Brightness {#color-brightness}\n\n### Temperature {#temperature}\n\nI find that dim screens make it easier for me to read and work for longer\nwithout straining or fatiguing my eyes. Therefore, I generally keep my screen\nat a low brightness level. \n\n#### On Linux\n\nI use [Redshift](http://jonls.dk/redshift/) to\nkeep my screen at a low temperature (low 3000Ks). Currently I use a constant\ntemperature all the time, as opposed to making the color lower at night.\n\n#### On Windows\n\nI use [f.lux](https://justgetflux.com/) with default settings (changing color over\nthe day). I frequently mess with the color temperature slider based on what I am doing.\n\n### Selective Window Brightness {#selective-brightness}\n\n#### On Linux\n\nI prefer dark, lower contrast color schemes for coding or working on the command\nline. They feel easier on my eyes and allow for more variety of color for use\nin (for example) syntax highlighting. I find that colors blend into light\nbackgrounds more, and are therefore less readable. \n\nHowever, most documents in the world are rendered with black text on a white\nbackground. I find this perfectly readable, but starkly different from my dark\ncolor schemes. This makes it quite jarring to switch between the two, which I\noften do when I'm writing or coding while looking at a reference document in my\nweb browser. \n\nTo fix this issue, I've tried a couple things:\n\n- Using a page dimmer in my web browser.\n - This is generally a good solution, but (since these usually inject dimming\n javascript or css into the page that is being viewed) does not work when\n viewing web browser settings or reading pdfs or using any UI that is not\n strictly on the page.\n- Boosting the brightness of my terminal and dimming everything globally.\n - Works for all light colored programs!\n - The best way I could find to do this was to take the colors in the terminal\n colorscheme (as hex strings) and increase their brightness value to make new\n hex string colors, which I used as my colorscheme. This definitly makes the\n terminal brighter but, as the brightness goes up, colors start maxing out\n util they all become white (#ffffff). I wasn't able to boost brightness\n enough with this trick while keeping my colors distinct.\n\nThe current solution I have is to selectively apply color filters to different\nprograms using [Compton](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Compton). This is\nnot a feature that Compton supports natively, so I had to apply a patch I found\n[here](https://github.com/chjj/compton/issues/266). The patched code can be\nfound [here](https://github.com/kovasap/compton). To configure this method, you\ncan add shaders (functions that change pixel colors) to the\n`compton-chg-saturate-brightness-contrast.glsl` file in the root of that\nrepository. I run it by adding this to my `~/.xinitrc`:\n\n```\n~/.xinitrc\n---\ncompton --glx-prog-win-rule ~/compton/compton-chg-saturate-brightness-contrast.glsl:'class_g=\"Google-chrome\"' --backend glx -b\n```\n\nAnother idea I had to help fix my problem was to selectively dim brighter\npixels, while keeping dimmer pixels unchanged. I read that using the\n[HSV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSL_and_HSV) color encoding could provide a\ngood way to define what \"brighter\" means and a way to change it. Luckily, \nCompton provided a easy way to mess with this! My fiddling can be found in the\n[`compton-chg-saturate-brightness-contrast.glsl`](https://github.com/kovasap/compton/blob/94efb6c9a1f80e8dbf61409dfa9b476f15a06a16/compton-chg-saturate-brightness-contrast.glsl#L64)\nfile in my fork of the Compton repository. One thing I tried here was to use a\nfunction like\n[this](https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=plot+x+*+(1+-+a+*+x)+for+a%3D0,0.1,0.2,0.3,+x%3D0.0..1.0)\nto map the \"value\" (V in HSV) to a dimmer value (notice how higher `V` values\nare \"dimmed\" more than lower ones). \n\nOne fun tool for this experimentation was a color picker like\n[this](https://alloyui.com/examples/color-picker/hsv.html) one. When changing\nthe shader, the 2d color picker would have its colors changed, verifying the\nchange made in the shader! For example, after setting the shader to map `V`\nvalues above 0.8 to 0.0, I could see the part of the color picker with those\nvalues turn black.\n\nIn the end, I may just stick with selectively dimming entire bright windows\nglobally, as opposed to dimming certain colors. But it was fun to mess with and\nI may return to it in the future!\n\nAnother thing to try going forward would be other color representation models,\nsuch as [CIELAB](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIELAB_color_space) or\n[YCbCr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YCbCr).\n\nUPDATE: One promising solution is https://github.com/yshui/picom/pull/247. This\nfeature for picom (a fork of compton) gets an average brightness for a window\nby averaging the colors of all its pixels, then dims the window if that\nbrightness is above a threshold. It didn't work super well in my hands, but is\nin theory a better solution to this problem than dimming all windows of a\ncertain app.\n\n#### On Windows\n\nBecause I often game on windows, I prefer to have my secondary monitor be dimmer\nthan the primary to not distract from the game I'm playing, but still be there to\nlook stuff up. I use the exellent [Pangolin Screen Brightness](https://www.pangobright.com/)\nutility to do this.\n\n\n## TODO\n\nTo link this documentation more with my actual config, one idea is to add\nsomething like this to all the settings I document in my rc files:\n\n```\n## SETTING_NAME ##\nsome code that applies a setting\n## END ##\n```\n\nThen, when I'm writing docs in this website I can simply reference the\nSETTING_NAME instead of inlining the code. To make this work I need to write\ncode that parses all my rc files and constructs some kind of mapping from\nSETTING_NAMES to the code (and the language to get syntax highlighting right and\nthe filename). Then, I need to replace the names I put in this documentation\nwith the values from the mapping. This code would run when the website is\nbuilt." :name "my-computer-configuration.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations" "Computers"} :dir? false :links [] :size 6251 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757188597]} {:path-categories #{"Computers"} :path "content/docs/computers/switching-linux-drives.md" :backlinks nil :title "Switching Linux Drives" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Computers\"}\n---\n# Switching Linux Drives\n\nI wanted to switch my linux install to a new larger NVME drive I got.\nThis was harder than I expected.\n\nI followed https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/futij3/comment/fmfnlod/\n(using https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Installation_guide#Partition_the_disks\nto do step 1), but ran into a strange problem where when using\n`arch-chroot` to configure my new root system from the arch install medium I\ncould not see any drive UUIDS, making generating my `fstab` file impossible.\n\nI ended up needing to generate the `fstab` (with genfstab) OUTSIDE of the\nchroot, then modifying it to specify the right mount points within the chroot." :name "switching-linux-drives.md" :private false :categories #{"Computers"} :dir? false :links [] :size 659 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757188597]} {:path-categories #{"Datavis"} :path "content/docs/datavis/clerk-notebooks.md" :backlinks nil :title "Clerk Notebooks" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Datavis\"}\n---\n# Clerk Notebooks\n\n[Clerk](https://github.com/nextjournal/clerk) is a cool platform for exploring\ndata.\nI have a repository of small data deep dives I've done at\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/clerk-notebooks." :name "clerk-notebooks.md" :private false :categories #{"Datavis"} :dir? false :links [] :size 258 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1660415829]} {:path-categories #{"Datavis"} :path "content/docs/datavis/inspiration.md" :backlinks nil :title "Inspiration" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Datavis\"}\n---\n# Inspiration\n\n - Stock Bubbles: https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/vp04dv/oc_the_worst_first_half_for_the_stock_market_in/\n - Chat visualization: https://github.com/joweich/chat-miner" :name "inspiration.md" :private false :categories #{"Datavis"} :dir? false :links [] :size 252 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1673989211 1673389295 1656990200 1656884509]} {:path-categories #{"Datavis"} :path "content/docs/datavis/reddit-tree.md" :backlinks nil :title "Reddit Tree" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Datavis\"}\n---\n# Reddit Comment Tree\n\nI was curious about which Reddit comments end up getting many upvotes, so I\nmade this visualization:\n\n

\"reddit — Click the image to go to the interactive page!

\n\n\n\nI learned that most upvotes go to the first comments by far.\nComments that come in later are far less likely to reach the top of the list.\n\nThe code can be found at\n[github.com/kovasap/reddit-tree](https://github.com/kovasap/reddit-tree).\n\n## Related\n\n - [Map of Reddit](https://anvaka.github.io/map-of-reddit/), an amazing\n visualization of all subreddits and how they are related (by user activity).\n - [The \"first comment effect\"](https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/s/mef3dVi6vh)" :name "reddit-tree.md" :private false :categories #{"Datavis"} :dir? false :links [] :size 987 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757135665 1756834498 1731474684 1731474274 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1652387059 1648330076 1648000500 1642463614]} {:path-categories #{"Datavis"} :path "content/docs/datavis/seattle-rain.md" :backlinks nil :title "Seattle Rain" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Datavis\"}\nplotly: true\n---\n\n# Rain in Seattle\n\nAs I've experienced Seattle weather day to day, my mind has come up with random\ntheories for periods of the day (morning, afternoon) when it rains the\nmost/least. This is important to me enough to think about because I commute by\nbike. Dodging the rain is really nice when possible so that I don't get as wet\non the way to work.\n\n**Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much correlation at all with time of\nday and precipitation.** Read on to see how I discovered this...\n\n## Data\n\nI thought I'd try answering the question once and for all by looking at some\nweather station data. I first tried getting data via this service:\nhttps://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/datasets. Unfortunately, the data I got was\npretty inconsistent. I talked to a meteorologist from NOAA via their help email\nand was redirected to some [beta\ndata](https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/hpd/auto/v2/beta/15min/). For this\ndata, I needed to pick a station, so I looked in the `hpd-stations-inventory`\nfile and found a list of Washington stations with coordinates. I loaded these\nup using [Google Maps](https://webapps.stackexchange.com/a/102780) and found\nthat the Everett station was the closest one to Seattle (there was no station\nin Seattle proper 🙁). Then I found and downloaded the file corresponding to\nthis station ID (USC00452675).\n\n## Analysis\n\nI analyzed the data using plotly with [this\ncode](https://github.com/kovasap/weather-data). This code calculates the\nprobability that it will rain in all the historical data during any given\n15-minute interval and plots that number, with error bars given as the standard\ndeviation. I first did data from 2019-2021 for speed of processing...\n\n{{< plotly json=\"/USC00452675.15m.2019-2021.csv.json\" height=\"1800px\" >}}\n\n...and I saw some trends! Especially in August and July it looked like it\ndidn't ever rain in the afternoon. This got me excited to think I'd learned\nsomething, so I ran with more data (2000-2021)...\n\n{{< plotly json=\"/USC00452675.15m.2000-2021.csv.json\" height=\"1800px\" >}}\n\n...and everything averaged out 😦." :name "seattle-rain.md" :private false :categories #{"Datavis"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2149 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1654656439 1653846065 1629568468]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming"} :path "content/docs/gaming/buying-games.md" :backlinks nil :title "Buying Games" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\"}\n---\n# Buying PC Games\n\n## [isthereanydeal](https://isthereanydeal.com/)\n\nStore aggregation site where you can search for the best game prices across\nmany stores. Haven't used it much yet, but I plan to!\n\n## Steam\n\nHas good sales and an amazing UI/management system for your game collection.\nEven if you don't buy on Steam, I recommend buying somewhere that gives\nSteam-redeemable game keys so you can use the management interface Steam\nprovides.\n\n## Epic Games Store\n\nEvery Thursday this store gives away a couple free games, that are often quite\ngood. Worth checking in on Thursday just to redeem this offer.\n\n## Key Resellers\n\nThese sites generally have the cheapest prices for games, but are morally\nquestionable. I think many of their games are purchased with stolen credit\ncards and resold as a way to get money out of said credit cards.\n\n - [g2a](https://www.g2a.com/)\n - [kinguin](https://www.kinguin.net/)" :name "buying-games.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming"} :dir? false :links [] :size 963 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1650924456]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming"} :path "content/docs/gaming/fps-principles.md" :backlinks nil :title "Fps Principles" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\"}\n---\n# Core First Person Shooter (FPS) Principles\n\nThese are some general guidelines I've learned over my many hours playing FPS\ngames. I'm writing them here so I don't forget them, and so others might learn\nsomething - or point out flaws in my reasoning so I can get better!\n\n## Information, and Proactivity\n\nMost FPS fights come down to proactively acting on information about where\nexactly your opponent is. If you know with precision where your opponent is,\nand they don't know where you are, you can confidently peek at them and often\neven prefire (or shoot as you are peeking). Even if your aim is worse, you\nwill most of the time win the fight because your opponent has to reactively (1)\nnotice you, (2) readjust their aim (often >90 degrees of turning), and then (3)\nshoot - whereas you get to skip the first two steps.\n\nAdditionally, if you are peeking off of an information advantage, you also have\nthe benefit of controlling the timing of the fight. Since you are peeking\naround cover, you can always easily reverse your peek and duck back behind\ncover if needed to reload or retreat. This gives yet another massive advantage\nto you.\n\nUsually, proactively peeking someone involves you moving, but it can sometimes\ninvolve you staying still in an unexpected place and using audio cues to\nanticipate an enemy coming into view. Here, even though you are not moving,\nyou are still the proactive party - your opponent is reacting to you. Of\ncourse, for this to work, you must be sure your opponent doesn't know where you\nare, otherwise they will peek you and almost certainly win since they control\nthe timing of the fight.\n\n## Getting and Keeping an Information Advantage\n\nTo win as many fights as possible, it's crucial to take those fights with an\ninformation advantage. But how do you get this advantage and keep it as much as\npossible?\n\n### The Cone of Danger\n\nThe most useful way I've found to do this is to always hold in your head a\nmodel of where your opponents might be. One way to think about this is a \"cone\nof danger\". Imagine you can see through the walls of the map you are playing\non. Then draw a cone from the leftmost enemy all the way to the rightmost\nenemy. This is the \"cone of danger\" you need to expect you opponents to be in.\nPractically, since you normally cannot see through walls, you'll need to\nconstantly estimate this, drawing the cone from corners enemies could peek out\nat you from.\n\n![Cone Start](/docs/games/cone_of_danger_start.png)\n\nIdeally, you want to keep this code as small as possible:\n\n![Cone Small](/docs/games/cone_of_danger_small.png)\n\nwhile making your opponent's cone as large as possible:\n\n![Cone Large](/docs/games/cone_of_danger_large.png)\n![Cone Max](/docs/games/cone_of_danger_max.png)\n\nThe best way to do this is by making it possible for yourself to move around\nyour opponent freely without them seeing you, while making it so any movement\nthey make is detectable by you. This generally involves controlling (knowing\nfor certain no enemies are in) most of the map.\n\nPractically, moving around a lot also helps mess with your opponents cone. Even\nif you have the ability to move around your opponent freely, your opponent will\noften make the assumption you stayed still - if they are right, then they have\na very small cone when they go to peek you. A good practice is to always move\nafter an enemy sees you if possible.\n\nDifferent games provide different tools to help determine where opponents are.\nUse these!\n\n### Stealth vs Spotted Mode\n\nOne helpful thought pattern is always knowing if you are operating in \"stealth\nmode\" or in \"spotted mode\".\n\nIn \"stealth mode\", your opponents don't know where you are. When in stealth\nmode, the goal is to get into a position where you can get some free shots in on\nyour opponents from an angle they aren't looking at. Once you do get those shots\nin, or are otherwise spotted, you immediately transition to \"spotted mode\".\n\nIn \"spotted mode\", your opponents know your position and (you should assume)\nthey are taking steps to peek you as unpredictably as they can. Here, the\nprimary goal is to get back to either the safety of your teammates or a hidden\nlocation in which you can't easily be trapped (e.g. a room with many exits as\nopposed to one or two).\n\nBecause the transition between stealth mode and spotted mode is so instant, it's\nhelpful to always keep in mind an escape route when you are in stealth mode,\njust in case you are spotted. This is for instance why a flank like this can be\nbad:\n\n```\n | \n | | \n \n\n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\n = Teammate\n = Opponent\n = You\n| or - = cover\n```\n\nIn this case, even if you get a free kill from surprise, your opponents could easily surround and 3v1 you once you are spotted.\n\nIt may be better to take an approach like this:\n\n```\n | \n | \n \n\n |\n\n -------\n\n \n```\n\nHere at the very least once you are spotted you have a clear, safe path back to\nyour teammates.\n\nOf course, doing a 180 degree flank may be totally fine if you have some other\nway to escape, either due to some map feature or character ability.\n\n## Peeking Unknown Corners\n\nIf you are peeking around a corner into an unknown area with many potential\nenemy locations, it's best to jiggle peak back and forth around the corner\nchecking each individual location one-by-one. This will help make sure you are\nnot fighting multiple enemies at once, and will give you control over fight\ntiming. Be careful that this can be difficult when close to a corner, since\nevery unit of movement you make will expose a lot more of you than if you were\nfurther from the corner.\n\n## Cover\n\nIn games like Apex Legends, it's a good principle to keep part of your screen\nobscured by cover when fighting, to give your opponent a smaller area to hit. At\nthe very least, make it so that when you are peeking out of cover you are also\nshooting - this way worst case you are trading damage one-to-one with your\nopponent.\n\n## Angle Types\n\nWhoever is closest to an angle has a disadvantage when fighting, as their body will be exposed before their opponent's. Therefore, when holding an angle, it's helpful to be as far away from the piece of cover you expect your opponent to peek out from. This also makes you a smaller target.\n\nIf you must hold close to an angle, you have to bank on your opponent not being thoughough and hide very passively, or be ready to aggresively peek with a close range weapon based on a sound cue.\n\n## Influences\n\n - [Great break down by CoachNihil of kandyrew's\n gameplay](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4QuNEkLtl8&ab_channel=kandyrew)\n which helped inspire the \"cone of danger\" thinking." :name "fps-principles.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming"} :dir? false :links [] :size 6886 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1691798373 1691113293 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1637087126 1627964978 1625939328]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming"} :path "content/docs/gaming/game-tier-lists.md" :backlinks nil :title "Game Tier Lists" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Favorites\" \"Gaming\"}\n---\n# Game Tier Lists\n\n## Tactics Single Player Experiences\n\n| T | Game |\n| - | --------------- |\n| S | {{< game-img \"the-last-spell\" >}} {{< game-img \"fell-seal-arbiters-mark\" >}} {{< game-img \"symphony-of-war\" >}} {{< game-img \"darkest-dungeon\" >}} {{< game-img \"fire-emblem-the-sacred-stones\" >}} {{< game-img \"iron-danger\" >}}|\n| A | {{< game-img \"druidstone\" >}} |\n| B | {{< game-img \"wargroove\" >}} {{< game-img \"battle-brothers\" >}} |\n| C | {{< game-img \"solasta\" >}} {{< game-img \"pathfinder-kingmaker\" >}} |\n| D | |\n\n**S** - Amazing, fully immersed for entire length\n\n**A** - Pretty good, with some rough spots or tedium\n\n**B** - OK\n\n**C** - Good in theory, but some fatal flaws prevented me from playing more than\nthe beginning.\n\n**D** - Just bad\n\n\n## Competitive Real-Time Multiplayer Games\n\n| T | Game |\n| - | --------------- |\n| S | |\n| S? | |\n| A | {{< game-img \"rainbow-6-siege\" >}} |\n| B | {{< game-img \"overwatch\" >}} {{< game-img \"cs-go\" >}} {{< game-img \"valorant\" >}} {{< game-img \"apex-legends\" >}} |\n| C | |\n| D | |\n\n**S** - Amazing and very replayable\n\n**S?** - Amazing but haven't played that many times yet with other players\n\n**A** - Pretty great\n\n**B** - OK\n\n**C** - Some fatal flaws prevent replayability\n\n**D** - Just bad\n\n\n\n## Competitive 1v1 Multiplayer Turn-Based Games\n\n| T | Game |\n| - | --------------- |\n| S | |\n| S? | {{< game-img \"battle-lines\" >}} |\n| A | {{< game-img \"patchwork\" >}} {{< game-img \"hive\" >}} {{< game-img \"drafting-magic-the-gathering\" >}} {{< game-img \"marvel-snap\" >}} |\n| B | |\n| C | {{< game-img \"chess\" >}} |\n| D | |\n\n**S** - Amazing and very replayable\n\n**S?** - Amazing but haven't played that many times yet with other players\n\n**A** - Pretty great\n\n**B** - OK\n\n**C** - Some fatal flaws prevent replayability\n\n**D** - Just bad\n\n\n\n## Competitive Short Multiplayer Turn-Based Games\n\n| T | Game |\n| - | --------------- |\n| S | {{< game-img \"bananagrams\" >}} |\n| S? | {{< game-img \"cascadia\" >}} |\n| A | {{< game-img \"azul\" >}} {{< game-img \"7-wonders\" >}} |\n| B | |\n| C | |\n| D | |\n\n**S** - Amazing and very replayable\n\n**S?** - Amazing but haven't played that many times yet with other players\n\n**A** - Pretty great\n\n**B** - OK\n\n**C** - Some fatal flaws prevent replayability\n\n**D** - Just bad\n\n\n## Cooperative-ish Long Multiplayer Turn-Based Games\n\n| T | Game |\n| - | --------------- |\n| S | |\n| S? | {{< game-img \"dead-of-winter\" >}} |\n| A | {{< game-img \"codenames\" >}} {{< game-img \"nemesis\" >}} {{< game-img \"mysterium\" >}} |\n| B | {{< game-img \"gloomhaven\" >}} |\n| C | {{< game-img \"pandemic\" >}} |\n| D | |\n\n**S** - Amazing and very replayable\n\n**S?** - Amazing but haven't played that many times yet\n\n**A** - Pretty great\n\n**B** - OK\n\n**C** - Some fatal flaws prevent replayability\n\n**D** - Just bad\n\n\n\n## Competitive Long Multiplayer Turn-Based Games\n\n| T | Game |\n| - | --------------- |\n| S | {{< game-img \"terra-mystica\" >}} |\n| S? | {{< game-img \"ozymandias\" >}} {{< game-img \"alchemists\" >}}|\n| A | {{< game-img \"galaxy-trucker\" >}} {{< game-img \"bridge\" >}} {{< game-img \"power-grid\" >}} {{< game-img \"viticulture\" >}} {{< game-img \"wingspan\" >}} {{< game-img \"great-western-trail\" >}} {{< game-img \"root\" >}} {{< game-img \"scythe\" >}} {{< game-img \"agricola\" >}} |\n| B | {{< game-img \"sagrada\" >}} {{< game-img \"carcassonne\" >}} {{< game-img \"dominion\" >}} {{< game-img \"ticket-to-ride\" >}} {{< game-img \"clank\" >}} {{< game-img \"terraforming-mars\" >}} {{< game-img \"pax-pamir\" >}} {{< game-img \"brass-birmingham\" >}} |\n| C | {{< game-img \"civilization-5\" >}} |\n| D | |\n\n**S** - Amazing and very replayable\n\n**S?** - Amazing but haven't played that many times yet with other players\n\n**A** - Pretty great\n\n**B** - OK\n\n**C** - Some fatal flaws prevent replayability\n\n**D** - Just bad\n\n\n## Single Player Immersive Experiences\n\n| T | Game |\n| - | --------------- |\n| S | {{< game-img \"subnautica\" >}} |\n| A | {{< game-img \"skyrim\" >}} |\n| B | |\n| C | |\n| D | |\n\n**S** - Amazing, fully immersed for entire length\n\n**A** - Pretty good, with some rough spots or tedium\n\n**B** - OK\n\n**C** - Good in theory, but some fatal flaws prevented me from playing more than\nthe beginning.\n\n**D** - Just bad" :name "game-tier-lists.md" :private false :categories #{"Favorites" "Gaming"} :dir? false :links [] :size 4225 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757264782]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming"} :path "content/docs/gaming/microphone-setup.md" :backlinks nil :title "Microphone Setup" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\"}\n---\n# Microphone Setup Notes\n\nUse\nhttps://medium.com/@bssankaran/free-and-open-source-software-noise-cancelling-for-working-from-home-edb1b4e9764e\nto set up noise reduction on any mic for any application.\n\nhttps://amzn.to/44BAjtZ is a great microphone with good volume.\nNoise reduction from the above link is helpful to make it work.\n\nI've struggled a lot to get non-usb mics to work well, for some reason they all\nend up very quiet for me.\nMaybe I'm just unlucky." :name "microphone-setup.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming"} :dir? false :links [] :size 512 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1698001732 1697999319 1694020059 1693766264]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming"} :path "content/docs/gaming/monitor-notes.md" :backlinks nil :title "Monitor Notes" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\"}\n---\n# Monitor Notes\n\nIn October 2023 I decided to finally test out some high refresh rate monitors\n(more than the 60 Hz I was using).\nI tried three and definitely noticed the higher refresh rate even when moving\nthe mouse on windows desktop.\nIn games I noticed it as well.\nI noticed it the most in R6: Siege, probably because my graphics card (GTX 1060)\ncould get up to 90 FPS in that game.\nThis differerence was very significant.\nI couldn't notice the difference in Valorant or CS 2 as much.\n\n - A [1080p 24\" VA 165 Hz one](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QW2G35J?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1)\n - This one was very smooth (I could get higher FPS with 1080p), but the drop\n in resolution was too strong to ignore.\n Also the colors were not great compared to my other IPS 1440p 60Hz.\n - A [1440p 27\" VA 144Hz curved one](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGQCKWSM?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1)\n - The viewing angle of this curved monitor was real bad, making the\n brightness/colors change a lot based on how I looked at it.\n This + the color difference was very noticible.\n Specifically it was ard to get the same level of sharpness as my other\n monitor for text.\n - A [1440p 27\" IPS 165Hz one](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRP5F2SB?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1)\n - This monitor was the best one I tried.\n But still the sharpness/colors were worse than my other monitor.\n\nIn the end I decided to return everything.\nIn the future if I get a better graphics card that lets me get >100 FPS at 1440p\non most games I'll probably upgrate my monitor too." :name "monitor-notes.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1651 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1698001732 1697999319]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming"} :path "content/docs/gaming/troubleshooting.md" :backlinks nil :title "Troubleshooting" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\"}\n---\n# Game Troubleshooting\n\n## Steam Launch Options\n\nAll added before `%command%` unless otherwise specified.\n\n### Linux Audio Crackling\n\nAdd `PULSE_LATENCY_MSEC=60`\n\n### Reduce Number of CPU Cores Used\n\n`taskset -c 0,2,4,6` to run on 4 (specific) cores." :name "troubleshooting.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming"} :dir? false :links [] :size 302 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755967999]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/bringing-players-together.md" :backlinks nil :title "Bringing Players Together" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\"}\n---\n# Bringing Players Together\n\nDark and Darker does a good job of letting hard PvE lead to strong spontaneous\nco-op.\n\nApparent EVE online can do this too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BdhiUVv618." :name "bringing-players-together.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev"} :dir? false :links [] :size 259 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/common-patterns.md" :backlinks nil :title "Common Patterns" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\"}\n---\n# Game Types/Mechanics/Appeals\n\n## Engine Building\n\nWhen a player continually updates a state (e.g. a farm or RPG character or\ndesk) with new elements, with each step making the state better at achieving\nsome goal. Often, the state will become even better with each update that the\nlast update made it; the rate of state betterment per step is convex. In the\nend, the state may be able to \"go infinite\" or otherwise reach some victory\ngame state in one turn.\n\n### Examples\n\n - The game board is an engine in Magic: TG.\n - The player boards + cards in Agricola.\n - The player boards in Wingspan.\n \n\n## Knowledge Building\n\nPlaying through the games gives insight that allows progression.\nOne way to identify this is to compare how long it would take to complete the\ngame on the first playthrough vs the second.\nIf the second playthrough would be much faster, then knowledge building is a\nlarge part of the game.\n\n### Examples\n\n - Outer Wilds\n - Roguelikes\n\n\n## Trial-Discovery Game Loop\n\nOne very satisfying game loop goes like this:\n\n1. The game presents a difficult trial or puzzle\n1. After completing the trial, the player is rewarded with a discovery like:\n 1. a new part of the story\n 1. some new mechanics to play with\n 1. new customization options for character building or more generally future\n trial preparation\n1. Back to step 1\n\nIn my opinion, for the loop to work well, the trial must be hard. This can be\nhard to implement in a game with lots of customization options (some builds\nmight trivialize trials, and some may make them impossible). In this case what\nI've seen work the best is games that make trials on the harder side, but also\nprovide intermediate content for players to do to e.g. level up their party.\nThis way, players with builds that aren't working as well can choose to just\nget stronger to the point where their build does work. And players with good\nbuilds are rewarded by making it through the discovery loop faster.\n\nGames that do this really well both with story and with character customization\nin my opinion include:\n\n - [Fell Seal - Arbiter's Mark]({{< relref \"/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/fell-seal-arbiters-mark.md\" >}})\n - [XCOM 2]({{< relref \"/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/XCOM-2-+-War-of-the-Chosen.md\" >}})\n\n## Urgency\n\nSome sense that the player needs to do something to avoid loss is important to\navoid players getting bored. If nothing happens when they do nothing, how much\ndo the player's actions really mean?" :name "common-patterns.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/fell-seal-arbiters-mark.md" "/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/XCOM-2-+-War-of-the-Chosen.md"] :size 2536 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755449404 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/gamedev-context.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/mind/creativity.md"} :title "Gamedev Context" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/mind/creativity.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\"}\n---\n# Useful Gamedev Context and Concepts\n\n## [The story of SNKRX](https://www.a327ex.com/posts/snkrx_log/#day-55-210709)\n\n## [20 Lessons from 20 Years of MTG by Mark Rosewater](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHHg99hwQGY)\n\n## /r/gamedev on Reddit\n\n## Why Gamedev\n\n - https://etodd.io/2023/06/27/making-games/" :name "gamedev-context.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev"} :dir? false :links [] :size 403 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/managing-player-failure.md" :backlinks nil :title "Managing Player Failure" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\"}\n---\n# Managing player failure in games\n\n## Quick saving and quick loading is a bad system\n\nIf you as a designer want your player to explore your game without fear, one way\nto do it is to implement quick saving and quick loading and recommend that your\nplayer quick save before they do something risky and then quick load if it\ndoesn't work out.\nThis is a bad system because it's easy for the player to forget to quick save or\nhave saved a long time ago then, do something that leads them to failure and\nhaving to reload a long time ago in order to progress in the game.\nAlso a lot of games have long loading times and quick saving/loading can lead to\nfrustrating waiting.\nIf you think you need quicksaving and quick loading in your game, I recommend\nlooking into games like\n[Iron Danger]({{< relref \"/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/iron-danger.md\" >}})\nthat have a time rewind mechanic which serves the same purpose but is a lot\nmore ergonomic for the player to work with.\n\nA very silly and IMO bad quick loading and quicksaving system in a game series\nis the system in Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun.\nIn this game, you are literally reminded you to quick save on a regular timer.\nYou would think that the game would be able to handle that for the player if\nthat's really the way the designers want you to progress through those games.\nI think a time rewinding mechanic in these games would be miles better." :name "managing-player-failure.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/iron-danger.md"] :size 1470 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755449404 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/real-time-strategy.md" :backlinks nil :title "Real Time Strategy" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\"}\n---\n# Real Time Strategy\n\nOne big issue I have with real time economic simulation games ([Offworld Trading\nCompany]({{< relref \"/docs/gaming/games/strategy/Offworld-Trading-Company.md\" >}}),\n[Rimworld]({{< relref \"/docs/gaming/games/Rimworld.md\" >}}), [Oxygen Not Included]({{<\nrelref \"/docs/gaming/games/strategy/oxygen-not-included.md\" >}})) is that there is often a\nperiod of the game where you are just waiting for resources to accumulate or for\nsome random event to happen.\nThis IMO is a really bad experience because (1) it's boring and (2) it puts the\nplayer in a more reactive frame of mind.\nTurn based games sidestep this problem." :name "real-time-strategy.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/gaming/games/strategy/Offworld-Trading-Company.md" "/docs/gaming/games/Rimworld.md" "/docs/gaming/games/strategy/oxygen-not-included.md"] :size 697 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755449404 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/social-games.md" :backlinks nil :title "Social Games" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\"}\n---\n# Social Games\n\nI used to play Team Fortress 2 on a specific server (OSU) with a list of\nregular players. Over time I started recognizing these players, which led to a\nnatural community forming. This community led to some of my most memorable\ngaming experiences, which I haven't been able to replicate with today's\nconvenient but faceless matchmaking systems.\n\nThis NeverKnowsBest video does an excellent job describing this phenomenon in\nthe context of MMORPGs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOqTjL4x7FA\n\nIt would be cool if more games were structured to \"pool\" players in such a way\nthat through normal game play you would see the same people over and over. This\nwould lead to you getting to know their playstyle, and would make it easier to\nstart conversations. In other words, this would make the experience similar to\nsomething like playing pick up basketball at a community center." :name "social-games.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev"} :dir? false :links [] :size 952 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/useful-tools.md" :backlinks nil :title "Useful Tools" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\"}\n---\n# Useful Gamedev Tools\n\n## Guides\n\n - https://abagames.github.io/joys-of-small-game-development-en/\n\n## Art\n\n - https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/x00s3h/so_i_think_its_a_complete_myth_that_ai_cant/" :name "useful-tools.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev"} :dir? false :links [] :size 267 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Game Ideas"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/game-ideas/farming-video-game.md" :backlinks nil :title "Farming Video Game" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\" \"Game Ideas\"}\nbookShowToc: false\ndraft: true\n---\n\n# Farming Game\n\nInto the breach like isometric map.\nTurn based XCOM like combat.\nMedieval fantasy theme.\nTwo phases:\n 1. Plant crops in land\n 2. Defend crops/house from weather or raiders\n - raiders\n - insects eating crops\n - snowstorm\n - \nCrops let you make food, which gives you:\n 1. Ability to make more family members to help do stuff\n 2. Buffs for combat\n 3. All materials you need to upgrade\nGame has visible timeline (which you can extend with plant buffs) to see what\nevents you will have to contend with in the future.\n\nGame consists of different environments to \"master\". An environment is mastered\nwhen all events can be dealt with easily for a certain time.\n\nSee https://github.com/kovasap/farming_strategy_game.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Gamedev]({{< relref \"/\" >}}?Gamedev=true)" :name "farming-video-game.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Game Ideas"} :dir? false :links ["/"] :size 903 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Game Ideas"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/game-ideas/honorable-extraction-looter.md" :backlinks nil :title "Honorable Extraction Looter" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\" \"Game Ideas\"}\n---\n# Honorable Extraction Looter\n\nOne aspect of Dark and Darker that sometimes bothers me is how important the\nelement of surprise is to winning fights.\nThis can make the game feel unnecessarily stressful to play, as an instant death\nwith little warning could be lurking around every corner.\n\nThis experience got me thinking of a game concept that could get around this problem. \n\nMy concept is a 2D top down dungeon crawler (like Zero Sievert), but with\ninstanced combat (where combat occurs in a separate screen from the main map\nview, like Pokemon).\nPlayers run around the map and gather resources/fight monsters as per usual.\nPlayers cannot directly fight each other unless one challenges another \nand they accept.\n\nTo incentivize fights, players can temporarily \"claim\"\nresources/monsters/bosses.\nIf another player also claims them and the other doesn't relinquish, they fight.\nThis would keep the competition for sought after resources alive in the game." :name "honorable-extraction-looter.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Game Ideas"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1033 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Game Ideas"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/game-ideas/keyboard-city-builder.md" :backlinks nil :title "Keyboard City Builder" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\" \"Game Ideas\"}\n---\n# Keyboard City Builder\n\nA city builder/strategy game where the map is a keyboard And buildings are\nbuilt on keys. Then when you hit that key the building does something. Hitting\nthe key with shift/ctrl/other modifiers will change the action type.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Gamedev]({{< relref \"/\" >}}?Gamedev=true)" :name "keyboard-city-builder.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Game Ideas"} :dir? false :links ["/"] :size 374 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Game Ideas"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/game-ideas/roguelike-base-builder.md" :backlinks nil :title "Roguelike Base Builder" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\" \"Game Ideas\"}\n---\n# Rogue-like Base Builder Concept\n\nGame is played on a square grid in two phases.\n\n_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _\n_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _\n_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _\n_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _\n_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _\n_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _\n_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _\n_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _\n_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _\n_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _\n_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _\n\n## Setup Phase\n\nHere, the player uses resources they've accumulated to\nbuild a base defending their sage (you). This includes:\n - Building walls\n - Deploying units as archers/warriors\n - Digging moats\n - Making traps\n - Building farms or other buildings that do not help defend,\n but accumulate resources for next round.\n\nBuildings/units would be purchased from a store like Autochess/Underlords, with\nmany options and synergies. If you purchase multiple units of the same kind\nfrom the store, they combine just like in Underlords. The store system in\n[SNKRX](https://github.com/a327ex/SNKRX) is great inspiration here.\n\n## Combat Phase\n\nAfter setup, the base is attacked by a wave of enemies.\nAt this point, the player has no control, and just gets to\nwatch their design work (or not) in real time (like\n[TABS](https://store.steampowered.com/app/508440/Totally_Accurate_Battle_Simulator/)). \n\n### Turn Based Combat Option\n\nThe automatic combat is done is waves, where the entire enemy team\nmoves/attacks at once, then the entire friendly team moves/attacks at once.\n\n## Goal of the Game\n\nSurvive X number of waves. Perhaps the more waves you survive\nthe more interesting the game gets (or there are multiple endings).\n\n## Progression\n\nWhen starting the game, you can choose from multiple \"biomes\" or \"campaigns\"\nthat play out in a predictable way. I want the player to feel like they are\nlearning with every defeat, just like in every time loop in Outer Wilds. I\nwant to avoid unfair/random mechanics that many roguelikes utilize to perhaps\nartificially extend the game and make it more grindy.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Gamedev]({{< relref \"/\" >}}?Gamedev=true)" :name "roguelike-base-builder.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Game Ideas"} :dir? false :links ["/"] :size 2144 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Game Ideas"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/game-ideas/safe-building-designer.md" :backlinks nil :title "Safe Building Designer" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\" \"Game Ideas\"}\n---\n# Safe Building Designer\n\nGame goes in two phases: the build phase and the run phase. \n\nDuring the build phase, you try to design a building that is safe to occupy.\nThis includes adding fire sprinklers, putting trash cans in the right places,\nhaving proper heating and cooling.\n\nDuring the run phase, people come to live/work in the building you designed,\nand get up to all sorts of crazy shenanigans. The goal is that any fires they\nstart or other mischeif they cause is mitigated properly by your design.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Gamedev]({{< relref \"/\" >}}?Gamedev=true)" :name "safe-building-designer.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Game Ideas"} :dir? false :links ["/"] :size 632 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Game Ideas"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/game-ideas/trading-card-mmorpg.md" :backlinks nil :title "Trading Card Mmorpg" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\" \"Game Ideas\"}\n---\n# Trading Card MMORPG\n\nIn my experience one of the biggest strengths of an MMORPG is the player driven\neconomy and the interactions with other players that the economy forces. Often\n I think the gameplay of an MMORPG - what you actually do most of the time - is one of its weaker points.\n For example quests like kill x monsters or collect x objects can be very tedious.\n\nTrading card games are generally pretty fun to play\nAnd real world trading card games already have an economy built in - trading the cards.\nSo it seems like a natural pairing to me to have an MMO where most of the gameplay is playing a game of cards against AI or against other players to earn cards which then you can trade with other players in a player driven economy." :name "trading-card-mmorpg.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Game Ideas"} :dir? false :links [] :size 820 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Mechanic Ideas"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/mechanic-ideas/Random-Balance.md" :backlinks nil :title "Random Balance" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\" \"Mechanic Ideas\"}\n---\n# Random Balance\n\nIt would be interesting to play a PvP game where every match/day/week, random\nadjustments were made to the stats of in game objects (cards, items, etc.).\nThis would make a big part of the game trying to understand what is strong this\nsession, as it always changes.\nThis could lead to less staleness overall, and avoid the problem many games have where some strategies are perennially weak and never get used." :name "Random-Balance.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Mechanic Ideas"} :dir? false :links [] :size 505 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Mechanic Ideas"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/mechanic-ideas/character-alignment.md" :backlinks nil :title "Character Alignment" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\" \"Mechanic Ideas\"}\n---\n# Character Alignment Visualization\n\nIf a character in an RPG becomes more intelligent, strong, or aligned with a\nparticular element, their color (or background color) could be hue-shifted to\nreflect this. This would make it easier to at-a-glance determine more about\ndifferent characters in the game. This would additionally provided some \"woah\"\nfactor if you come across a character with a particularly strong (saturated)\ncolor aura.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Mechanic Ideas]({{< relref \"/\" >}}?Mechanic-Ideas=true)" :name "character-alignment.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Mechanic Ideas"} :dir? false :links ["/"] :size 579 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Mechanic Ideas"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/mechanic-ideas/clairvoyant-turn-based-tactics.md" :backlinks nil :title "Clairvoyant Turn Based Tactics" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\" \"Mechanic Ideas\"}\n---\n# Clairvoyant Turn Based Tactics\n\nInstead of guessing or assuming what the computer opponent will do in a turn\nbased tactics game like fire emblem or xcom, have the current move of the\nopponent always displayed on screen. To be more precise, show the exact\nmovement and actions of all enemy units that would take place if the player\nended their turn right now. As the player plans out their moves, update the\nenemy moves that would happen if the player committed to their current plan.\nThis should lead to a very tight feedback look as the player gets constant\nupdates as the move their movement selection from tile to tile.\n\nThis should help with unpleasant surprises that require reloads in these games.\nSee Into the Breach for a cool variant of this concept (where all enemy moves\nare statically predetermined and do not change at all).\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Mechanic Ideas]({{< relref \"/\" >}}?Mechanic-Ideas=true)" :name "clairvoyant-turn-based-tactics.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Mechanic Ideas"} :dir? false :links ["/"] :size 985 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Mechanic Ideas"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/mechanic-ideas/limiting-collaboration.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/gaming/games/cooperative-rpg/dead-of-winter.md"} :title "Limiting Collaboration" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/gaming/games/cooperative-rpg/dead-of-winter.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\" \"Mechanic Ideas\"}\n---\n# Limiting Collaboration\n\nIn several turn-based collaborative multiplayer games I've played\n(_Gloomhaven_, _Pandemic_, _Divinity Original Sin 2_), I've noticed a common\nissue that draws out what would otherwise be a more streamlined experience.\nThis is that, while these games usually have players control specific\ncharacters, in reality what happens is that the playgroup as a whole decides on\nthe best move that everyone should take. Then everyone just makes the agreed\nupon move. This effectively turns a \"multiplayer\" game into a complex \"single\nplayer\" experience, where the single player is a group trying to come to\nconsensus. Another way to say this is that the game starts getting **\"played by\ncommittee\"**.\n\nThis is not in-itself a problem, but it does lead to some issues:\n\n - Often a few people end up leading the group, and effectively playing the\n game for everyone else.\n - If leaders don't emerge, it takes a lot of time to get everyone on the same\n page about a specific plan of action, which can make the game tedious.\n\n## A Solution: Secret Objectives\n\n[Dead of Winter]({{< relref \"/docs/gaming/games/cooperative-rpg/dead-of-winter.md\" >}}) gets\naround this problem partially by giving players secret objectives that may be\ndirectly in conflict. This and some other mechanics make the game play more\nlike a \"normal\" competitive game.\n\n## A Solution: Communication Limiting\n\nAn elegant solution to the above problem (which I haven't tried yet), is to put\nconstraints on the communication that can be done between players during the\ngame. Some ways of doing this include:\n\n - Only letting players controlling characters that are physically close\n together on the board to speak to each other. This is very easily done with\n chat apps (Discord, SMS, etc.).\n - Putting a time limit (or character limit) on communication. If the limit is\n exceeded, then the players will lose turns - their characters were spending\n time talking instead of acting.\n\nThese options are interesting because they produce a trade off - is it better\nfor our actions to be more in sync, or should we just act with less\nsynchronization?\n\nGame mechanics could also play into this communication limitation - for\ninstance, characters that can communicate telepathically with others may be\nimmune to any limits.\n\n\n## Comments from coworker to integrate\n\nI guess you might break it up into a few more parts\n* Permission (can I talk to this person at all)\n* Duration (how much time can I communicate with this person)\n* Dictionary-space (how much vocabulary do I have to communicate)\n\nPhysical closeness 'permission' and time-limit per-action/turn you cover,\nhowever there are two things I might add that limit effectiveness of\ncommunication:\n* Role-playing\n* Language limits\n\nWith roleplaying, while it may be optimal to take a course of action, it may\nnot be what the character would do (for example, against a demon and a lich it\nmay be optimal to disrupt the lich's spellcasting, but your character may have\nhatred of demons). This is most applicable in TTRPGs like D&D and Pathfinder\nand less applicable in Video Games or some Board Games. This doesn't limit\ntheoretical communication, but may limits it's impact depending on your group.\n\nLanguage limits the dictionary of what can be said, but doesn't necessarily\nlimit how much can be said within that dictionary. For example, Gloomhaven\nbefore your two cards are selected limits communication to 'relative' values\n(ex. I am going as fast as possible and will do an AoE) rather than absolutes\n(ex. I am moving with Mana Bolt at 07 initiative and will top with coldfire).\nThis still lets people communicate freely, but can limit knowledge. This also\nencourages players building knowledge of each others abilities and what they do\nin combat, somewhat like a small group of mercenaries would.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Mechanic Ideas]({{< relref \"/\" >}}?Mechanic-Ideas=true)" :name "limiting-collaboration.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Mechanic Ideas"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/gaming/games/cooperative-rpg/dead-of-winter.md" "/"] :size 4056 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755449988 1755449404 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Mechanic Ideas"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/mechanic-ideas/low-friction-turn-based-tactics.md" :backlinks nil :title "Low Friction Turn Based Tactics" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\" \"Mechanic Ideas\"}\n---\n# Minimizing UI Friction in Turn Based Tactics Games\n\n## One-click actions\n\nGames like XCOM, Fire Emblem, Warhammer 40k Mechanicus, Gloomhaven Digital etc.\nsometimes have a problem with requiring many clicks/actions from the player to\nexecute actions. To minimize this, you could have the player's options for\nwhat a character should do on a tile appear as a button on that tile. For\nmultiple actions these buttons could be arranged in a grid.\n\nFor example, a character could move to an empty tile (just one option with one\nbutton). Or if they could cast an aoe ability on that tile then on hover that\ntile would have two buttons. Clicking one would automatically take that\naction.\n\nWhen hovering an enemy, buttons would appear for each type of attack the\ncharacter could do. For out of range enemies, a shadow movement could appear\nwhen hovering to make the attack possible with just one click!\n\n## Show Ability Effect On Hover\n\nAnother common annoyance I run into in turn based games is how many individual\nchecks I sometimes have to do when making a decision for a character's action.\nFor instance, if I want to find out which enemy I want to attack, I usually need\nto go through each possible enemy in range, start the attack process, review the\ndamage/probability/other effect preview window, then remember that information so that I\ncan compare it to every other possible action I have. This is sometimes really\ntrivial (when there is a single enemy, for instance), but sometimes really involved\nto the point where I need to start double checking the preview windows as I forget\nwhat they contained.\n\nOne way to solve this is to show a small pop-up preview window on top of every\npossible target when hovering over a skill/attack/spell. This mock-up shows a simple\nexample of a healing spell with only the amount healed shown. In practice, you would\nalso want to show probability to hit, any effects the spell applies (e.g. poison), etc.\n\n![Hoverable outcomes](/docs/gamedev/mechanic-ideas/hoverable-outcomes-healing.png)\n\nThis example is overly simple and doesn't fully show the usefulness of this feature. In\na real game, the diversity of outcomes would be much greater most of the time.\n\n### Enemy abilities\n\nOne extension of this feature is to make it so that when hovering over an enemy the same\npop-up preview window would appear on all the squares it can target (even with moving).\nThe window would contain that enemy's current intent given the state of the game, which\nwould change as you moved your characters around. This would make it easier to see what\nenemies are capable of, and would make it less likely that the player would get blindsided\nby something they didn't think was possible, which is a bad experience especially if it leads\nto the player reloading the encounter.\n\nAdmittedly, this might be pretty hard to implement completely depending on the game's rules.\nEven if this isn't implemented, games that are wholly lacking any way to see what enemies can\ndo (what effects their attacks will have on your characters) besides doing all the math yourself\nI find very tedious (see the turn-based modes for Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Pillars of Eternity 2).\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Mechanic Ideas]({{< relref \"/\" >}}?Mechanic-Ideas=true)" :name "low-friction-turn-based-tactics.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Mechanic Ideas"} :dir? false :links ["/"] :size 3330 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Mechanic Ideas"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/mechanic-ideas/positional-autobattling-combat.md" :backlinks nil :title "Positional Autobattling Combat" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\" \"Mechanic Ideas\"}\n---\n# Positional Autobattling Combat\n\n## Inspiration\n\nIn many turn based tactics games there is a large amount of player effort spent\non manually moving characters and using abilities.\n\nI think that not all of these actions are really that interesting - what IS\ninteresting is the positional placement of units, and perhaps their \"stance\"\n(are they attacking or defending).\n\n## System\n\nAll actions taken by characters are \"cooldown based\".\nCooldowns are defined in terms of \"ticks\"; one tick will happen around every\n0.25 - 0.5 seconds to give the game a more \"turn based\" feel.\n\nFor example, a character can try to move every tick.\nThey may be stopped because they are in the zone of control of another unit (a\nla Battle Brothers).\nCharacters will not move unless ordered to go to a location by the player.\n\nAttacking will work a similar way.\nTarget selection is automatic by default, but the player can set priority\ntargets.\n\nDefending works on a \"charge\" basis, like shields in FTL.\nEvery tick, the character regains some blocking or dodging power.\nWhen their power is above certain thresholds, then the next attack they receive\nwill be blocked/dodged and their power will decrease based on the attack.\n\nIf they character has not enough power, they will be hit." :name "positional-autobattling-combat.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Mechanic Ideas"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1261 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1774133398]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Mechanic Ideas"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/mechanic-ideas/positional-turn-based-combat.md" :backlinks nil :title "Positional Turn Based Combat" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\" \"Mechanic Ideas\"}\n---\n# Positional Turn Based Combat\n\nI'm a huge fan of the Darkest Dungeon combat system, where each team is arranged\nin a line.\nEach position of the line enables abilities specific to that position, that can\nthen target specific positions of the enemy line.\nReordering the lines then becomes a cool tactical tool that can be used to gain\nan advantage.\n\nThis idea could be extrapolated and twisted into a system where each battlefield\nhas a set of unique positions that each have tags:\n\n```\n ┌───────────────────┐ \n │ │ \n ┌────────────┐ │ Plains │ \n ┌─────────────┐ │ Plains │ │ Highland │ \n │ Foliage │ │ Rocky ┼──────┤ Space for 2 │ \n │ ┼──────┼ │ └───────────────────┘ \n │ │ └────────────┴───┐ \n └───────────┬─┘ │ \n │ ┌────┴──────┐ \n │ │ │ \n │ │ Cliff ┼──┐ \n │ │ │ │ \n │ └─┬─────────┘ ├──────────────────────┐ \n ┌──────┼───────────┐ │ │ │ \n │ ┼──────────┘ │ Swamp │ \n │ River │ │ Space for 2 │ \n │ │ │ │ \n └──────────────────┘ └──────────────────────┘ \n\n```\n*Made with https://asciiflow.com/#/*\n\nEach character from each side would occupy these positions, and could move\nbetween them based on their connections.\nThe tags on each position would unlock use of different abilities.\nAttack ranges could be based on position adjacency.\n\nEach battlefield would have different positions, keeping combat varied and fresh." :name "positional-turn-based-combat.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Mechanic Ideas"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2859 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Mechanic Ideas"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/mechanic-ideas/random-technologies.md" :backlinks nil :title "Random Technologies" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\" \"Mechanic Ideas\"}\n---\n# Random Technologies\n\nFor a management or economic game, make new technologies randomly get discovered at a rate proportional to the player's \"research power\" (the resources they put towards research).\nOne cool way to make this work is to have a hidden dependency web (e.g.\nfire must be discovered before cooking), and then randomly select a tech to be discovered from the set of all techs that have had all their dependencies discovered.\nThis would force the player to adapt to the consequences of what their people discover, and make the game more dynamic and replayable.\n\nInspired in part by [\"Why Greatness Cannot be Planned\" by Kenneth O. Stanley and Joel Lehman]({{< relref \"/docs/books/why-greatness-cannot-be-planned.md\" >}})." :name "random-technologies.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "Mechanic Ideas"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/books/why-greatness-cannot-be-planned.md"] :size 814 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "My Games"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/my-games/graph-tactics.md" :backlinks nil :title "Graph Tactics" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\" \"My Games\"}\n---\n# Untitled \"Graph Tactics\" Game\n\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/draft-concept\n\n## Devlog\n\n### July 2025\n\nPretty stoked on this project this month.\nStarted using Gemini chat to help start features and avoid writers block.\nVery useful!" :name "graph-tactics.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "My Games"} :dir? false :links [] :size 302 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "My Games"} :path "content/docs/gaming/gamedev/my-games/other-projects.md" :backlinks nil :title "Other Projects" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Gamedev\" \"My Games\"}\n---\n# My Projects\n\nHere's a list of mainly unfinished projects I've worked on in the past. Like\nthe rest of this site, this is mostly for me to remember stuff I've done more\neasily, in case I want to resume work or apply parts of these projects to other\nthings.\n\n\n## Economic Map Based Digital Board Game\n\nInspired by games like terra mystica, catan, and games with production chains.\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/cljs-board-game.\nUses websockets to allow players to play each other from different devices.\n\n\n## Market Trading Board Game\n\nMy take on a resource management euro-style game. Code and links to a Tabletop\nSimulator mod that lets you play the game can be found at\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/market_trading_game. The game is playable, but not\nsuper balanced.\n\n\n## My Take on Auto-Chess\n\nCode can be found at https://github.com/kovasap/rtbb. Requires Godot engine to\nplay currently (I haven't made release builds). The current version is probably\nbroken - I left off at adding a side-scrolling background for moving to the\nnext fight, but haven't finished it yet.\n\nMostly inspired by the development of SNKRX at https://github.com/a327ex/SNKRX.\n\n\n## Farming Turn Based Tactics Game\n\nCode can be found at https://github.com/kovasap/farming_strategy_game. Inspired\nby resource management board games, and turn based tactics games. Supposed to\nbe a fusion of these genres.\n\n## Tactics RPG Game\n\nCode can be found at https://github.com/kovasap/tactics/blob/main/DESIGN.md.\n\n## No RNG Battle Brothers Overhaul\n\nCode can be found at https://github.com/kovasap/mod_rng_free." :name "other-projects.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Gamedev" "My Games"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1644 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/Beat-Saber.md" :backlinks nil :title "Beat Saber" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\"}\n---\n# Beat Saber\n\nPlaying the VR rhythm game beat saber.\n\nFeelings: \n\n - Skill clicking into place\n - Being in the Zone" :name "Beat-Saber.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games"} :dir? false :links [] :size 178 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757136307 1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/Rimworld.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/gaming/gamedev/real-time-strategy.md"} :title "Rimworld" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/gaming/gamedev/real-time-strategy.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Games\" \"Solitary\" \"Gaming\"}\n---\n# [Rimworld](https://rimworldgame.com/)\n\nA great description of a core issue: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33882724\n\nFeelings:" :name "Rimworld.md" :private false :categories #{"Games" "Solitary" "Gaming"} :dir? false :links [] :size 259 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Action Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/action-rpg/skyrim.md" :backlinks nil :title "Skyrim" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Action Rpg\"}\n---\n# Skyrim\n\nBest played with mods: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ekiDIGgRXa7bplPzls803Y0dYBrP53tz?usp=sharing\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Gaming]({{< relref \"/\" >}}?Gaming=true)" :name "skyrim.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Action Rpg"} :dir? false :links ["/"] :size 241 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Action Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/action-rpg/v-rising.md" :backlinks nil :title "V Rising" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Action Rpg\"}\n---\n# V Rising\n\n## World 1: Horeculture\n\nhttps://discord.gg/p9keSCZB\n\nBuilt a neat forest base very open to the trees outside.\n\nWholesome interactions with a random guy who showed me their cool base.\n\nStopped playing as server started dying and I saw many amazing bases decaying.\nVery bittersweet \"all good things must come to an end\" vibes.\n\n## World 2: Casual Coven\n\nhttps://discord.gg/KmbK6zuz\n\nBrutal difficulty, playing with a friend.\nWas really fun, and found some cool people to duel with!\n\nServer died unexpectedly one day, killing our progress.\nServes me right for not finding/joining the discord." :name "v-rising.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Action Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 675 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Competitive Fps"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/competitive-fps/dark-and-darker.md" :backlinks nil :title "Dark And Darker" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Competitive Fps\"}\n---\n# [Dark and Darker](https://www.darkanddarker.com/)\n\n## Builds\n\n### Smite Spell Cleric\n\nThis build punishes bad players who try to just melee fight you really hard.\n\nI fought a geared ranger in squire gear once who hit me with a ton of arrows\nthen tried to finish me off with an arming sword and died even though I was at\naround half health.\n\nUse (at squire):\n\n - Morning star / buckler\n - Spellbook or magic staff\n - 295 move speed armor - plate chest and light pants / boots\n - Smite, then lesser heal, protection, holy strike, locust swarm\n - Really mostly you will just be using lesser heal and maybe protection.\n Other players who are good will just run away and reset if you hit them\n with an offensive spell.\n - Advanced healing, blunt weapon mastery, faithfulness, perseverance.\n\nFocus on getting in melee range and using smite.\nIf you take too much chip damage, get in cover and use lesser heal.\nSometimes this will bait people to push you, which you can punish by switching\nback to melee.\n\n### Falchion Platelock\n\nSwing when people get close, cast when they are far.\nI like using dark bolt a lot because if people push you when you are casting\nit's easy to land headshots.\n\n![gear](/docs/gaming/games/competitive-fps/platelock_gear.png)\n\nI think it's actually better to swap the spellbook for a longsword so that you\nhave a reasonable matchup against clerics and barbarians, who otherwise will\ngenerally beat this build.\n\n![spells](/docs/gaming/games/competitive-fps/platelock_spells.png)\n\nCan also swap weakness/bolt for eldrich shield and spell predation to get dark\nshards.\n\nHad a really fun prolonged fight with a druid in the crypts pyramid.\nWas able to go toe to toe and space bear form with falchion!\n\nCurse of pain is good to prevent rat form.\n\n### Hybrid Warlock\n\nBeen trying to make a crystal sword casting warlock work.\nIdea is that you can curse or bolt right before and after a melee engagement to\nget extra damage in, but then also do ok in the melee exchange.\n\nReally this build does not feel good as of Summer 2025.\n\n#### Vs plate fighter / cleric / heavy barbarian\n\nJust take out your spellbook and kite, using phantomize if necessary.\nDon't try to melee, even if they are low - it's a trap and they can kill you if\nyou miss.\n\n#### Vs Ranger or caster wizard / warlock / sorcerer\n\nClose gap with phantomize and try to melee, cursing when they try to run away.\n\n#### Vs Druid\n\nBest footsies wins!\n\n#### Vs Speed barbarian\n\nLand a curse and hope you win the melee. Maybe try to block?\n\n## Misc\n\nI've made a [bunch of reddit\nposts](https://www.reddit.com/user/a-curious-crow/search/?q=darkanddarker&cId=8a33d130-1208-4e92-9ee1-2ebb42d05766&iId=894256b8-cde2-488c-b5e1-24c83062e550&sort=new)\nabout this game." :name "dark-and-darker.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Competitive Fps"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2821 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1758128453 1757301229 1757135665 1756919393 1756268314 1756002649 1756002482 1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Competitive Fps"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/competitive-fps/other-competitive-fps.md" :backlinks nil :title "Other Competitive Fps" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Competitive Fps\"}\n---\n# Competitive FPS Games\n\nGames where you compete with others in matches.\n\n## Counter Strike\n\nWingman is my favorite way to play.\n\nCounter strafing is very good / important to do!\n\n## Rainbow 6: Siege\n\n### Summary\n\nVery intense and engaging game that requires a high level of focus.\nEvery movement made in this game produces audible sound, meaning that movement\ngives away your position and makes you vulnerable.\nHowever, like in most shooters,if you proactively move to shoot at a particular\npoint, you will still have an advantage against someone reacting to your\nmovement.\n\nThis leads to a dynamic where both you and your opponent are trying to determine\nthe location of the other without giving away their own location - once one\nperson knows withc ertainty they can simply move to attack and will have a strong\nadvantage.This dynamic is framed by the asymmetric nature of all game modes,\nwhich have attacking and defending sides.\nAttackers must move to engage the defenders, meaning that they start out\ndisadvantaged (they are moving and making noise while defenders are not).\nTo counter this, attackers all have remote control drones that make noise when\nthey move around.\nThese are easily destroyed, but can be used to determine the locations of\ndefenders, giving attackers advantage.\n\n### Tips\n\n#### Angles to Hold\n\n - Long angles, longer the better\n - Angles with wierd elevation\n\n#### Angles NOT to Hold\n\n - Short angles\n - Instead, play next to the angle and peek when you hear movement on the\n other side.\n Works best with a shotgun.\n\n## Apex Legends\n\nA fast-paced first person shooter video game.\nHas extremely good art direction, smooth gameplay, and balanced mechanics.\nIs also very hard.\n\nFeelings: \n\n - Constructive regret\n\n## [Overwatch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overwatch_(video_game%29))\n\n### Strategy\n\n#### \"Bowl\" Concept\n\nMany Overwatch maps have bowl shaped sections where there is an objective\nsurrounded by high ground or buildings.\nFighting in the center of the bowl is often very dangerous because you can be\nattacked from multiple directions at once.\nBecause of this, it might be a good rule of thumb to fight on the edges of the\nbowl either against others on the edge or, ideally, against enemies in the\ncenter of the bowl.\nLikewise, it might be good to be aware of when you are in the bowl and make sure\nyou can easily get out!\n\n#### Scorpion Formation\n\nThe tank is the head, the DPS are the two pincers, and the supports are the body and tail.\n\n - One DPS is always on the left of the tank, one is always on the right\n - This should help put maximum pressure on the enemy formation; it's harder\n to defend against two directions of attack than one!\n - One support focuses primarily on healing the tank at all times, the other flexes\n\n#### Communication\n\nLed by a support, since they have the best view of the battle.\nThe communication leader should call when the team is changing \"states\":\n\n - **Regroup**: Don't fight the enemy, fall back (into spawn if necessary) and\n wait for teammates to respawn.\n - This should happen when the team has a numbers disadvantage.\n - **Poke**: Tentatively push up and try to get into power positions or the right formation.\n - When this state is called, the leader should also say where the tank will go (\"left\",\n \"right\", \"center\"). Most maps have 2-4 choices for how to move out from spawn; use\n more precise descriptions if necessary. The team should then flow around the tank\n based on whatever formation is being used. \n - **Go HAM / Fire at Will**: Just attack whoever is easiest to hit or you have\n the best advantage against.\n - This should happen when the team has a numbers advantage.\n\nIdeally the team will respect the state that it is in and behave accordingly to avoid trickling.\n\n## CoD: MW2\n\nThis game was pretty mindless but at least it let me [make a YouTube video with\n160k\nviews](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx1vtMZCFvI&ab_channel=s1lentProtector)." :name "other-competitive-fps.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Competitive Fps"} :dir? false :links [] :size 4082 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757136307 1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Competitive Turn Based"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/competitive-turn-based/chess.md" :backlinks nil :title "Chess" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Competitive\" \"Games\" \"Turn Based\" \"Gaming\" \"Competitive Turn Based\"}\n---\n# Chess\n\nI play my chess on [lichess.org](https://www.lichess.org), which has a great UI and cool analysis features.\n\nI've learned a lot from watching GothamChess on YouTube, especially his opening videos.\n\nI want to try out [chessable](https://www.chessable.com/?page=landingpage) at some point.\n\nhttps://www.alexcrompton.com/blog/time-thoughts-chess has good guidance for dealing with timed games.\n\nhttps://www.openingtree.com/ is a good analysis tool to identify weaknesses across all your games." :name "chess.md" :private false :categories #{"Competitive" "Games" "Turn Based" "Gaming" "Competitive Turn Based"} :dir? false :links [] :size 611 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Competitive Turn Based"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/competitive-turn-based/dune-imperium.md" :backlinks nil :title "Dune Imperium" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Competitive Turn Based\"}\n---\n# Dune: Imperium\n\nAgricola squashed into Dominion.\n\nVery fun and great theme.\nDefinitely can be swingy / random given drawing a random hand and very good\nintrigue cards." :name "dune-imperium.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Competitive Turn Based"} :dir? false :links [] :size 254 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Competitive Turn Based"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/competitive-turn-based/magic-the-gathering.md" :backlinks nil :title "Magic The Gathering" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Competitive Turn Based\"}\n---\n# Magic: The Gathering\n\nMy first experience was 'that complex card game that older kids played' when I\nwas very young.\nFaintly remember that I specifically thought the lands were really cool, have\nspecific memory of the plains.\nStarted playing first from a friend's cube (a collection of cards you can draft\ndecks from and then play each other in a tournament style).\nWas pretty intense/overwhelming at first, but in a good way.\nSince have played a bunch on MTG: Arena, a very polished computer interface to\nthe game.\n\n## Drafting\n\nBy far my favorite way to play.\n\nFor MTG: Arena, I highly recommend using draftsim.com's \"ultimate draft guides\"\nto learn about new formats, and https://www.17lands.com/ to keep track of\nprogress.\n\nTry to keep your expectations low to avoid disappointment!\n\n### Draft Moments\n\n#### 10 wins Blue / White Edge of Eternities Quick Draft\n\nQuantum Riddler with some 2 spell synergy.\nThought the deck was not great, but it worked really well.\nOne mana removal in cryoshatter and focus fire is extremely good." :name "magic-the-gathering.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Competitive Turn Based"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1120 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757008867 1755995343 1755974875]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Competitive Turn Based"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/competitive-turn-based/terra-mystica.md" :backlinks nil :title "Terra Mystica" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Competitive Turn Based\"}\n---\n# Terra Mystica\n\n## General Strategy Tips\n\n - When placing your first two settlements, have a solid plan for how they will\n be indirectly connected.\n It's better to place them too close and have to expand outward than it is to\n place them too far and not be able to connect them.\n - Early temple for earth 1 is strong\n\n## Factions\n\n### Shapeshifters\n\nVery freeing to play, as you can always shapeshift to avoid getting blocked." :name "terra-mystica.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Competitive Turn Based"} :dir? false :links [] :size 518 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Cooperative Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/cooperative-rpg/arkham-horror.md" :backlinks nil :title "Arkham Horror" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Cooperative Rpg\"}\n---\n# Arkham Horror\n\n## Decks I've Tried\n\n### Jacqueline Fine\n\nhttps://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/4671970\n\nFelt like I could do almost everything well, and manipulating tokens in the bag was really fun. \n\n### William Yorick\n\nhttps://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/5222475\n\nAwesome to play 5 asserts on turn 1 with gear up!\n\n### Silas Marsh\n\nhttps://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/5242276u\n\nHeavy on skills.\nNot quite as fun as the other decks; some cards (assets) felt kinda\nuseless/awkward, and there were some turns I couldn't do much." :name "arkham-horror.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Cooperative Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 591 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755660745]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Cooperative Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/cooperative-rpg/dead-of-winter.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/gaming/gamedev/mechanic-ideas/limiting-collaboration.md"} :title "Dead Of Winter" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/gaming/gamedev/mechanic-ideas/limiting-collaboration.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Cooperative Rpg\"}\n---\n# Dead of Winter\n\nA cooperative strategy board game that doesn't require too much inter-player\nplanning (see [Limiting Collaboration]({{< relref\n\"/docs/gaming/gamedev/mechanic-ideas/limiting-collaboration.md\" >}}) for why\nthis can be a problem).\nHas a couple cool mechanics that I really enjoyed playing with:\n\n1. Before every players turn another player pulls an \"event\" card that will\n only lead to something if the player whose turn it is does something\n specific. This leads to a fun dynamic of one player knowing what might\n happen (good or bad) if the current player takes a specific action.\n1. Secret victory conditions. This is a common feature in many games, but in a\n cooperative game that may have \"betrayers\" it leads to a fun dynamic where\n you have to be a bit cagey about how much you say about your specific\n condition, lest others suspect you are up to no good.\n\nPlayed first in June 2022.\n\nFeelings:\n\n - Watching with Extra Information" :name "dead-of-winter.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Cooperative Rpg"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/gaming/gamedev/mechanic-ideas/limiting-collaboration.md"] :size 1117 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757136307 1755995343 1755449988 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Puzzle"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/puzzle/other-puzzle.md" :backlinks nil :title "Other Puzzle" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Puzzle\"}\n---\n# Puzzle Games\n\nGames where the defining characteristic is pondering a solvable game state for a\nwhile.\nEach state should be strongly scoped and not evolve over a long time (like a\nstrategy game).\n\n## Bananagrams\n\nOne fun variant is to open a book in text format with some program that can\nsearch text and make it so that you can only use words that exist in that book.\n\nCheck out https://old.azlen.me/projects/bananagram_variations/ for other cool\nvariations!\n\nFor a game with more players, this variation might be interesting to try:\nhttp://nongraphical.com/2013/09/a-more-awesome-way-to-play-bananagrams/.\n\nTo make hard varients easier, you can play with a \"wildcard rule\".\nWith this rule, you are allowed to flip over one of your tiles and treat it as a\nwildcard letter.\nYou can choose to switch out which tile is flipped at any time.\n\n\n## Demon Bluff\n\nGreat presentation. Kinda hard.\n\n## [The Witness](https://store.steampowered.com/app/210970/The_Witness/)\n\n3-D puzzle game in a beautiful world.\nWhen Claire and I played it we missed all the environmental puzzles!\n\n## [Opus Magnum](https://store.steampowered.com/app/558990/Opus_Magnum/)\n\nGame about programming machines to build molecules.\n\n## [Puzzgrid](https://puzzgrid.com/best.php)\n\nA game about matching ambiguous word meanings.\n\n## [Wordle](https://www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/index.html)\n\nA fun word game. ADIEU.\n\n## [Quordle](https://www.quordle.com/#/)\n\nA more complex form of wordle, with a higher frequency of [BS words](https://www.reddit.com/r/Quordle/comments/t27irp/unfair_word_today/).\n\nFeelings: \n\n - Scanning through possibilities\n\n## [DAT Creativity](https://www.datcreativity.com/)\n\nA test about trying to come up with the most different words possible.\n\nFeelings: \n\n - Scanning through possibilities\n\n## [Semantle](https://semantle.novalis.org/)\n\nSimilar to DAT Creativity, but a daily game like Wordle." :name "other-puzzle.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Puzzle"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1956 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757136307 1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Roguelike"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/roguelike/Islanders.md" :backlinks nil :title "Islanders" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Games\" \"Puzzle\" \"Solitary\" \"Turn Based\" \"Gaming\" \"Roguelike\"}\n---\n# [Islanders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islanders_(video_game%29)\n\nCool turn based city builder made with a beautiful art style.\n\nFeelings: \n\n - Scanning through possibilities" :name "Islanders.md" :private false :categories #{"Games" "Puzzle" "Solitary" "Turn Based" "Gaming" "Roguelike"} :dir? false :links [] :size 286 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757136307 1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Roguelike"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/roguelike/ftl.md" :backlinks nil :title "Ftl" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Roguelike\"}\n---\n# FTL: Faster Than Light\n\nThe multiverse mod is incredible." :name "ftl.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Roguelike"} :dir? false :links [] :size 131 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Roguelike"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/roguelike/other-roguelike.md" :backlinks nil :title "Other Roguelike" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Roguelike\"}\n---\n# Roguelike\n\nHere I'm defining roguelike as any highly replayable singleplayer or co-op game\nwhere winning or loosing happens within an hour or so, and there is no saving.\n\n## [Bad North](https://www.badnorth.com/)" :name "other-roguelike.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Roguelike"} :dir? false :links [] :size 286 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Roguelike"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/roguelike/the-bazaar.md" :backlinks nil :title "The Bazaar" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Roguelike\"}\n---\n# The Bazaar\n\n - Patch Notes: https://playthebazaar-cdn.azureedge.net/thebazaar/PatchNotes.html\n - https://bazaardb.gg/search?c=all&by=BaseTier\n - Mak Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UqHwFWqz36OpHzGsJwV0rd5qnktSITkaewlAO_k0ge8/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.fp9dqu8veyen" :name "the-bazaar.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Roguelike"} :dir? false :links [] :size 345 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755450418]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Social"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/social/other-social.md" :backlinks nil :title "Other Social" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Social\"}\n---\n# Social Games\n\nAbout guessing other's intent.\n\n# Wavelength or [Longwave](https://longwave.web.app/)\n\nAn icebreaker-type game that revolves around guessing people's opinions.\n\n## [Codenames](https://codenames.game/)\n\nOne variant worth trying is trying to play with pictures instead of words on the\nmain board.\nA stand-alone game (Codenames Pictures) exists for this, but it's also fun to\ntry using custom pictures.\nFor instance, the dream cards from Mysterium led to a pretty fun game.\nNote that [this site](https://codenames-pictures.dport.me/) looks like it allows\nyou to do this in a virtual setting." :name "other-social.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Social"} :dir? false :links [] :size 673 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Strategy"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/strategy/Offworld-Trading-Company.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/gaming/gamedev/real-time-strategy.md"} :title "Offworld Trading Company" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/gaming/gamedev/real-time-strategy.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Strategy\" \"Solitary\"}\n---\n# [Offworld Trading Company](https://www.offworldgame.com/)\n\nFeelings:" :name "Offworld-Trading-Company.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Strategy" "Solitary"} :dir? false :links [] :size 206 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Strategy"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/strategy/other-strategy.md" :backlinks nil :title "Other Strategy" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Strategy\"}\n---\n# Strategy\n\nGames that last a while and involve many small decisions adding up to a\nparticular outcome.\n\n## [Age of Darkness: Final Stand](https://www.ageofdarkness.com/)\n\nA real-time-with-pause strategy game with excellent art. \n\nFeelings: \n\n - Fitting puzzle pieces together\n\n## [Slipways](https://slipways.net/)\n\nA game about colonizing planets and connecting them with trade routes.\nVery puzzly vibes." :name "other-strategy.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Strategy"} :dir? false :links [] :size 478 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757136307 1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Strategy"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/strategy/oxygen-not-included.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/gaming/gamedev/real-time-strategy.md"} :title "Oxygen Not Included" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/gaming/gamedev/real-time-strategy.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Strategy\"}\n---\n# Oxygen Not Included\n\nA cool base building game with a focus on designing complex interacting\nsystems.\n\n## Build Ideas\n\nArbor tree -> ethanol setup: \n - https://forums.kleientertainment.com/forums/topic/110495-trees-petroleum-generator/\n - https://forums.kleientertainment.com/forums/topic/111356-arbor-tree-farming/?tab=comments\n\nDreko farm for plastic: https://forums.kleientertainment.com/forums/topic/95124-an-easy-to-build-compact-and-efficient-glossy-drecko-farm/" :name "oxygen-not-included.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Strategy"} :dir? false :links [] :size 595 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Strategy"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/strategy/ozymandias.md" :backlinks nil :title "Ozymandias" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Games\" \"Puzzle\" \"Solitary\" \"Turn Based\" \"Gaming\" \"Strategy\"}\n---\n# [Ozymandius](https://goblinzstudio.com/game/ozymandias/)\n\n{{< game-img \"ozymandias\" \"400px\" >}}\n\nCool puzzle civ-like game that doesn't drag on forever." :name "ozymandias.md" :private false :categories #{"Games" "Puzzle" "Solitary" "Turn Based" "Gaming" "Strategy"} :dir? false :links [] :size 258 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Survival"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/survival/abiotic-factor.md" :backlinks nil :title "Abiotic Factor" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Survival\"}\n---\n# Abiotic Factor\n\nIdk this game just feels kinda clunky.\nThe style / writing doesn't resonate with me enough yet to look past it." :name "abiotic-factor.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Survival"} :dir? false :links [] :size 200 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Survival"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/survival/subnautica.md" :backlinks nil :title "Subnautica" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Exploration\" \"Games\" \"Solitary\" \"Gaming\" \"Survival\"}\n---\n# [Subnautica](https://unknownworlds.com/subnautica/)\n\nAmazing game about exploring an unknown world." :name "subnautica.md" :private false :categories #{"Exploration" "Games" "Solitary" "Gaming" "Survival"} :dir? false :links [] :size 197 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/XCOM-2-+-War-of-the-Chosen.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/gaming/gamedev/common-patterns.md"} :title "Xcom 2 + War Of The Chosen" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/gaming/gamedev/common-patterns.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Games\" \"Solitary\" \"Turn Based\" \"⭐top10\" \"Gaming\" \"Tactics Rpg\"}\n---\n# [XCOM 2 + War of the Chosen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XCOM_2)\n\nVery similar appeal to Fire Emblem. Less story focused and more focused on character customization.\n\nFeelings:" :name "XCOM-2-+-War-of-the-Chosen.md" :private false :categories #{"Games" "Solitary" "Turn Based" "⭐top10" "Gaming" "Tactics Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 340 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/darkest-dungeon.md" :backlinks nil :title "Darkest Dungeon" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Games\" \"Solitary\" \"Turn Based\" \"⭐top10\" \"Gaming\" \"Tactics Rpg\"}\n---\n# [Darkest Dungeon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkest_Dungeon)\n\n{{< game-img \"darkest-dungeon\" \"400px\" >}}\n\nAmazing atmosphere and fun character building.\n\nFeelings:" :name "darkest-dungeon.md" :private false :categories #{"Games" "Solitary" "Turn Based" "⭐top10" "Gaming" "Tactics Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 278 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/druidstone.md" :backlinks nil :title "Druidstone" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Tactics Rpg\"}\n---\n# [Druidstone](https://druidstone-game.com/)\n\n{{< game-img \"druidstone\" \"400px\" >}}" :name "druidstone.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 157 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/fell-seal-arbiters-mark.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/gaming/gamedev/common-patterns.md"} :title "Fell Seal Arbiters Mark" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/gaming/gamedev/common-patterns.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Games\" \"Solitary\" \"Turn Based\" \"⭐top10\" \"Gaming\" \"Tactics Rpg\"}\n---\n# [Fell Seal - Arbiter's Mark](https://www.fellseal.com/)\n\n{{< game-img \"fell-seal-arbiters-mark\" \"400px\" >}}\n\nReally well designed game with a good story, deep character customization, and\ndifficult encounters.\nThis game does a great job of letting you customize your character abilities\nwith a lot of depth, but still with enough constraints to not make every\ncharacter feel the same.\nThen, it makes the encounters in the main story difficult, but allows you to\nlevel up your characters in 'patrol' side-encounters in case the way you built\nyour characters was not optimal for the main story.\nThis is an awesome way to reward players who do a good job with their builds\n(they have to grind less) without forcing players into said optimal builds.\n\nFeelings:" :name "fell-seal-arbiters-mark.md" :private false :categories #{"Games" "Solitary" "Turn Based" "⭐top10" "Gaming" "Tactics Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 918 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/fire-emblem-the-sacred-stones.md" :backlinks nil :title "Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Games\" \"Solitary\" \"Story\" \"Turn Based\" \"⭐top10\" \"Gaming\" \"Tactics Rpg\"}\n---\n# [Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Emblem_(video_game%29)\n\n{{< game-img \"fire-emblem-the-sacred-stones\" \"400px\" >}}\n\n(And Fire Emblem 7, the Blazing Blade.)\n\nI first played FE7 game on the Game Boy Advance when I was in middle school.\nFor some reason the art style and especially animation really spoke to me, and I\nfound the gameplay loop very compelling.\nFair warning though that this game may be on this list mostly because of\nnostalgia.\nOne aspect of this game that I really enjoy is the process of building your\nparty over time and making sure you train the right characters.\nIt's very satisfying to help a weaker character finish enemies to get experience\nwith the goal of making them a core part of your team composition later on.\nThis is often fairly difficult - since the characters are weaker after all -\nwhich only adds to the satisfaction when you pull it off.\nAnother cool mechanic in FE is building supports between characters.\nWhen two characters fight side by side they will over time build a relationship,\nwhich leads to little dialogue bites.\nIt's satisfying to discover these as you play through the game.Both training\nweaker units and building supports are examples of 'meta-challenges' in FE; they\naren't required to finish the games, but give you self-directed and sometimes\ndifficult optional objectives during the battles.Because these challenges are\nself directed they make me feel like I am expressing myself more as a player,\nwhich makes the game feel more interesting than if I was just solving the same\nbattle puzzles as everyone else.\n\nFeelings:" :name "fire-emblem-the-sacred-stones.md" :private false :categories #{"Games" "Solitary" "Story" "Turn Based" "⭐top10" "Gaming" "Tactics Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1726 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/fire-emblem-vision-quest.md" :backlinks nil :title "Fire Emblem Vision Quest" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Tactics Rpg\"}\n---\n# Fire Emblem: Vision Quest\n\nIs good.\n\nhttps://feuniverse.us/t/fe8-complete-fire-emblem-vision-quest-v3-by-pushwall-1-oct-22/3815/61?page=4" :name "fire-emblem-vision-quest.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 140 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1783625101]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/iron-danger.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/gaming/gamedev/managing-player-failure.md"} :title "Iron Danger" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/gaming/gamedev/managing-player-failure.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Games\" \"Solitary\" \"Story\" \"Gaming\" \"Tactics Rpg\"}\n---\n# [Iron Danger](https://store.steampowered.com/app/899310/Iron_Danger/)\n\n{{< game-img \"iron-danger\" \"400px\" >}}\n\nReally cool strategy game with a cool story. Would love it if they made a sequel and/or expanded it into a bigger RPG with more customization.\n\nFeelings:" :name "iron-danger.md" :private false :categories #{"Games" "Solitary" "Story" "Gaming" "Tactics Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 418 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/other-tactics-rpg.md" :backlinks nil :title "Other Tactics Rpg" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Tactics Rpg\"}\n---\n# Tactics RPG\n\nGames where you grow characters over time, with the gameplay consisting mostly\nof difficult tactical battles.\n\n## Iratus: Lord of the Dead\n\nI get the feeling that this game is trying too hard.\nIt (IMO) has too many mechanics and stats that don't seem to be that\nconsequential.\nThere's also a lot to manage; a lot of small decisions need to be made that\ndon't seem to really individually matter that much.\nIt's as if the developers were constantly focused on adding more content to the\ngame and not on the impact/consequence of that content to the strategy the\nplayer develops as they play.\n\nThere's also issues where some mechanics are poorly explained.\nFor example, in combat when you want to stress out the enemies to defeat them\nit's unclear what the chances that an enemy will die once they're at zero stress\nare.\nThis makes it impossible to make an informed, tactical decision.\n\nOverall my experience made me wonder if this game is focusing on the tactical\ncombat or if it's just throwing a bunch of things in and relying on the\nspectacle and all the little micro decisions to keep players engaged." :name "other-tactics-rpg.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1192 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/stoneshard.md" :backlinks nil :title "Stoneshard" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Tactics Rpg\"}\n---\n# Stoneshard\n\n## Optimizing Mahir\n\nSee https://www.reddit.com/r/stoneshard/comments/1p4qdzf/mahir_dual_wield_swords_arcanist_build_idea/ for latest idea.\n\nMahir's passive ability encourages getting 6 points in a skill tree ASAP, then\nmoving on to another tree.\nTherefore, to get the most out of his passive, making a build becomes a game with these \"rules\":\n\n1. Find good 6-ability sets in trees that make sense together.\n2. Figure out what order you can take the sets in (assuming you unlock abilities\n via skill point progress and not getting treatises).\n3. Make sure that order makes the game fun to play and not too hard.\n Mix trees accordingly.\n\nI've noticed that axe, dagger, and dual wield skill trees provide 6 useful\nabilities that are possible to get early.\nThese trees also have a variety of skippable abilities, making them a good\nstarting point for this build.\n\nFrom there, I came up with a ranged / dual wield hybrid build idea where I would\ndo ranged damage mostly, but instead of kiting forever (which I find boring), I\nwould finish enemies with a axe / dagger dual wield abilties.\n\nIdeally, this build never does basic attacks, as it has plenty of abilities to use.\n\nThis build puts all skill points into perception, then maybe willpower later.\n\"The best defense is a good offense!\"\n\nMy 6-ability sets with pick order are as follows:\n\n### Atheletics\n\n - \"Leg sweep\" (1st pick).\n *Just makes the early game much more tolerable, and is always useful to reset\n bad situations.*\n - \"Inner Reserves\" (26th).\n - \"Not this time\" (27th).\n - \"Sudden Lunge\" (28th).\n - \"No Time to Linger\" (29th).\n - \"Elusiveness\" (30th).\n\n### Ranged Weapons\n\nWe take two abilties early make the weapons usable, then get the rest later.\n\n - \"Take Aim\" (2nd pick).\n - \"Dexterity\" (3rd pick).\n - \"Constant Practice\" (22nd).\n - \"Startling Volley\" (23rd).\n - \"Spot Weakness\" (24th).\n - \"Longshot\" (25th).\n\n### Daggers\n\nThis is the first tree we will get the set of 6 in, as it's at this point we can\ntier 2 abilities via our perception.\n\n - \"Double Lunge\" (4th).\n - \"Gaping Wound\" (5th).\n - \"From the Shadows\" (6th).\n - \"Painful Stabs\" (7th).\n - \"Quick Hands\" (8th).\n - \"Weakening Jabs\" (9th).\n - \"Coup de Grace\" (31st).\n\n### Dual Wielding\n\nOur second set of 6.\n\n - \"Dual Wielding Training\" (10th).\n - \"Flurry of Strikes\" (11th).\n - \"Concentration\" (12th).\n - \"Dying Fervor\" (13th).\n - \"Deflect\" (14th).\n - \"Berserk Tradition\" (15th).\n\n### Axes\n\nOur third set of 6. The charge skill now means we can kill the troll easily!\n\n - \"Mutilating Lunge\" (16th).\n - \"Cut Through\" (17th).\n - \"Ferocity\" (18th).\n - \"No Mercy\" (19th).\n - \"Reprisal\" (20th).\n - \"Execution\" (21st).\n\nWe can fill out the trees or do whatever now with our extra ability points!" :name "stoneshard.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2740 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1763968518 1763845979]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/symphony-of-war.md" :backlinks nil :title "Symphony Of War" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Tactics Rpg\" \"Turn Based\"}\n---\n# Symphony of War\n\n{{< game-img \"symphony-of-war\" \"400px\" >}}\n\nUseful references:\n\n1. [Unit Affinities and Upgrade Tree](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2852514526)\n\nDiscussions:\n\n1. [Information Given to Player](https://steamcommunity.com/app/1488200/discussions/0/5595187488984677120/)" :name "symphony-of-war.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg" "Turn Based"} :dir? false :links [] :size 397 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/the-last-spell.md" :backlinks nil :title "The Last Spell" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Tactics Rpg\"}\n---\n# The Last Spell\n\n{{< game-img \"the-last-spell\" \"400px\" >}}\n\nSee a list of builds I've been trying\n[here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13US-cBIVxUAL-1zVdOoe4KIK1wlPFvaP9MbOxc6o0XQ/edit?usp=sharing).\n\nFeelings:" :name "the-last-spell.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 293 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/those-who-rule.md" :backlinks nil :title "Those Who Rule" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Tactics Rpg\"}\n---\n# Those Who Rule\n\nhttps://discord.gg/MZjgqfn5\n\nReally an incredible experience. Can't wait to replay on brutal mode!" :name "those-who-rule.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 191 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg" "Battle Brothers"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/battle-brothers/battle-brothers.md" :backlinks nil :title "Battle Brothers" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Games\" \"Solitary\" \"Turn Based\" \"Gaming\" \"Tactics Rpg\" \"Battle Brothers\"}\n---\n# [Battle Brothers](http://battlebrothersgame.com/)\n\n{{< game-img \"battle-brothers\" \"400px\" >}}\n\nGood tactical RPG set in a low fantasy world.\nLots of character customization via different weapon types, and stat/perk\nassignment on level up.\nNot to mention the starting stats given to each character.\n\n## Build Ideas\n\nBuilds that I used for some of my vanilla playthroughs: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1roXzfQcoudn073bf7BsIQQbeax3z3JoyxRfDRcV9Tf0/edit?gid=0#gid=0\n\n### Headhunter flail -> axe\n\nNeed a high FAT, high mATK bro.\nThe idea is you lash to hit the head with a flail, then quick hands into a 1h\naxe and do very high headshot damage.\n\n### Double Grip Mace / Qatal\n\nNeed quick hands and good mATK/mDEF. Daze with mace, then Qatal. \n\n### Kingfisher Qatal\n\nNeed kingfisher and offhand mastery for trip artist.\n\n## Roles / \"Classes\"\n\nThe more I get into the endgame the more I realize how much survivability is\nimportant on bros.\n\nMy next run I want to have a really solid frontline full of high defense shield\nbros using phalanx, then swap out the damaging backline based on the opponent.\n\n## RNG\n\nUnfortunately, the randomness in this game will lead to characters dying, so if\nyou want to preserve specific characters get ready to save and load a lot :).\nThis game is pretty hard and doesn't necessarily give you direct feedback as to\nwhy you are failing.\nThe combat uses randomness pretty heavily to determine hit/miss/crit (head hit)\nchance, which means that the consequences of your actions are 'fuzzed' - good\ndecisions will sometimes be punished, and bad ones you will sometimes get away\nwith.\nThis means that it's tricky to personally track if your strategy is working\nwithout a decent time investment for each strategy you are trying.\n\nMods I've worked on to potentially deal with this:\n\n - https://github.com/kovasap/mod_rng_free\n - https://github.com/kovasap/mod_deterministic_loot\n\n## Mods\n\nMods to use:\n\n - Vanilla: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CrddrXzBXsv7H2pEp0V8RgIzMtQ3Z3sI\n - Reforged: https://github.com/Battle-Modders/mod-reforged/wiki/Mod-Compatibility-and-Recommendations\n - Install guide: https://github.com/Battle-Modders/mod-reforged/wiki/Installation-Guide\n \nMods I have yet to try:\n\n - https://github.com/Suor/battle-brothers-xbe with https://github.com/Sile735/mod_backgrounds_reforged_compatibility\n\nI wish there were mods for this game that let you rebind the WASD camera\ncontrols.\nAFAICT there are not.\nI tried using https://github.com/autokey/autokey/wiki/Scripting, but it didn't\nseem to work on linux.\nSomeone online said you can use AutoHotKey via wine but I haven't tried that\nyet.\n\n## Resources\n\n - [New player FAQ](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2549815780)\n - [Perk Guide](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2001196860)\n - [Backgrounds Reference](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14WmAFNdYft-YVDjEW_BHQHFPfnuBhmMs-SKR6tIQ2Ws/edit)\n\n## Tips\n\n - The game is more fun when not stressing too much about the starting stats of\n your bros.\n I learned this from\n https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msPS0Gu91Xg&list=WL&index=2 after spending\n too much time on reddit and building my builds spreadsheet linked above.\n Reforged helps with this as the dynamic perks give you something to be\n excited about beyond raw stats in a new recruit.\n\n## Moments and Stories\n\n### Day 3 Famed Item\n\n![](/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/day-3-famed.png)\n\n### Tank Lesson\n\nThis fight was particularly hard, and taught me that it's important to have a few forward tanks stall time while everyone else cleans up the necrosavants.\n\n![](/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/bbros-undead-map.jpg)\n![](/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/bbros-undead-fight.jpg)\n\nFeelings: \n\n - Reactive Randomness Stress" :name "battle-brothers.md" :private false :categories #{"Games" "Solitary" "Turn Based" "Gaming" "Tactics Rpg" "Battle Brothers"} :dir? false :links [] :size 3890 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1782768180]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg" "Battle Brothers"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/battle-brothers/reforged-hardened-build-archetypes.md" :backlinks nil :title "Reforged Hardened Build Archetypes" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Tactics Rpg\" \"Battle Brothers\"}\n---\n# Battle Brothers Reforged, Hardened Build Archetypes\n\n## Template\n\nOverview.\n\n### Stats\n\nStats required for the build. Legend:\n\n - ++: As high as possible, critical for the build\n - +: Nice to prioritize, but don't need crazy high values\n - -: Not really necessary for the build to work\n - --: We actively want this to be low, or really don't care about it\n\nIf stats are not listed, they can be ignored.\n\n---\n\n## Ghostlike Executioner\n\nBasically, run up to an enemy and kill them. Then back off and recover.\nThis brother should really not be sitting in melee for an extended time.\nIn some fights, they might do well with a 2h reach weapon.\n\nCan build as a flaker with vigorous assault and dodge.\nBut this is riskier than using rotation and putting them in the backline.\n\n### Stats\n\nReally forgiving build stat wise.\n\n - mAtk+\n - mDef-\n - Fat-\n - Res-\n - Ini+\n\n### Perks\n\n - Groups:\n - Scoundrel\n - Powerful Strikes\n - Core:\n - Ghostlike\n - Fresh and Furious\n - Formidable Approach\n - Vigorous Assault\n - Rotation\n - Nice to have:\n - Double Strike\n - Flexible\n - Axe Perks\n\n---\n\n## Headhunter\n\nFrontline build, but could also be used as a more fragile double grip damage\ndealer.\n\nUse a 1h flail to get a headshot, then switch to a 1h axe to finish them off.\n\nImportant to have a way to manage fatigue costs.\n\n### Stats\n\n - mAtk+\n - mDef+\n - Fat+\n - Res+\n\n### Perks\n\n - Groups:\n - Flail\n - Axe\n - Trained\n - Agile\n - (nice to have) Swift Strikes\n - Core:\n - Flail Perks\n - Axe Perks\n - Weapon Master\n - Quick Hands\n - Headhunter\n - Battle Flow\n - Double Strike\n - Nice to have:\n - Duelist\n - Finesse\n\n---\n\n## Lone Wolf Flanker\n\nSeparate from the rest of the squad to hunt down backline units like\nnecromancers, priests, witches, bosses, etc.\n\nCan also kite away some enemies to get them out of the fight.\n\nDon't draw too many enemies!\n\n### Stats\n\n - rAtk++\n - mAtk+\n - Fat+\n - Ini+\n\n### Perks\n\n - Core:\n - Lone Wolf\n - Pathfinder\n - Dodge (especially useful for the rDef)\n - Flexible / Nimble\n - Hybridization\n - Bow Perks\n - Nice to have:\n - Weapon Master\n - AoE 2h weapon perks." :name "reforged-hardened-build-archetypes.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg" "Battle Brothers"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2146 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1784607365 1782837942 1782768180]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg" "Battle Brothers"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/tactics-rpg/battle-brothers/reforged-hardened-perk-review.md" :backlinks nil :title "Reforged Hardened Perk Review" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Tactics Rpg\" \"Battle Brothers\"}\n---\n# Battle Brothers Reforged, Hardened Perk Review\n\n## General\n\n### Bags and Belts\n\n**Power Level**: D\n\nI almost never take this perk.\nBut I could see it being useful if you want to have a bro with many high-weight\nweapons (perhaps a weapon master?).\nEven then, there are probably better fatigue-saving perks.\n\n**Use Cases:**\n\n - Build 1: \n\n**Synergies:**\n\n - Perk 1: \n\n---\n\n## Axe\n\n**Power Level**: A\n\nAxes seem really good in hardened.\nThey are really versatile and seem to work well against all enemy types.\n\n### Dismemberment\n\n**Power Level**: B\n\nI think injuries can be really powerful.\nOften at the highest tier if you injure an enemy you can basically treat them as\ndead and ignore them for the rest of the fight.\nThis perk makes that happen more often.\n\nOf course there is rng associated with what injury you get.\n\n**Use Cases:**\n\n - Build 1: \n\n**Synergies:**\n\n - Crippling Strikes\n\n### Axe Mastery\n\n**Power Level**: A\n\nFatigue reduction is really important.\n\nDisarm is also really good.\n\nFor low matk bros, getting guaranteed dazes on shield strikes is really useful\nas well. This can unlock a qatal duelist or just help tanks tank longer.\n\n### Dismantle\n\n**Power Level**: B\n\nLots of late game enemies have a lot of armor.\n\nShield damage is less useful.\n\n---\n\n## Cleaver\n\n**Power Level**: A\n\n### Tier 3 perk\n\n**Power Level**: A\n\nThis perk frequently leads to extra attacks, which are super strong.\nIt is pretty easy to get light injuries via ranged attacks to unlock this.\n\n**Use Cases:**\n\n - Build 1: \n\n**Synergies:**\n\n - Executioner\n\n### Cleaver Mastery\n\n**Power Level**: A\n\nFatigue reduction is really important.\n\n### Sanguinary\n\n**Power Level**: D\n\nBleeding as an effect is kinda meh.\nIt would be different if the bleeding happened at the start of a turn instead of\nat the end, or if it did more damage per stack.\n\n---\n\n## Flail\n\n**Power Level**: A\n\n### Whirling Death\n\n**Power Level**: A\n\nGood for tanks to spend AP.\nUseful in general, pretty easy to start spinning right before making contact\nwith enemies.\nBetter on less mobile bros to make sure you have AP to use this instead of\nwalking.\n\n### Flail Mastery\n\n**Power Level**: A\n\nFatigue reduction is really important.\n\n### Flail Spinner\n\n**Power Level**: A\n\nMore damage!\nEspecially good at proccing additional effects.\nPerhaps particularly good with poisons?\n\n**Use Cases:**\n\n - Build 1: \n\n**Synergies:**\n\n - Underdog\n - Wear them down\n - Fearsome\n - Overwhelm (if fast enough)\n\n---\n\n## Knave\n\n### Cheap Trick\n\n**Power Level**: D\n\nI have never taken this perk.\nIt's probably good with whips to guarantee a disarm.\nBut I think in general there are much more efficient ways to get better hit\nchance via reach, better bros, etc.\n\nI could see this being useful on a low mATK bro with a lot of fatigue cost\nreduction perks, plus double grip. But I haven't tried this.\n\n**Use Cases:**\n\n - Build 1: \n\n**Synergies:**\n\n - Perk 1: \n\n### Tricksters Purses\n\n**Power Level**: A\n\nReally good perk to give defensive brothers something to do with their AP.\nUseful to save bros as well, since sand eliminates ZoC.\n\n**Use Cases:**\n\n - Build 1: \n\n**Synergies:**\n\n - Perk 1: \n\n### Ghostlike\n\n**Power Level**: A?\n\nSituational for sure, I haven't really thoroughly tested how well it works in practice.\n\n**Use Cases:**\n\n - Ghostlike Executioner\n\n**Synergies:**\n\n - Rotation, Trickster's Purses allows for a way to escape ZoC and re-trigger." :name "reforged-hardened-perk-review.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Tactics Rpg" "Battle Brothers"} :dir? false :links [] :size 3504 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1782837942 1782768180]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Traditional Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/traditional-rpg/baldurs-gate-3.md" :backlinks nil :title "Baldurs Gate 3" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Traditional Rpg\"}\n---" :name "baldurs-gate-3.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Traditional Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 77 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Traditional Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/traditional-rpg/pathfinder-kingmaker.md" :backlinks nil :title "Pathfinder Kingmaker" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Traditional Rpg\"}\n---\n# Pathfinder Kingmaker\n\n{{< game-img \"pathfinder-kingmaker\" \"400px\" >}}\n\n## Gripes\n\n### Information Obfuscation\n\nThe mental load of trying to make decisions in this game, like which enemy to\ntarget with which skill, is really high. I think this is because:\n\n - Chance to hit is not calculated for you\n - ...\n\nThis makes me think that the game is not actually meant to be played as a\ntactical strategy game, but rather as a level-gated exploration game (where you\njust run from too-high-level fights instead of trying to puzzle them out)." :name "pathfinder-kingmaker.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Traditional Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 616 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Traditional Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/traditional-rpg/pillars-of-eternity-2.md" :backlinks nil :title "Pillars Of Eternity 2" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Traditional Rpg\"}\n---\n# Pillars of Eternity 2\n\nHelpful commands for reclassing companions:\n\nhttps://forums.obsidian.net/topic/109311-class-change-cheats-for-companions-here-console/\n\nAnd the main character:\n\nhttps://www.reddit.com/r/projecteternity/comments/8j74ne/comment/dyxi5nn/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" :name "pillars-of-eternity-2.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Traditional Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 381 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Traditional Rpg"} :path "content/docs/gaming/games/traditional-rpg/solasta.md" :backlinks nil :title "Solasta" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Gaming\" \"Games\" \"Traditional Rpg\"}\n---\n# [Solasta](https://www.solasta-game.com/)\n\n{{< game-img \"solasta\" \"400px\" >}}" :name "solasta.md" :private false :categories #{"Gaming" "Games" "Traditional Rpg"} :dir? false :links [] :size 156 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755412331]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/aging-science.md" :backlinks nil :title "Aging Science" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Aging\" \"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Aging Overview\n\n## Why is Aging Important?\n\nIt indirectly kills the vast majority of people, and will most likely kill you.\nIt kills by slowly disabling the body and the mind over many years, leading to\na massive amount of unnecessary physical and emotional suffering.\n\nPeople die with a lot of valuable experience/training/education.\nHow would the world be different if people who fought in the civil war we're still\nalive? Or people from the feudal age?\n\n## Defeating Aging\n\nThe human body, like the global economy, is a complex system of many moving\nparts: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-022-00252-6.\nTherefore, it reacts in unpredictable, non-linear ways when exposed to changes.\nThis makes it resilient, but also counter-intuitive to \"fix\".\nAs an example, [~90% of clinical drug trials\nfail](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211383522000521),\ndespite (presumably) all of them starting out with a good story for why they\nshould succeed.\nThis is important to keep in mind when considering ways to defeat aging -\n[reasonable sounding theories will most likely be wrong]({{< relref\n\"/docs/understanding-the-world/what-to-believe.md\" >}}) and need to be tested\nbefore trusting them.\n\nSee [Theories of Aging]({{< relref\n\"/docs/health-and-longevity/theories-of-aging.md\" >}}) for some specific\nideas for why aging might occur.\n\n### Lifestyle Optimization\n\n[Exercising]({{< relref \"/docs/health-and-longevity/exercise.md\" >}}),\n[sleeping well]({{< relref \"/docs/health-and-longevity/sleep.md\" >}}),\n[eating intentionally]({{< relref \"/docs/health-and-longevity/food/personal-food-habits.md\" >}}),\n[reducing cronic stress]({{< relref \"/docs/health-and-longevity/chronic-stress.md\" >}}),\namong other things all can delay the effects of aging.\nRegular exercise, for one, probably has the potential to [add 1-7 years to your\nlife](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3395188/).\n\nHowever, these kinds of optimizations have not been seen to dramatically extend\nlifespan beyond 80-90 years.\n\n### \"Unnatural\" Interventions" :name "aging-science.md" :private false :categories #{"Aging" "Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/understanding-the-world/what-to-believe.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/theories-of-aging.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/exercise.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/sleep.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/food/personal-food-habits.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/chronic-stress.md"] :size 2124 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755975293 1755325517 1755322345 1659551782 1659551685 1659455881 1659113492 1658686636 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1645759800]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/alt-health.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/me/recent-interests.md"} :title "Alt Health" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/me/recent-interests.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Alt-Health: A Critique\n\n## What is Alt-Health?\n\nI'm defining \"alt-health\" as a general movement of people on the internet who\nfeel that the modern healthcare system (\"healthcare 2.0\" in Peter Attia's\nparlance) is \"broken\" or not meeting the needs of society.\nSpecifically, these people cite the growing incidence of chronic disease - e.g.\nobesity - in our population, and criticize how the modern healthcare system is\nreally a \"sick-care\" system that specializes in managing symptoms of chronic\ndisease, as opposed to preventing that disease in the first place.\n\nI generally agree with this overarching theme, and consider myself part of this\nmovement to some extent.\nHowever, I have become worried by the lack of rigorous science (and thought)\nthat goes into many \"alt-health\" positions.\nI want to explore this more in this post.\n\n## Inspiration and Backstory\n\nI was inspired to write this when listening to\nhttps://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/kaizen-asiedu; a \"Nugget Climbing\"\npodcast episode that talks a lot about the health in America.\nThis episode specifically focused a lot on RFK, jr., a quintessential\n\"alt-health\"-er who has just come to some power in the Trump administration.\n\nIn the episode, the host tells a story about how he had psoriasis on the back of\nhis head.\nHe describes going to a doctor, being told the condition was untreatable, and\nbeing given a steroid to apply topically for the rest of his life to manage\nsymptoms.\nThen, the host describes how he started reading more \"alt-health\" content and\nstarted experimenting with his diet.\nMiraculously, this experimentation led to a dramatic reduction in symptoms (much\nmore than the steroid)!\nThe host concludes his story by discussing how this experience made him feel a\nbit betrayed by the healthcare system, and much more interested in \"alt-health\"\ntakes.\n\nFunnily enough, I have a story from my own life that almost perfectly parallels\nthe host's.\nIn high school I played football and wore these tight padded undershorts 5+ days\na week for practice and games.\nI think something about this triggered a bad eczema on my inner thighs that\npersisted for about a decade after I stopped playing football.\nLike the host, I went to a doctor and had the exact same experience: \"your\ncondition is incurable, here is a steroid\".\nThen, like the host, I started reading about and experimenting with diet, and\nalso made my eczema completely go away.\nFor me, it seemed like eliminating dairy from my diet was the main driver of my\ncure.\n\nI also felt a bit betrayed by the doctor - the word \"incurable\" so strongly\nechoed in my mind and made me feel terrible and defeatist about my condition.\nThe fact that it was in fact curable despite what the doctor said was a relief,\nbut also made me feel bad that I had to live with the defeatist attitude about\nan uncomfortable condition for so long.\n\n## Interlude: Effect Size\n\nBefore going into different influences of health, I want to quickly describe\nwhat I find to be a useful way to rank these influences: comparing effect size.\n\nEffect size is simply the size of the effect you expect a health intervention to\nhave.\nFor instance, for me, eliminating dairy made my eczema go from 100% to 0%, a\nlarge effect.\nI have yet to notice any effect from Vitamin D supplements I've been recently\ntaking, but soon I'll have a blood test that will quantify how much my blood\nlevels have changed (hopefully due to the supplement...).\nThis effect size hopefully I'll be able to map to health outcomes I actually\ncare about.\n\nResearchers use effect size to describe the efficacy of drugs or other\ninterventions so that they can be approved (or banned) for general use by a body\nlike the FDA.\n\nNote that it is quite common for there to be a reasonable explanation for why\nsomething should impact health (e.g. a molecular mechanism), but for the actual\neffect size to be zero or even negative.\nMany, many billions of dollars are continuously and painfully spent on drug\ntrials that fail in probably the best illustration of this phenomenon.\n\nKeeping effect size in mind is a good way to consistency judge things that\nimpact health, and helps prevent getting distracted by the reasonable\nexplanations.\n\n## Specificity: An Alt-Health Tendency\n\nAs I have read books and articles about how to be healthier, emboldened by my\neczema cure, I have noticed some worrying trends in the alt-health space.\nSpecifically, it seems many alt-health-ers love to pick out very specific causes\nof health problems without evidence of a noticeable effect size in real people.\nThese include:\n\n - MSG and \"excitotoxins\"\n - Glyphosate and other herbicides\n - \"GMO\" foods\n - Non-organic foods generally\n - [Seed oils](https://dynomight.net/seed-oil/)\n - Preservatives\n - \"Anti-nutrients\" like oxalates and phytates\n - Microplastics and teflon\n\nI see this happening for interventions that benefit health too:\n\n - Most supplements (flagship example: resveratrol)\n - Some specific diets that make sweeping generalizations, like the blood type\n diet\n\nIt's entirely possible that some of these things actually do have a measurable\neffect size that I haven't found in the literature yet; if they do please let me\nknow!\n\nI suspect people keep doing this for several reasons, depending on the\ncause/intervention:\n\n1. Because it is neat and simple to say \"if we only got rid of this, we would be\n so much healthier\".\n2. The reasonable explanations (not based on scientific data) are convincing.\n3. A low level disgust response.\n \"Eating plastic\" sounds bad to the primitive parts of our brain.\n\n## Unspecific Cures\n\nTo be fair, many \"alt-health\"-ers (like me) are also big fans of less \"specific\"\ninterventions that **do** have a well studied and measurable effect size.\nThese include:\n\n - Daily exercise, low and high intensity\n - A sufficient amount of good quality sleep\n - Consumption of whole foods like:\n - Fruits\n - Vegetables\n - Whole grains\n - Fish\n - Meat (controversial), including stuff beyond muscle like organs\n - Avoiding processed foods and hyper-palatable foods that make it easy to\n overeat.\n Note that these foods can be helpful if you require them to stay in energy\n balance, such as when being very physically active.\n - Avoiding chronic stress, e.g. from a stressful job, social media, and/or\n their commute.\n Or at least being able to manage stress well.\n - Avoiding chronic exposure to poor air quality, including smoking\n - Avoiding excess alcohol consumption\n - Avoiding chronic high blood pressure, e.g. from high salt/stress\n - Avoiding heart disease risk markers, like high apoB, e.g. from diet\n\n## Big Pharma and Doctors: Corrupted?\n\nMany alt-health-ers have a strong distaste of the pharma industry, and use of\ndrugs in general.\nIn the most extreme case, their story is that pharma companies only care about\nprofit, and would prefer to keep many people in a state of chronic disease\nmanaged by drugs to make the most money.\nAdditionally, the story goes that doctors are complicit in this, and prescribe\ndrugs to fix problems because they are also sucked in by the profit motive.\n\nI personally challenge this interpretation.\nOne of the best alternative explanations I've heard from doctors is that they\nare as frustrated as anyone else, but are unable to effectively prescribe the\n\"alt-health\" \"unspecific cures\" listed above because:\n\n1. Patient compliance is low\n - People don't want to change their diet\n - People don't want to exercise\n - People don't want to - or can't - quit their stressful job\n - People like hyper-palatable food, alcohol, nicotine, etc.\n2. Some unspecific cures are hard to study, or the effect size varies\n dramatically patient to patient, leading to more time/energy required to\n effectively prescribe them (and doctors are overworked/don't have this time)\n - For instance, many people tolerate dairy quite well, but I do not.\n Most primary care providers do have have time to suss things like this out\n for every patient.\n3. Most \"alt-health\" specific cures have low or unknown effect sizes, so\n prescribing them is a gamble that will probably not pay off and may do harm.\n\n## Further Reading\n\nI highly recommend https://www.redpenreviews.org/ as a good critical review of\ndifferent health philosophies/strategies. See how your favorite books fare!" :name "alt-health.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 8423 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1756002649 1756002482 1740866322 1740862760 1740781684 1740688726 1739569784 1739397993 1739316639 1739311077 1739307275 1739307024 1739301360]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/avoiding-accidents.md" :backlinks nil :title "Avoiding Accidents" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Avoiding Accidents\n\nAccidents are a common cause of death (ranked 3rd, 6% of total deaths in 2019).\nThese further break down into categories:\n\n## Transportation\n\nTODO review data at https://www.cdc.gov/transportationsafety/bicycle/index.html" :name "avoiding-accidents.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 309 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1628225342]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/biomarker-correlator.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/health-and-longevity/food/food.md" "content/docs/lifelogging/what-and-why.md"} :title "Biomarker Correlator" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/health-and-longevity/food/food.md\" \"content/docs/lifelogging/what-and-why.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Biomarker Correlator\n\nLINK\n\nThe code can be found at\n[github.com/kovasap/biomarker-correlator](https://github.com/kovasap/biomarker-correlator)." :name "biomarker-correlator.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 347 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1729379357 1655691154 1655657180 1653846065 1643948898]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/causes-of-death.md" :backlinks nil :title "Causes Of Death" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Causes of Death\n\nTo avoid death, it's helpful to know what will most likely cause it.\n\nhttps://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/qs14fn/top_20_causes_of_death_by_age_group_average/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share\n\nThis is an excellent visualization: https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/\n\nFrom the same healthdata.org source, this shows which activities lead to the\nhighest risk of death:\n\n[![activity-risk-deaths](/docs/health-and-longevity/activity-risk-deaths.png)](http://ihmeuw.org/5o5h)\n\n[![activity-risk-dalys](/docs/health-and-longevity/activity-risk-dalys.png)](http://ihmeuw.org/5o5h)\n\nAnother lens to look at this from is using a [micromort](https://micromorts.rip/). Related: a [microCOVID](https://www.microcovid.org/about) measures risk of getting COVID." :name "causes-of-death.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 858 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1660415854 1660407081 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1644947495 1644258034 1644257031 1642190195 1636757141]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/chronic-stress.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/health-and-longevity/aging-science.md" "content/docs/me/manifesto.md"} :title "Chronic Stress" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/health-and-longevity/aging-science.md\" \"content/docs/me/manifesto.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Chronic Stress\n\nIs bad." :name "chronic-stress.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 174 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1659113492 1655691154 1655657180 1653846065 1625939328]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/circadian-rhythm.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/me/manifesto.md"} :title "Circadian Rhythm" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/me/manifesto.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Circadian Rhythm\n\nhttps://www.salk.edu/scientist/satchidananda-panda/" :name "circadian-rhythm.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 167 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655691154 1655657180 1653846065 1625939328]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/continuous-glucose-monitoring.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/health-and-longevity/tracking-health.md" "content/docs/lifelogging/what-and-why.md"} :title "Continuous Glucose Monitoring" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/health-and-longevity/tracking-health.md\" \"content/docs/lifelogging/what-and-why.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Continuous Glucose Monitoring\n\nContinuous glucose monitoring is really cool because it gives a continuous look\ninside your body. This kind of biomarker is rare, and it feels like there is a\nlot of info that can be gleaned from this kind of data.\n\nA great article about what CGM might be able to tell us can be found at\nhttps://thedietwars.com/peter-attia-cgm/.\n\nAn interesting anecdote about GCM learnings can be found at\nhttps://medium.com/lifetizr/what-i-learned-from-wearing-a-continuous-glucose-monitor-as-a-non-diabetic-bca4c3a9ce28.\n\n## My Usage\n\nI tried out a Freestyle Libre CGM that I was prescribed by my doctor\n(surprisingly, it was fully covered by my high-deductible insurance too!). \n\nI was hoping to see clear correlation between my energy/focus levels and my\nblood glucose, but didn't really.\n\nI used [cronometer](https://cronometer.com/) to track my food intake,\nGoogle Fit to track my activity, and [Sleep as\nAndroid](https://sleep.urbandroid.org/) to track my sleep (shown as a blue\nshaded background in the plot).\n\nI ingested and visualized my data with my\n[\"autojournal\"](https://github.com/kovasap/autojournal) code using this command\nline: `poetry run report_generator --start_date=2021-04-09\n--end_date=2021-04-22`. This code uses [plotly](https://plotly.com/python/) to\ndo its visualization.\n\n**[The data visualization can be found here!](/cgm-data.html)**" :name "continuous-glucose-monitoring.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1549 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655691154 1655657180 1653846065 1642380817]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/dental-health.md" :backlinks nil :title "Dental Health" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Deltal Health\n\nStim-U-Dents seem to be effective at reducing gum bleeding/imflammation: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK75815/" :name "dental-health.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 200 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1630906874]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/dna-testing.md" :backlinks nil :title "Dna Testing" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# DNA Testing\n\nIt seems like AncestryDNA gives the biggest bang-for-buck in terms of SNPs to\nanalyze via promethease or foundmyfitness based on\nhttps://geneticgenie.org/article/best-dna-raw-data-23andme-ancestrydna-or-myheritage/.\n\nPromethease seems to have been bought and paired down in the info it returns\nbased on\nhttps://www.reddit.com/r/promethease/comments/bczfcb/alternatives_to_promethease/.\n\nI analyzed my AncestryDNA data with several services:\n\n - Free reports from https://www.foundmyfitness.com/genetics \n - Really easy to read and well summarized reports!\n - Free search from https://codegen.eu/faq/\n - Not as user friendly, but a good search engine." :name "dna-testing.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 735 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1626638928 1625939328]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/exercise.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/health-and-longevity/aging-science.md" "content/docs/me/manifesto.md"} :title "Exercise" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/health-and-longevity/aging-science.md\" \"content/docs/me/manifesto.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Exercise\n\nTODO add to this" :name "exercise.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 177 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1659113492 1655691154 1655657180 1653846065 1625939328]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/finding-care.md" :backlinks nil :title "Finding Care" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Finding Care\n\nhttps://healthcostinstitute.org/hcci-originals/hmi-interactive#HMI-Summary-Report-Current-Spending\n\nApparently, hospitals with more local competition do better (and you should go\nto them): https://freakonomics.com/podcast/are-more-expensive-hospitals-better/" :name "finding-care.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 340 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1651710952]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/health-behavior-change-pitfalls.md" :backlinks nil :title "Health Behavior Change Pitfalls" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Health Behavior Change Pitfalls\n\nHere I document pitfalls I've noticed that prevent myself and others from\nbecoming healthier.\n\n## Taking the personally wrong approach, and not realizing it\n\nProbably the most common and insidious pitfall I've fallen into (and seen others\nfall into) goes something like this:\n\n1. You read something or get some feedback that inspires you to make a\n health-related change in your life.\n For example:\n - _You read that doing more Zone 2 cardio training than you are doing now\n would probably make you healthier._\n - _You have a mediocre blood glucose test and decide to eat more fiber._\n2. Decide (usually quickly) on a strategy to make said change.\n For example:\n - _\"I'm going to go jogging every day for 30 minutes.\"_\n - _\"I'm going to eat a salad for breakfast every day.\"_\n3. Try to execute the strategy and fail.\n There are lots of general common reasons for failure:\n - No positive effects were noticed.\n - The strategy was annoying or boring.\n - The strategy was physically uncomfortable/painful.\n - The strategy was time consuming.\n - The strategy was too daunting to attempt.\n\n For example:\n - _\"During and after my first 30 minute run my joints hurt a lot.\"_\n - _\"I felt super bloated and low energy after my 2nd day easing breakfast\n salads.\n And I hate their taste.\"_\n4. **You incorrectly attribute your failure to a lack of willpower or an\n immutable character/identity flaw.** For example:\n - _\"I'm not cut out for running.\n I don't have the will to push through the pain.\"_\n - _\"I can't deal with the discomfort of the salads over my normal breakfast,\n which I'm now craving a lot.\"_\n5. You give up, and come away from the whole experience with a negative\n impression, thinking thoughts like:\n - _\"Runners are crazy people who enjoy pain.\"_\n - _\"The salads made me feel worse, not better, and I can't resist my prior\n cravings.\"_\n - _\"I'm ashamed I couldn't control myself and stick to my new habits with\n willpower.\"_\n - _\"This habit does not fit into my identity - I'm not the kind of person who\n can do it.\"_\n - _\"These new habits wouldn't have helped me much anyway.\"_\n6. You start preemptively ignoring/avoiding inspirations to do similar things in\n the future, because of the negative impression.\n\nThe core pitfall here is step (2) which then causes step (4).\nIn my experience, failing in step (3) is almost always because I did a bad job\nin step (2) picking my strategy, **not because a failure in my ability to\nexecute**.\n\nFor me at least, but I expect for everyone, different strategies work way better\nor worse than others depending on lots of factors, **many impossible to fully\nunderstand**.\nI wont try to enumerate them here, and knowing what they are isn't even\nnecessarily important to proceed.\n\nTherefore, it's likely that if instead of reacting as in step (4), going back to\nstep (2) right away - or spending more time at step (2) in the first place -\nwould lead to a lower probability of failure in step (3).\n\nLuckily, **there are usually many more strategies that it first appears to meet\na health goal**.\nThis is great, because it means that failure with one strategy does not mean you\nare out of options - you can just try something else!\nEven better, this means you are free to go into step (3) with **extremely low\nexpectations, even expecting to fail**, since failure is cheap.\n\nThe worst thing to do is become dead set on a single strategy you build up as\nthe only solution in step (2), then try really really hard to make it work in\nstep (3).\nThis will lead to a brutal step (4) if the dice don't fall in your favor.\n\n### Reframing Approaches to the Same Strategy\n\nA related observation: even the same strategies framed differently can have\ndramatically different success rates.\nFor instance,\n\n - \"run for 30 minutes\"\n - \"run home from work\"\n - \"run around the lake\"\n - \"try to beat my speed record for a route\"\n - \"run for 30 minutes with a friend\"\n - \"run a trail\"\n - \"try out some new shoes for 30 minutes\"\n - \"try out this new running technique I read a book about and thought was\n interesting\"\n - \"play a game of soccer with friends\"\n - \"play a game of soccer and try hard to win\"\n - \"run with my sports team as a part of conditioning training\"\n - \"run and track my heart rate / time to watch the numbers go down\" All could\n lead to the exact same action, but be much more or less doable depending on\n the person.\n\nI know for me personally some of the stuff on this list sounds terrible, and\nsome sounds great." :name "health-behavior-change-pitfalls.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 4647 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1754518901 1754518760 1754513720 1754508968]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/influences.md" :backlinks nil :title "Influences" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Influences\n\nThese works have guided by thinking about how to maintain good health for as\nlong as possible. They are roughly sorted by their level of influence on my\nthinking.\n\n## [The Longevity Diet by Valter Longo](https://www.valterlongo.com/daily-longevity-diet-for-adults/).\n\nGood examination of fasting, as well as an overview of different ways to think\nabout how to determine which diet is the healthiest long term (Longo's \"5\nPillars\"). Provides some compelling theories of aging, with interesting\nyeast/mice/human results. In this book [Longo advocates for a whole food plant\nbased diet, interestingly limiting protein\nintake](https://www.valterlongo.com/daily-longevity-diet-for-adults/) (unlike\nmany other health advocates).\n\nSee [this paper](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-020-00013-3) for a good\nsummarized review of Longo's thoughts on fasting.\n[This overview](https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(22)00398-1) gives\nan even broader look of Longo's nutrition philosophy.\nFrom that paper, I also found [this\nstudy](https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003889)\nwhich gives a super cool view into which types of dietary interventions are the\nmost impactful in terms of life years gained/lost.\n\n## [Michael Lustgarten's Diet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOis-MXCwCs&t=1s)\n\nMichael Lustgarten is heroically tracking all the food he eats and doing\nregular blood testing. [His\ndiet](https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/11/10/12-16-years-younger-than-my-chronological-age-whats-my-diet/),\nalthough very personalized, may be a good starting point for a generally\nhealthy diet.\n\n## [Longevity Advice](https://www.longevityadvice.com/)\n\nCool blog that does reviews of different longevity topics. I like their style,\nand their content is generally of good quality.\n\n## Kevin Bass\n\nExcellent science advocate that fights hard to avoid believing good stories\nthat are not backed by evidence. Some of his work that resonates most strongly\nwith me includes:\n\n - [Good measured discussion of the Keto diet (on the Healthcare Unfiltered podcast)](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zb3VuZGNsb3VkLmNvbS91c2Vycy9zb3VuZGNsb3VkOnVzZXJzOjg4NzExODg2OC9zb3VuZHMucnNz/episode/dGFnOnNvdW5kY2xvdWQsMjAxMDp0cmFja3MvMTA3MzUxNDQ1MQ?ep=14). Does a really good job here discussing keto movement context and how LDL cholesterol is treated by the movement.\n - [This tweet about how science in unnatural](https://twitter.com/kevinnbass/status/1409061791980793858).\n\n## [Microbial Burden by Michael Lustgarten](https://michaellustgarten.com/2016/11/18/microbial-burden-a-major-cause-of-aging-and-age-related-disease/)\n\nThis book makes the conjecture that age may be partially (or primarily) because\nof our bodies waning ability to compete with (or stay in sync with) the\nmicrobes that colonize us. Not a ton of actionable info, but presents some\nreally compelling theories!\n\n## [Lifespan by David Sinclair](https://lifespanbook.com/)\n\nCool review of a new theory of aging that seems promising to be. Also does some\ngood review of longevity concepts. This was my introduction to the field\n(specifically a Joe Rogan Experience David Sinclair interview). Be aware that\nDavid Sinclair is pretty optimistic and eager to promote things that are not\n100% solid yet (see Resveratrol).\nA good summary of this book can be found at\nhttps://hplus.club/blog/a-summary-of-david-sinclairs-information-theory-of-aging/.\n\n## [Red Pen Reviews](https://www.redpenreviews.org/)\n\nI haven't dug deeply into this website, but my skimming has found that it's a\npretty good way to determine which books to trust and which not to - a **very**\nimportant task given the plethora of bad nutrition advice out there.\n\n## [In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan](https://michaelpollan.com/books/in-defense-of-food/)\n\nI highly recommend this book! The biggest takeaway I got from it is that our\ntendency to break down foods and biology in general into atomic\nnutrients/aspects and pretend that is all they are (for easier study) leads\noften to bad models of reality. Biological systems are highly interwoven and\nthe impact of stuff on them often depends on the greater context. For example,\nour body's ability to absorb certain nutrients depends on what those nutrients\nare dissolved/complexed within.\n\n## [Ending Aging by Aubrey de Gray](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ending_Aging)\n\nSee [SENS]({{< relref \"/docs/health-and-longevity/sens.md\" >}}).\n\n## [The Drive Podcast by Peter Attia](https://peterattiamd.com/podcast/)\n\nGood podcast surveying many different longevity-related topics in a long form\nformat. Episodes vary in quality based on the guests :).\n\n## [Found my Fitness Podcast by Rhonda Patrick](https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes)\n\nProvides a good survey of the longevity space. Does contain a lot of over-hyped\ncontent (IMO), so episodes vary in quality.\n\n## [The Good Gut](https://sonnenburglab.stanford.edu/press.html)\n\nGreat book about microbiome health. Does a good job revealing what we do know\nabout the gut and how frighteningly little that is! Unfortunately, due to how\nlittle we know about the gut, there isn't a lot of super actionable advice\nhere, except eating lots of fiber or \"Microbiota Accessible Carbohydrates\"\n(\"MACS\") as they're referred to in the book.\n\n## [Hormesis: A Revolution in Biology, Toxicology, and Medicine by Mark Mattson\net. al.](https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-60761-495-1)\n\nCollection of research on the concept of hormesis, or the idea that\ntoxins/stressors are actually beneficial in low quantities, and become toxic\npast a certain threshold. Really dense scientific paper collection that I\nhaven't fully digested. I think the core idea is really interesting though!\n\n## [The Blue Zones Solution](https://www.bluezones.com/2015/04/the-blue-zones-solution-secrets-of-the-worlds-healthiest-people-9-questions-for-dan-buettner/)\n\nThe \"Blue Zones\" organization seeks to identify \"blue zones\" around the world\nwith above average longevity and try to learn from the habits of the people in\nthese zones. The overall recommendation is a standard \"whole foods, plant\nbased\" diet. Interestingly, the \"blue zones\" philosophy addresses more things\noutside of diet (like a social community) that it recommends be holistically\nadopted with its diet recommendations.\n\n## [Michael Pietroforte on hplus.club](https://hplus.club/blog/author/michael-pietroforte/)\n\nThis guy writes pretty good high level aging overviews, and book reviews.\n\n## [The Queen of Fats by Susan Allport](http://www.susanallport.com/)\n\nReally interesting read about the science of omega-3 fatty acids. One of the\ncore thesis is that our western diet has a higher-than-historical ratio of\nomega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, which causes problems. This is because the\nbody can use these fats for the same purposes, but they have different\nperformances for those purposes. For example,\n[prostaglandins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostaglandin) can be made with\nomega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids, but the omega-3 variants are less \"strong\" and\nmay contribute less to heart disease.\n\nDoes a really excellent job of telling the story of the scientists who\nstudy/studied these fats, instead of just passing down diet rules without\ncontext.\n\nhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid_ratio_in_food has some data about\nomega-3/omega-6 ratios.\n\n## [How Not to Die by Michael Gregor](https://nutritionfacts.org/book/how-not-to-die/)\n\nThis book is a good survey of diet from the \"Whole Food Plant Based\"\nperspective. Sometimes I think the author gets a bit over-zealous about how\nhis philosophy is the best and makes lazy, broad, strong statements that are\nnot adequately supported. For instance, dismissing certain foods (like meat)\nas obviously unhealthy without examining the counterpoints.\n\nThe author's web site [nutritionfacts.org](https://nutritionfacts.org/) is a\ndecent source of information, though it suffers from the same problems as the\nbook.\n\n## [Genius Foods by Max Lugavere](https://www.maxlugavere.com/book)\n\nThis book takes a more brain focused approach to diet, which pushes it more\ninto the keto- space. AFAIK, ketogenic diets are more linked to brain health\nthan other diets. I think it falls into the same trap as Michael Gregor, but\nnot quite as badly. It's a good intro to lots of cool food/health topics to\nexplore more independently. \n\n## [Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466963-why-we-sleep)\n\nThis book provides some insight into the mechanisms of sleep, and advocates\nthat people should generally spend more time sleeping (or give sleep more value\nthat they currently do). See an interesting discussion at\nhttps://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/.\n\n\n## Biohack Stack\n\nGood place for ideas to experiment with. Good example of an interesting profile:\nhttps://biohackstack.com/posts/michael-lustgarten/.\n\n## [Aging.ai](http://aging.ai/)\n\nA cool system for quantifying biological age. See also the\n[young.ai](https://app.young.ai/app/dashboard) app developed by the same people\nto make living better easier. I don't use this system myself right now.\n\n## Age Later by Nir Barzilai\n\nI haven't read this yet. See a review at\nhttps://www.lesswrong.com/posts/b8mz7zi6D6Y35dar4/book-review-age-later.\n\n## True Age by Morgan Levine\n\nI haven't read this yet, but like what I've heard about Levine's work on\npodcasts." :name "influences.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/health-and-longevity/sens.md"] :size 9482 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1662926578 1662926531 1655757336 1655754535 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1652841821 1652841359 1649892819 1649891471 1649891148 1649888725 1648052999 1636076936 1628657845 1625939328]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/misc-research.md" :backlinks nil :title "Misc Research" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Misc Research\n\n## Meta-Research\n\n - [Excellent story about what making medical decisions is\n like](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31178908)\n\n## Diet\n\n - [Combined Vitamin D, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and a Simple Home Exercise Program\n May Reduce Cancer Risk Among Active Adults Aged 70 and Older: A Randomized\n Clinical\n Trial](https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fragi.2022.852643/full)" :name "misc-research.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 474 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1651100615 1651009056]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/my-physiological-states.md" :backlinks nil :title "My Physiological States" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# My Physiological States\n\nHere are some different physiological states I find myself in, with some\ndescription of what triggers each one.\n\n## Need to accomplish stuff\n\nA dissatisfaction with sitting still.\n\n### Triggered by:\n\n - Having a good idea that is clearly actionable.\n - Waking up in the morning.\n - Not having much food in my digestive system.\n\n### Suppressed by:\n\n - Eating\n\n## Snackiness\n\nA need to eat food.\n\n### Triggered by:\n\n - Sitting around for a while.\n - Not knowing what to do with myself, or having tasks but not knowing how to\n approach them exactly.\n\n### Suppressed by:\n\n - Engaging conversation.\n - Exercise." :name "my-physiological-states.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 701 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1634592875]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/posture.md" :backlinks nil :title "Posture" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Posture\n\nI wonder if a good way to improve posture would be to wear gradient shaded\nsunglasses that require you to look through the bottom of them to get a clear\npicture all the time?\n\nScapular squeezes are an easy exercise to do that might improve posture." :name "posture.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 325 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1753893853]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/sens.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/health-and-longevity/influences.md"} :title "Sens" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/health-and-longevity/influences.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# SENS\n\nSENS attempts to clean up damage that accumulates with age, in the hopes that\ndoing so will lead to longer life. See\nhttps://www.sens.org/our-research/intro-to-sens-research/ for a good overview\nof the methods.\n\n## Charles Brenner vs Aubrey de Grey Debate\n\nThe debate was held on the [Let's Talk\nLongevity](https://www.letstalklongevity.com/) podcast.\n\nMy understanding is that Brenner does not like that there is no direct evidence\nthat if any of the damage SENS is trying to clean up will lead to positive\nhealth outcomes. His view is that the SENS program is a set of [\"plausible\nideas\"]({{< relref \"/docs/understanding-the-world/what-to-believe.md\" >}})\nwithout enough evidence behind them to warrant funding or pursuit." :name "sens.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/understanding-the-world/what-to-believe.md"] :size 852 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1655757336 1655754535 1655691154 1655657180 1653846065 1653617509]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/skin.md" :backlinks nil :title "Skin" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Skin\n\nhttps://molecheck.info/ is a cool site to help identify problematic skin lesions." :name "skin.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 90 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757394591]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/sleep.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/health-and-longevity/aging-science.md" "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/daily-physiological-tricks.md" "content/docs/me/manifesto.md"} :title "Sleep" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/health-and-longevity/aging-science.md\" \"content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/daily-physiological-tricks.md\" \"content/docs/me/manifesto.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\" \"Important\"}\n---\n# Sleep\n\nSome tips and tricks that work for me to get better sleep.\n\n## Smart Alarm\n\n[Sleep as Android](https://sleep.urbandroid.org/) has a feature where instead\nof setting an alarm to go off at 8am, you tell the app to wake you up say\nbetween 7am and 8am. Then the app uses your movements to wake you up during a\nlighter sleep phase. I've found this to be **way** more pleasant than waking\nup at a fixed time. In fact, I've found that I more naturally wake up by\nmyself in the morning right before the alarm goes off, as if my body\nassociates it with lighter sleep.\n\nThis app also tracks my sleep, which is kinda useful sometimes.\n\n## Causes of Bad Sleep\n\n### Racing Mind\n\nAnything that causes me to be constantly thinking about something will usually\ninterrupt my sleep. This includes:\n\n - Trying to make sure I remember something that I need to do tomorrow. See\n [Task Tracking]({{< relref \"/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/task-tracking.md\">}})\n for an excellent solution to this problem.\n - Worrying about an event or something that I need to wake up for (like a\n flight).\n - Worrying about a personal conflict or argument, or any kind of unresolved\n tension between me and someone else. \n - Trying to sleep right after doing an activity I was really engaged in, like\n playing a game. This will happen if my mind is continuing to ponder the\n decisions I was making in the activity, or if it's re-remembering parts of\n the activity (and e.g. how I could have done them better).\n\nWriting the thing I am worrying down can help a lot to alleviate this issue.\nThis makes me feel like I don't need to keep the thoughts in my mind to remember\nthem.\n\n### Food\n\nEating more that ~1/3 of my daily calories, especially from high protein foods\nlike nuts/nut butters, in the 5-6 hours before sleeping will often lead to me\ngetting overheated and sweaty after being asleep for a couple hours.\nThis is especially true if it's otherwise cold in the room where I'm sleeping\nand I need to tuck myself in more tightly to my blankets.\nEating protein at other parts of the day helps with this.\n\nEating bread or grains generally 2-3 hours before bed seems to help me sleep\nbetter.\n\nCaffeine definitely does not help me sleep :).\n\n### Dirty Sheets\n\nClean sheets, or specifically sheets that I haven't sweated in before make it\nmuch less likely that I will sweat when sleeping (all else being equal), which\nin turn will make me sleep better.\n\n### Temperature and Airflow\n\n#### Skin Stimulation\n\nFor me I find that keeping my skin calm makes a big difference to my\nsleep quality. For me, this means keeping myself a proper temperature and\nkeeping myself protected from breezes and other forces that can tickle or\notherwise stimulate my skin.\n\nIn practice, I best accomplish this by:\n\n1. Wearing socks or lower-leg warmers to sleep so that my feet don't get\n uncomfortably cold. See [this cool paper](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4843861/) about hands/feet and temperature regulation. \n1. Wearing boxers.\n1. Wrapping myself with flannel or otherwise \"warm-feeling\" sheets to that my\n skin is constantly in contact with something constant and not exposed to\n fluctuations in air temperature or movement.\n\n#### Cold\n\nOne common pattern I fall into that leads to poor sleep is being too cold when\ngoing to sleep. This leads me to tightly hug my arms close to my self and tuck\nmy sheets up to my neck (holding onto them with my hands). While this is\ncomfortable when going to sleep, I find that it leads me to overheat once I\nactually do fall asleep. This leads to me getting sweaty, and then cold and\nuncomfortable. I feel a similar effect when using sleeping bags or wearing\na shirt when going to bed.\n\nI think the best way to manage this problem is actually to warm myself up **before** getting into bed. When I don't do this I find getting warm while in bed (even with a heated mattress) takes a long time and may not fully happen before I fall asleep, leading to the bundling problem.\n\nDue to this pattern, I find that it's paradoxically better for me to use more\nblankets and/or a heated mattress pad and fall asleep in a more relaxed posture\nwith looser sheets/more airflow. This is less likely to cause the overheating ->\nsweaty -> cold/uncomfortable issue.\n\nIn addition to making me bundle myself too tightly when going to sleep, being\ncold also just generally stimulates my mind/body, which hinders my ability to\nfall asleep.\n\nI've found a good way to manage cold is to use a heated mattress pad or heated\nblanket to pre-warm my bed, which helps me feel relaxed and warm as I get into\nbed. Then, right before going to sleep, I turn off the heat and make sure I\nhave enough warm blankets around in case I do end up cooling down. This is less effective than just getting warm before going to bed though.\n\n#### Showering\n\nTaking a shower generally gives me temperature sensitive skin that makes it\nhard to find a good equilibrium when falling asleep, making it more likely that\nI'll get too cold or overheat later in the night.\n\nGoing to sleep with wet hair from a shower also can exacerbate temperature\nissues. At the very least it make my pillow wet, which is annoying.\n\nI find that showering ~2 hours before sleeping makes these non-issues.\n\n### Snoring\n\nNot I problem I currently have, luckily.\n\n[Seems to correlate with increased adiposity.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11122588/)\n\n\n## Interesting Trends\n\nSeveral behaviors seem to correlate with dream presence and intensity for me in\na dose-dependent way:\n\n - Playing video games in the evening, especially role-playing type games.\n - Having eaten a lot of food during the day/evening.\n\nTODO: Put some actual raw data here.\n\n\n## Sleep Resources\n\n - https://super-memory.com/articles/sleep.htm\n - Interesting take on the effects sleep has on your physiology:\n https://guzey.com/theses-on-sleep/" :name "sleep.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Important"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/task-tracking.md"] :size 6115 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1776877942 1755322345 1740862760 1675883847 1673301100 1672420121 1671234343 1671215957 1664948442 1659113492 1655691154 1655657180 1654961898 1653846065 1650215624 1644872453 1635187875 1625939328]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/theories-of-aging.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/health-and-longevity/aging-science.md"} :title "Theories Of Aging" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/health-and-longevity/aging-science.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Aging\" \"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Theories of Aging\n\n## Information Theory of Aging\n\nOver time, small defects in our epigenome build up as proteins constantly fix\nDNA damage. This leads to cells becoming less differentiated (skin cells act\nless like skin cells for example), which leads to symptoms of aging.\n\n### Experimental Evidence\n\n### Source\n\n[Lifespan by David Sinclair](https://lifespanbook.com/)\n\n## Microbial Burden\n\nOver time, the presence of toxic microbial-generated chemicals accumulate in\nour bodies, causing symptoms of aging. The entry point of these chemicals is\nmostly through our degrading gut lining, but can be found in other places as\nwell (skin/mouth/etc.).\n\n### Experimental Evidence\n\n### Source\n\n[Microbial Burden by Michael Lustgarten](https://michaellustgarten.com/2016/11/18/microbial-burden-a-major-cause-of-aging-and-age-related-disease/)\n\n## SENS\n\nWe don't know or care what the root cause of aging is, but we do know there are\n(at least) 7 types of damage that it causes. If we can fix those, probably the\nnegative symptoms of aging will go away.\n\nSee https://www.sens.org/our-research/intro-to-sens-research/ for information\nabout the types of damage, and the latest progress towards repairing them.\n\n### Experimental Evidence\n\n### Criticisms\n\n[Science fact and the SENS agenda](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1371037/)\n\nResponse: [Like it or not, life-extension research extends beyond\nbiogerontology](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1371043/)\n\n### Source\n\n[Ending Aging by Aubrey de Grey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ending_Aging)\n\n## Reproductive Window\n\nI **think** (based on Charles Brenner's comments in his debate with Aubrey de\nGrey) that [Michael Rose](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_R._Rose)\nproposes that evolutionary attention has not been paid to organisms after they\nreproduce, so aging occurs because all the systems that keep an organism alive\nafter its reproductive window are not evolution-optimized, and are therefore\ndysfunctional.\n\n### Experimental Evidence\n\n### Source" :name "theories-of-aging.md" :private false :categories #{"Aging" "Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2158 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1659551685 1659113492 1658686636 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1653693799 1653686955 1653668045]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/tracking-health.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/lifelogging/what-and-why.md"} :title "Tracking Health" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/lifelogging/what-and-why.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\"}\n---\n# Tracking Health\n\n![Health Stats XKCD](/docs/health-and-longevity/xkcd_health_stats.png)\n\n## Why?\n\nA common (the most common?) way people try to stay healthy is by adopting habits\nthat are generally known to be healthy. By \"generally known\", I mean that\nepidemiological studies have found correlations between certain behaviors and\npositive outcomes, or that anecdotes from individual people support a behavior\n(\"this worked for me\"). This is a great starting point for determining what is\nhealthy, but it is not perfect. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of\nvariation between different people in what is physically healthy for them, and\nboth studies and anecdotes can be systematically flawed.\n\nProbably the most reliable way to stay vigorous and healthy for the longest\npossible time is by self-experimenting to see what behaviors work best for you.\nOf course, using anecdotes/epidemiology/randomized controlled trials to inform\nwhat to try will greatly accelerate your ability to settle on the best habits.\n\n## Inputs\n\nThese are things you can change or habits you can adapt to effect your health.\nTracking them is useful to correlate them with outputs.\n\n### Food\n\nSee [\"Tracking Food\"]({{< relref \"/docs/health-and-longevity/food/tracking-food.md\" >}})\n\n### Exercise\n\n#### Methods\n\n - Fitbit\n - Oura Ring\n - Location Tracking\n\n### Blood Pressure\n\n### Sleep Time\n\n### Dental Care\n\n### Socializing\n\nUse a microphone to detect how much I personally am talking, use this as a\nproxy for how social I am being.\n\n### Temperature\n\nBoth body temperature and external ambient temperature/humidity.\n\n## Outputs\n\nThese are metrics that correlate in some way with health goals (e.g. staying\nvigorous and health for the longest possible time).\n\n### Epigenetic Clocks\n\n### Sleep Quality\n\n### [Continuous Glucose Monitoring]({{< relref\n\"/docs/health-and-longevity/continuous-glucose-monitoring.md\" >}})\n\n### Resting Heart Rate\n\nNotes for how to accomplish:\n\n - https://forum.quantifiedself.com/t/heart-rate-monitor-recommendations-for-24-7-continuous-monitoring-and-logging/327/57\n\nCorrelates with healthspan (citation needed).\n\n### Heart Rate Variability\n\nCorrelates with healthspan (citation needed).\n\n### Cortisol Levels\n\nCan be measured in sweat apparently. No commercial products as of 11/2021.\n\n### Omega-3 Index\n\nhttps://omegaquant.com/omega-3-index-basic/\n\nCorrelates with healthspan (citation needed).\n\n### Biological Age Via Blood Testing\n\nSee [Michael Lustgarten's\nsite](https://michaellustgarten.com/2021/09/11/quantifying-biological-age-blood-test-4-in-2021/)\nfor details.\n\nI created a spreadsheet for myself based off of Lustgarten's with a custom\nGoogle Sheets function to calculate biological age at\nhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZhbaKATK2hERSFHq21pJ1fqn-EVKtMqIU1iv2Z01_EY/edit?usp=sharing.\n\n### Weight\n\nCorrelates with healthspan (citation needed).\n\n### Waist Circumference\n\nCorrelates with healthspan (citation needed).\n\n### Body composition\n\nUse smart scale or more sophisticated techniques.\n\nCorrelates with healthspan (citation needed).\n\n### Digestion Progress\n\nRandom Idea: Use body's center of mass to estimate digestion progress/state.\nPresumably right after eating mass is centered in the stomach, then slowly\ndiffuses to other parts of the body.\n\nCould also use waist circumference.\n\n### Tracking Farts/Burps/Poops\n\nWould use [Momentodb](https://mementodatabase.com/) for this.\n\nMight correlate with gut health somehow, which might correlate to longer\nhealthspan?\n\n### Mood and Mental State\n\n - Mood tracking via heart data: https://upmood.com/" :name "tracking-health.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/health-and-longevity/food/tracking-food.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/continuous-glucose-monitoring.md"] :size 3684 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755975293 1755322345 1660415829 1659922160 1655691154 1655657180 1654792731 1653846065 1652329437 1649723719 1649723563 1647135002 1647131544 1646415418 1646360704 1644947630 1642463614 1637005580 1636076936]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Food"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/food/fasting.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/health-and-longevity/food/food.md"} :title "Fasting" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/health-and-longevity/food/food.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\" \"Food\"}\n---\n# Fasting\n\n## Why fast?\n\nAlternate day fasting and periodic prolonged fasting (2-5 days of fasting once\nevery 1-4 months) seem to have a protective effect against many (all?) age\nrelated diseases, suggesting that it may also slow the aging process itself.\nSee this review for a good summary of the research: [Intermittent and periodic\nfasting, longevity and\ndisease](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-020-00013-3).\n\nOne eye-catching result is [this study, where rats lives ~80% longer when on an\nalternate day fasting regimine](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7117847/).\n\n## My Experiences\n\n### Fasting Mimicking Diet - January 2020\n\nI started getting interested in fasting after reading [The Longevity Diet by\nValter Longo](https://www.valterlongo.com/the-longevity-diet/).\nBased on the information in the book, it seemed like fasting provided some\neasily attainable health benefits, if making it a habit wasn't too disruptive to\nmy life.\nIn Longo's own words, the diet is:\n\n> **Day 1**\n> \n> 1,100 calories\n> \n> - 500 calories from complex carbohydrates (vegetables such as broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, pumpkin, mushrooms, etc.)\n> - 500 calories from healthy fats (nuts, olive oil)\n> - 1 multivitamin and mineral supplement\n> - 1 omega-3/omega-6 supplement\n> - Sugarless tea (up to 3 to 4 cups per day)\n> - 25 grams of plant-based protein, mainly from nuts\n> - Unlimited water\n>\n> **Days 2–5**\n> \n> 800 calories\n> \n> - 400 calories from complex carbohydrates (vegetables such as broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, pumpkin, mushrooms, etc.)\n> - 400 calories from healthy fats (nuts, olive oil)\n> - 1 multivitamin and mineral supplement\n> - 1 omega-3/omega-6 supplement\n> - Sugarless tea (up to 3 to 4 cups per day)\n> - Unlimited water\n>\n> The above components can be divided between breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or they can be taken as two meals and a snack.\n> \n> **Day 6**\n> \n> Transition diet\n> \n> For 24 hours following the end of the five-day FMD, patients should follow a\n> diet based on complex carbohydrates (vegetables, cereals, pasta, rice, bread,\n> fruit, etc.), and minimize the consumption of fish, meat, saturated fats,\n> pastries, cheeses, milk, etc.\n\nMy first FMD experiment happened shortly after reading the book.\nI attempted a 5 day DIY-Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) as described above.\n\nI used [eatthismuch](https://www.eatthismuch.com/) to pre-plan my meals for the\nFMD. I think it would have been much harder for me to adhere to the diet if I\ndid not do this. Here is what I ate:\n\n![DIY-FMD-1](/docs/health-and-longevity/DIY-FMD-1.png)\n![DIY-FMD-2](/docs/health-and-longevity/DIY-FMD-2.png)\n\nIf my memory serves me well, I remember feeling quite good during my fast,\nwhich some minor headaches on day 2-3. I did this during my vacation from\nwork, and I don't remember working intensely on any particular project during\nthis time, so I wouldn't consider this a \"stress test\" of the diet.\n\n\n### Water Only Fast - December 2020\n\nFurther exposure to fasting proponents, especially Peter Attia (via e.g. [his\npodcast with Eileen White](https://peterattiamd.com/eileenwhite/), made me\nthink about the simpler prospect of doing a water only fast. I finally\nattempted this during a work week in December 2020. My schedule looked like:\n\n - Tuesday:\n - Large Spinach, Tomato, Olive Oil, Vinegar, Italian Seasoning Salad for lunch\n - Some walnuts for dinner\n - Wednesday:\n - Only water\n - Thursday:\n - 4ish servings of Better Than Bouillion stock concentrate (in water) +\n steak seasoning\n - Friday:\n - 4ish servings of Better Than Bouillion stock concentrate + potassium\n containing spice mix\n\nHere are the stock ingredients I used:\n\n![stock-front](/docs/health-and-longevity/stock-front.jpg)\n![stock-back](/docs/health-and-longevity/stock-back.jpg)\n\nI felt surprisingly normal during my fast. Especially when exercising - I went\non my normal ~3 mile run on Thursday with 25 * 2 sets of push ups and 10 * 3\nsets of pull ups interspersed and felt actually **better** than I normally do.\nPerhaps this was because of the water/glycogen weight I lost at the start of\nthe fast (~5 lbs, 190lbs -> 185lbs).\n\nThere were times when I felt a bit lightheaded also during the fast, but never\ntoo seriously. This may have been a bit psychological, since I knew I was\nfasting.\n\nOne thing I also noticed was it was even harder than normal for me to keep warm\nin my ~65F apartment, especially when sleeping. The Wed-Thurs night I did not\nsleep very well because of this. Any kind of draft under the blankets was very\nnoticeable and interrupted my sleep. I wearing light sweatpants and a shirt\nthe next night helped a lot (usually I sleep close to naked). On the whole, I\nwould say my sleep was worse during the fast than normal.\n\nI did notice some tingling in my arms/legs, especially when putting a acute\nforce on them. For instance, when doing push-ups, my hands would start\ntingling. And when putting my ankle on my knee when sitting, it would tingle\nstrongly. Apparently, [this is\nexpected](https://www.theartofketo.com/tag/tingling-while-fasting/). This was\nreduced when I starting drinking broth.\n\nOne thing that I also definitely noticed during my fast was a shift in my\nbrain activity. I felt much more \"on\" than usual - I had a consistant motivation\nto be busy in one way or another. However, I also felt a bit more impatient.\nIf a task I was busy doing started to stall, I would eagerly try to shift to\nanother task, or even multitask. This was good for getting lots done, but not\nas helpful for cracking a difficult problem (e.g. debugging a computer program)\nI could use this feature of fasting in the future if I need to be particularly\nproductive in this way.\n\n### Water Only Fast - June 2022\n\nI collected some data during this fast which can be seen at\nhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gp4n59h3I0r1DnM8NQq4ISGtDY9ameoDuqInhsv2WYI/edit#gid=0." :name "fasting.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Food"} :dir? false :links [] :size 6032 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Food"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/food/food.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/me/manifesto.md"} :title "Food" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/me/manifesto.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\" \"Food\"}\n---\n# Food\n\n## Goals\n\n1. Delay chronic diseases as long as possible. Described well in [this talk by\n Peter Attia](https://vimeo.com/228845024). The\n [big ones](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm) are:\n 1. Cardiovascular disease.\n 1. Cancer.\n 1. Neurodegenerative disease.\n 1. Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome.\n1. Maintain sustained energy levels as much as possible, avoiding:\n 1. Periods of low motivation.\n 1. \"Food coma-ing\".\n 1. \"Snack train-ing\", or continuous distraction by a desire to eat more.\n\n## Current Eating Habits and Opinions (3/2022)\n\nNOTE that these habits are obselete, up to date ones can be found [here]({{< relref \"/docs/health-and-longevity/food/personal-food-habits.md\" >}})!\n\n### Food Timing\n\nI try to eat a breakfast after I wake up - around 9am, since I wake up around\n8:30am. Then I tend not to eat lunch, and instead eat my second (and last)\nmeal of the day at around 5 or 6pm.\n\nI converged on this strategy via the observation that eating food when I am not\nhungry (too quickly after my last meal) really kills my energy levels. With\nthis strategy, I can eat two large meals and avoid this problem, maximizing the\namount of time I can stay capable of doing whatever I want during the day.\n\nWith this strategy (and any food timing strategy IMO) it's important for me to\nsuppress suggestions from my mind to combat momentary ebbs in energy with a\nsnack. This pretty much never works for me, always making me more tired then\nbefore I ate the snack. Green tea is a good placeholder to have instead. Or\neven better, an engaging activity that captures my attention.\n\nThis strategy also has the danger of going on a snack train when having my\nsecond meal. If I eat too much in the evening, it leads to much poorer sleep\nfor me (possibly because the energy in the food is released as heat and\nexcitement when I am sleeping). I don't have a great consistent way to avoid\nthis problem yet, besides my willpower (which is not consistent :/). Some\ntricks that kinda work are:\n\n - Lining up an engaging activity to do right after I eat, so I don't just\n default to snacking more.\n - Drinking tea or broth after eating as a replacement behavior.\n\n### [Fasting]({{< relref \"/docs/health-and-longevity/food/fasting.md\" >}}).\n\nI haven't done a long fast in a while, but am experimenting with fasting one\nday a week (Saturday) and still want to do a long fast 3x per year. \n\n### Diet Composition\n\nI'm playing with using [this eatthismuch meal\nplan](https://www.eatthismuch.com/dietset/196607506/) as a general description\nof what my food intake looks like. I should probably eat less fat to adhere to\n[Valter Longo's\nrecommendations](https://www.valterlongo.com/daily-longevity-diet-for-adults/).\n\n#### Confidence Levels\n\nBecause it is hard (for me at least) to get good, immediate feedback from my\nbody about which foods are the \"healthiest\" for me in the long term, I instead\nhave to rely on information from other people to figure out what food I should\neat. I'm [working to combat this]({{< relref\n\"/docs/health-and-longevity/biomarker-correlator.md\" >}}) but realistically\nwill need to continue to do this for a while. Unfortunately, there are many\nopinions out there about what food is healthy, and trusting one necessarily\nmeans discounting others, which might be right. Here I try to be honest with\nmyself about where my personal opinions come from so that I can more\neffectively identify and correct them.\n\n - 📺 = I've been exposed to a lot of random media supporting this opinion, but\n don't really understand the details.\n - 📈 = This is an interesting statistical trend, but correlation != causation.\n - 💡 = This is a plausible idea, but I haven't found evidence that it has\n health effects in humans. In other words, it's [a nice conjecture, but\n requires more criticism]({{< relref\n \"/docs/understanding-the-world/influences.md#the-beginning-of-infinity-by-david-deutschhttpsenwikipediaorgwikithe_beginning_of_infinity\"\n >}}).\n - 📚 = This is the best explanation I know of, and has withstood a good amount\n of criticism, although of course it might still be wrong.\n - 🧠 = This is a personal observation I've made about myself.\n\nTODO move these emojis to a more central location so I can use them in other\nwritings.\n\n#### Meat (non-fish)\n\nI try to avoid eating meat. There are a bunch of weak reasons for this:\n\n1. I perceive the supply chain that produces meat as being messy and\n suffering-causing 📺. Another way to phrase this is: I don't think I would\n want to run my own personal meat-producing supply chain even if it was\n low-effort.\n1. Meat consumption using our current supply chain is energy/space/time\n inefficient compared to other food sources 📚. I don't think this is a\n problem that we should rely on individual choices to solve (like other\n climate change related problems), so it's a pretty weak reason for an\n individual to not eat meat IMO. Larger systemic changes like taxes on meat\n seem to me like the more effective way to take action on this information.\n1. Meat consumption seems be to [weakly associated with\n cancer](https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/cancer-carcinogenicity-of-the-consumption-of-red-meat-and-processed-meat)\n 📈 and other common causes of death. This may be because of the proteins in\n meat causing up-regulation of growth factors like IGF-1, which may\n accelerate aging 💡.\n1. The \"blue zone\" communities around the world with high health- and\n life-spans [eat little\n meat](https://www.bluezones.com/recipes/food-guidelines/) 📈.\n\n#### Protein\n\nIt seems like [low protein consumption (especially animal protein) might slow\naging](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4807119/). See [this\ncomprehensive macronutrient mouse\nstudy](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5087279/). See also this\nreview: [The impact of dietary protein intake on longevity and metabolic\nhealth](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6562018/).\n\nNote that it seems like this is NOT true for people over the age of 65. At this\npoint, loss of muscle becomes a dangerous problems (leading to falls, etc.), so\nthe benefits of eating more protein to maintain muscle mass seem to outweigh\nthe downsides.\n\n#### Fish\n\nI eat fish and other seafood, but rarely (I don't cook it myself).\n\n#### Eggs\n\nI eat ~4 eggs a day ~4 times per week.\n\n#### Dairy\n\nI eat a small amount of yogurt and cheese. I try to avoid all other dairy\nproducts as best I can. My throat is irritated when I drink plain milk and\nexcessive consumption of any dairy product upsets my digestion, so I think I am\nsomewhat personally intolerant of at least dairy from cows 🧠.\n\n#### Whole Foods\n\nThis includes any food that has not had components stripped from it at a small\nscale. For instance, I would consider a berry a whole food even though it was\nseparated from the plant at the macro scale. But jam would not be a whole food\nbecause it involves removing some fiber and other unknown stuff from the berry\nand adding parts of other plants (sugars) that were themselves removed from\ntheir whole plant part.\n\nI like the story I've heard about whole foods 📺. At the very least, it seems\nlike we evolved to eat whole foods, so the floor for how bad they can be for us\nis fairly high and well known. Note that this theory does **not** say\n**anything** suggesting that whole food are the best diet, just that they\naren't that bad.\n\nIt also seems well supported and not controversial that eating whole foods\nhelps delay the onset of the most common causes of death (cardiovascular\ndisease, cancer, and neurodegenerative disease) 📚. \n\n#### Organic?\n\nI haven't found strong evidence that organic food is healthier than non\norganic. But it could be that the right studies just haven't been done yet or I\nhaven't seen them. Here is an interesting review:\n\n - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5658984/\n\nI buy mostly non organic food because it is cheaper.\n\n\n\n\n## What should I eat and when? (2021)\n\nThe most convincing diet structure I've found has been [The Longevity Diet by\nValter Longo](https://www.valterlongo.com/daily-longevity-diet-for-adults/).\nThis diet is mostly vegan, with fish 2-3 times per week, keeping [protein intake\nlow](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3988204/). [This\npodcast](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL21hcmtiZWxsc3Bvd2VycHJvamVjdC5saWJzeW4uY29tL3Jzcw/episode/MWZmYTNmZDQtNzFjYS00ZjFhLTg4M2YtMjJlZjNhNWFkZjRj?hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwj-nLjVwKfwAhVzCjQIHY2XA70QjrkEegQICBAF&ep=6) has\na compelling dissent of Longo's thoughts here; basically it states that Longo's\nideas makes sense, but so do many other ideas and we know now that insufficient\nprotein can be unhealthy (I need to dig more into this) - the evidence to lower\nintake in spite of this is not strong enough yet. Note that personalizing\nprotein intake levels while optimizing longevity seems to be possible by\n[measuring Blood Urea Nitrogen levels as described by Michael\nLustgarten](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u654YTubFRM).\n\nCool paper about food group epidemiology:\nhttps://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/105/6/1462/4569801.\n\nThere are a couple of amendments I've made based on my personal experience (in\nservice of goal 2 above). These include:\n\n 1. Not eating breakfast. I find myself most productive in a fasted state\n (even a [prolonged fast](/docs/eating/fasting.md), and eating breakfast breaks be\n right out of this in what otherwise would be a very productive time. \n - This is counter to Longo's suggestions, some other research on\n circadian rhythms by [Sachin\n Panda](https://doi.org/10.1177/0748730419892105), and the [American\n Heart\n Association](https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000476).\n The arguments here often revolve around weight loss (which I don't have\n a problem with yet), and don't seem too strong to me.\n - This does help keep a shorter eating window on my day which\n is widely recommended:\n - [Sachin Panda](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2019.11.004)\n 1. Trying to eat grains and/or starchy foods later in the day. These foods\n uniquely mess with my energy levels. I'm eager to get some Continuous\n Glucose Monitoring (CGM) data to see if I can quantitate this. \n\nSome interesting thoughts on meal timing for energy levels can be found at\nhttps://www.workingagainstgravity.com/guides/nutrition-guide/meal-timing.\n\nOther tenants I try to live by:\n\n1. Eating whole foods as much as possible.\n\n### My 2021 Food Strategy\n\n#### Things I try to avoid\n\n - Dairy\n - Meat\n - Refined carbs (e.g. flour containing foods)\n - [Danger of Fast Carbs](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/carbs-are-killing-us/609040/)\n - Sugars/Syrups\n\n\nIn practice I may have small amounts (<1 \"serving\") of these things about once\na week.\n\nNote also that avoiding animals products is partially for health reasons\n(avoiding cancer primarily), but also partially because the animal food\nindustry is not easy for me to support.\n\n\n#### Things I try to moderate\n\n - Eating more than 1/2 cup of (dry volume) beans or grains at once. A large amount of\n my calories come from these foods - I've just noticed that eating a lot in one\n sitting saps my energy, I assume because they take work to digest.\n\n### One Meal A Day (OMAD)\n\nI tried this for a while, and I found myself falling into the recurring pattern\nof overeating because \"this is all the food I'll eat today\". This is especially\nbad with lots of low-calorie-density, high-fiber foods (which I want to eat no\nmatter what). The overeating would make me feel unfocused and uncomfortable for\n4+ hours, which is not worth it for me.\n\nRecently, I've found that a better thought pattern for me is to say \"I'll eat\nthat later\" when I get a craving for something right after a meal. This avoids\na state of overeating, and I may later end up not craving that thing, which\nmeans I'll eat less overall that day (which is generally good).\n\n## Hunger, and Physical States of Being\n\nOne thing I've noticed is that my body can be in different \"states\" that affect\nmy hunger levels. Some examples:\n\n**Induces Hunger**:\n\n - Sitting around for a while (not moving).\n - Being bored, or not knowing what to do with myself.\n - Eating some food (e.g. a snack sized meal). The effect is more powerful when\n I eat something, then am presented with something of a different flavor\n profile.\n - Overeating will sometimes make me hungry/snack-y for the rest of the day (or\n an extended period of time). I think this is partially because feeling\n overfull makes me less motivated to do stuff, and so I get bored.\n - Working on something that isn't going well. Generally stress. Food is a good\n procrastination tool.\n\n**Suppresses Hunger**:\n\n - Exercising\n - Being busy\n - Social interaction\n - Taking a shower\n\nOne theory I have is that my body gets hungry when it notices that (1) there is\nfood around and (2) I have time/space to digest after I eat (I wont need to\nimmediately do something that requires lots of energy).\n\nSome habits that take advantage of this concept include:\n\n - Distracting myself with busywork when I feed hungry but don't (consciously)\n want to eat.\n - Eating one meal a day, so that I don't have a \"snack-train\" problem of\n having future meals induce hunger.\n\n### \"Snack Train\"-ing\n\nOne pattern I've noticed in myself that eating food will put me in a\nlower-focus mood for 1-4 hours depending on how much and what I ate. If I try\nto do something that requires focus in this mood, my body will resist me and\noften want to eat more food instead as an alternative activity. Unfortunately,\neating more food will just perpetuate the cycle; in fact it will become even\nharder to focus as more of my energy needs to go to digestion.\n\nThe key here is to break the cycle by somehow riding through the low energy\nmood without pushing myself so much that I want to eat. Sometimes this is\nreally hard, because doing things that require focus is fulfilling :(. \n\nI'm basically just writing this as a reminder to myself to push through when\nI'm in this mood for the sake of my future self!\n\n\n## Measuring Personal Dietary Effects\n\nIdeally, I would measure the effects of different foods on my personal health\ndirectly so that I know what works for me (as opposed to what should work\ngenerally). This takes work unfortunately. Here are some options that I\nshould probably explore at some point:\n\n - [Viome microbiome testing](https://www.viome.com/products/gut-intelligence)\n - [Regular blood testing w/Morgan Levine's biological age\n calculation](https://biohackstack.com/posts/levines-phenotypic-age/). See\n also [Aging.ai](http://aging.ai/).\n\n\n## What fats to eat?\n\nProbably mostly mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids (not saturated fatty\nacids).\n\n - https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.119.040331\n - https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.038908\n\n\n## Protein\n\nCool table of calories per gram of protein:\nhttps://www.healthyalyona.com/nutrition/plant-based-protein-lowest-calories/\n\n\n## Specific Food Notes\n\n### Sodium\n\nToo much bad. See [this Kevin Bass video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPRRRQdLUlk) for a\nreview of studies that show it's beneficial to use part potassium chloride in your salt source.\n\n### Processed Meat\n\n[Carcinogenic according to the\nWHO](https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/cancer-carcinogenicity-of-the-consumption-of-red-meat-and-processed-meat).\n[They](https://www.healthdata.org/gbd/about) estimate that 34k cancer deaths\nworldwide can be attributed to processed meat, compared to 1mil to smoking,\n600k to drinking alcohol, and 200k to air pollution.\n\n### Advanced Glycation End Products\n\nCreated by high heat cooking of especially protein-rich foods (e.g. meat/nuts).\nBut all foods contain. Ideal to reduce the amount of this eaten.\n\n - [Michael Lustgarten evidence\n video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gKFWBTpXWE)\n - Great overview/reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3704564/\n\nIt would be cool to measure this in blood. Perhaps a1c inflammation test is a\ngood proxy.\n\nThese are also formed endogenously when sugars react with proteins/fats\n(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_glycation_end-product). This may be one\nof the reasons why sugar is bad for you.\n\n### Flax Seeds\n\nIt seems like baking flax seeds will not degrade omega-3 content ([biased\nsource](https://www.goldenvalleyflax.com/flax-facts/health-research-articles/flaxseed-storage-baking-stability/)).\n\n### Nutritional Yeast\n\nContains MSG ([probably not\nharmful](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6952072/)) and uric acid\n([probably harmful in large quantity](https://peterattiamd.com/rickjohnson/))\n([source](https://selfhacked.com/blog/nutritional-yeast/)). Also is a fairly\nprocessed food." :name "food.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Food"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/health-and-longevity/food/personal-food-habits.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/food/fasting.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/biomarker-correlator.md" "/docs/understanding-the-world/influences.md#the-beginning-of-infinity-by-david-deutschhttpsenwikipediaorgwikithe_beginning_of_infinity"] :size 17069 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755975293 1755974875]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Food"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/food/personal-food-habits.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/health-and-longevity/aging-science.md" "content/docs/health-and-longevity/food/food.md" "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/daily-habits.md"} :title "Personal Food Habits" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/health-and-longevity/aging-science.md\" \"content/docs/health-and-longevity/food/food.md\" \"content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/daily-habits.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\" \"Food\"}\n---\n# Personal Food Habits\n\nHere I outline what eating habits work well/poorly for me personally.\n\nSee [Personal Specific Food Notes]({{< relref\n\"/docs/health-and-longevity/food/personal-specific-food-notes.md\" >}}) for\ninformation about how specific foods affect me.\n\n## Current Habits (5/2026)\n\nhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19tnwNd4eswtWz_jGFjaQP-cBSnqs6N2v-pem_67H_Cc/edit?usp=sharing\n\n## Past Habits (8/2025)\n\n### Schedule\n\n - **Breakfast:** 9am.\n Mostly berries/fruit, with also a small amount of fatty yogurt, cream,\n coconut milk, or chia pudding.\n Avoid oats or any whole grains/beans.\n Avoid high protein or starch foods (eggs/potatoes).\n Some smoked salmon is OK.\n Don't eat too much!!\n Overeating at breakfast is a good way to derail energy for the rest of the\n day.\n - **Lunch:** 12pm.\n Salad with some chickpeas, fish.\n Also a good amount of bread.\n Avoid rice.\n - **Dinner:** eat only if hungry OR if I worked out in the afternoon/evening.\n Focus on mainly whole grain carbs, some legumes, avoid too much protein and\n salt!\n This is to avoid disturbing sleep (I find whole grains make me sleepy,\n digesting protein/salt keeps me awake).\n - E.g. Lots of raw tofu on bread made me sleep poorly\n\n### Setting\n\nI used to eat a lot of my meals while watching YouTube videos, browsing social\nmedia, or talking to other people I was sharing the meal with.\nI found that the extra stimulation/low grade stress from these activities often\nled me to lose track of my eating and/or overeat.\n\nRecently I've been experimenting with disconnecting entirely when eating and\nfocusing only on the food.\nUsually this entails going outside and eating there.\nThis has helped a lot to curb overeating, and gives me some time to consider\nwhat I have coming up in the day.\nI think I want to continue doing this as much as I can!\n\n## Past Habits (6/2025)\n\n### Schedule\n\n - **Breakfast:** Avoid grains/beans.\n Eat a small amount of vegetables with oil.\n Eat eggs/fish.\n Don't eat too much!!\n Overeating at breakfast is a good way to derail energy for the rest of the\n day.\n - **Lunch:** eat one, but try to wait until hungry again from breakfast.\n This could be 5+ hours later.\n Eat a mixed variety, with more carbs than breakfast.\n Still avoid grains/beans if possible.\n Eating only fats/greens (like salad) can lead to low energy and continued\n hunger.\n - **Dinner:** eat only if hungry OR if I worked out in the afternoon/evening.\n Focus on mainly whole grain carbs, fruit, some legumes, avoid too much\n protein and salt!\n This is to avoid disturbing sleep (I find whole grains make me sleepy,\n digesting protein/salt keeps me awake).\n - *Enforcement mechanism:* I have a calendar event every day starting at\n 5:30 that reminds me of this item." :name "personal-food-habits.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Food"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/health-and-longevity/food/personal-specific-food-notes.md"] :size 3041 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1778011656 1755995343 1755974875]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Food"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/food/personal-specific-food-notes.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/health-and-longevity/food/personal-food-habits.md"} :title "Personal Specific Food Notes" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/health-and-longevity/food/personal-food-habits.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\" \"Food\"}\n---\n# Personal Specific Food Notes\n\nHow I personally react to different foods in 2025.\n\n## Animal Products\n\n - **Fish:** Often make me feel tired/sleepy when digesting.\n Not great to overeat on.\n I like to eat regularly for the omega-3s.\n - I tolerate sardines and salmon better than tuna for some reason.\n - **Dairy:** Makes me gassy and generally not feel great.\n This is most pronounced with milk and some cheese.\n Least pronounced with heavy cream.\n - **Eggs:** No issues, although can take longer to digest than other foods; not\n great to eat them if my next meal will be soon.\n\n## Legumes\n\n - **Tofu:** No issues digesting.\n - **Beans/Chickpeas/Lentils:** When I eat these plain, I tend to stay hungry\n for a while and eat a lot of them.\n This invariably leads to me feeling very overfull and tired, as they are also\n hard for me to digest.\n - **Peanut Products:** Good in small quantities, but very easy to overdo.\n - **Peanut Butter:** Very easy for me to overeat and feel really bad for many\n hours afterward as I digest.\n - **Peanuts:** Generally make me feel ok when I eat them.\n - **Peanut Protein Powder:** I tolerate this really well even in higher\n quantities, making me think that the oil in peanuts is the main thing I\n react poorly too.\n\n## Grains\n\n - **Rolled Oats:** I love oats and even eat them raw.\n I don't have any issues eating/digesting them.\n - **Brown Rice:** Good in small quantities, too much can make me feel bloated.\n - **White Rice:** Similar to brown rice, and can make me feel tired when eating\n too much, which is easy to do.\n\n## Fruits\n\n - **Apples:** No issues here!\n - **Bananas:** For some reason, eating bananas alone can give me a short-lived\n headache and seems to mess with my energy.\n\n## Vegetables\n\n - **Pickled Onions:** Upset my stomach except in very small quantities.\n I should avoid them generally.\n - **Onions:** Eating more than a small onion will make me feel kinda bloated.\n Mild effect.\n - **Cabbage:** I love cabbage, and it seems to be very easy for me to digest.\n - **Broccoli:** Good in smaller quantities, too much can make me feel bloated.\n\n## Roots\n\n - **Potatoes**: I tolerate these well!\n\n## Nuts/Seeds\n\n - **Nut Butters:** Very easy for me to overeat and feel really bad for many\n hours afterward as I digest.\n - **Chia Seeds:** I love chia seeds and have no issues eating them.\n - **Almonds:** Good, just don't eat too many.\n - **Walnuts:** Good, just don't eat too many." :name "personal-specific-food-notes.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Food"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2623 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Food"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/food/recipes.md" :backlinks nil :title "Recipes" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\" \"Food\"}\n---\n# Recipes \n\n[Master Cooking\nSpreadsheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1d25vAW2nD0BdffwPbQgmy4lRhBi30cJNHOyaC-B9dHM/edit#gid=0)\n\nCheck out https://www.reciperadar.com/#search for a good way to find recipies based on what you currently have.\n\n## Creating New Recipes\n\nIf you're interested in experimenting with new food combinations, one technique\nthat has served me pretty well I call the \"trifecta of flavor\". The way it\nworks is you take two foods that go well together (e.g. banana and peanut\nbutter) and you add a third food that goes well with one of the foods but would\nbe weird to combine with the other (e.g. spinach in this case). More often\nthan not, the result is actually pretty good!\n\n## Bread Machine\n\n### Oat Wheat Bread\n\nExcellent texture, despite collapsing top.\n\n - 1.3 cups water, warm is better i think?\n - 1.5 tbsp brown sugar\n - 1.5 tbsp olive oil\n - 0.9 tsp 50/50 NaCl KCl\n - 1 cup rolled oats\n - 2.5 cups whole wheat flour\n - 1.5 tsp standard yeast that is not too old\n\nPut in bread pan in order listed, then use whole wheat cycle / 1.5 lb loaf.\n\n\n### Black Bean Bread\n\n - 1 cup water\n - 3/4 cup black beans, dry, cooked, drained \n - 1 1/2 tablespoons applesauce\n - 1 1/2 tablespoons honey\n - ¾ teaspoon salt\n - 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour\n - 1 1/2 cups bread flour\n - 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast, active dry\n\n Use whole wheat cycle on 1.5 lb loaf.\n\n## Oats\n\n### Basic\n\n - 1 cup rolled oats\n - 2 cups water\n - 1/4 tsp salt\n\nMicrowave for 3 mins.\n\n### Creamy with Frozen Fruit\n\n - 0.6 cup rolled oats\n - 0.6 cup almond flour\n - water to cover\n - 1 tsp vanilla extract\n - 3ish cups frozen fruit\n\nMix everything, then add frozen fruit on top.\n\nMicrowave for 10 mins.\n\n### Overnight\n\nTo make overnight oats, use the same ratios, but just leave the oats in the\nfridge overnight instead of cooking. I highly recommend addng chia seeds and/or\ncoconut and/or some other kind of nut + some fruit when making overnight oats.\nYogurt is also good.\n\n\n## Microwave Breads\n\nVery flexible recipe, an example base:\n\n - One part unflavored pea protein powder\n - One part rolled oats\n - One part whole wheat flour\n\nAdd enough water to make a runny dough.\nMicrowave for ~5-10 minutes depending on water level and if you added frozen\nfruit or not.\n\nThis recipe is pretty bland: I recommend adding more stuff for flavor, like:\n\n - Poppy seeds\n - Lemon Juice\n - Banana\n - Frozen Berries\n - Cocoa powder\n - Egg\n\n## Microwave Steam Bowls\n\nA really easy and convenient way to make some pretty tasty (and healthy!) food.\nThe basic premise is that you add your vegetables with a splash of water to a\nbowl, cover it with a plate, and microwave for 5-8 minutes. Then you add extra\nflavors and enjoy! It's easy to get creative with the cooking technique, but\nhere are some examples:\n\n### Carrots/Onions\n\nChop carrots and onions, add water and cook, finish with almond butter and\nsalt. Add chia seeds optionally to soak up the water!\n\n### Thai Carrots/Onions\n\nSame recipe as before, but instead of almond butter, use natural (e.g. Adams)\npeanut butter with soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and optionally lime juice.\n\n### Honey Walnut Shrimp Inspired\n\nChop cabbage, add water and cook with brown rice, finish with walnuts and\nmayonnaise. \n\n## Potatoes\n\nPoke some holes in them, and just throw them into the microwave whole for 5-8\nminutes depending on size.\n\n## Roasted Vegetables\n\nAll at 425F.\n\nVegetable | Size | Time (mins)\n--------- | -------- | -----------\nPotato | 1/2 in | 40 - 50\nZucchini | 1/2 in | 20\nBroccoli | floret | 20\nBrussel Sprout | halved | 20\nTomato (roma) | sliced | 15\n\nSee also [this\nchart](https://www.myfrugalhome.com/vegetable-roasting-times-chart/).\n\nAdd thyme, rosemary, salt, garlic for extra flavor! Add olive oil after or\nbefore.\n\n## Soup\n\nSaute (cook) onions, carrots, and/or celery for ~5 minutes in a soup pot with\nsome olive oil. Add garlic and cook for ~1 more minute.\n\nNext, add a bunch of either stock or water with stock concentrate (e.g. \"Better\nThan Bullion\") and add chopped ingredients to boil based on this time table:\n\nIngredient | Time (mins)\n--------- | -----------\nBeans | 90-120 + presoaking overnight\nGreens | 3-5\nGreen beans | 3\nLentils | 25\nPotatoes | 20\nBarley | 50\nPasta | 8-12\nBrown Rice | 45\nWhite Rice | 15\n\nThis table is also accurate for just boiling anything - not necessarily as a\npart of a soup.\n\n## Grains and Beans\n\nI have an instant pot and use it to cook grains and beans more quickly.\n\nIngredient | Time (mins)\n--------- | -----------\nChickpeas | 28\n\nUse 1 tbsp salt to 1 lb dry beans.\nSoak dry beans overnight if possible.\nIf not, soak as long as you can and add 5-10 mins to the cooking time.\n\n## Ingredients\n\n### Flax Peanut Butter\n\nMixing ground flaxseed and natural peanut butter in around a 1:1 ratio makes a\ngreat nut butter! You'll need to add some water to make it a paste (and not\njust powdery). \n\nThis recipe has a good omega-3/6 ratio too. Per 100g, peanut butter has 9.7g\nomega-6 and 0.3g omega-3 fatty acids. Per 100g, flax seeds have 5.9g omega-6\nand 22.8g omega-3 fatty acids. So combined, we have 23.1g omega3 and 15.6g\nomega-6, a **~1.5 ratio**! Data was taken from NCCDB via Cronometer.\n\n## Desserts\n\n### Apple Oat Almond Cookies/Smoothie\n\n - 3 large apples\n - 1 cup rolled oats\n - 1 cup whole almonds (soaked for 1 hour)\n\n1. Preheat oven to 375F.\n2. Blend all ingredients in blender.\n3. Enjoy your smoothie! Or...\n4. Pour cookie shapes onto baking sheet with parchment paper over it (or oiled,\n haven't tried).\n5. Bake for 30+ mins depending on size of cookie, cool for 10 mins.\n\nFrom\n[vegevega.com](https://vegevega.com/healthy-3-ingredient-apple-almond-breakfast-cookies/)\n\n### Granola\n \n - 3 cups rolled oats\n - 1 cup slivered almonds\n - 1 cup cashews\n - 3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut\n - 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (3/8 cup) dark brown sugar\n - 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (3/8 cup) maple syrup\n - 1/4 cup vegetable oil\n - 3/4 teaspoon salt\n - 1 cup raisins\n\nPreheat oven to 250 degrees F.\n\nIn a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, coconut, and brown sugar.\n\nIn a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and salt. Combine both mixtures\nand pour onto 2 sheet pans. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15\nminutes to achieve an even color.\n\nRemove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. Add raisins and mix until\nevenly distributed.\n\nRecipe courtesy of Alton Brown.\n\n\n### Flax Bread\n\n - 2 and 1/2 cups flaxseed meal\n - 1 tablespoon baking powder\n - 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)\n - 1 and 1/3 cups water\n\n1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.\n1. Grease a 9×5-inch bread pan.\n1. Mix the flaxseed meal, baking powder and salt. Add water, stirring until\n completely combined (the dough will be very thick, but moist).\n1. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes until risen and browned.\n\nFrom https://www.powerhungry.com/2019/06/2-ingredient-flax-sandwich-bread-vegan-keto-grain-free/.\n\nTODO Try adding carrots to this!\n\n\n### Banana Bread\n\n - 5 very ripe bananas, mashed\n - 1 egg\n - 1 tsp vanilla extract\n - 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or almond flour + 1/6 cup flaxmeal\n - 1 tsp baking soda\n - 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon\n - 1/8 tsp sea salt\n - 1/2 cup raw walnuts, **chopped**\n - 1/2 tsp coconut oil, for greasing loaf pan\n\nPreheat oven to 350 degrees F and coat a 9x5 inch loaf pan with oil.\n\nIn a medium mixing bowl, mash the bananas then add everything else and mix.\n\nPour the mix into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a\ntoothpick inserted comes out clean and top is golden brown\n\nInspired by https://www.asweetpeachef.com/banana-nut-bread/##wprm-recipe-container-29897\n\n\n### Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp\n\n**For the rhubarb:**\n - 3 cups rhubarb sliced\n - 1 cup applesauce unsweetened or ~1.5 apples chopped\n - 3 tablespoons almond flour\n\n**For the strawberries:**\n - 2 ½ cups chopped sweet strawberries or 4 cups halved frozen strawberries\n microwaved until warm\n\n**For the topping:**\n - 1 ½ cups almond flour\n - 1 ½ cups rolled oats gluten-free if needed\n - splash of walnut oil\n - splash of maple syrup (probably not needed)\n\n1. Preheat oven to 375F.\n1. Combine rhubarb ingredients in bowl, then pout into 9x13 pan.\n1. Add strawberries onto rhubarb.\n1. Add topping onto strawberries.\n1. Bake for 35mins or more. Sometimes mixing the crumble on top helps more\n evenly brown.\n\nInspired by https://beautifulingredient.com/strawberry-rhubarb-crisp/##recipe.\n\n### Apple Crisp\n\nFilling:\n - ~5 apples\n - ~3 tbsp chia seeds\n - ~1 tbsp lemon juice\n - dusting of cinnamon\n\n Mix the above together in baking/pie pan, then mix the below in a separate\n container (after using it to melt the coconut oil) and layer it on top.\n\n Crisp:\n - ~1/3 cup chopped walnuts\n - ~3/4 cup rolled oats\n - ~2 tbsp melted coconut oil\n \n Bake at 400F for 45 minutes.\n\n### Creme Brulee\n\n - 2 cups heavy or light cream, or half-and-half\n - 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract\n - 1/8 teaspoon salt\n - 5 egg yolks\n - 1/2 cup sugar, more for topping\n\n1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a saucepan, combine cream, vanilla bean and salt\n and cook over low heat just until hot. Let sit for a few minutes, then\n discard vanilla bean. (If using vanilla extract, add it now.)\n2. In a bowl, beat yolks and sugar together until light. Stir about a quarter of\n the cream into this mixture, then pour sugar-egg mixture into cream and stir.\n Pour into four 6-ounce ramekins and place ramekins in a baking dish; fill\n dish with boiling water halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake for 30 to 40\n minutes, or until centers are barely set. Cool completely. Refrigerate for\n several hours and up to a couple of days.\n3. When ready to serve, top each custard with about a teaspoon of sugar in a\n thin layer. Place ramekins in a broiler 2 to 3 inches from heat source. Turn\n on broiler. Cook until sugar melts and browns or even blackens a bit, about 5\n minutes. Serve within two hours.\n\n\n### Oil Pie Crust\n\n - 2 cups all purpose flour\n - 1/2 tsp salt\n - 1 tsp sugar\n - 2/8 tsp baking powder\n - 7 tbsp oil (e.g. vegetable)\n - 1/4 cup cold water\n\nWhisk together flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder.\n\nWhisk together oil and water, then pour over dry ingredients and mix.\n\nUse fork/hands to spread flour evenly into a pie pan.\n\nFill pie pan and bake!" :name "recipes.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Food"} :dir? false :links [] :size 10501 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1771702318]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Food"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/food/supplements.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/daily-habits.md"} :title "Supplements" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/daily-habits.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\" \"Food\"}\n---\n# Supplements\n\n## Vitamin D\n\nI take vitamin D (2000 IU) daily.\n - *Enforcement mechanism:* I have a recurring daily task to take these in the\n morning.\n\n## Fish Oil\n\nWas taking for a while, but then stopped after I noticed a pretty minimal impact\non my omega-3 index score.\nSee\nhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SGVI5imfmZXXBT1BkW9TtE-dI7RJoQl3ooVVYZMlB-c/edit?gid=0#gid=0&range=9:9" :name "supplements.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Food"} :dir? false :links [] :size 522 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Food"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/food/tracking-food.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/health-and-longevity/tracking-health.md"} :title "Tracking Food" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/health-and-longevity/tracking-health.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\" \"Food\"}\n---\n# Tracking Food\n\n## Recommended Apps\n\nI don't plan on subscribing to any tracking app pro plans, so all these reviews\nare the free versions.\n\n### Cronometer - best for detailed tracking with a scale\n\nThe only app that measures, and lets you set targets for, many micronutrients.\nI find the idea of seeing if I have any long term nutrient deficiencies\ninteresting.\n\n_Database:_ Great!\nMy one gripe is that \"cooked with fat\"-type items are less common.\n\n_Ergonomics:_ Meh.\nThe app requires a decent amount of tapping and typing to log food.\nCopying meals can be tricky too, b/c the concept of grouping food into meals is\nlocked behind the pro version.\n\n_Monetization:_ Meh.\nThe ads make the app basically unusable, although they can be removed with\nhttps://adaway.org/.\nMany other really helpful features (like food timestamps and grouping foods for\neasier copying) are locked as well.\n\n_Data Export and Integrations:_ Meh.\nNeed to sign into their desktop webpage to manually download a csv file.\nAlternatively, https://github.com/jrmycanady/cronometer-export/pull/2 lets you\ncreate a script to do this automatically!\n\n### Bitesnap - best for estimating quantities quickly and roughly\n\nNot well maintained, crashes a lot on my phone.\n\n_Database:_ Good, but without all the cronometer nutrients.\nHas a lot of convenient foods, like things \"cooked with fat\".\n\n_Ergonomics:_ Great!\nProbably the best in this category.\n\n_Monetization:_ Totally free!\n\n_Data Export and Integrations:_ Meh.\nEasy to export csv from my phone, but still manual.\n\n### Nutritionix Track - middle ground\n\n_Database:_ Good, but without all the cronometer nutrients.\n\n_Ergonomics:_ Good.\n\n_Monetization:_ Totally free!\n\n_Data Export and Integrations:_ Bad.\nBut Google Fit export might be coming soon.\n\n## Not Recommended Apps\n\n### OmNom Notes\n\n_Database:_ Large, but of mixed quality.\n\n_Ergonomics:_ Meh.\nNo search autocomplete, and many common foods have only grams as the unit\nselection.\n\n_Monetization:_ Good!\nOne time fee for nice to have features.\n\n_Data Export and Integrations:_ None AFAICT.\n\n### Fat Secret\n\n_Database:_ Good, but without all the cronometer nutrients.\n\n_Ergonomics:_ Good.\n\n_Monetization:_ Good.\n\n_Data Export and Integrations:_ Good, auto exports to Google Fit.\n\n### My Plate\n\n_Database:_ Good, but without all the cronometer nutrients.\n\n_Ergonomics:_ Good.\n\n_Monetization:_ Kinda in your face.\n\n_Data Export and Integrations:_ Good, auto exports to Google Fit.\n\n\n\n\n## Quantity Estimation\n\nRegardless of the app that you use to track calories you need some way to\naccurately measure the quantity of food that you're eating.\n\nIf you're cooking food yourself I highly recommend using a food scale and just\nmeasuring everything with the weight of the food.\nThis is the most accurate method and also the easiest (IMO) when you're cooking\nyourself because you can just put whatever cooking vessel you're using down and\nput food into it incrementally and zero it out whenever you add a new item.\nThere is very little thinking involved.\n\nIf you're eating food that somebody else prepared measuring things by volume is\nusually necessary, albeit trickier.\nOne common approach is to use parts of your hand to measure, but different\npeople's hands are different sizes.\nI measured my hand size by dipping it in a blender full of water:\n\nWithout Fist | With Fist\n------------ | --------------\n![blender-without-fist](/docs/health-and-longevity/blender-without-fist.jpg) | ![fist-in-blender](/docs/health-and-longevity/fist-in-blender.jpg)\n\nFor me this looks like a delta from ~630mL -> ~1100mL, or a total displacement\nof ~470mL, or **~2 cups**!\n\nSome other estimates to use:\n\n - A teaspoon is about the size of the tip of your finger\n - A tablespoon is about the size of an ice cube\n - 1/4 cup is about the size of a large egg\n - 1/2 cup is about the size of a tennis ball\n - A full cup is about the size of a baseball, an apple or a (normal sized) fist\n\nhttps://100-grams.blogspot.com/ gives a good view into what 100g of various\nfoods looks like, which is useful for building intuition for non-scale-based\ntracking (e.g. Bitesnap)." :name "tracking-food.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Food"} :dir? false :links [] :size 4243 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875]} {:path-categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Food"} :path "content/docs/health-and-longevity/food/unhealthy-food.md" :backlinks nil :title "Unhealthy Food" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Health And Longevity\" \"Food\"}\n---\n# Why Foods Are \"Unhealthy\"\n\n## They take up space\n\nYou eat them instead of other, healthier foods\n\n## They contain unhealthy compounds\nLike trans fats\n\n## They are energy dense\n\nIt’s easy to eat many calories of the food.\nThis is probably the most important aspect citizens of the developed world need\nto concern themselves with." :name "unhealthy-food.md" :private false :categories #{"Health And Longevity" "Food"} :dir? false :links [] :size 405 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875]} {:path-categories #{"Housing"} :path "content/docs/housing/aspirational-projects.md" :backlinks nil :title "Aspirational Projects" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Housing\"}\n---\n# Aspirational Housing Projects\n\n## For the future\n\n - https://www.backwoodshome.com/build-an-attached-solar-greenhouse/\n\n\n## Cool, but will probably never do\n\n - Solar powered fridge with no batteries: http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/fridge_0.2/" :name "aspirational-projects.md" :private false :categories #{"Housing"} :dir? false :links [] :size 296 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757135665 1756400974 1756400915 1756399705]} {:path-categories #{"Housing"} :path "content/docs/housing/dryer-lint-issue.md" :backlinks nil :title "Dryer Lint Issue" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Housing\"}\n---\n# Dryer Lint Issue\n\nThe dryer downstairs in my house has a long circuitous vent.\nAlso, it has in the past failed several times, once needing a replacement.\n\nRecently, with the help of an endoscope camera, I was able to confirm that the\nmain issue with the dryer is in fact lint getting stuck in the vent:\n\nhttps://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipMHDUycwTa9R9UB9CVrBJroi4Cn_SeU07agmBuQ\n\nhttps://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNKhf2OWqwz5sYWciIUcy2YOKR37_468PVk_CGF\n\nI tried for over an hour to get it out with a snake, with little success.\nIt all had accumulated in a central spot that was very hard to reach.\n\nThen I learned that a leaf blower is a great tool for clearing dryer vents and\nmy problem was solved!\n\n

" :name "dryer-lint-issue.md" :private false :categories #{"Housing"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1099 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757558461]} {:path-categories #{"Housing"} :path "content/docs/housing/home-energy-monitoring.md" :backlinks nil :title "Home Energy Monitoring" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Housing\"}\n---\n# (Home) Energy Monitoring\n\nThis is a project I haven't completed yet, but want to. \nThe ultimate goal is to get a realtime datafeed of total home power\nusage, so I can have more direct feedback to how my appliance usage\neffects power consumption.\n\n## Options:\n\n - All-in-one solution: https://www.amazon.com/Aeotec-Energy-Z-Wave-electricity-monitor/dp/B00XD8WZX6?pldnSite=1#customerReviews\n - DIY power monitoring: https://power-monitor.dalbrecht.tech/overview/\n - Open source system: https://guide.openenergymonitor.org/setup/\n - Cheaper system: https://shop.emporiaenergy.com/collections/emporia-products/products/gen-2-emporia-vue-whole-home-energy-monitor\n\n## Emporia Vue Gen 2 Resources:\n\n - https://github.com/jertel/vuegraf\n - https://github.com/magico13/PyEmVue\n - Installation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ9Q3Ft5pOg" :name "home-energy-monitoring.md" :private false :categories #{"Housing"} :dir? false :links [] :size 884 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653845963 1652910474]} {:path-categories #{"Housing"} :path "content/docs/housing/rainwater.md" :backlinks nil :title "Rainwater" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Housing\"}\n---\n# Rainwater\n\nWe signed up for\nhttps://kingcounty.gov/services/environment/wastewater/cso/rainwise.aspx to\nmanage our rainwater.\n\n## Water Pressure\n\nGoing through a normal length garden hose, the water pressure we experienced was\nreally low, sometimes unusably low if the hose ran a circuitous path.\n\nI solved this problem with https://amzn.to/3VlNGMu attached to the end of the\nhose to be used to e.g. water plants.\nAfter a couple pumps it forms a siphon and water flows freely!\n\n![Pump on ground](/docs/housing/pump-on-ground.jpg)\n\n![Pump in plants](/docs/housing/pump-in-plants.jpg)" :name "rainwater.md" :private false :categories #{"Housing"} :dir? false :links [] :size 637 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757135665 1756400974 1756400915 1756399705]} {:path-categories #{"Hydroponics"} :path "content/docs/hydroponics/journal.md" :backlinks nil :title "Journal" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Hydroponics\"}\n---\n# Hydroponics Journal\n\n## 12/30/2020\n\n[Assembled grow system](https://photos.app.goo.gl/GEtHNZCn71pov2b39) and planted two net pots with kale/lettuce seeds. The net pots had holes that didn't hold in the small vermiculite particles, so I lined them with a paper towel. After planting, I watered them until water was running through without filling the container itself. Hopefully they will stay moist enough this way to sprout. Otherwise I'll fill the container.\n\n## 1/5/2021\n\nGetting sprouts for Kale seeds as of yesterday! No activity for lettuce seeds yet. Put some in a ziploc bag with a paper towel to try getting activity that way.\n\n## 1/10/2021\n\nFirst roots penetrating the bottom of the net pots today. I filled the water tank ~4 gallons and added 4tsp of nutrients (MaxiGro 10-5-14) - TDS was 700 ppm. Fiddled with pH to get final value of around 6; this required adding ~1tsp of baking soda. Looking forward to fast growth - sprouts are still small (one leaf pair each).\n\n## 2/13/2021\n\nKale is growing really well! I filled 3 more tanks last night, as the\nbroccoli, spinach, more kale, and basil have now sprouted. I used the same\nproportion of nutrients as the first tank, and didn't measure the pH this time.\n\n## 2/24/2021\n\nFirst kale plant has become so big it is hitting the light and crowding other plants. Probably need to make more space between the lights and the plants in the future. Plants first batch of cabbage.\n\n## 3/9/2021\n\nThree more bins have sprouted; I filled them with water today." :name "journal.md" :private false :categories #{"Hydroponics"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1581 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1615331579 1614227864 1613251448]} {:path-categories #{"Hydroponics"} :path "content/docs/hydroponics/my-setup.md" :backlinks nil :title "My Setup" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Hydroponics\"}\n---\n# My Hydroponics Setup\n\n## Overview Presentation\n\nI gave a rough overview of my interest in hydroponics for some colleagues at\nwork; see [my\nslides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15ld4dWkpqrHlZe9BtNFHWjIHNZ1D6AGCyu9sLCiGeSg/edit?usp=sharing)\nfor a summary.\n\n## Goals\n\nMy [diet goals](/docs/health-and-longevity/food.md) suggest that I eat a lot of leafy greens.\nUnfortunately, these greens do not keep well and are somewhat expensive to buy.\nTherefore, they are at the highest risk (out of all foods I want to eat) of not\nbeing eaten simply because they are not around. \n\nLuckily, leafy greens are some of the easiest plants to grow hydroponically,\nand hydroponic systems provide one of the easiest ways to grow plants.\n\n## Method\n\nMost leafy greens should take [about a\nmonth](https://homeguides.sfgate.com/quick-growing-plants-hydroponic-systems-27438.html#:~:text=best%20for%20you.-,Lettuce,ready%20as%20the%20leafy%20types.)\nto grow hydroponically. Therefore, if I want to eat two plants a day, I need\n60 plant growing stations in my system. This is a 10x6 system, which seems\nfairly small actually.\n\nThe [Kratky method](https://university.upstartfarmers.com/blog/kratky-method)\nprovides a simple and easy (no moving parts) method to grow, and seems to be\neffective for the leafy greens I want to grow.\n\nI want to use grow lights to keep my setup consistent. LED lights have fairly\nlow power consumption anyway (~20W per light).\n\n - A useful reference: https://www.urbanvine.co/blog/11-core-guidelines-urban-farmers-must-know-before-buying-grow-lights#intro-c\n\n\n## My Materials List\n\n - Grow lights [$30/2ft](https://www.amazon.com/Byingo-2ft-Plant-Grow-Light/dp/B0792P3YPQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1543443557&sr=8-4&keywords=24%22+grow+light&&linkCode=sl1&tag=growjourney-20&linkId=8ef750b460d78406d53989694159a1f4&language=en_US), maybe [this](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FKF6BT4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AHA091K9FJYEL&th=1)?\n - Net pots [50/$8](https://www.amazon.com/xGarden-Lightweight-Economy-Hydroponics-Aquaponics/dp/B07W9H8ZRH/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=net+cups&qid=1608176074&sr=8-6)\n - Perlite\n - Vermiculite or peat moss\n - Wire Rack [$50](https://www.amazon.com/Seville-Classics-5-Tier-Shelving-Wheels/dp/B00CL9204C/ref=sr_1_13?dchild=1&keywords=wire+rack+shelf&qid=1608176180&sr=8-13)\n\nTo make things easy, it would be cool to come up with a reusable solution for\nthe material to plant the seeds in, since I would be harvesting and replanting\n2 per day. Could use [mixture of course soils](https://youtu.be/jYOlzqIq9OM)\nfor this!\n\nSee https://hennepinmastergardeners.org/hydroponics-for-year-round-salad-greens/\n\n## Reference links\n\n - https://www.reddit.com/r/Hydroponics/comments/llg8im/my_pandemic_hobby_getting_out_of_control/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share\n - https://igworks.com/blogs/the-igworks-indoor-gardening-blog/nutrient-and-ph-chart-for-growing-fruits-and-vegetables-with-hydroponics\n - https://theschoolofaquaponics.com/courses/128108/lectures/8665205\n - https://ezgrogarden.com/\n - [Auto Aquaponics Setup](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBspR2p0YYM)\n - **[Incredible hydroponic\n system](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWebs3ID6Hw)** (website at\n https://simplegreenshydroponics.com/)\n - **[Highly automated hydroponic\n system](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyqykZK2Ev4)**\n\n## Seed Generation - not done yet!\n\nIt would be cool to have a separate growing bin in a warmer place where plants\nwould go to seed. This way I could generate my own seeds and not worry about\nneeding to go buy them!\n\n## Data logging\n\nSee https://github.com/kovasap/plant-data for code that I run on my Raspberry\nPi to log data.\n\n### Water depth\n\n - https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/83960/accurate-water-level\n - https://thepihut.com/blogs/raspberry-pi-tutorials/hc-sr04-ultrasonic-range-sensor-on-the-raspberry-pi\n\nNeed to figure out how to get \nhttps://www.amazon.com/diymore-Waterproof-Ultrasonic-Measuring-Transducer/dp/B01J5KZU8M\nattached to the raspberry pi if i use that.\n\n## Future Improvement Ideas\n\n - Create [a weight\n sensor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNiVZBTvwxs&ab_channel=RobotResearchLab)\n for my hydroponics to track water consumption and\n growth.\n - Create a light sensor feedback system where if the light near plants goes\n below a certain level, the grow lights turn on." :name "my-setup.md" :private false :categories #{"Hydroponics"} :dir? false :links [] :size 4434 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1652910474 1627964978 1625972169 1618445330 1617931269 1614052114 1613627505 1613595589 1613438593 1613438586 1613364256 1613363733 1613363198 1613251448]} {:path-categories #{"Investing And Finances"} :path "content/docs/investing-and-finances/comprehensive-housing-return-estimator.md" :backlinks nil :title "Comprehensive Housing Return Estimator" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Investing And Finances\"}\n---\n# Expected Returns for Buying a House\n\nA simpler alternative for a quick calcution is\nhttps://businesscaseguy.com/should-i-invest-in-real-estate-or-stocks/.\n\nFor the rent vs buy question, see\nhttps://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html.\n\nLooking at list prices for homes can be a strange experience. To me, a list\nprice is just a large number that has little or any meaning to the impact\nbuying that house will have on my finances. To confidently judge whether a\nhouse I'm interested in buying is actually a good deal, I made the spreadsheet\ndescribed here. **The primary goal of the spreadsheet is to translate details\nabout the house (e.g. it's price) into an expected percentage return that can\nbe directly compared to other investments.**\n\nHere is the spreadsheet:\nhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11GTEiYBGF1NXaob9DczvUcQyloDVQ-dJfALDsg-L4-U/edit?usp=sharing\n\nOn the left side of the spreadsheet are a bunch of blue fields where details\nabout the house should be filled in. On the right are shown the results, in\ngory detail.\n\nNote that I was looking for live-in multi-plex properties, so the spreadsheet\nhas features to judge the effect of rent on the ultimate return.\n\n**If you have any questions or** ***especially*** **if you notice errors in the\nspreadsheet, please comment on it to let me know.**\n\n## Input Field Descriptions\n\n### House Details\n\n - **Property Price**:
The price you will be able to buy the property at.\n - **Property Growth Rate**:
One of the most impactful, yet hardest to\n estimate parameters. Some useful estimates can be found on Redfin ([rawer\n data](https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/),\n [summarized](https://www.redfin.com/us-housing-market)), but you can't\n always use the past to predict the future! I just set a really conservative\n value here and pray.\n - **Property Land Value**:
The value of the land the property sits on.\n This is used to calculate depreciation (since land doesn't depreciate, only\n man made structures do). In you live in the Seattle area, you can find this\n information by searching for the property on\n https://gismaps.kingcounty.gov/parcelviewer2/.\n - **Property Tax Rate**:
Can also be found on a local parcel viewer\n resource, or even on listings. Taxes collected on properties are public\n record in the US. Using prior year taxes is usually a good way to estimate\n this; I found that the tax appraisals for properties can value them very\n differently than the market does, so multiplying the list price by the tax\n rate to calculate this is not recommended.\n - **Depreciation Period**:
The time after which you can assume (for tax\n purposes) that your property will completely turn to worthless dust. This\n only applies if you are using part of your property for business purposes\n (renting it).\n - **Income Tax Rate**:
The rate at which any rental income will be\n taxed. Note that I am assuming your income tax rate doesn't change over the\n course of owning the property. Since income taxes on rent are essentially\n deferred due to depreciation and then depreciation recapture on sale, your\n return will be better if your income tax rate is lower when you sell the\n property.\n - **Depreciation Recapture Tax Rate**:
The rate at which depreciation\n recapture income will be taxed. This is your ordinary income tax rate when\n you sell the property [OR\n 25%](https://www.millionacres.com/taxes/depreciation/understanding-depreciation-recapture-when-you-sell-rental-property/#:~:text=That's%20what%20depreciation%20recapture%20does,4797%2C%20Sales%20of%20Business%20Property.),\n whichever is larger.\n\n\n### Debt\n\n - **Down Payment**:
How much upfront you will be paying for the house\n (in your own cash).\n - **Years**:
The time after which your mortgage will be fully paid.\n - **Interest Rate**:
Multiplying this percent by the remaining loan\n balance after a given year tells you how much you have to pay your lender\n for the privilege of using their money.\n\n\n### Goals\n\n - **Investment Growth Rate**:
How much you expect your other investments\n to grow by yearly on average. This just color-codes the results (green is\n better than your other investments, red is worse).\n - **Investment Tolerance**:
Results minus this amount from your\n investment growth rate will be colored yellow.\n - **Personal monthly \"rent\"**:
This quantifies the amount of value you\n personally extract from the home by living in it. This makes comparisons\n between investments more fair, because you can't live in a stock! A good\n ballpark for this number is your current rent, or a rent that you would be\n comfortable paying.\n - **Max Upfront Costs**:
The total maximum amount of money upfront you\n can spend on the house. Used for color coding.\n - **Max Monthly Costs**:
The maximum amount of money you can spend on\n the house per month **on average**. You should always have some buffer,\n since many housing expenses come in large lump payments. Used for color\n coding.\n - **Portfolio Start Size**:
The amount of money you have in your\n investment portfolio when you buy the home. Used to calculate how much of\n your investment portfolio is made up of by the house\n - **Yearly Investment**:
The amount of money you are investing per year\n into your portfolio. Used to calculate how much of your investment\n portfolio is made up of by the house\n\n\n### Income\n\n - **Rent**:
The amount of rent you expect to earn from tenants living on\n your property.\n - **Percentage Rented**:
The percentage of your house that is considered\n rented. I think you can calculate this using square footage. This determines\n how much of all your expenses you can use to cancel out income taxes as a\n business expense.\n - **Occupancy Rate**:
What percent of the time you expect to have rent\n flowing in.\n - **Rental Growth Rate**:
How much you expect rents to increase by in a\n year.\n\n\n### Monthly Expenses\n\nVarious expenses that need to be paid every month by you on behalf of the whole\nhouse. Notice the tax deduction rate assumes that these services will be used\nevenly by you and your tenants.\n\n### Selling Costs\n\n - **Capital Gains Rate**:
The percentage of {the price you are selling\n the property at minus the amount you bought it for} that you must pay as\n tax. Up to 250k for single owner or 500k for a joint ownership of capital\n gains can be ignored for a single family home. In a duplex, this can be\n applied to % of the property, the rest is subject to tax\n (unless you do a 1031 exchange). See\n https://finance.zacks.com/rental-income-taxed-duplex-7533.html. Note also\n that if you are using depreciation to offset your income tax while you own\n the property, this **lowers your cost basis** in the house, which increases\n your capital gains tax. Additionally, this \"depreciation recapture\" tax is\n taxed at normal income tax rate, since that is what it offset earlier.\n - **Closing Costs**:
The percentage of the selling price you have to pay\n to agents that help you sell the house. You can reduce this greatly by\n selling by owner, but then you might not get the best buyer.\n\n\n### Upfront Buying Costs\n\nVarious expenses and fees that you must pay when you are buying the home up\nfront.\n\n\n## Results\n\n - **Time**:
Year after purchase that you would be selling the house\n (assuming \"Months Per Row\" is set to 12, the default).\n - **Rental Revenue**:
Total amount of money paid to you by renters in\n that year.\n - **Property Value**:
The amount of money you could sell the property\n for.\n - **Property Gain**:
Amount the property grew in value by in the last\n year.\n - **Net Gain**:
Amount of money you \"made\" this year via rent and\n property growth.\n - **Property Tax**:
\"Rent\" you must pay your city/government for owning\n your property.\n - **Mortgage Payment**:
The amount of money that you must pay your\n lender towards your loan.\n - **Interest Paid**:
The amount of money going to your lender that goes\n directly to them as a fee for you using their money.\n - **Principle Paid**:
The amount of money going to your lender that\n effectively purchases part of your property (equity) from them.\n - **Loan Amount Left**:
The amount of your loan left to pay off.\n - **Expenses**:
Total expenses paid from the \"Monthly Expenses\" input\n section.\n - **Unrecoverable Loss**:
The total amount of money that you spent this\n year that you will never see again :).\n - **Depreciation**:
How much of your property you lost as it crumbled to\n dust (as far as the IRS is concerned).\n - **Total Tax Deductions**:
The total expenses you can deduct as\n business expenses from your taxes.\n - **Taxable Income**:
The income from your property that is taxable as\n ordinary income.\n - **Income Tax Paid**:
The amount of income tax you actually need to pay\n this year because you own your property.\n - **Total Expense**:
The total amount you must pay this year to others.\n - **Cash Flow**:
The total amount paid to you by others minus the total\n amount you must pay to others.\n - **Monthly Cash Flow**:
The last column divided by \"Months Per Row\".\n - **\"Rent\"**:
The total amount of value you extract from living in the\n property (see \"Goals\" input section).\n - **\"Rent\" Cashflow**:
Cashflow considering the \"rent\" you are \"paying\".\n - **Money Put In**:
The total amount of money you have spent on the\n property.\n - **Rest of Portfolio Value**:
The value of your investments, minus the\n house.\n - **Percent of Portfolio**:
The percentage of the portfolio that is made\n up of by the house.\n - **Money Put In w/\"Rent\"**:
The \"Money Put In\" column considering the\n \"rent\" you are \"paying\".\n - **Cost to Sell**:
The amount of money you need to pay to others when\n selling the house. This includes paying off the mortgage, paying realtors,\n etc.\n - **Depreciation Recapture**:
The amount of money you have written off\n your taxes so far due to property depreciation - if the property value has\n increased despite this depreciation, you need to pay it back.\n - **Cost Basis**:
The amount you bought the house for plus any\n improvements, adjusted by how much of it you own this year.\n - **Capital Gains**:
How much your property has appreciated since you\n bought it, adjusted for how much of it you own this year.\n - **Total Sale Tax**:
How much in tax you would have to pay if you sold\n the property this year, including capital gains tax and depreciation\n recapture income tax.\n - **Sale Proceeds**:
The amount of money you would end up with in cash\n after the sale of the property this year.\n - **IRR**:
The time-adjusted rate of return you have made on all the\n money you put into the property.\n - **IRR w/\"Rent\"**:
The time-adjusted rate of return you have made on\n all the money you put into the property, considering also the value you got\n out of it by living in it. **If this value is less than your expected\n investment growth rate, financially you probably shouldn't buy the house.**\n - **Portfolio Return w/\"Rent\"**:
The return of your entire portfolio\n including the house, given that you sell the house this year.\n - **Rental Delta**:
To translate the rate of return to a \"dollars per\n month\" figure, fill in the top cell of this column until the **IRR w/Rent\n Delta** column matches your expected **Investment Growth Rate** for the year\n you are planning to sell at. This will tell you how much money per month\n you are saving (or losing) per month compared to your **Personal monthly\n \"rent\"**." :name "comprehensive-housing-return-estimator.md" :private false :categories #{"Investing And Finances"} :dir? false :links [] :size 12009 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1706730743 1704401356 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1642380817]} {:path-categories #{"Investing And Finances"} :path "content/docs/investing-and-finances/financial-independence.md" :backlinks nil :title "Financial Independence" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Investing And Finances\"}\n---\n# Financial Independence\n\n## What?\n\nAccumulating enough assets such that the passive income generated from them\nexceeds your cost of living. A rough estimate often used is the \"4% rule\": it\nstates that you should expect your assets to generate 4% of their value in\nincome every year. This means if you have $1 million in assets, you should\nexpect at least $40k a year in income from those assets.\n\n## Why?\n\nSo you can pursue what you find is most valuable in life. Some projects that FI\nhas enabled:\n\n - https://www.longevityadvice.com/about/\n\n\n## Estimating Progress\n\nLots of tools have popped up over the years online to help with this. Some that\nlook promising to me:\n\n - https://cfiresim.com/\n - https://projectifi.io/\n - https://fiers.co/" :name "financial-independence.md" :private false :categories #{"Investing And Finances"} :dir? false :links [] :size 812 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1628380027 1628301905]} {:path-categories #{"Investing And Finances"} :path "content/docs/investing-and-finances/housing.md" :backlinks nil :title "Housing" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Investing And Finances\"}\n---\n# Housing\n\n## Buying vs Renting\n\nFinancially, there is no clear answer whether to buy or rent a home in the\ngeneral case. To determine which is the best option for a specific situation,\n[this NYT calculator is a great back-of-the-envelope style\nresource.](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html).\n[This Ben Felix video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwl3-jBNEd4) does a\ngreat job digging into the factors at play that determine which decision is\nbest.\n\nTo aid in my own home search, I [made a spreadsheet]() that calculates the\nexpected return-on-investment for a given candidate house. This was extremely\nhelpful when shopping for both the house and my loan.\n\n\nOf course, there are other not-strictly-financial advantages/disadvantages that\nare worth exploring:\n\n### Why Buy?\n\n - More freedom to modify the property.\n - No risk of being kicked out by a landlord selling or moving in themselves.\n - Really cheap loans/leverage to boost risk and reward in a portfolio.\n - Offers option to earn money by improving the property either by (1) making\n it nicer to earn money on resale, (2) adding rental space and income, or (3)\n making it more efficient. This is often referred to as \"sweat equity\".\n\n### Why Rent?\n\n - More freedom to change your living situation - buying and selling a house\n within < 5 years can be very costly.\n - Housing will take up less mental space and energy, which you can use for\n other things.\n - Lower commitment, and therefore less stressful." :name "housing.md" :private false :categories #{"Investing And Finances"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1582 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1627166059]} {:path-categories #{"Investing And Finances"} :path "content/docs/investing-and-finances/influences.md" :backlinks nil :title "Influences" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Investing And Finances\"}\n---\n# Investing and Finance Influences\n\nThese books/blogs/podcasts/people have most shaped how I understand finances.\n\n## [Ben Felix](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDXTQ8nWmx_EhZ2v-kp7QxA)\n\nRuns a great YouTube channel (and podcast) about investing concepts.\n\n## [Early Retirement Extreme](http://earlyretirementextreme.com/)\n\nThe ERE book and the blog's most popular posts are an excellent view into a\nstrongly coherent and appealing life philosophy. Highly, highly recommend.\n\n## [Mr Money Mustache](https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/)\n\nMy first introduction to the idea of financial independance. I haven't read a lot of the articles, but the ones I did read were very influential.\n\n## The [Mad Fientist](https://www.madfientist.com/)\n\nGreat mechanical guide for how to become financially independant. I used to\nlisten to the podcast a lot on my commutes. [This article about the author's portfolio](https://www.madfientist.com/my-portfolio/) is a good example of the content.\n\n## The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel\n\nNot the most influential book I've read, but does a good job summarizing the\nthoughts of others. Often when reading I remembered some advice I had\npreviously heard but forgotten.\n\n## [Antifragile by Nassim Taleb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifragile)\n\n[See description here.](({{< relref \"/docs/understanding-the-world/influences.md\" >}}))" :name "influences.md" :private false :categories #{"Investing And Finances"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/understanding-the-world/influences.md"] :size 1435 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1655691154 1655657180 1653846065 1651798880 1651711670 1627252570 1627252280]} {:path-categories #{"Investing And Finances"} :path "content/docs/investing-and-finances/monthly-costs-of-car-ownership.md" :backlinks nil :title "Monthly Costs Of Car Ownership" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Investing And Finances\"}\n---\n# Monthly Costs of Car Ownership\n\nReasoning about the total monthly cost of owning a car can be tricky, due to\nthe number of factors that determine this cost. I threw together a quick\nspreadsheet to help with this.\n\nHere is the spreadsheet:\nhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aWen0619-9HZTL8dhSQKnDlkHNerlN0Nvb_ipLL-RvU/edit?usp=sharing\n\n**If you have any questions or** ***especially*** **if you notice errors in the\nspreadsheet, please comment on it to let me know.**" :name "monthly-costs-of-car-ownership.md" :private false :categories #{"Investing And Finances"} :dir? false :links [] :size 542 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1628361867]} {:path-categories #{"Investing And Finances"} :path "content/docs/investing-and-finances/personal-portfolio.md" :backlinks nil :title "Personal Portfolio" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Investing And Finances\"}\n---\n# Personal Portfolio Thoughts\n\nHistorically 100% VTSAX due to long time horizon and simplicity.\n\nRecently I have become convinced that more global diversification and factor weighting would be smart.\nMedia that has done this:\n\n - [Five Factor Investing with ETFs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKWbW7Wgm0w)\n - [Ben Felix Portfolio](https://www.pwlcapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Five-Factor-Investing-with-ETFs.pdf)\n - [Optimized Portfolio summary of Ben Felix portfolio](https://www.optimizedportfolio.com/ben-felix-model-portfolio/)\n\n[Here's](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/194MljSwYb0xPcHhG7sznh0LJ2a-2YejxfP0fVGVV2Jw/edit#gid=0) a scratchpad of me trying to implement this.\n\nA step in this direction would be:\n - 22% total international\n - 8% small cap value international\n - 12% small cap value US\n - 58% vtsax\n\n[Backtesting on portfoliovisulizer.com](https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/backtest-portfolio?s=y&timePeriod=4&startYear=1985&firstMonth=1&endYear=2022&lastMonth=12&calendarAligned=true&includeYTD=false&initialAmount=10000&annualOperation=0&annualAdjustment=0&inflationAdjusted=true&annualPercentage=0.0&frequency=4&rebalanceType=1&absoluteDeviation=5.0&relativeDeviation=25.0&leverageType=0&leverageRatio=0.0&debtAmount=0&debtInterest=0.0&maintenanceMargin=25.0&leveragedBenchmark=false&reinvestDividends=true&showYield=false&showFactors=false&factorModel=3&portfolioNames=false&portfolioName1=Portfolio+1&portfolioName2=Portfolio+2&portfolioName3=Bogleheads+Three+Funds&symbol1=VTSAX&allocation1_1=58&allocation1_2=100&symbol2=AVUV&symbol3=AVDV&symbol4=VGTSX&allocation4_1=22&symbol5=DISVX&allocation5_1=8&symbol6=DFSVX&allocation6_1=12&symbol7=VOO&symbol8=VTSMX&allocation8_3=50&symbol9=VGTSX&allocation9_3=30&symbol10=VBMFX&allocation10_3=20)\n\nLooking at \"growth of $10,000\" charts is kinda misleading, because the end result can vary greatly based on when you start.\nRolling or yearly return charts are better I think.\n[Here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DEl9ddc2U0Ycc-hWV2PrWsrrcuVH7J8gtCL2c1D1UaA/edit#gid=0) is a yearly return chart comparing vtsax with the Ben Felix portfolio.\n\nMy current decision is to just stick to VTSAX unless it starts underperforming for over a year.\nThen I may switch to something like the Ben Felix portfolio.\nIt's hard for me to do otherwise seeing as the US market has outperformed the ex-US index for the last 10 years:\n\n![us-vs-intl](/docs/investing-and-finances/us-vs-international-returns.png)\n\nSee some discussion of this strategy at https://www.reddit.com/r/Bogleheads/s/6cpG40p8E8.\n\n## Bonds\n\nSee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlgMSDYnT2o for some thoughts." :name "personal-portfolio.md" :private false :categories #{"Investing And Finances"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2717 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1710287368 1710287362 1709940869 1707447715 1673989211 1667452680 1666403666 1666403159 1666402636 1666332140 1666321068]} {:path-categories #{"Investing And Finances"} :path "content/docs/investing-and-finances/strategies.md" :backlinks nil :title "Strategies" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Investing And Finances\"}\n---\n# Investment Strategies\n\n## Inflation Indexed Bonds\n\nIn 2022, inflation was pretty high, as described by\n[Kiplinger.com](https://www.kiplinger.com/economic-forecasts/inflation):\n\n> In July’s price report, falling prices at the gas pump gave consumers a bit\n> of relief, as well as lowering the overall inflation rate to 8.5% from 9.1% in\n> June.\n> A few other price categories showed easing: Appliance prices are coming down,\n> along with sporting goods, men’s clothing, car rentals and hotel rates.\n> Airfares dropped because of lower fuel costs, and used-car prices edged down.\n> All of these were enough to bring down non-energy, non-food price increases to a\n> moderate level in July.\n\nThis led to a very high rate of almost 10% for [Series I Savings\nBonds](https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/research/indepth/ibonds/res_ibonds_iratesandterms.htm#change).\nThis is amazing for a bond and seems like a no-brainer buy.\nHowever, there are some caveats:\n\n1. The bond cannot be sold for 1 year.\n1. If sold before 5 years, you lose the last 3 months of interest.\n1. You must pay income tax on earnings when the bonds are sold.\n1. The rate is reindexed to inflation every 6 months, so this return will only\n come as long as inflation is high.\n\nKiplinger again:\n\n> Inflation is not done yet.\n> Prices continued to rise strongly for basics such as food, rent and new\n> vehicles.\n> There is some evidence that food prices may be moderating after a year’s worth\n> of large monthly increases.\n> But continuing large wage increases at many businesses are likely to keep upward\n> pressure on most prices for some time to come.\n> Expect price inflation at the end of the year to be around 8.0%, down a bit from\n> the peak of 9.1% in June, but still high.\n> Inflation will likely fall to around 3%-4% by the end of next year if the\n> economy slows, as expected.\n\nFrom the [OECD](https://data.oecd.org/price/inflation-forecast.htm):\n\n![forecast](/docs/investing-and-finances/inflation-forecast.png)\n\nSo it looks like if I buy these bonds now I will probably get a year out of them\nbefore I will want to go back into the stock market.\nWith income tax on earnings plus the 3 month interest payback, I'm likely\nlooking at a return of 9.6% for 6 months, then 7% for 6 months, then 0% for 3\nmonths (because I lose the last 3 months), or 6.64% interest.\nAfter a ~35% tax (I expect to sell the rest of my investments only when my\nincome and therefore tax rate is much lower), this ends up being **4.32%**.\n\nThis is much better than the 0% rate I am getting on the $5-10k I keep in my\nbank account (I know, I live dangerously...), but at the cost of liquidity,\nespecially for the first year.\nIt's not really an emergency fund if you can't withdraw it.\n\nI'm not convinced that this rate will beat the stock market overall in the next\nyear though.\n\nSo if I'm not using the bonds as an emergency fund, it comes down to: do I think\nthat the market will grow less than ~4.5% in the next year?\nFor me the answer is no right now.\n\n\n## Context\n\nhttps://totalrealreturns.com/ gives a good visualization of returns and\nvolatility for different investments.\n\n\n## Stock options\n\n - [Excellent Reference](\n http://www.scribd.com/doc/55945011/An-Introduction-to-Stock-Options-for-the-Tech-Entrepreneur-or-Startup-Employee)\n\n\n## The Value Factor\n\nInvestment returns can theoretically be explained by different factors\n[described here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViTnIebSzj4). Total market\nindex funds do not expose you fully to the value factor, which might be useful\nto do for maximizing returns in the long run. Here are some first steps to do\nthis (that I have yet to follow):\n\n - https://www.pwlcapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/PWL-WP-Felix-Factor-Investing-with-ETFs_08-2019-Final.pdf\n - https://investor.vanguard.com/etf/profile/portfolio/vtv\n - https://www.optimizedportfolio.com/ben-felix-model-portfolio/\n\n## Efficient Frontiers\n\nhttps://www.madfientist.com/unique-risk-minimum-variance-portfolio/\n\n## Leverage\n\nUsing leverage (taking loans to buy investments) can be a power way to \"time\ndiversify\", as explained in [this Ben Felix\nvideo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll3TCEz4g1k).\n\nSee also this (crazy?) investment strategy:\nhttps://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/comments/o7tnm5/my_guide_to_hedgefundies_portfolio_and_why_im_100/\n\n**Using loans to make big purchases is generally worth it if you invested in\nstocks that have a long term expected return higher than the loan rate (which\nis usually true).**\n\n\n## Retirement Finance\n\n### To look at\n\n - [Option writing as income\n strategy](https://earlyretirementnow.com/2019/03/27/passive-income-through-option-writing-part-3/)\n\n\n## The \"Barbell\" Strategy\n\nIn his books Nassim Taleb describes a strategy where 90% of the portfolio is in\na very safe asset like treasury bills and 10% is in very risky investments like\nrisky stock options or early stage startups.\nIt would be cool to see how some concrete instances of this would perform on\nhistorical data (with some random way to pick the 10% to avoid hindsight bias).\n\nNote that Taleb himself seems to think that a better plan for retirement is\n(small) business ownership:\n\n[![Reddit\nAnswer](nntaleb_reddit.png)](https://www.reddit.com/r/options/comments/38onec/i_am_nassim_nicholas_taleb_ask_me_anything_on/)" :name "strategies.md" :private false :categories #{"Investing And Finances"} :dir? false :links [] :size 5390 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1669743672 1669230421 1662924312 1662788304 1662788267 1662494068 1658277343 1657997776 1656388528 1656368707 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1652910474 1652816460 1628380768 1627252280 1627166059]} {:path-categories #{"Investing And Finances"} :path "content/docs/investing-and-finances/taxes.md" :backlinks nil :title "Taxes" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Investing And Finances\"}\n---\n# Taxes\n\n## Selling Stock\n\nSelling stock at a gain is a taxable event. If you've held the stock for < 1\nyear, it is taxed as ordinary income; otherwise it is taxed at a lower capital\ngains rate. [This Motley Fool\npage](https://www.fool.com/investing/how-to-invest/stocks/selling-stock-taxes/)\nhas a good explanation with examples. \n\nNote that your capital gains themselves help determine your capital gains tax\nrate. If you make no ordinary income, but sell stock resulting in a $1 million\ngain, your income for the purposes of determining your capital gains tax rate\nwill be $1 million. You will **not** pay ordinary income tax on this amount,\nbut instead the 20% (in 2021) capital gains tax rate for this income level.\n\nIf you are making\n[significant](https://www.irs.gov/faqs/estimated-tax/large-gains-lump-sum-distributions-etc/large-gains-lump-sum-distributions-etc)\ncapital gains over the year and are not offsetting this amount by for example\nhaving your employer withhold more tax, you must pay taxes quarterly to the IRS\n[here](https://www.irs.gov/payments/direct-pay). If you do not, you may need to\npay an underpayment pentalty when it comes time to file your tax return.\n\n## Optimizing Capital Gains When Retired\n\nIf you are retired and need < ~$40k per year to live (in 2021), you could\nsurvive by selling < ~$40k of stock per year (which should definitely have <\n~$40k of capital gains) and pay 0% capital gains tax.\n\n## Tax Loss Harvesting\n\nGood descriptions:\n\n - https://hackyourwealth.com/tax-loss-gain-harvesting\n - https://www.moneyunder30.com/profit-from-tax-loss-harvesting\n - https://www.madfientist.com/tax-loss-harvesting/\n\n1. Sell your losing investment.\n1. Buy another (intermediate) investment that you are happy holding.\n1. If you want, sell your intermediate investment and buy back your original\n >30 days after the original sale.\n - **Make sure that your intermediate investment hasn't gone up in value when\n you do this, otherwise you will cancel out your losses!**\n\nProbably a good strategy is to, when the market is falling, set a reminder to\nsell all losing shares and buy a similar investment twice a week. This way you\nwill be sure to get the maximum losses and won't miss the bottom.\n\n## Tax Gain Harvesting\n\nUseful if you are in the 0% capital gains tax bracket:\n\n - https://www.madfientist.com/tax-gain-harvesting/\n\n\n## Tax Return Filing\n\nhttps://tpc-marriage-calculator.urban.org/ is a good resource for checking if\nfiling jointly when married is a good idea.\n\nhttps://www.freetaxusa.com/ is a great service for actually filing taxes.\n\n## Deducting Housing Expenses\n\nThings to deduct for a rental property:\n\n - Mortgage interest\n - Insurance\n - Depreciation\n - Large capital improvements (via \"safe harbor\" law for small landlords)" :name "taxes.md" :private false :categories #{"Investing And Finances"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2849 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1665686620 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1646895255 1641938479 1627252280]} {:path-categories #{"Lifelogging"} :path "content/docs/lifelogging/2025-update.md" :backlinks nil :title "2025 Update" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifelogging\"}\n---\n# 2025 Lifelogging Update\n\nSomeone on Reddit working on developing a new lifelogging product reached out to\nme to help guide their work.\nHere are my responses to their survey on March 28, 2025:\n\n**How did you first discover lifelogging, and how has it changed your day-to-day life?**\n\nI don't remember a specific event, but I slowly started finding myself aware\nthat many events/experiences in my life were very ephemeral.\nThey would happen and then be forgotten; I would have nothing to \"show\" for my\ntime spent.\nOccasionally I would even notice myself repeating behaviors or attempting things\nthat I had tried in the past and never learned from, leading to the same\noutcome.\n\nThis would often manifest when people asked me what I'd been up to lately, and I\nwould struggle to respond coherently.\n\nI found both the ephemerality and forgetting very dissatisfying.\nIt made me feel like my time spent was wasted, or at least not fully utiltized.\n\nI saw lifelogging as a way to make me feel better about this.\n\nGenerally speaking, my lifelogging has worked at achieving this goal.\nNow, when I'm curious, it's a lot easier for me to go back in my logs and\nremember specific events, even those that have long passed.\n\n**Could you describe your current lifelogging workflow? (Please cover: devices used, scenario selection, post-processing, data storage, and long-term use cases.)**\n\nI currently use Mementodb on my phone and computer to log notable events that\nhappen during the day.\nI usually log 1-3 events per day.\nEach log is a line or two of text, with some categorization tags and a general\npositive-negative rating of the event.\nI go back and read this log when I feel like it, and am consistently surprised\nby how well it sparks vivid memories of even long past events.\n\nI use my own tool https://github.com/kovasap/autojournal-on-gas to collect\ninformation from ActivityWatch running on my computers, and a location logging\napp on my phone, to pull information about what I'm up to into my Google\ncalendar to a visual representation of my activity.\nIt also sends me emails summarizing my Mementodb lifelog, and puts the events on\nmy calendar as well.\nThis tools runs automatically in the background via Google Apps Script.\nI have been actively using this tool less in recent times, but occasionally I'll\nlook at the calendar to remember stuff.\nUnfortunately, my computer logging has recently broken and I haven't been\nmotivated to fix it (it's probably a simple issue).\n\nI have a program regularly take screenshots of my computer screen and upload\nthem to Google photos.\nThis is described at\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/dotfiles?tab=readme-ov-file#automatic-screenshooting.\n\nI have a recurring reminder on my phone to take a picture of the real world,\nwhich is then stored in google photos.\n\n[My \"Daily Habits\" page]({{< relref\n\"/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/daily-habits.md\" >}}) should have an up to date\n\"lifelogging\" section that may change in the future with what I actually do.\nI never plan to update this page (it is a snapshot).\n\n**What is the biggest challenge you face in your lifelogging process? How do you currently handle it?**\n\nOne of the biggest challenges I did face was motivating myself to do manual\nlogging.\nMy big breakthrough was to focus on logging the things that made me feel most\npassionate and treat the logging as a conversation with another person (and only\nlog things I felt were worth sharing with that hypothetical person).\nWith this perspective, logging is much easier now.\n\nI tried [rolling my own automatic camera lifelogging system]({{< relref\n\"/docs/lifelogging/camera.md\" >}})), but managing the mass volume of data from\nthe camera was too hard.\nThe Narrative Clip, which I tried afterward, was amazingly better.\nToo bad they shut the service down or I would be still using it.\n\nI was also very motivated for a time to find a way to have a microphone record\nme at all times and translate all the conversations I had to a text \"script\".\nI could never figure out how to technically accomplish this, but would be super\nexcited to try a solution here.\nI feel that lifelogging can have a data volume problem, but a simple text script\nof your day I think would be very easy to read/digest/postprocess compared to\nother forms of lifelogging data.\n\n**Do you have any memorable lifelogging-related stories you’d like to share with us?**\n\nNot specifics, but as stated earlier I am consistently amazed at how vivid the\nmemories my lifelog triggers can be, even of very old events.\n\n**We’ve designed a lifelogging device with the following specs:**\n\n - Weight: ~30g (wearable/clippable)\n - Features: Interval photo/video, audio recording. etc\n - Battery life: ~2 days\n - AI integration: Auto-categorization & video clipping\n\n**Would you be willing to use this product? Do you see any potential shortcomings?**\n\nYes definitely!\n\nI worry that the data generated will need to be stored somewhere, which will\nlead to a monthly subscription fee requirement.\nI would much rather have an option to aggressively cull data, pay a larger\nupfront fee, or manage my own data somehow than need to pay a subscription.\n\n**Which features interest you most, or features you want that we didn't provide?**\n\nAs noted above, if you can do speech-to-text and output a script of each day\nfrom the microphone that would be amazing!\n\n**What's your top concern regarding this product/system? (privacy? storage?)**\n\nManaging data storage." :name "2025-update.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifelogging"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/daily-habits.md" "/docs/lifelogging/camera.md"] :size 5501 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1743191815 1743191502 1743190436 1743190382]} {:path-categories #{"Lifelogging"} :path "content/docs/lifelogging/browser-history.md" :backlinks nil :title "Browser History" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifelogging\"}\n---\n# Browser History\n\nI've found that my browser (chrome) history is a great record of what I've been\nup to / interested in.\n\nJust reading the history is helpful, but I've used Gemini to good effect to\nsummarize it for me!\nSee\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/dotfiles/blob/master/bin/chrome-history-for-gemini.zsh" :name "browser-history.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifelogging"} :dir? false :links [] :size 362 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875]} {:path-categories #{"Lifelogging"} :path "content/docs/lifelogging/camera.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/lifelogging/2025-update.md" "content/docs/lifelogging/what-and-why.md"} :title "Camera" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/lifelogging/2025-update.md\" \"content/docs/lifelogging/what-and-why.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Lifelogging\"}\n---\n# Lifelogging with a Camera\n\n## To Try\n\n - https://www.brilliantmonocle.com/\n\n## Using the [iON Snapcam](https://amzn.to/3JqQ6kA).\n\nRequires this third party software to enable the time lapse:\nhttps://github.com/dimhoff/snapcamcontrol. Use a version hosted on this site\n[here](/snapcamcontrol.html).\n\nThe beeping when taking a picture is really annoying, see\nhttps://www.reddit.com/r/ElectronicsRepair/comments/tzmesl/how_to_silence_a_beeping_speaker_on_a_circuit/\nfor how to disable.\n\n### Memory usage\n\nMy snapcam has a 8MP camera mode and a 2MP one. The 2MP images are ~340 kB in\nsize, and the 8MP ones are ~1.1MB. The 2MP images seem to be less effected by\nmotion blur. If I use 2MP images, and take one every 30 seconds, then I would\nneed:\n\n```\n1/1000000 GB/kB * 340 kB/pic * 1/30 pic/sec * 3600 sec/hour * 16 hours/wakingDay = 0.65 GB/day = 238 GB/year\n```\n\nOr around `116 GB/year` if a took a picture every minute.\n\n\n## Using the Narrative Clip\n\nA much more user friendly experience! Unfortunately the company no longer exists." :name "camera.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifelogging"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1180 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1743190436 1675806456 1674081472 1655691154 1655657180 1653846065 1651956307 1649728795 1649723563]} {:path-categories #{"Lifelogging"} :path "content/docs/lifelogging/influences.md" :backlinks nil :title "Influences" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifelogging\"}\n---\n# Influences and Inspiration\n\n - Time tracking:\n - https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/radi1e/oc_i_tracked_every_minute_of_every_day_for_the/\n - https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/151sf82/oc_im_one_of_those_people_that_tracks_what_they/\n - http://karpathy.github.io/2014/08/03/quantifying-productivity/\n - https://howisfelix.today/?\n - [SmarterTime](https://www.smartertime.com/index.html) is a system for\n tracking all life events similar to my autojournal.\n - Audio tracking: https://roberdam.com/en/wisper.html\n (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33608437)\n - Data visualization: weeks of life: https://weeks.ginatrapani.org/\n - It should be possible to reproduce this by writing a script that downloads\n activity log data from the google sheet with the `gdrive` command line tool\n and formats it to the proper format for the weeks website." :name "influences.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifelogging"} :dir? false :links [] :size 954 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1773355530 1689818925 1669743672 1668804614 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1652816460 1651276893 1649872033]} {:path-categories #{"Lifelogging"} :path "content/docs/lifelogging/screenshot-logging.md" :backlinks nil :title "Screenshot Logging" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifelogging\"}\n---\n# Lifelogging via Screenshots\n\nPictures are easy to take and contain a ton of context-rich information.\nTherefore, they are a great way to easily lifelog.\n\n\n## Manual\n\nOn windows, pressing Win+PrnScn will take a screenshot and place it in the\nHome\\\\Pictures\\\\Screenshots folder.\nUsing the Google Drive desktop app you can mark this folder so that all photos\nplaces to it automatically get uploaded to Google Photos.\n\n\n## Fully automatic\n\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/auto-screenshooter\n\nThis method generates a lot of images, which makes it harder to view them in a\ntimeline easily.\n\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/dotfiles?tab=readme-ov-file#automatic-screenshooting\ndescribes a good method to do this on windows." :name "screenshot-logging.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifelogging"} :dir? false :links [] :size 765 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1723670821 1723659833 1674081472]} {:path-categories #{"Lifelogging"} :path "content/docs/lifelogging/what-and-why.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/daily-habits.md"} :title "What And Why" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/daily-habits.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Lifelogging\"}\n---\n# Lifelogging\n\n## What?\n\nI define lifelogging as the practice of keeping track of the events in your\nlife within some kind of physical medium, like a computer's hard drive. The\n\"Quantified Self\" concept is closely related to this, although I see it as\nbeing more specific about what it is focusing on (namely numerical\nmeasurements).\n\n## Why?\n\nThere are two primary reasons why lifelogging interests me:\n\n1. Lifelogging promises to provide a perfect record that I could refer back to\n when trying to remember something. Some examples of things that would be\n nice to remember more accurately:\n - The ideas in an engaging conversation\n - The places I was in the last day where I should look for my missing keys\n - The stuff I did during the last week when trying to figure out what\n projects to continue working on.\n - The stuff I did over the last weekend when someone asks \"how was your\n weekend?\".\n1. Finding correlations in, or otherwise analyzing, lifelogging data could lead\nto clear insights about which behaviors lead to better health, more desirable\nstates of mind, and better life outcomes however you want to define them.\n - See my [Tracking Health]({{< relref \"/docs/health-and-longevity/tracking-health.md\" >}})\n page for more details.\n\n## An Ideal System\n\nThe primary issue with lifelogging is that collecting even small amounts of\ninformation consistently can be very time consuming. This is exacerbated if you\nare not running a specific experiment on yourself that requires very targeted\ncollection, but are rather trying to paint a picture of your life that could be\nused for more generic analysis and memory-aiding.\n\nTherefore, my ideal lifelogging system would be totally automatic. This could\nbe achieved with the following components:\n\n - A GPS monitor logging my location.\n - Done using [GPSLogger](https://gpslogger.app/)\n - Tracking food consumption via photos.\n - Done using [autojournal](https://github.com/kovasap/autojournal) + Google\n Photos.\n - Plan to move to [MomentoDB](https://mementodatabase.com/) for this.\n - A wearable camera that sees what I see and stores the video somewhere.\n - Partially done using a [snapcam]({{< relref \"/docs/lifelogging/camera.md\"\n >}})\n - A wearable microphone that hears what I hear, and transcribes all heard\n speech to a searchable text log, like a script to the play that is my life.\n - Not done yet, see https://roberdam.com/en/wisper.html\n (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33608437) for prior art!\n - Programs that log what I'm doing on my various devices (laptop, phone,\n etc.).\n - Almost done with [ActivityWatch](https://activitywatch.net/).\n - Previously/currently done with\n [selfspy](https://github.com/selfspy/selfspy).\n - Tracking Exercise\n - Should be inferrable from my location tracking, but I haven't written the\n logic yet.\n - Tracking habit adherence. Like exercise or practicing a skill.\n - I found [proactively assigning myself to do a habit at a specific time]({{<\n relref \"/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/task-tracking.md\" >}})\n works very well, and this has the added benefit of tracking when I tick\n off my assignment as \"done\". I use Google Tasks for this, which show up on\n my Google Calendar. Ideally I would write code to save my task data so\n that it could be visualized in other places (and so deleted tasks wouldn't\n disappear from history).\n - Various sensors that track mood and health metrics.\n - Manually done with [MomentoDB](https://mementodatabase.com/), therefore\n not consistent :/\n - Previously done with [Nomie](https://nomie.app/), which IMO is strictly\n worse than MomentoDB.\n - Logic that tries to infer meaningful \"events\" from the datastreams collected\n by these components. For example, image processing software analyzing my\n camera feed coupled with GPS data could infer that I was playing soccer from\n 1-2pm on Saturday.\n - Not done yet\n - A place to store all the collected data.\n - Done with [Google Drive](https://drive.google.com)\n - A calendar or timeline -like visualization system that provides a\n scrollable, searchable way to browse all the generated life events.\n - Partially done with [autojournal](https://github.com/kovasap/autojournal).\n - See [continuous glucose monitoring experiment]({{< relref\n \"/docs/health-and-longevity/continuous-glucose-monitoring.md\" >}}) for a\n timeline view.\n - A tool that can find correlations in the stored data and in general condense\n it down to insights. Preferably this would be folded into the calendar or\n timeline visualization.\n - Partially done with [biomarker correlator]({{< relref \"/docs/health-and-longevity/biomarker-correlator.md\" >}})\n\nAn example of what this looks like can be found at\nhttps://miguelrochefort.com/blog/calendar/ (not my system exactly, but very\nsimilar).\n\n## Currently Available Tools\n\nThis table summarizes the functionalities of different software tools I've\ntried for personal data tracking. Here are what the columns mean:\n\n**Data Entry/Export**: Descriptions of how possible/easy it is to enter data\ninto the tool and get it back out for custom storage or analysis. They use this\nlegend:\n - 🚫 = Impossible\n - ⛏️ = Manual and Difficult\n - 🛠️ = Manual and Ergonomic\n - 🤖 = Automatic\n\n**Analysis**: The tool provides some way to analyzer and visualize your data to\nsee trends over time or other views into the data.\n\n**DB Comparison**: The tool compares your data to external data sources as part\nof the visualization to help put said data into context (e.g. is my value too\nhigh or too low).\n\n**Recommendations**: The tool makes specific recommendations about how you\nshould behave given your input data.\n\nEach column value follows this legend:\n - 🚫 = Feature Doesn't Exist\n - ✅ = Feature Available\n\n\n| Tool | Specialty | Data Entry | Data Export | Analysis | DB Comparison | Recommendations |\n|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------|------------|-------------|----------|---------------|-----------------|\n| [Cronometer](https://cronometer.com/) | Food | 🛠️ | 🛠️ | ✅| ✅ | 🚫 |\n| [Bitesnap](https://getbitesnap.com/) | Food | 🛠️ | 🛠️ | ✅| ✅ | 🚫 |\n| [SleepAsAndroid](https://sleep.urbandroid.org/) | Sleep | 🛠️+🤖 | 🤖 | ✅| 🚫 | ✅ |\n| [MomentoDB](https://mementodatabase.com/) | General Data | 🛠️ | 🤖 | ✅| 🚫 | 🚫 |\n| [ActivityWatch](https://activitywatch.net/) | PC/Phone Usage | 🤖 | 🛠️* | ✅| 🚫 | 🚫 |\n| [Google Drive](https://drive.google.com) | General Data | ⛏️ | 🤖 | 🚫 | 🚫 | 🚫 |\n| [GPSLogger](https://gpslogger.app/) | Location | 🤖 | 🤖 | 🚫 | 🚫 | 🚫 |\n| [Google Maps Timeline](https://maps.google.com/timeline) | Location | 🤖 | ⛏️ | ✅| 🚫 | 🚫 |\n| [Google Fit](https://www.google.com/fit/) | Fitness | 🛠️+🤖 | ⛏️ | ✅| 🚫 | 🚫 | :\n| [Biomarker Correlator](https://kovasap.github.io/biomarker-correlator.html) | General Data | ⛏️ | 🚫 | ✅| ✅ | 🚫 | :\n| [Young.ai](https://www.young.ai/) | Health Data | ⛏️? | ⛏️? | ✅| ✅ | ✅ | :\n\n*ActivityWatch automatic export is [in progress](https://github.com/ActivityWatch/activitywatch/issues/35).\n\n\n### General Methods\n\nI try to store as much personal data in Google Drive as possible. I find it\nconvenient to access both manually and programmatically. I've written a program\ncalled [\"autojournal\"](https://github.com/kovasap/autojournal) to parse data\nfrom my Drive (and some other places) and display it both in graphs (see my\n[CGM]({{< relref \"/docs/health-and-longevity/continuous-glucose-monitoring.md\"\n>}}) page) and on my Google\ncalendar.\n\nFor tracing of general information, I've found\n[Momentodb](https://mementodatabase.com/) for Android to be super useful. It can\ntrack almost any data type with very few taps, AND it syncs to Google Drive\n(Sheets) automatically!" :name "what-and-why.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifelogging"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/health-and-longevity/tracking-health.md" "/docs/lifelogging/camera.md" "/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/task-tracking.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/continuous-glucose-monitoring.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/biomarker-correlator.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/continuous-glucose-monitoring.md"] :size 8998 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1740866322 1729380199 1729379357 1729033555 1668804614 1655691154 1655657180 1653846065 1651596212 1651099242 1649723563]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/android-apps.md" :backlinks nil :title "Android Apps" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Android Apps\n\n## AdAway\n\n## AirVisual\n\n## Amazon\n\n## Authy\n\n## BECU\n\n## Bitesnap (not currently using)\n\n## Bitwarden\n\n## Bank of America\n\n## CloudPlayer\n\n## Cronometer\n\n## Discord\n\n## DriveSync (not currently using)\n\n## Emporia\n\n## F-droid\n\n## Facebook Messenger\n\n## Google Fit\n\n## Google Drive/Docs/Sheets\n\n## Gmail\n\n## GitHub\n\n## GPSLogger\n\nSet to log to Google Drive and start automatically.\n\n## Life360\n\n## Memento Database\n\nImport from TODO add google drive link here\n\n## Mint Mobile\n\n## MyChart\n\n## Narrative\n\n## Nova Launcher\n\n## Google Photos\n\n## Renpho (scale)\n\n## Reddit\n\n## Google Podcasts\n\n## Sensi thermostat\n\n## Signal\n\n## Sleep as Android\n\n## Steam\n\n## Google Tasks\n\n## Venmo\n\n## what3words\n\n## YouTube\n\n## Shortcut Maker\n\nAdd a shortcut to edit my website.\n\n## ReadEra\n\n## myQ\n\n## Mountain Project\n\n\n\n## [Flowx](https://www.flowx.io/)\n\nReally cool weather app that is beautiful, elegant in it's interface, and very\ninformative. I'd say it takes about a week to get used to it, but after that\nit's the best weather source I've ever used.\n\n## [Paprika](https://www.paprikaapp.com/)\n\nAn app that parses recipes out of the cancer that is most recipe websites into\na nicely formatted, simple, ad-free page that you can save. Works by allowing\nyou to share recipe webpages with the app." :name "android-apps.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1367 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1664948442 1664937384 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1649286357 1630648367]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/being-competitive.md" :backlinks nil :title "Being Competitive" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Being Competitive\n\nHere when I talk about being competitive I mean striving/expecting to improve at\na given activity, usually relative to other people but also potentially relative\nto your past self.\n\nFalling into a competitive mindset can lead to a lot of frustration when you see\nyourself stagnate or regress.\nThis can happen even if you are improving because of variance intrinsic to your\nactivity, or others improving faster than you.\n\nOne thing that helps me manage this is reflecting on the fact that human ability\nis generally very multidimensional and impacted by many different variables.\nThis philosophy is already commonly applied to many activities along some axes\nlike gender, weight class.\nHowever, there are many other dimensions that impact performance:\n\n - Clothing/shoe choice\n - Drug use\n - Diet composition\n - Supplement use\n - Technique\n - Genetics\n - Age\n - Experience\n\nThese dimensions could just as well be used to stratify people into competitive\ngroups.\nWhen I start thinking about optimizing myself along all these dimensions, I find\nthat my competitive frustration dampens.\nI find that usually I'm internally only trying to compete on a few dimensions,\nlike willpower.\nIf I could just take drugs or tune some of these other parameters to improve my\nperformance, I would feel less satisfied that if I improved via the dimensions I\ncare about.\n\nThe fact that others can outperform me via these dimensions I don't care as much\nabout makes me feel less bad about being outperformed.\nIn fact, sometimes I take pride in my performance _in spite_ of my weakness in\ndimensions I don't care about.\nFor example, my ability to (rock) climb routes of a given grade with the\nhandicap of ratty shoes makes me feel stronger that I would otherwise.\nI also feel great when I have early (\"beginner's luck\"-y) strong performance in\nan activity with the handicap of lack of experience." :name "being-competitive.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1964 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1674070949]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/bike-commuting.md" :backlinks nil :title "Bike Commuting" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Bike Commuting\n\n\n## Benefits\n\n1. **Exercise**. Moving your body is good for you, especially when regularly\n done. If you have to go to work every day, it makes sense to couple that\n mandatory travel with exercise to make the exercise \"mandatory\" itself!\n1. **Inexpensive**. Especially if you buy cheap bikes, bike commuting might be\n the least expensive way to travel around a city short of walking.\n1. **On your own terms**. For me, it's important to be on my own schedule and\n not have to worry about public transportation schedules and parking time\n limits. Biking is not the only way to accomplish this, but it does a good\n job at it.\n\n## Downsides\n\n1. Requires living in an area where everyday needs (work, grocery, etc.) are\n close by. Living in these areas is usually more expensive. This is not\n really a con if you want to live in these areas for other reasons.\n1. If you do not have a car, then it can be logistically harder to participate\n in certain activities, which will probably end up with you simply not doing\n them consistently.\n\n## Listening while Biking\n\nI highly recommend listening to audiobooks or podcasts when biking to both be\nentertained and maybe learn some stuff or get inspired while you're at it.\n\nI used to do this by putting some large studio-style over-ear headphones over\nmy *helmet* so that the speakers would not sit on my ears, but rather a couple\ninches away from them. This worked pretty well, although it did look kinda\nsilly.\n\nSince then I've switch to using \"bone-conduction\" headphones like\n[these](https://amzn.to/3j79zfw) (I can't find my originally purchased ones).\nIn my experience, these just act like tiny speakers that are close to your\nears, but not in them - I don't get much \"bone-conduction\" effect from my pair.\n\nHowever you listen when biking, I highly recommend making sure you can still\nhear what's going on around you for safety.\n\n## Buying a Bike\n\nI personally recommend buying a cheap, used bike for commuting. There are\nseveral reasons for this:\n\n - Maintaining an expensive bike's high performance can itself be expensive and\n time consuming, especially if you ride it a lot, which you would be doing if\n you are commuting. A cheaper bike with worse performance will require less\n maintenance to keep it at its current performance level, and you can even\n just let it fall into disrepair and get another cheap bike when it becomes\n unusable. This makes the assumption that performance for commuting is not\n that important (it isn't for me).\n - It's easier to buy multiple bikes if they are cheap, which has several\n benefits:\n - You can try out different styles of bike and/or bikes with different\n features over a longer time window.\n - If one bike has a problem that might take a couple days to resolve (e.g.\n if you are waiting for a part delivery), you still have a bike to use.\n - Bike theft is a real problem, and having a used bike (1) makes your bike a\n less attractive target for thieves and (2) makes any theft that does occur\n less painful. AFAIK no lock perfectly secures your bike, and few/no locks\n secure individual bike components.\n\nIn a big city like Seattle, there are a lot of people selling bikes, so they\nare usually pretty easy to find. I use [craigslist](https://craigslist.org/)\nand [Facebook Marketplace](https://www.facebook.com/marketplace) for this.\n\n## Modifications\n\n### Milk Crate\n\nThe best way I've found to transport stuff on a bike is a back rack + milk\ncrate combo:\n\n![Milk Crate](/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/bike_milk_crate.jpg)\n\nThis securely holds things that are just placed in it (like a backpack).\nPreviously I used straps to secure bags to the bike rack itself, but this is\nmuch easier. This is also **much** more pleasant than actually wearing a\nbackpack when biking, especially if you don't want to sweat too much.\n\n## Rainy Weather\n\nOne of the worst parts of bike commuting is getting wet on the way in to work\nand not being able to dry off. For me, most of my cloths dry pretty quickly in\nthe generally light Seattle rain, but my shoes and socks do not. This is\npartially because of their relative thickness and also because they are usually\nexposed to the most water. Even when it is not actively raining, biking on wet\nground can toss up a good amount of water on- or into my shoes.\n\nI've found the best solution to this problem by far is wearing some kind of\nwaterproof shoe covers like [these](https://amzn.to/3NvMFMK).\n\n## Maintenance\n\nMost bike maintenance is not that hard to learn, and you will save lots of time\nand money in the long run if you learn some basics. Here I list the most common\nproblems that can be easily addressed DIY. Check out YouTube for good tutorials\nif I haven't linked any myself. \n\nMost repairs require some specialized tools, which are pretty cheap on Amazon\n(usually less expensive than having the repair done professionally once).\n\nA good site for learning more is https://www.sheldonbrown.com.\n\n### Flat Tires\n\nI like to keep a couple tubes (like [this one](https://amzn.to/3qN1r87)) around\nfor an easy change. I also use patch kits for small punctures.\n\nYou'll also need [tire levers](https://amzn.to/3JyEIDg) to remove your tire.\n\nWhen changing a tube, keep in mind that your tube was damaged by something.\nThis could be:\n\n - Something that punctured your tire. Run your hands along the inside of your\n tire near the puncture to make sure that nothing sharp is still embedded in\n your tire!\n - Your tire itself has a hole in it.\n - Your tube folded as it inflated, or was otherwise pinched.\n\nYou don't want to change your tube only to have your new tube break for the\nsame reason!\n\n### Skipping Gears\n\nSometimes when you bike you may notice skipping when pedaling, especially when\npedaling hard. This is usually quite jarring and in bad cases can make your\nbike fairly unridable. This issue can be caused by several different problems:\n\n#### 1. Misaligned Shifters\n\nYour gear shifters may put the chain in between two of the cogs that it wraps\naround. To fix this, usually shifters can be shifted around by tighting or\nloosening a screw on them.\n\n#### 2. A Stretched Chain\n\nOver time, bike chains stretch. An overly stretched chain can lead to\nskipping, as the distance between the links no longer properly matches the\ndistances between the teeth on the cog. See\nhttps://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/when-to-replace-a-chain-on-a-bicycle\nfor a good overview of this problem.\n\n**TIP:** When replacing the chain, sometimes using a chain tool to drive the\ncylindrical bit through the two links to close the loop will result in a \"stiff\"\nlink.\nBasically the two links of the chain on either side of the bit you just drove\nthrough will not rotate freely along the bit like the other links.\nOne common reason this happens is because the pressure from driving the bit will\n*press the outer link firming against the inner one*.\nTo fix this, simply put some metal pliers or the like into the gap between the\ntwo outer link's sides and twist to push the sides further apart!\n\n#### 3. Worn Cogs\n\nJust like chains can wear out, so can the cogs they wrap around. This happens\nmore slowly, and I've heard can be slowed even further by regularly replacing\nyour chain (presumably stretched chains wear out cogs faster). When a cog is\nworn, skipping occurs for the same reason as when a chain is worn - there is a\nmisfit between the chain and the cog. Cogs can also break teeth, making this\neven worse! \n\nNote when replacing cogs that there are two types, freewheels and cassettes.\nIt is crucial to know which one you have before attempting a replacement! Check\nout these sites for more details:\n\n - https://www.sheldonbrown.com/free-k7.html\n - https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/determining-cassette-freewheel-type\n\nI've made the mistake before of trying to replace the wrong type of cog, and\nit's not fun.\n\n### Stuck Seatpost\n\nI had a very persistent problem for a while of my seatpost being stuck in a\nspecific position on one of my bikes. I think the root cause was corrosion\nfusing the post to the frame, but am not completely sure. I tried very hard\nfor a long time to fix this, as the seat was slightly too high and I suspect\nthis was causing me [pain in my left\nknee](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a9vPQ6muSLYFzL1YfB7s90kQxWDijXBOpVjZqCm5GEs/edit#heading=h.4aznx89p4bq7).\nEventually, a coworker lent me a [pipe wrench](https://amzn.to/3NpLoGN) and I\nbought some [penetrating lube](https://amzn.to/3zgWxFH). These two in tandem\neasily loosened my seatpost!\n\n*Note that any links to products on this page are Amazon affiliate links.*" :name "bike-commuting.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 8727 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1710287362 1707596110 1704233545 1704233430 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1654535652 1653846065 1649717684 1649294966 1649215476 1648864512 1648599868 1648595808]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/daily-habits.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/lifelogging/2025-update.md"} :title "Daily Habits" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/lifelogging/2025-update.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Important\" \"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Daily Habits\n\n## Food\n\nSee [Personal Food Habits]({{< relref\n\"/docs/health-and-longevity/food/personal-food-habits.md\" >}}).\n\n## Supplements\n\nSee [Supplements]({{< relref \"/docs/health-and-longevity/food/supplements.md\" >}}).\n\n## Exercise\n\n### When using a computer\n\nI try to move around regularly, via walking around or doing some light\nphysical-therapy-style exercises like\nhttps://www.momentumphysicaltherapy.ca/blog/okotoks-physiotherapy-posture-exercises.\n\n## Tasks\n\nAll things I need to do should be tracked in a \"reminders\" task list in Google\nTasks with an associated date/time.\nWhen that date/time occurs, I should get a notification on my phone.\nAt this point I will immediately either:\n\n1. Do the task or\n2. Reset the task date/time for when I think I can do it or\n3. Delete the task if it is obsolete or\n4. Remove the date/time and move the task to another task list like \"Stuff to\n Try\" (this list has hundreds of items for me that most of which I will likely\n never do).\n\nI should never have any task notifications \"sitting around\" or any obsolete tasks.\n\nOne of the reasons why this works so well for me is that I often look down at my\nphone when I am bored or in between tasks.\nThis is the perfect time to do or reassign tasks; otherwise I would likely just\nbrowse Reddit.\n\nThis applies for recurring tasks as well: if I get a recurring task that I want\nto do later, I will mark it as complete, then make a new task with the new name\nwith a different date/time.\n\n## Interesting Things\n\nI used to have tasks associated with experiences I want to have, or have again.\nThis got really cumbersome.\nSo instead I now have a [spreadsheet I regularly\nupdate](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jnb_Yg9BYhG2O-RGe822YODZSJu2LcjvORL4Q-zDqxA/edit?gid=0#gid=0)\nwhere I log these things.\nI wrote [some apps script\ncode](https://github.com/kovasap/autojournal-on-gas/blob/b1d9e8127f1c22297e610b2a6d49f95a22eb8ccd/src/autojournal/cool_stuff.cljs)\nthat sends me an email every day with a random selection of items from this list\nto inspire me to do them.\n\n## Lifelogging\n\nSee more at [Lifelogging / What and Why]({{< relref \"/docs/lifelogging/what-and-why.md\" >}}).\n\nI don't do any periodic lifelogging right now, but have many times gotten the\nurge to do it in various forms.\nData for those attempts is in various Google sheets in my Google Drive.\n\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/autojournal-on-gas\n\n\n## This Page\n\n*This page should be kept up to date via a recurring Google task*" :name "daily-habits.md" :private false :categories #{"Important" "Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/health-and-longevity/food/personal-food-habits.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/food/supplements.md" "/docs/lifelogging/what-and-why.md"] :size 2613 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1773355530 1755995343 1755974875 1755322345 1751950810 1749183626 1749182856 1749182667 1746493962 1743190436 1742167498 1740947312 1740866322 1740862760 1740593638 1739824025 1739569784 1739397993 1739316639 1732841674 1731450576 1730581865 1729033555]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/daily-physiological-tricks.md" :backlinks nil :title "Daily Physiological Tricks" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Daily Physiological Tricks\n\n## Mental\n\n - When feeling overwhelmed or incapable of doing something hard (or even\n understanding what to do!), try disconnecting from new (distracting) stimuli\n (phone, PC) and letting my mind wander.\n - See also [these ideas]({{< relref\n \"/docs/mind/things-to-do-when-unmotivated.md\" >}}) for other things to do.\n - When doing this, add \"planned\" events to [mementodb](https://github.com/kovasap/autojournal-on-gas?tab=readme-ov-file#manual-tracking), or think about the currently \"planned\" events, and how they should be resolved.\n - When something interesting happens, take a note [in\n mementodb](https://github.com/kovasap/autojournal-on-gas?tab=readme-ov-file#manual-tracking).\n - When having a conversation with someone, try to use some of [these\n concepts]({{< relref\n \"/docs/understanding-the-world/productive-conversations.md\" >}}) to make the\n discussion more productive.\n - Make sure there is some [slack](https://www.neelnanda.io/blog/38-slack) in\n the day.\n \n## Physical\n\n - Leaning back briefly when pooping can help push poop out.\n\n## Food\n\n - Avoid eating a lot of protein in the evening to get [better temperature\n regulation when sleeping]({{< relref \"/docs/health-and-longevity/sleep.md\"\n >}}).\n If it's really cold, do the opposite to stay warm.\n - Eat one plate of food (even a large one), then wait >2 hours before eating\n more.\n It's really easy for me to feel overfull when going for seconds 10 mins after\n eating.\n - If on a \"snack train\", eat wasabi to try to curb it.\n - Soup broths are a great way to sate hunger without eating too many calories.\n Try dried seaweed as an addition!\n\n### Old / Obselete?\n\n - Foods to eat when resting / zoning out:\n - Peanut butter, beans, some grains, bread\n - Going too hard here can lead to low energy for longer than intended (even ~a day).\n - Try to follow this rough eating schedule:\n - 9am small breakfast: light salad (not very much fruit)\n - 12-1pm largish lunch: easy to digest carbs, greens, carrots, potatoes, nuts, fats\n - Try not to give in to snacking cravings in the afternoon\n - 7-9pm smallish dinner: whole grains/beans, less fruit, less fats\n - This later dinner with whole grains specifically often leads to better sleep for me.\n - Coffee (decaf) bad, especially in the morning.\n Green tea good.\n Both are OK right after lunch.\n - Not sure if caffeine at all is a net positive for me anymore." :name "daily-physiological-tricks.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/mind/things-to-do-when-unmotivated.md" "/docs/understanding-the-world/productive-conversations.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/sleep.md"] :size 2534 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1739316639 1720029562 1720029553 1715134365 1715134343 1715101909 1692046758 1687197151 1686331697 1682182068 1682100733 1675446664 1673390090 1671658646 1671388521 1671234343 1669743672 1667685550 1664948442 1664936458 1664167827 1663622437 1663363785 1662925934 1662925602 1662788267 1662495370]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/elements-of-a-good-day.md" :backlinks nil :title "Elements Of A Good Day" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Elements of a Good Day\n\n1. Coming up with a good explanation for something.\n This could be writing something down or more easily just having a really good\n conversation with someone.\n Or even narrating something to yourself by makings a video or using a\n text-to-speech service.\n1. Physical exercise that really pushes you to some kind of limit\n\nIf I'm going to snack towards the end of the day, grains/starches are the way to\ngo (not fats like peanut butter).\n\n\nThere's some really good insight at\nhttps://web.archive.org/web/20220711101916/https://nabeelqu.co/advice." :name "elements-of-a-good-day.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 648 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1658277343 1657997776]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/experiences.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/thought-experiments/mind-mapping-concept.md"} :title "Experiences" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/thought-experiments/mind-mapping-concept.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# My Experiences\n\nThis project is currently abandoned and probably broken.\n\nA summary of experiences I've had, and the states of mind they invoke for me.\nSee [Mind Mapping Concept]({{< relref\n\"/docs/thought-experiments/mind-mapping-concept.md\" >}}) for ideas on how else\nto display this.\n\nNote that this view is obselete - the current way to view this is via the menu\nsidebar.\n\n{{< experience_aggregator >}}\n{{% include \"docs/lifestyle-optimizations/experiences.edn\" %}}\n{{< /experience_aggregator >}}" :name "experiences.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/thought-experiments/mind-mapping-concept.md"] :size 631 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875 1755322345 1667447590 1655691154 1655657180 1653846065 1653367488 1649215476]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/footwear.md" :backlinks nil :title "Footwear" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Footwear\n\n## Socks\n\nI have pretty large feet with I think a larger than average instep.\nBecause of this, I have long struggled to find socks that aren't uncomfortably\ntight on the top of my foot.\nI have ordered and returned many many socks in search of a pair that feels loose\nand comfortable.\n\nI haven't fully found the best socks yet, but the best ones so far have been:\n\n - https://amzn.to/4h7FlV8\n - https://amzn.to/4h7FlV8\n\nI have actually cut holes in the top of my socks just about at the ankle to help\nalleiviate this problem. It does work.\n\n## Shoes\n\nI exclusively wear https://amzn.to/4bte91Z.\n\nI started trying out minimalist running shoes when building a running habit\nduring the pandemic, and these fit me really well and were cheap.\nI especially like how loose they are - I think I am more sensitive than most to\nhaving an overheated sweaty foot; I hate that feeling.\n\nMost of the time during the day I untie the laces for comfort. I tie a knot in the end of each lace so that I don't step/trip on them:\n\n![](/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/knot-in-laces.jpg)" :name "footwear.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1144 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1756002649 1756002482 1749182667 1740947312]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/geographical-maps.md" :backlinks nil :title "Geographical Maps" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Geographical Maps\n\n - Map of what you can visually see from any given point on Earth:\n https://www.heywhatsthat.com/\n - 3D map of all satellites: https://platform.leolabs.space/visualizations/leo" :name "geographical-maps.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 268 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1667452680 1665881215 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1649439956]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/hang-drying-clothes.md" :backlinks nil :title "Hang Drying Clothes" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Hang (Air) Drying Cloths\n\nI've found that hang drying cloths over using a cloths dryer has some pretty\nneat advantages:\n\n### Less Work\n\nIF you hang dry your cloths in a place where they can stay indefinitely, then\nhang drying leads to this laundry workflow:\n\n1. Wash cloths\n1. Hang dry - this must happen now because cloths are wet!\n1. Easily find what you want to wear (since everything is hanging up) and wear\n it.\n\nI find this easier than my previous workflow, which was:\n\n1. Wash cloths\n1. Transfer to dryer\n1. Put in laundry bin to fold later\n1. Never actually fold later and dig through the bin to find stuff when I need\n to wear it. This is especially annoying with socks. And it leads to\n wrinkly cloths.\n\nEven if I did fold the cloths, I find that hanging cloths up is easier\nphysically easier than folding them and putting them away.\n\n### Longer Lasting Cloths\n\nCloths seem to wear out less quickly for me using this technique.\nUnfortunately I have no evidence of this and am a biased source, so this may\nnot actually be true. I'd be surprised if cloths wore out more quickly though!\n\n### Cheaper\n\nIf we assume the average cloths dryer using 3000W and drys cloths in 2 hrs,\nthen to do one load of laundry takes 6kWh. In Seattle, this would cost\n`$0.11/kWh * 6kWh = $0.66` per load of laundry. So not much, but something!\n\n\n## An Old Apartment's System\n\nI (use to) hang my cloths above my 4-poster bed, which I find is a pretty\nefficient use of space:\n\n![Empty](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/hl1LcVBoja_2GU6FprNhf7y9BQYafNIkDOwQKdfeCndHK5ZakGU-ADtDDxulY6t56hN7GPwPtvSMNrOgv9hnsiB27C3jhDvo6R9gGpiKM61wCZvt-gJ06WOwCYvFC3rAcTNs9A6i5t8=w2400)\n\n![Corner](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gGe-CRep0Y80Nsf4RvequnkzTJ0fdz3hAA8JeaoH2I5t1vwECWhyB9tIjb7an8mZ6fYTzSKrwVVqlNHzb5uhDwkJxagJKpUh6ZWQiw2eiJkMZuBMuQCwFgkL5-hh1tKuA21PG9iWriY=w2400)\n\n![Cloths](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/KYh_H0WnC-_2hH8acCdnNXibKdHbKgBDmuc6P8R7S0nZVkUohAqe5qutcbY5fvZMa04i18BWLmH5NDWx3os7AEVsKpcnP2xV2HR9fn_e2hAI7ieLburs0g-UYTOcxmHM7UsHrqu3TOE=w2400)\n\nOne thing to be careful of is the weight of the cloths on the structure you're\nusing, which can be significant!\n\n\n## Using Hangers\n\nA good system I use as of 2022 is to put wet shirts on hangers, which I then\nhang on a clothesline. When doing this it's important to tie regularly spaced\nknots in the rope for the hangers to rest against (like this:\nhttps://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/vf4upz/this_man_tying_knots/)\nto make sure the clothes don't bunch up (reducing airflow)." :name "hang-drying-clothes.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2610 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655691154 1655658361 1655657180 1653846065 1647131544]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/home-network-and-internet-troubleshooting.md" :backlinks nil :title "Home Network And Internet Troubleshooting" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Internet and Home Network Troubleshooting\n\n## Lag when playing games\n\nWhen downloading stuff and playing games at the same time, the game's packets\ncan be queued behind the download's packets, causing lag. This can be measured\nwith this test: https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat. QoS and SQM are\nrouter features that can be enabled from the router's web interface that are\nsupposed to help with this.\nhttps://www.bufferbloat.net/projects/bloat/wiki/What_can_I_do_about_Bufferbloat/\nis another good resource.\n\nAnother thing to try is to run `ping -t` in a windows cmd\nprompt. This measures the latency between your computer and the router - if\nthis is high, then something internal to the network may be causing the\nlatency." :name "home-network-and-internet-troubleshooting.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 820 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1642380817]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/house-diy.md" :backlinks nil :title "House Diy" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Housing DIY Tricks\n\nTODO: Write about washing machine install here.\n\n - https://fixmyblinds.com/" :name "house-diy.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 167 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1704401356 1704233545]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/keyboards-and-typing.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/me/recent-interests.md"} :title "Keyboards And Typing" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/me/recent-interests.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Keyboards and Typing\n\nSee an overview presentation I made at https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YsScPYB9H_Byha7xdw69ekQ6zQyqFh3ReMfeFMfVEDk/edit.\n\n## Layouts\n\nhttps://www.keybr.com/layouts\n\n![layouts](/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/layouts.png)\n\nhttps://www.reddit.com/r/Colemak/comments/qslro8/10000_simple_wikipedia_sentences_heatmap_qwerty/\n\n## Mods\n\n - https://precondition.github.io/home-row-mods#tips-and-tricks\n\n## Touch Typing\n\nI find this \"finger-key ownership\" scheme to be the most comfortable, at least when using the Colemak layout:\n\n![finger-key ownership](/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/fingers.png)\n\nhttps://www.keybr.com/ is a great place to efficiently learn touch typing.\n\n## Speed Testing\n\nhttps://monkeytype.com/ with tags is a good way to compare typing speed.\n\n## My Journey Through Different Boards\n\n### Kinesis Freestyle Split\n\nAfter doing a posture consultation at work, I was recommended to try a split\nkeyboard to help keep my shoulders more relaxed and my wrists/arms strait.\nI was given a kinesis freestyle split keyboard, which felt great.\nI specifically really liked the built in tenting feature, which I found very\ncomfortable.\n\n### Planck\n\nI borrowed a Planck keyboard from a coworker as my first foray into\northolinear mechanical keyboards.\nI liked the key density, programmatability and brown mechanical switches, but\nstruggled with the small size.\nSpecifically, I didn't like how close my hands were to each other, and how the\nkeys didn't really line up with my fingers.\n\n### Boardrun\n\nTo fix the cramped feeling of the Planck, I found a Boardrun keyboard (see\npicture in the Corne section below) from a local via a discord group.\nI didn't use this keyboard for very long before deciding that I really wanted to\ngo back to using a split keyboard.\nThe separation of the two halves on the boardrun just wasn't enough for me.\n\n### Corne Ergo Split Board\n\nI bought a wireless, low profile, hotswap corne already assembled off of reddit.\nhttps://armno.in.th/blog/building-a-wireless-corne-keyboard/ was really helpful\nto get it set up.\n\nMy keymap for this board uses combo keys to activate layers, and can be found at\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/zmk-config/blob/main/config/corne.keymap.\n\n![corne](/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/corne.jpg)\n*My Wireless Corne, with a Boardrun in the background I'm trying to get rid of.*\n\n\n### Kaly42\n\n#### Motivation\n\nI've been liking my Corne, but had two main issues with it:\n\n1. The furthest-in thumb key was very hard to reach, and borderline unusable.\n2. The pinky column stagger was not pronounced enough, making me often use my\n ring finger to hit the top pinky key.\n\nThe Kaly42 promised to solve both of these problems, and I'd been wanting to try\nbuilding a board from scratch anyway.\n\n#### Parts\n\nI used the parts list on the Kaly and Cantor (which the Kaly is based on) GitHub\npages to guide my purchases.\nI bought everything on Aliexpress except for keycaps and switches, which came\nfrom lowprokb.ca.\nThe PCB I got from JCLPCB.\n\nAt first I bought the wrong microcontroller from Aliexpress.\nIt may have been the right spec, was was too wide to fit on the board.\nI ended up using [this\npost](https://github.com/Dwctor/Kaly/issues/6#issuecomment-2365386452) to get\none that would work.\n\nI hopefully thought my microcontroller would come with pins and sockets so that\nI could make it removable (in case it broke when installed on the board), but it\ndid not.\nI ended up sourcing some low profile sockets from a coworker.\nNext time I would definitely buy sockets up front to make sure I had them.\n\n#### Build Process\n\nThis was my first soldering job, so a good amount of learning was involved.\nSpecifically, it took me a while to get used to the fact that some part of the\nkeyboard took way longer to heat up than others when soldering, and I often\napplied solder too early while the metal was still too cold, leading to an ugly\nconnection.\n\nSome of my connections worked right after soldering, but failed after a couple\nhours exposed to colder temps.\n\n![kaly_in_progress](/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/kaly_in_progress.jpg)\n*Midway\nthrough the build, here I was trying to decide if I should use the large sockets\navailable at my makerspace, or solder directly onto the board.\nLuckily I was able to find shorter sockets from a coworker that gave me the best\nof both worlds.*\n\n#### Final Product\n\n![kaly](/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/kaly.jpg)\n\n![kaly_on_wood](/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/kaly_on_wood.jpg)\n\n![kaly_on_desk](/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/kaly_on_desk.jpg)\n\n#### Keymap\n\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/qmk_firmware/blob/master/keyboards/kaly/kaly42/keymaps/kovasap/keymap.c\n\n### Lintilla\n\n#### Motivation\n\nAfter using my Kaly42 for a while, there were some minor issues that were\nconsistenly annoying me.\nI detailed these issues at\nhttps://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/comments/1i6q9ih/searching_for_keyboard_42_key_split_staggered/.\nA commenter helpfully suggested the\n[Lintilla](https://github.com/ctranstrum/lintilla) keyboard, which looked to\nsolve all of my problems, plus add some nice new features like being wireless.\n\n#### Build Process\n\nThe instructions on the Lintilla GitHub page for getting parts and building the\nboard were phenomenal.\nIn no small part due to the high quality instructions, building the Lintilla was\njust as easy or easier than building the Kaly42 despite being a more complex\nboard.\n\nI did run into a couple hiccups that might be useful for others to know:\n\n - Finding the M2 screws and hex nuts was surprisingly difficult in my local\n area.\n The hardware stores I tried only had down to M3.\n I ended up ordering many more than I needed from Amazon.\n - Ordering the Xiao microcontrollers from Seeedstudio in China took 30 days to\n deliver.\n Maybe I just got unluchy.\n - At first I put the microcontrollers on both sides of the board backwards.\n One of them I removed (and destroyed :( ) by grilling it on a hot plate.\n Luckily the other one I was able to save by removing it with a hot air gun.\n - I had some other minor issues during the build that are documented at\n https://github.com/ctranstrum/lintilla/issues?q=is%3Aissue%20author%3Akovasap.\n The keyboard creator was extremely helpful in helping me work through these\n issues, and several of the issues led to repository updates that will solve\n the problems for future builders.\n\n\n![Mid build lintilla](/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/mid-build-lintilla.jpg)\n\n![lintilla xiao wrong side](/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/lintilla-wrong-side-xiao.jpg)\n*Note how the microcontroller is incorrectly on the top of the board, whereas\nall the sockets/diodes are on the bottom!*\n\n#### Final Product\n\n![lintilla](/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/lintilla-both.jpg)\n\n![lintilla one side](/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/lintilla-right.jpg)\n*Except for the middle thumb key, the keycaps are colored by the finger that will use them.*\n\n![lintilla other side](/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/lintilla-left.jpg)\n*I tried out some [\"convex\" or \"thumb\"\nkeycaps](https://typeractive.xyz/products/mbk-keycaps?_pos=1&_sid=79cf78d62&_ss=r&variant=46728680407271)\non the thumb keys, and it is incredible how much more comfortable they are to\nuse than the normal keycaps with the sharpish edges.*\n\n![lintilla with kaly](/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/lintilla-with-kaly.jpg)\n*My finished Lintilla, with my Kaly42 behind it.\nI like using gloves as wrist rests, and have even attached some to my kaly with\nstrings.\nThese rests double as \"cases\" I can flip on top of the keycaps to protect them\nfor transport when I put the keybord halves back-to-back.\nI'll probably end up doing something similar for the Lintilla.*\n\n#### Keymap\n\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/zmk-config/blob/main/config/lintilla.keymap\n\n## Normal Keyboard Usage\n\nAs much as I like my custom keyboards, sometimes it's just more convenient to\nuse my laptop keyboard.\nTo make it nicer, I use xkb on linux to implement something like\nhttps://dreymar.colemak.org/ergo-mods.html#angle-wide.\nMy config is at https://github.com/kovasap/dotfiles/tree/master/keyboard.\n\n## Inspiration and other projects\n\n - A small keyboard with many layers:\n https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32634511\n - https://ianthehenry.com/posts/peggi/" :name "keyboards-and-typing.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 8364 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1756002649 1756002482 1740866322 1740782964 1740782450 1740781684 1731450576 1729380499 1729380199 1729379357 1728334241 1723670821 1723659833 1720030119 1720029553]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/life-advice.md" :backlinks nil :title "Life Advice" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Life Advice\n\nA disorganized collection of advice that I haven't yet sorted into better\ncategories:\n\n - https://kk.org/thetechnium/103-bits-of-advice-i-wish-i-had-known/\n - https://guzey.com/advice/" :name "life-advice.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 268 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1651276893]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/listening-to-books.md" :backlinks nil :title "Listening To Books" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Listening to Books\n\nWhen commuting I like to listen to podcasts or books for learning and\nentertainment. Unfortunately, many books do not have audiobook versions.\nLuckily, it's fairly easy to use text-to-speech engines to convert the text of\ne books into audio. See tools in this repo:\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/pico-read-speaker\n\nTODO check out:\n\n - https://gtts.readthedocs.io/en/latest/\n\n\nI was listening to https://www.lifespan.io/the-rejuvenation-roundup-podcast/\nrecently and noticed the voice of the presenter sounded a bit generated. I\nreached out to the creators, and they say they use\n[Synthesia](https://www.synthesia.io/?via=ryan-o-shea). This would be amazing\nfor use in audiobook generation.\n\nhttps://beta.elevenlabs.io/ is another good solution that I've listened to\nsamples from, but haven't paid for yet." :name "listening-to-books.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 895 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1683737709 1683575232 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1653588803 1651168376]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/making-friends.md" :backlinks nil :title "Making Friends" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Making Friends\n\nhttps://www.neelnanda.io/blog/43-making-friends" :name "making-friends.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 134 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1671658646 1671235170]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/mice.md" :backlinks nil :title "Mice" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Mice\n\n## Daily Drivers\n\n### Corsair DARKSTAR WIRELESS RGB\n\n - Expensive\n - Has tilt gestures, but NOT usable on linux with build in memory customization\n option.\n - Many complaints about build/technical issues\n - I personally experienced a creeky side-to-side scroll wheel button\n actuation, and the top left left-click button did not depress properly\n when hitting the front part of it.\n This is more annoying than it sounds.\n - For me, this mouse felt pretty good in my hand. If anything a bit big.\n - Buttons are plentiful and easy to reach for the most part.\n\n### Logitech M650 L\n\nI love the remarkably quiet clicking sound this mouse makes.\nThe feeling of where my hand grips the mouse is great too.\nOtherwise it's a bit small for my hand.\n\n### Corsair Sabre RGB\n\nExcellent shape and good light weight, but not enough buttons!\n\n## Things I've tried\n\n### PICTEK Gaming Mouse\n\nFunctional, but felt too small for my hands.\n\n### Razer DeathAdder Essential\n\nHas a tall center that I find a bit uncomfortable.\n\n### Logitech G502 Hero\n\nMore buttons, but some downgrades from the Sabre:\n\n - Mouse wheel is too hard to scroll when not in freewheel mode.\n - Mouse wheel scrolls itself when in freewheel mode!\n - Thumb does not touch table due to design of mouse.\n Also design feels like it was made for a smaller thumb than mine: a bit\n uncomfortable.\n - Feels slightly smaller overall, which is not as nice for my larger hands.\n\n### Razer Naga\n\nFelt so wrong in my hands, both very bulky and hard to grip, with my thumb\nconstantly not finding a good position due to the grid of buttons.\n\n### Turtle Beach Kone Wireless XP\n\n - Amazing software, seems like all settings can be stored in mouse memory as\n well\n - Many buttons, including cool \"easy shift\" button that is very easy to use\n with thumb\n - Kinda small for my hand to palm.\n - \"easy shift\" button acts as thumb shelf, and my thumb feels too big for the\n shelf slot, just like the Logitech G502\n - very cool lighting that seems to appear out of nowhere and gives the mouse depth\n\nI wish my hand fit this mouse better :(.\n\n## To Try Perhaps?\n\nSee this Gemini chat: https://g.co/gemini/share/f856fe7477aa\n\n### Corsair IRONCLAW RGB WIRELESS\n\n - No mouse wheel side buttons\n\n### Steelseries Rival 500 \n\n - Discontinued :(\n\n### Swiftpoint Z2\n\n - Very unique!\n - Has tilt gestures\n - Expensive\n\n### Logitech G300s Optical Ambidextrous Gaming Mouse\n\n - No side wheel buttons, or side buttons at all\n - Discontinued :(\n\n### Logitech G700s\n\nTried a friend's. Felt great in my hand. Unfortunately discontinued :(." :name "mice.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2660 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875 1753415573 1753148154 1753148010 1751952396 1751907558 1751869555 1751868760]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/no-ad-youtube-viewing.md" :backlinks nil :title "No Ad Youtube Viewing" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Ad-Free YouTube Viewing\n\nSometimes YouTube videos are riddled with ads that make them hard to watch. To\ncombat this issue, I created [a small\nscript](https://github.com/kovasap/dotfiles/blob/master/bin/dl-and-play-yt.bash)\nthat downloads the youtube video at the URL currently on your clipboard and\nplays it with your default video player. I made [a\nhotkey](https://github.com/kovasap/dotfiles/blob/1c6706b9df29d8ae7a1f214bb6dcba7474e77d15/.config/qtile/config.py#L158)\nto run this scipt in my window manager (QTile). So now when I want to watch a\nYouTube video I just need to copy the url to my clipboard and then hit \"mod-y\"\non my keyboard (mod is the windows key)! This also has the added benefit of\nsaving the video to my hard drive in case I want to watch it later when\noffline." :name "no-ad-youtube-viewing.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 854 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1642380817]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/personal-data-management.md" :backlinks nil :title "Personal Data Management" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Personal Data Management\n\n## General Purpose File Storage\n\nStore photos and others things I interact with regularly in Google Drive/Photos.\nMirror this to a hard drive I own via the Google Drive app for windows.\n\nEvery 2 months store a google takeout backup on two hard drives I own.\nStore other \"cold storage\" items there as well.\n\nWhen Google Drive releases a 500GB pricing tier (or lowers the price of the 2TB\ntier), just store everything in Google Drive.\n\n## Code and Digital Creative Projects\n\nGithub.\n\n## Passwords and Secrets\n\nBitwarden.\n\nAlso this project looks useful: https://github.com/mprimi/portable-secret" :name "personal-data-management.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 690 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1686456666 1671660905]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/phone-case.md" :backlinks nil :title "Phone Case" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# 3-in-1 Phone Case\n\nThis system for a wallet, keys, and phone in one package has been serving me\npretty well. It doesn't add much noticeable bulk to my phone at all, and even\nmakes it a bit easier to hold because my fingers can grab the pouch instead of\nthe other side of the phone.\n\nI used a cheap, thin rubber phone case with the [Sinjimoru Card\nHolder](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HY3HSZQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1)\nfor this system.\n\n![Clean](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/O2xgHWynSHjA2wFbFUIRDuvApTCzXHOgQTWOjavt6fIZNRp07HeT6rktWiEtlNrEiqLK-KyznBO-M3HHTUwoHSt_iu-MAV7BU23YD1cyNiX8cyRE-NFhjIYZR5tLe-jbbZEmPnSQymw=w2400)\n\n![Back](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Z3PDElnAu0izgwc9VcPAJQwBY_5NjCtd90R38tS484aAQhRnI_aL646SAFVL_8iZgCWaj4_ocOlmp2as5PgCiHj5dENfItbZTjCqHVoeAbakOgndKBwKOYJJvTuOJRlWM6CaUjFqnFA=w2400)\n\n![Side](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/V7sDcbO-WeTrip0VKsikEZ12kvw0ZIAIP67BGVJ8E1e3YSu5t3Odk-bLpccUhH8QOUJ2bRR39DdKkU4oAcel1OURsSPFQVlP_lJ9yKSb5uBwboMzJIi3AgaiiL_MGsolatnZF1lVgVM=w2400)" :name "phone-case.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1109 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1624337751]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/task-tracking.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/health-and-longevity/sleep.md" "content/docs/lifelogging/what-and-why.md"} :title "Task Tracking" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/health-and-longevity/sleep.md\" \"content/docs/lifelogging/what-and-why.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Task Tracking\n\n## The Problem\n\nI find it quite mentally draining to hold multiple to-do items in my head while\nat the same time doing other things. Not only is it tiring, but I frequently\nfail at it; some of the tasks will just evaporate from my memory, only to be\nrecalled a day later (or when there is a serious problem stemming from the task\nnot being done). This isn't helped by \"trying harder\". Doing so only makes me\n\"panic-remember\" a task every 5 minutes or so, pulling me completely out of\nwhatever else I was doing.\n\nTrying to remember tasks I've found also has a large negative impact on my\nsleep quality. The cycle of \"panic-remembering\" leads to me sleeping lightly\nand waking up whenever the remembering happens.\n\n## Mobile Reminders\n\nAn amazing solution to my above problem has been using reminders on my\nsmartphone to keep tasks out of my head, but still make sure they are done. I\npersonally use Google Tasks, but I'm sure other reminder apps would work just\nas well. My system works like this:\n\n1. Think of something that needs to be done, or be asked to do something by\n another person.\n1. Add a task on my phone with a description of the work.\n1. **Set a time on the task when I think I'll be free to tackle it.**\n1. Get notified of the task at the time I set.\n1. Do the task, or postpone it; or do some work towards the task and postpone\n it for later follow up.\n\nThis system works very well compared to e.g. a to-do list, because it\nexplicitly considers what time I'll be in the right mindset and have the right\ncontext to do each item. I don't need to periodically scan my list and\nre-remember every task when figuring out what to do next.\n\nThis system also makes it easy to set recurring tasks, or tasks in the far\nfuture (months to years away). I've never been able to consistently remember to\ndo these kinds of tasks before using this system.\n\n## Building Habits\n\nSetting recurring reminders at specific times is also an extremely effective\nway of building [atomic habits](https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits). I find\nthat doing this proactively is much better than trying to track adherence to a\nhabit reactively (e.g. tracking workouts)." :name "task-tracking.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2331 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655691154 1655657180 1653846065 1645741892 1630642518]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/taut-line-hitch.md" :backlinks nil :title "Taut Line Hitch" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# The Most Useful Knot in the World (Taut-line hitch)\n\nThis knot allows you to adjust its location on a string **after** you've tied\nit, and it stays in said location even under a lot of force.\n\nSee [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taut-line_hitch) for instructions\non how to tie. Some of the many uses I've found for this knot:\n\n - Tying, then tightening, a clothsline\n - Tying drawstrings on sweatpants or shorts - you never need to untie/retie\n them again!" :name "taut-line-hitch.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 539 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1628359895]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/this-website.md" :backlinks nil :title "This Website" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# This Website\n\nThis website serves as a useful place to organize and share my thoughts.\n\nSee the readme at https://github.com/kovasap/website for details." :name "this-website.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 225 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1758475581 1702414019 1700078474 1664936533 1663982789 1661886691 1661886667 1656388528 1656388399 1656368707 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1652910474 1642380817]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/travel.md" :backlinks nil :title "Travel" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Travel\n\n## Packing List\n\n### Sleep\n\n - [ ] Eyemask\n - [ ] Heated blanket in case there's a chance modifying the temperature of my\n sleeping space will be hard." :name "travel.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 232 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1756002649 1756002482 1736835711]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/vim-tricks.md" :backlinks nil :title "Vim Tricks" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Vim Tricks\n\nSee https://github.com/kovasap/dotfiles/blob/master/NVIM-TRICKS.md" :name "vim-tricks.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 149 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1658277343 1657656160 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1624337751]} {:path-categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :path "content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/writing.md" :backlinks nil :title "Writing" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Lifestyle Optimizations\"}\n---\n# Writing\n\nNote that I am talking here primarily about writing to explore ideas, as\nopposed to only entertain.\n\n## Why?\n\nIt's easy to convince yourself that your thoughts make sense when they are in\nyour own head.\nBy expressing them in writing or conversation their flaws become more clear,\nand it's easier to improve upon them.\n\n## Getting Started\n\nTry talking to someone (or yourself) about your topic, recording the\nconversation, then using speech-to-text technology to fill your blank page with\na first draft.\n\nhttps://vasilishynkarenka.com/8questions/\n\nAlso try:\n\n1. Reading or listening to conversations (e.g. podcasts) about your topic.\n1. Going for a run listening to nothing and thinking about your topic.\n1. Speech to text when you get home.\n1. Edit\n\n## Write Music\n\n![write music](/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/write-music.jpg)\n\n## One Sentence Per Line\n\nWhy: https://sive.rs/1s\n\nHow: https://github.com/whonore/vim-sentencer\n\n## Unsorted Links\n\nhttps://critter.blog/2020/10/02/write-5x-more-but-write-5x-less/" :name "writing.md" :private false :categories #{"Lifestyle Optimizations"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1090 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1669743672 1668469041 1656388528 1656388399]} {:path-categories #{"Me"} :path "content/docs/me/about-me.md" :backlinks nil :title "About Me" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Me\"}\n---\nThis file is encrypted." :name "about-me.md" :private false :categories #{"Me"} :dir? false :links [] :size 67 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757135665]} {:path-categories #{"Me"} :path "content/docs/me/manifesto.md" :backlinks nil :title "Manifesto" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Me\"}\n---\n# Personal Manifesto\n\nI aspire to be a **vigorous**, **wise**, and **curious** person that feels\n**empowered** to both help myself and others become more vigorous and wise.\n\n## Personal Characteristics\n\n### Vigor\n\nEnergy to achieve goals in my experience comes from two main sources:\n\n**Physical Health**: [Exercise]({{< relref\n\"/docs/health-and-longevity/exercise.md\" >}}), [sleep]({{< relref\n\"/docs/health-and-longevity/sleep.md\" >}}), [food]({{< relref\n\"/docs/health-and-longevity/food/food.md\" >}}), [cronic stress]({{< relref\n\"/docs/health-and-longevity/chronic-stress.md\" >}}), [circadian rhythm]({{<\nrelref \"/docs/health-and-longevity/circadian-rhythm.md\" >}}), and other\nenvironmental influences all effect personal vigor in complex and\ninter-dependant ways. Spending time untangling this web of interactions for\noneself is a worthy endeavor that has personally helped me feel more\nconsistently energetic. Also a deeper understanding of these interactions will\nprobably make you live longer!\n\n**Vision**: Vision is a clear path for how to achieve the goal in question, or\nat least for how to get closer to achieving said goal. Acquiring vision can be\ntricky and fickle. For me, it helps to:\n\n - Somewhat aimlessly learn about the area of knowledge the goal is in by\n reading what other people have written/said about it. Sometimes reading\n about even completely unrelated topics can spark ideas about the original\n goal. Audiobooks and podcasts are great for getting this exposure.\n - Plant \"seeds\" in my head relating to the goal. These usually manifest as\n questions I'm curious to know the answers to, or very rough theories that I\n can't even put into words for how the goals might be achieved.\n - Sleep on my knowledge to find new connections and/or grow the seeds (see\n [Hammock Driven Development](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f84n5oFoZBc)).\n - Do cardiovascular exercise like hiking or running to find new connections\n and/or help grow the seeds. Not sure how this helps (more blood flow to the\n brain?), but it usually does for me.\n - Take a long break from the goal and work on another goal. Having multiple\n in-flight projects at once makes this more natural.\n - Set up my environment and habits so that I am consistently exposed to the\n goal, making it more likely my thoughts will wander to it and make progress\n decoding it.\n - Spend time writing about how I might achive the goal, or make a more\n concrete plan on paper as I know more.\n This will help keep me on track once I get started doing tasks, and helps\n avoid the problem of finishing something then not knowing what to do next.\n - See also [creativity]({{< relref \"/docs/mind/creativity.md\" >}}) (maybe I\n should merge these sections).\n\n### Wisdom\n\nWisdom to me means a relative lack of surprise with the behavior of the world\naround oneself. By this definition, to become wise is to build an effective\nmodel of the world in one's head that can predict what will happen\nconsistently, thus avoiding surprise. Because the world is often\nunpredictable, wisdom also means not expecting things of the world that cannot\nbe expected. For example, there are many catastrophes that could happen at any\nmoment, causing severe damage to one's life - handling these with grace as\nopposed to feeling the negative emotions that come with unmet expectations is\nperhaps wise.\n\nThis is discussed in a lot more detail by [Stoic\nphilosophers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicism). My reading of this work\nis that the universe behaves logically and the better one understands this\nuniversal reason (logos), the more in harmony with the universe one will be.\n\nWisdom also means recognizing that attaining accurate knowledge is often\npainstaking work, and therefore to be wise is to be patient with learning and\nnot try to take shortcuts when understanding the truth is important. See [What\nto believe]({{< relref \"/docs/understanding-the-world/what-to-believe.md\" >}})\nfor discussion of this.\n\nWisdom may be related to a well developed \"System 1\" as described in\n[_Thinking, Fast and Slow_ by Daniel\nKahneman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow).\n\nOne danger with chasing wisdom is believing that all the time you've spend\n\"getting wiser\" by thinking justifies confident snap-opinions on new issues.\nBuilding models to understand the world requires abstraction, and abstract\nmodels never perfectly fit new concrete situations. In my opinion recognizing\nthis limitation, and being willing to put in the work of describing and\nmodelling the new situation is itself wise. This is highly related to the\nconcept of [Beginner's Mind](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshin), which IMO\nit is wise to cultivate, as opposed to an \"expert's mind\".\n\nRealizing that human knowledge is fallible, but also objectively meaningful and\nthe accumulation of it makes one objectively wiser is discussed in detail in\n[The Beginning of\nInfinity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beginning_of_Infinity) by David\nDeutsch. \n\nIn practice, wisdom naturally leads to well-roundedness:\n\n#### Well-Roundedness\n\nBeing well rounded to me means having a wide range of capabilities. This has\nseveral strong benefits:\n\n - It reduces single points of failure in life (e.g. injuries or big life\n changes leaving one without a purpose/focus).\n - It makes moments where the world is negatively effecting one in a way which\n they are powerless to stop rarer, since it is more likely one will have the\n skills necessary to redirect or counter the negative effect.\n - It makes you more socially interesting to a wider range of different people.\n People find capability in specific areas interesting, so more capability in\n more areas should make you more interesting to more people.\n - It allows one to notice and act on more opportunities in life, since most\n require some knowledge in their area to detect and exploit. I think it's\n reasonable to say that ones ability to discover and make the most of\n opportunities has massive impact on the trajectory of ones life.\n - It hastens learning of new skills and concepts, which often have\n similarities to other skills/concepts. The more you have command of, the\n more likely it is that there will be commonalities between the new\n skill/concept and one you already know. Also, it can help build abstract\n mental concepts by consciously identifying these commonalities and storing\n them as a new abstract concept.\n - It enables formation of novel ideas, which are often just ideas from one\n discipline applied to another.\n\nOne way to describe this value is as an aspiration to being a [\"Renaissance\nman\"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath) (See\n[ERE](https://wiki.earlyretirementextreme.com/wiki/What_is_ERE%3F) for more\ndiscussion of this.\n\nBecoming more well rounded is mostly achieved (in my experience) by seeing\nroadblocks in life as personal opportunities for growth. Energetically owning\nand tackling these roadblocks will lead to learning the best ways to get around\nthem, improving one's breath of knowledge and making similar issues one might\nencounter later easier to navigate.\n\nThe \"I can do this\" or \"I can learn how to do this\" sentiment when faced with\nany issue should lead to an increase in well-roundedness over time.\n\nSome areas of knowledge to consider personally deeply understanding to become\nmore well rounded + tasks to try:\n\n - Repair/construction of objects you depend on - try fixing your\n computer/cloths/furniture/bike/car/house.\n - Investing savings - try researching, creating, and executing a personal\n investment plan yourself.\n - Food production - try growing/cooking your own food.\n\nSee [a barbell\nlife](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S2RE1y6PCnvWO5x0_IOWgNHjX23Ulp4ids-i6S67dQM/edit)\nfor some related thoughts.\n\n## Curiosity\n\nThe desire to explore novelty.\n\nIn [Why Greatness Cannot be Planned]({{< relref\n\"/docs/books/why-greatness-cannot-be-planned.md\" >}}), the authors discuss how\nlarge human advancements necessarily come from people exploring the unknown.\nI want to be the kind of person that makes doing this a habit.\nThis has the side benefit of making life seem richer, as novelty leads to\n[stronger memory formation](https://radiolab.org/podcast/secret-long-life).\n\n## Empowerment\n\nTo me, personal empowerment is about leveraging vigor and wisdom to achieve\ngoals. Empowerment and motivation are near synonyms to me. Good environment\nand expectations dramatically help keep up motivation/empowerment.\n\nTODO: Merge this with [motivation]({{< relref \"/docs/mind/motivation.md\" >}}).\n\n### Environment\n\nA large chuck of my brain does things in response to environmental stimuli. If\nI see tasty food, part of my brain will want to eat it. If I am too hot or\ncold, part of my brain will make a fuss. If I'm with other people, part of my\nbrain will want to impress or entertain them. \n\nBecause of this, crafting an environment that encourages healthy behaviors that\nhelp you achieve personal goals is really important. I [agree with James\nClear](https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits) that it is foolish to think your\nconscious mind can muscle its way past all the other parts that manage\nenvironmental stimuli to reach its goals.\n\nIt's easy to get swept up in life and let your behavior be dictated by your\nenvironment (e.g. what others around you are doing).\n\nIt's dangerous to do this since your environment is not a sentient being and\ntherefore does not care about anything, let alone your personal\nhappiness/satisfaction/fulfillment.\n\nIt's worth taking a step back and consciously running through whether you agree\nwith your environment's influence or not frequently. Otherwise you might end\nup less happy/satisfied/fulfilled than you might otherwise be.\n\nDoing this takes time and energy. Therefore, if you want to live more\nintentionally, it is important to give yourself that space/energy and not fill\nit with other things.\n\nOne common and strong environmental force is momentum. It is easier to continue\ndoing something you are already doing than to switch tasks. This can be used to\nhelp complete less pleasurable tasks (finishing homework or a workout), but\nalso can make you continue doing an activity past the point of it's benefit to\nyou. Examples of this for me include: eating after already full, playing a\ngame to the point of frustration, and continuing to browse Reddit or YouTube\nwithout feeling inspired about what I find. Stopping and checking yourself in\nthese situations with this idea in mind can help you switch tasks to something\nthat will be a better overall use of time. I have a pet theory that your brain\ngets specifically tired with particular tasks after a couple hours of doing\nthem, and switching at this point to another task often uses enough different\nparts of your brain to make you feel very fresh in the new context.\n\n\n### Expectations\n\nTODO: fill this in (potentially from the \"motivation\" doc)" :name "manifesto.md" :private false :categories #{"Me"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/health-and-longevity/exercise.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/sleep.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/food/food.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/chronic-stress.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/circadian-rhythm.md" "/docs/mind/creativity.md" "/docs/understanding-the-world/what-to-believe.md" "/docs/books/why-greatness-cannot-be-planned.md" "/docs/mind/motivation.md"] :size 11008 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757135665]} {:path-categories #{"Me"} :path "content/docs/me/personal-drama.md" :backlinks nil :title "Personal Drama" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Me\"}\n---\nThis file is private" :name "personal-drama.md" :private true :categories #{"Me"} :dir? false :links [] :size 49 :modtime 1784607431 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [0]} {:path-categories #{"Me"} :path "content/docs/me/potential-life-missions.md" :backlinks nil :title "Potential Life Missions" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Me\"}\n---\n# Potential Life Missions\n\nFinding a way to use my time and resources to make the world a better place is\na goal of mine. Here are some roads I could pursue to do that.\n\n## Empowering People\n\nI currently believe that creative people are the solution to the current\nproblems facing humanity, and all future problems as well. See [_Utopia_]({{<\nrelref \"/docs/society/utopia.md\" >}}) for more details. Given\nthis, a high leverage way to make a world a better place is to make it easier\nfor people to do their thing.\n\n### Problem Accessibility\n\nLots of big problems today are difficult for the average person to just dive\ninto. If we could make it so that the average person could effectively use\ntheir spare time to work on these big problems, and built a culture encouraging\nthis, we could unlock a lot of latent creative power.\n\nWays to do this include:\n\n#### Advertising Next Steps\n\nMaking more non-fiction content with a \"current state of things\" or \"next\nsteps\" section that encourages individuals to experiment with the frontier.\n\n#### Giving People Time\n\nGiving people more time/money to dig into problems, e.g. with UBI.\n\nhttps://justinmares.com/apply-for-an-trajectory-change-grant/ is an idea.\n\n#### Building a Problem-Accessible Culture\n\nBuilding open (free to participate in) communities around societal issues.\n\n#### Education\n\nI think that having students in schools spend more time actually trying to\ntackle real problems, as opposed to working on contrived assignments might help\nempower more people. IMO school in general is too focused on giving students a\nstrong base of pre-requisite knowledge. Many people (myself included) hold the\nsentiment that the most important thing they learned in school is \"learning how\nto learn\", since much of the actual content they learned is not directly\nrelevant to the problems they are trying to solve. Despite this, they are still\nby and large effectively solving those problems that they were not schooled to\ndo. I think this is because people have a strong ability to pick up\npre-requisites quickly when it is obvious why they need to know them given the\nproblem at hand.\n\nTherefore, if we made school either much shorter, or gave students real\nproblems to work on in a low-risk environment, this may lead to good outcomes.\n\n#### [Optimism]({{< relref \"/docs/mind/optimism.md\" >}})\n\nI currently believe that optimism encourages action. Therefore, fostering\noptimism is a good way to empower people to try to solve big problems.\n\n### Physical/Mental Health\n\nSick people have a reduced capacity to solve problems. Working on eliminating\nthe largest causes of sickness would therefore help empower people.\n\n#### Aging\n\nThe largest cause of sickness in the world today by far.\n\nAlso an extreme humanitarian tragedy that dwarfs all others.\n\n#### Participating in Biomedical Research\n\nAs someone without formal training in biology or medicine, I've found it\ndifficult to find a way to contribute to biomedical research personally.\nMost jobs are very competitive (or I am not qualified for them), and based on\nthe doomerism on r/biotech it seems like even those who are qualified face a\npretty fraught industry.\nProbably the best way forward here is to go back to school for a PhD.\n\n### Reduce Costs of Common Wants/Needs\n\nPeople need to earn money to pay for their basic needs as well as things they\nare drawn to want.\nIf we can make most things much cheaper, then the pressure to earn would be\nreduced.\n\n#### Open Sourcing\n\nParticipating in things like sci-hub / piracy or open sourcing useful software\nis one way to reduce these costs.\n\n## How?\n\n - http://paulgraham.com/greatwork.html, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36550615\n - [Why Greatness Cannot be Planned]({{< relref \"/docs/books/why-greatness-cannot-be-planned.md\" >}})" :name "potential-life-missions.md" :private false :categories #{"Me"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/society/utopia.md" "/docs/mind/optimism.md" "/docs/books/why-greatness-cannot-be-planned.md"] :size 3835 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757135665]} {:path-categories #{"Me"} :path "content/docs/me/recent-interests.md" :backlinks nil :title "Recent Interests" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Me\"}\n---\n# Recent Interests\n\nHere I list stuff I've been interested in recently.\nI try to update this monthly, using a recurring task to help.\nI probably forget a lot of things that happen each month :(.\n\nTo populate this page, try using my mementodb diary, and\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/dotfiles/blob/master/bin/chrome-history-for-gemini.zsh.\n\n## 2025\n\n## February\n\n - Routesetting for the Rain City Send climbing competition\n - Fixing toilet flapper and garbage disposal for tenants\n - Several iterations of B. Dylan Hollis bean pie\n - Discovered chickpea flour is good for mug breads\n - Night Agent season 2\n - FTL: Multiverse\n - Dark and Darker Wizard\n - Building my [Lintilla custom keyboard]({{< relref \"/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/keyboards-and-typing.md\" >}})\n - Wingman in Counter Strike\n - Arkham Horror Dunwich Campaign\n - [Alt Health]({{< relref \"/docs/health-and-longevity/alt-health.md\" >}}) thinking\n - Reading ACX, like https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/why-i-am-not-a-conflict-theorist\n\n## March\n\n - Terra Mystica on BGA and in person\n - Writing lots of SQL at work\n - Read Gary Stevenson's book about his life and watched a bunch of videos about\n wealth inequality.\n Guy is charismatic, but a bit vague - a dangerous but entertaining combo!\n - Saw Russian Circles live at the showbox.\n Incredible!\n - Windows crashed during an update, prompted me to try going 100% Linux going\n forward. Working surprisingly well.\n - Tried Due Process, good first impression!\n - Dark and Darker and FTL: Multiverse continue to be amazing.\n\n## April\n\n - Started playing The Bazaar with Claire.\n Really fun, if a bit tiring to do a single run all at once.\n - Watched a bunch of Dave MacLeod videos and tried out a mostly meat diet.\n It felt pretty good at first, but less good over time.\n I think I'd need to be particularly motivated to try it more purely for an\n extended period of time.\n - Had a bunch of computer issues to debug.\n Namely some black screen crashes when playing cleric in Dark and Darker(which\n I think were fixed by decreasing particle count in a custom `Engine.ini`\n file), and some slowness with The Last Spell which prompted me to upgrade my\n cpu (which didn't seem to help :().\n - Still writing lots of SQL at work.\n Had a brutal bug to debug where function arguments were being overwritten by\n aliased column names in a query.\n - Checked out Taskmaster and Ted Lasso, both pretty great in their own ways\n - Played a bunch of Tarkir: Dragonflight draft first in person then on MTG:\n Arena.\n\n## May\n\n - V Rising\n - Epic saga trying to debug my computer not sleeping after replacing CPU:\n https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=2244784#p2244784\n - Send long term black 5.12+ project at the IMA crags\n - Started going out climbing at the exits again, feeling strong!\n - Started running to/from work, way better than I expected.\n - Started working in neuroscience research project https://github.com/kovasap/nightly-nwb\n - Started working on new drafting game idea https://github.com/kovasap/draft-concept\n - Got back into R6: siege a bit\n\n## June\n\n - Switched to AMD GPU and better AMD CPU.\n Fixed my computer sleep problem finally, and struggled a bit to get the new\n CPU to stay cool with low fan noise.\n - Dark and Darker content creator drama (NotLikeThis/Soma).\n - Learned how to use syncthing to manage music between PC and Android.\n Really impressive piece of software!\n - Spent a lot of time on https://github.com/kovasap/draft-concept, making\n progress, but also shifting things around a lot.\n - Working version of https://github.com/kovasap/nightly-nwb created!\n - Lots of attempts on Rainy Day Woman at World Wall.\n Very close, but still a hard route.\n Need to be better about finding and trusting footholds, and then remembering\n them.\n - Ark Nova is fun.\n - Ate a bunch of iceberg lettuce salads.\n E.g.\n tortilla chips/mayo/lettuce/shredded carrots.\n - Selling old Pokemon cards I discovered. Quite a labor intensive process to price and sell them all.\n - The Bazaar continues to be great!\n\nI'm trying to continue tracking my interests via updates to individual pages on\nthis site; see recent edit history!\n\n## August\n\nCare of gemini cli via https://github.com/kovasap/dotfiles/blob/master/bin/chrome-history-for-gemini.zsh\n\n### Gaming\nYour history shows a strong interest in a variety of video games, with a focus on strategy, RPGs, and competitive titles.\n\n* **Deep Dives into Specific Games:**\n * **Battle Brothers:** A significant portion of your activity revolves around this game. You've researched contracts, famed items, mods (especially \"Reforged\" and its submods like \"Hardened\"), perks, and browsed the game's wiki and Reddit community extensively. You also seem to be interested in crafting and game mechanics.\n * **Magic: The Gathering Arena:** You frequently visit `17Lands.com` to analyze draft data and track your performance. You also search for draft guides for specific sets like \"Edge of Eternities\".\n * **Dark and Darker:** You keep up with the game's community on Reddit, reading discussions about AP grinding, gear, and class-specific strategies.\n * **Arkham Horror: The Card Game:** You use `ArkhamDB` for deckbuilding, looking up specific cards and investigators.\n\n* **Exploring New Games:**\n * You appear to be on the lookout for new games, with searches for titles like \"Lorn's Lure\", \"Hollow Knight: Silksong\", \"The Last Spell\", and \"Stardew Valley\".\n * You watch YouTube reviews and first impressions from channels like Mortismal Gaming and Northernlion.\n\n* **Competitive Gaming:**\n * You've searched for tips and strategies for **Counter-Strike 2**, specifically for the \"Wingman\" mode.\n\n* **Game Development & News:**\n * You follow game development news, including project announcements and developer blogs from studios like Overhype Studios (developers of Battle Brothers).\n * You've looked into game development concepts, such as roguelike base builders.\n\n### Software Development & Technology\nA significant amount of your browsing is dedicated to software development, system administration, and technology-related topics, with a strong emphasis on Linux and Clojure.\n\n* **Linux & System Administration:**\n * **Arch Linux:** You have numerous searches related to Arch Linux installation, partitioning, bootloaders (GRUB), filesystems (fstab), and troubleshooting common issues like mounting drives and filesystem errors.\n * **Command Line Tools:** You've looked up information on `zsh`, `rsync`, `pacman`, and `yay`, including how to manage caches and silence warnings.\n * **Hardware & System Config:** You've researched Hall effect keyboard switches, ZMK firmware for custom keyboards, and troubleshooting for `picom` (a compositor for X11).\n\n* **Programming:**\n * **Clojure/ClojureScript:** You've searched for documentation on various core functions (`re-seq`, `merge-with`, `some`, `group-by`) and libraries. You appear to be working on personal projects using these languages, such as `nightly-nwb` and `website-helpers`.\n * **Web Development:** You are working with `D3.js` for data visualization, looking into force simulations, collision detection, and SVG text wrapping. You also have some searches related to HTML and CSS.\n * **Git & GitHub:** You actively use GitHub for personal projects, managing repositories, issues, and commits. You've also researched Git clients for Android.\n\n* **Data Visualization:**\n * You are interested in interactive data visualization, as evidenced by your D3.js searches and a \"reddit-tree\" data visualization project.\n\n### Music\nYour history indicates a passion for a wide range of music genres, particularly metal and its subgenres. You actively discover new music and follow your favorite artists.\n\n* **Music Discovery:**\n * You frequently use **YouTube, Bandcamp, and Wikipedia** to discover and learn about bands.\n * Your searches cover a diverse range of artists, including **Evanescence, Jimmy Eat World, XXXTENTACION, Underoath, We Came as Romans, Lorna Shore, Paleface Swiss, Unprocessed, Haken, Nospūn, Reliqa, and Jinjer.**\n * You explore various genres, from emo and screamo to technical death metal, deathcore, and progressive metal.\n\n* **Live Music & Merchandise:**\n * You use `Bandsintown` to look for concert tickets for bands like **LANDMVRKS** and **Blessthefall**.\n * You've searched for merchandise for bands like **Reliqa**.\n\n* **Music Listening & Organization:**\n * You use **Strawberry Music Player** and have visited its forums to ask about features like sorting by date added.\n * You've explored royalty-free music from sources like **Incompetech (Kevin MacLeod)**.\n\n### Health & Longevity\nYou show a keen interest in health, longevity, and bio-hacking, with research spanning from general wellness to specific scientific topics.\n\n* **Medical & Health Information:**\n * You've searched for information on various health topics, including **cold sores, chronic fatigue syndrome, and Alzheimer's disease.**\n * You've looked into the health effects of **coconut milk** and researched **optimal protein intake.**\n\n* **Longevity & Aging:**\n * You follow research in the field of longevity, including the **Interventions Testing Program (ITP)** and the work of scientists like **Jacob Kimmel.**\n * You've listened to podcasts and watched videos on the science of aging well.\n\n* **Personal Health Tracking:**\n * You maintain personal health-related documents on Google Docs, such as \"Spring 2023 Left Elbow Pain Notes\".\n\n### Shopping & Finance\nYour browsing history includes a significant amount of online shopping and financial management.\n\n* **Online Shopping:**\n * **Amazon:** You are a frequent Amazon shopper, purchasing a wide variety of items including clothing (sun hoodies), electronics (screen protectors), household goods (toilet paper, ice cube trays, laundry racks), and food (chickpeas, kipper snacks).\n * **Other Retailers:** You've also shopped at **Backcountry** for climbing gear and browsed **Safeway** for groceries.\n * **Deal Hunting:** You use **IsThereAnyDeal** to find deals on games and have browsed **Facebook Marketplace** for various items.\n\n* **Financial Management:**\n * You access online portals for financial institutions such as **BSI Financial, SoFi, and Morgan Stanley at Work.**\n\n### Climbing\nClimbing is another of your major interests. You research gear, locations, and techniques.\n\n* **Gear Research:**\n * You've researched and purchased climbing shoes (**La Sportiva Finale**) and ropes (**Mammut Core Protect**).\n * You use resources like **WeighMyRack** to compare gear.\n\n* **Locations & Routes:**\n * You've looked up information on climbing areas like the **Index Town Walls** in Washington and **Squamish** in British Columbia.\n * You've researched specific routes like \"Everything is Karate\" and \"Angel's Crest\".\n\n* **Technique & Safety:**\n * You watch YouTube videos on climbing techniques, such as tying knots and overcoming the fear of falling.\n * You've read articles and watched videos about climbing safety, including analyses of accidents.\n\n### Personal Knowledge Management\nYou have a systematic approach to organizing your knowledge and interests, using a personal website and other tools.\n\n* **Personal Website:**\n * You maintain a personal website at `kovasap.github.io` titled \"Things to Remember\".\n * This site appears to be a personal wiki or digital garden where you document your daily habits, thoughts on music, health and longevity notes, gaming ideas, and more.\n\n* **Note-Taking:**\n * You've researched and used mobile note-taking apps that integrate with Git, such as **GitJournal**, to manage your notes on the go.\n\nThis summary provides a comprehensive overview of the interests and activities reflected in your browsing history." :name "recent-interests.md" :private false :categories #{"Me"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/keyboards-and-typing.md" "/docs/health-and-longevity/alt-health.md"] :size 12064 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757264080 1757135665]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/absorbing-and-professing.md" :backlinks nil :title "Absorbing And Professing" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# States of Mind\n\nThese states can be mixed together, but are at their strongest when the mind is\nfully focused on one at a time.\n\n\n## Professing - Performing - A State of Action\n\nIn this state, the information already contained in your neural patterns is\nsimply being projected as is into the world onto some medium. This could be\ninto the air as speech, onto paper as writing, or into your body as any physical\nactivity (e.g. dancing, biking, etc.). In this model, pure professing involves\nno self reflection or change whatsoever. If there is adaptation to the\nunpredictable physical world, it is through if/then branches that choose simply\nbetween already constructed neural patterns. \n\nBeing in this state requires some combination of practice or training to build\nthe mental patterns, and a framework of assumptions that keeps the mind from\nexamining what it is doing too closely. \n\nIn the extreme, pure profession can be animalistic and stubborn. Being in a \nprofessing state leads to confidence and strong ego.\n\nBeing in this state can be physically draining, but mentally I find I can be in this state for a long time before needing a break.\n\nPeople tend to express this state more the older they get (i think).\n\n\n### Flow\n\nBeing in a strong professing state can lead to a \"flow\" state, where the world\nis continually validating your stored patterns and it feels like everything is\ngoing \"right\". I believe this state enables the acts of greatest skill or\ntalent that are possible for people. This is a state of “effortless effort” as described in Zen philosophy.\n\nI think the key to flow is to always have a readily accessible pathway for your mind to take when it runs into an issue. Preparation/practice builds these pathways; it is easier to get into flow doing something you have done many times before.\n\n\n## Absorbing - Learning - A State of Observation\n\nIn counter to profession, a state of absorption occurs when a mind is focused\ninstead on taking in new information while making few/no assumptions about the\nworld. In this state, instead of continually acting, one continually\nquestions, expanding the problem space without looking at its details. This\nhappens often when being exposed to new information or questioning assumptions\none has about old information. New mental connections and memories are being\ncreated actively in this state.\n\nWhen in this state, a mind is very sensitive to any external feedback to\ncorrect its action. This can manifest as insecurity or anxiety if pressure is\napplied during this state of mind.\n\nThis state of mind can be paralyzing, as it lays bare the overwhelming\ncomplexity of everything as you continue to zoom out. However, it also leads to\ninteresting connections that you may not see otherwise.\n\nExtreme absorption/mindfulness can lead to analysis paralysis or meaningless\ntheorizing that is too far removed from reality to be useful. Also\nprocrastination.\n\nYounger people tend to express this state more (i think). This thought\ninspired by “How to Change Your Mind” by Michael Pollan.\n\nBeing in this state is very draining, as your mind has to constantly\nreconfigure its thoughts reactively to match external feedback. For me to be\nmost effective, I need to take short and long breaks from this state (even\n“sleeping on” what I’m learning) to solidify memories and make them\n“professable”. Too much raw absorption becomes counterproductive, as my mind\nis too tired to even hold on to the recent changes, let alone make more new\nones.\n\nWhen learning in this state, there will almost always be blind alleys you must\ngo down to eventually find a model of (or perspective on) the world that works.\nThis explains why learning can be such a \"stop and go\" process - it's easy to\nbe stuck on a concept for a while before it finally clicks. Also I think one’s\ntolerance for blind alleys directly correlates to how good they are at\nlearning.\n\n- [Inversion by James Clear](https://jamesclear.com/inversion)\n - Imagining how to avoid failure is often more useful than imagining how to\n succeed.\n\n\n## Switching states\n\nIn order to get better at something, both absorbing AND professing are equally\nimportant often in alternating steps. \n\nSee [this Skyline video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLloQvOv1W4) for a\ndescription about how this process works for a game like Overwatch\nspecifically.\n\nLearning how to do something new under pressure of your own or other’s\nexpectations can be hard. Specifically, it is stressful to take mental\npathways you have recently worked on as an absorber and apply them assuming\nthey will work (with penalty for failure). \n\nSomeone who “thrives in ambiguity” is bold about applying untested pathways and\nhas a low fear of failure - or has set expectations properly such that failure\nis not a big problem. Alternatively, this person is willing to take on\nperspectives and run with them even if there is a threat that their taken\nperspective does not match the perspective/expectations of others they are\nworking with. \n\n\n## Ideas to test\n\n - Do you actually have a worse memory for events that happened to you when in\n a professing state?\n\n# Focus\n\nThis is unrelated to the above states of mind. \n\nOne way I think of focus is as getting buy in from your mind to fully engage in\nsome work (mental or physical). Often the mind expects some pay off for doing\nthis, since it takes energy and time to be fully engaged. [This\nsnippet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryB_VQ__KeE) by Jonathan Blow does a\ngreat job describing how focus can be disrupted ([full\ninterview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ej_3NKA3pk)).\n\nA good way to encourage focus is to set yourself up so that external “things I should also think about” are absent. For example:\n\n - Writing thoughts down so that your brain doesn’t feel pressure to remember\n them (else they would be lost).\n - Keeping your goals “in front” of you. This could mean laying out your\n workspace so that all that’s needed to do your task is at hand. This could\n mean keeping opponents in a game within your field of view. Being in a\n situation where you have to “turn your head around” physically or\n metaphorically to keep abreast can lead to breaks in focus.\n - Putting walls up between yourself and other tasks, like by putting your\n phone in another room when trying to focus on something.\n\nAnother useful idea is to try to enumerate the things you want to do before\nstarting on them. If this list is written down (or even remembered), going\nback to it can be a stimulus that competes with other environmental\ndistractions or thoughts. For instance, a common pattern I notice is (1) I\ncomplete a task, (2) I have to refocus on something else, (3) some random\nenvironmental stimulus grabs my focus (e.g. an email, article, chore). When I\nhave a list of things I want to do, then those become part of the set of\nenvironmental stimuli, making it more likely that I do them instead of\nsomething else. This system is most effective when the list is very\naccessible; this could mean physically at hand, or recently created so it is\nfresh in your mind. It also helps to consciously pause right after stage (1)\nabove (completing a task), instead of directly jumping to the next thing with\nlittle thought - this simple pause really helps your next task be intentional\nand not dictated by your environment." :name "absorbing-and-professing.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 7467 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1623390272 1617065396]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/behavior-change.md" :backlinks nil :title "Behavior Change" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Behavior Change\n\nBuilding new habits is really important to making permanent improvement to your\nlife. Doing new things is hard though. One thing that helps me work through\nthis is realizing that every new thing (no matter how trivial) is going to be\ndifficult, and I'll need to sculpt the pathways in my brain to make it easy.\n\nFor example, if I want to eat more potatoes, taking the time to conscientiously\nlearn how to cook them quickly and efficiently will help me automatically cook\nthem when I'm tired and just want to eat something." :name "behavior-change.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 593 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1653111519]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/brain-juice.md" :backlinks nil :title "Brain Juice" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Brain Juice\n\nI'm not sure exactly how, but I feel that my brain behaves similarly to my\nmuscles in that it can tire on both short and long timescales when used. My\nmind feels tired after making lots of new connections (learning new things) and\nespecially when critically re-validating my existing connections. It also feels\ntired when doing the same thing many times, even if that thing is a simple\nexpression of a deeply ingrained skill." :name "brain-juice.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 491 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1624658504 1623646572]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/contentment.md" :backlinks nil :title "Contentment" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Contentment and Satisfaction\n\n> At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history.\n> \n> Heller responds,“Yes, but I have something he will never have — ENOUGH.”\n\nIn my experience, it is natural to want to make progress in your endevours.\nSome examples:\n\n - Getting promoted in your job\n - Reading more books about a certain topic\n - Getting degrees\n - Ranking up in an ELO system (like chess)\n - Getting new belts in a martial art\n\nI think that the billionaire in the above quote perhaps had put his focus\nstrongly on job performance, to the exclusion of other areas. It could be that\nthis led him to fixate on that aspect of his life to satisfy the desire for\nprogress, to the exclusion of other areas. This exclusion could have led to a\nvicious cycle where desire for progress -> more focus on the job -> less\nability to satisfy design through other means -> etc. The killer piece here is\nthat the billionaire's job may very well give bad/shaky signals for when\nprogress is made. Money is often just a number, and when it goes up it can not\nfeel as impactful as anticipated.\n\nIf this theory is correct at all, then a way to avoid the above problem is to\ndiversify your endevours, at least adding some that have clear progress marks\nyou can feel satisfied about." :name "contentment.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1530 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1628139697]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/creativity.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/me/manifesto.md" "content/docs/mind/motivation.md" "content/docs/society/utopia.md" "content/docs/understanding-the-world/copyright-and-ip.md"} :title "Creativity" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/me/manifesto.md\" \"content/docs/mind/motivation.md\" \"content/docs/society/utopia.md\" \"content/docs/understanding-the-world/copyright-and-ip.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Creativity\n\n## Constraining the Problem Space\n\nOne of the main enemies of creative work getting done is the \"blank page\" - the\nmental state of staring at a blank page and being paralyzed either with too\nmany thoughts or no thoughts. One useful tool to avoid this is by constraining\nyour problem space, sometimes dramatically. For instance, what if you could\nonly fold the page and do nothing else? Suddenly, it's much easier (for me at\nleast) to start just doing something. This helps a lot with \"Just Getting\nStarted\".\n\nConstraining the problem space could also involve setting a hard deadline for\nfinishing X in 30-60mins. This will often introduce an urgency that can help\nproduce something.\n\nAnother idea along these lines is to intentionally try to come up with the\ndumbest solution/idea and start implementing it. Since you are intentionally\ntrying to do a bad job, all the thinking and anxiety that comes when trying to\ndo stuff right is removed, which may facilitate doing something which can later\nbe polished.\n\n## Just Getting Started\n\nOnce you get on the path of creation, the small choices you encounter will\ngenerally be much more manageable decisions, and through them something complex\noften emerges.\n\n## Remixing\n\nOur minds create new things by mixing the old together. A classic examination\nof this is [Everything is a\nRemix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJPERZDfyWc).\n\nA corollary of this idea is that to be creative it's helpful to expose yourself\nto many other ideas. In my opinion, art in any form is spectacularly useful\nhere. One way to think about art is as an expression of (hopefully new) ideas\nspecifically designed to appeal to human sensibilities - the perfect coupling\nof novelty with a mechanism to get it to stick in your head. Art is also great\nat encouraging engagement with the world, especially new parts of it.\n\n## Vision and Confidence\n\nBeing \"Determinant\" as described by Peter Thiel in [You Are Not a\nLottery Ticket](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZM_JmZdqCw) may help with this.\n\n### Being Unreasonable\n\nOne (unpolished) thought I've had is that being \"unreasonable\" could help with\ncreativity. By unreasonable, I mean **not** considering all possibilities,\nignoring objectively better optimizations, and ignoring people's good opinions\nwhen in the process of creating. I've found for myself that, although this\nconsideration in theory makes for a better end result, it can fracture the\nstrong focus on a vision that is required to make something at all. Or it can\nwarp the vision into something that is \"better\", but actually different to the\npoint where the original vision is unfulfilled in some way.\n\n\n## See Also\n\n - [My thoughts on game development]({{< relref\n \"/docs/gaming/gamedev/gamedev-context.md\" >}}), which play with a lot of these\n ideas.\n - [Cool test](https://www.datcreativity.com/)\n - [Guided idea generation tool](https://old.tjcx.me/tools/idea-generator.html)\n - [My thoughts on copyright/ip]({{< relref \"/docs/understanding-the-world/copyright-and-ip.md\" >}})" :name "creativity.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/gaming/gamedev/gamedev-context.md" "/docs/understanding-the-world/copyright-and-ip.md"] :size 3246 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755449404 1755322345 1684902342 1657997776 1656388528 1655691154 1655659991 1655657180 1653846065 1651276893 1648526444 1647920813 1633626892 1632246004 1628313528 1626378938 1625947021 1625939465 1625939328 1624337751]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/desires-and-deprivation.md" :backlinks nil :title "Desires And Deprivation" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Desires and Deprivation\n\nSometimes acting on desires can have negative consequences. For example:\n\n - Eating unhealthy food\n - Stealing money\n - Falling into an addiction\n\nOne way to avoid acting on desires is via _willful deprivation_, or consciously\nusing willpower to force oneself to not act on the desire. This crucially\nassumes that the desire is immutable, and focusing solely on resisting it.\n\nAn alternative strategy is to question and try to change the desire itself.\nMany desires exist because of supporting beliefs. For example:\n\n - Unhealthy food makes me happier (via taste) than healthy food.\n - Money will make me happier.\n - My addictive behavior is healthy and makes me happy.\n\nBy poking and prodding at these underlying beliefs, I've personally found that\nmy desires are more mutable than I originally thought. Instead of putting\nenergy into the hard and failure-prone work of relying on willpower to live a\nbetter life, I have tried to instead put more energy into changing my desires\nvia new beliefs. For example:\n\n - Taste (and sensory happiness) is not directly related the health of food." :name "desires-and-deprivation.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1165 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1631814970]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/education.md" :backlinks nil :title "Education" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Thoughts on Education\n\n## Education as a Certification\n\nOne problem educational system have is that they force students to sit through\nclasses that are boring because the students either already know the material\nor are not compatible with the pace of the class (too fast or too slow). If\nsystems independently let students test out of courses, or offered testing\nseparately from training, this problem might be solved to some extent. Of\ncourse, in this case the testing would have to be very good, and some things\nare unfortunately hard to test for. Project-based evaluation might be a good\nway around this.\n\nSee https://miguelrochefort.com/blog/cs-degree/ for a great story about what a\ntest-driven education could look like for a motivated individual.\n\n## High School as Survey\n\nIn my opinion, (at least my) high school education focused too much on\nfulfilling prerequisites and teaching fundamental topics and too little on\nsurveying possible areas of study and career paths. I believe this is due to\nthe assumption that prerequisites are necessary for students to be able to\nstudy higher level concepts (e.g. algebra before calculus before physics).\nWhile this is strictly speaking true, it ignores the power of motivating\ncontext. By this I mean that if you want to learn how a ball moves through\nspace in physics, it is very obvious how calculus is helpful towards achieving\nyour goal. However, if you are just learning calculus (or algebra!) without\nthis context, it can feel like what you are learning is pointless (because it\nis to you at that moment).\n\nTrying to learn complex topics without understanding why they are useful is\nextremely difficult and leads to less memory retention of the things you\nlearned if you end up do learning them. IMO this is one of the primary reason\nmany people struggle in school. Conversely, if you DO have a strong reason to\nlearn something, it is much easier to do so, and you may be able to pack much\nmore learning into a shorter period of time. Plus, the learning will be more\nuseful, as it is already shown to have at least the one motivating use.\n\nNot only can focus on hierarchical prerequisites stifle learning rate, it also\ndoes a disservice to students who are trying to figure out what to specialize\nin at college (if they attend) and in their careers. I personally knew a lot of\nabstract concepts in high school, and knew I was interested in STEM, but had\npretty much no conception of the different types of STEM careers available to\nme and what kinds of day-to-day work they each would entail. If half the time\nspent in high school on academic classes was instead spent on career/field\nsurvey talks/activities/classes, I would have been much better prepared to set\nmyself up for a fulfilling life after graduation, and I would have been more\nmotivated to independently study those careers/fields.\n\nAs it stands, I feel like I got extremely lucky to land in the jobs I did. I\nvery nearly joined a PhD program after college that in retrospect I'm quite\ncertain I would have liked less than the companies I randomly was exposed to in\nmy last years in college. It scares me that the only thing that saved me from\nthis misstep was a random email on a mailing list I randomly joined, as opposed\nto something built into the educational system.\n\n## Extended Education Concept\n\nIn high school and college I often felt extremely mentally busy. I was usually\nin 5+ hours a day of classes teaching radically different things. Synthesizing\nand remembering everything I was taught was difficult, and I fear that many of\nthose hours were wasted simply because I didn't have the mental bandwidth to\nget all the information to stick.\n\nPost-college, I feel like I have much more mental bandwidth for learning. I'm\nwell able to fill this with books, podcasts, and other online resources.\nDespite this, I sometimes wonder if generally speaking formal education could\ndo a better job of utilizing mental bandwidth over time. By this I mean\n\"hybridizing\" college and other pursuits more than they already are.\n\nFor example, instead of being a full time vocation, college could instead\ninvolving taking 1 class per quarter/semester and spending the rest of one's\ntime working or doing whatever else you would otherwise do post-graduation.\nThis would lead to college taking longer to provide the same level of\neducation.\n\nThis could cause problems for people who want to start a skill-requiring job\nas soon as possible. I wonder if it's possible to front-load practical\nprerequisites early in the education cycle for such jobs. In my experience in\ntechnical fields so far, there are only a few requirements I've truly needed\nfrom my education; otherwise most of my skills have been learned on the job.\n\n## Higher Education\n\nInteresting Article: https://annehelen.substack.com/p/is-everything-an-mlm?s=r\n\n## Letter to my past (middle/high school) self\n\nYou are a person.\nAs such you have the power to be creative and to change the world around you.\nUsing this power is what you will spend the majority of your life doing.\n\nYou can use this power as an individual but most likely you'll be working with\nother people in organizations to use your power together to achieve larger\ngoals.\nSome examples of using your power individually include writing or creating any\nkind of content to be consumed by others on your own, or creating whole projects\non your own perhaps tools for other people to use etc.\n\nThe world is full of big and small organizations of people trying to use their\npower together to make change.\nSome examples include companies, large and small, governments, research labs,\nuniversities, schools.\n\nWhen joining an organization it's important to understand who funds the\norganization and why and what you can stand to benefit from joining said\norganization, both in terms of the force multiplier on your power to change the\nworld and how much you'll be compensated for joining that organization\nspecifically.\n\nThere should be a school course that explores each one of these types of\norganizations in turn and discusses key features of that organization type and\nwhy you might want to be a part of it - and how you could be a part of it; what\nit takes to join and then rank up in said organization.\n\nFor example I have no idea what it takes to become someone who works on\ngovernment policy as a full-time job.\nOr what the concerns of people doing this job are for instance with respect to\ntheir compensation or job security." :name "education.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 6529 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1667066083 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1654534758 1653846065 1651097833 1647025208 1645742692]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/friendship.md" :backlinks nil :title "Friendship" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Friendship\n\nOne way to look at a friend is as someone who cares about your in-the-moment\nemotional state, and wants to participate in improving it.\nThis is as opposed to someone who cares more about your long term emotions,\nwhich would be more of a coach or mentor." :name "friendship.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 317 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1734063299]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/how-to-do-hard-tasks.md" :backlinks nil :title "How To Do Hard Tasks" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# How to Do Hard Tasks\n\nThis goes hand-in-hand with [motivation]({{< relref \"/docs/mind/motivation.md\" >}}).\n\nhttps://every.to/superorganizers/how-to-do-hard-things is somewhat related.\n\n## What Makes Tasks Hard?\n\nTasks are hard when you don't already have pathways in your brain that script\nthem, or your existing pathways are incomplete. Doing hard tasks requires\nlearning.\n\nhttp://gregorygundersen.com/blog/2020/01/12/why-research-blog/\n\nOne way to model a task is as a tree of possibilities, where each node is a\ndecision with any number of possible outcomes. Here I'll discuss tasks that are\nhand because this tree is complex (has many nodes). Tasks can be hard for other\nreasons (e.g. physically hard), but I wont discuss those here.\n\nTask trees can have many nodes because:\n\n1. There simply are many steps to take to complete the task,\n1. Because some steps in the process are committing, making it so that you need\n to try to predict a lot of the future decisions that will come up in order to\n be confident in your decision (like playing a game of chess),\n\n\n## What Makes Tasks Easy?\n\nTasks are easy when a pathway has already been constructed in your head to\nexecute that task effectively (traverse the tree of decisions in a\npredetermined way).\n\nIt's good to be cautious of tasks that you find to be easy. In my experience\nit's a human tendency to strongly defend the solutions to the tasks that one\nholds (see [a reddit post about political\nbeliefs](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/iu865f/oc_i_did_some_presidential_economic_statistics_to/g5k93df/)\nand Claire's old lab's observation that ideas/theories can become \"precious\"\nonce created). This makes sense, since it takes effort/time/resources to\ncreate a task-solving pathway. See also David Eagleman's neuroscience books,\nwhich talk about this. However, this strong defense can blind one to obvious\nflaws or much better pathways. It's probably a good habit to occasionally\nre-learn from scratch originally hard tasks that are important to do well.\n\n\n## Hard Task Solving Strategies - How to Learn\n\nLearning requires active exploration of the real world task tree for the task\nyou want to learn to do. Through this exploration, the tree is transcribed\nfrom the real world into mental pathways. So one way to think about learning\nhard tasks is learning how to most efficiently explore/transcribe the task\ntree.\n\n\n### Questions\n\nSome parts of the task tree may already exist in your brain from another task\nyou've done - for example, most of the muscle movement mental pathways needed\nto run already exist in someone who knows how to walk. Other parts may be\ncompletely new, or even contradictory to existing mental pathways. A very\nefficient way to more quickly learn these alien pathways is to question them\nvia:\n\n - Asking a task expert\n - Asking a reference (e.g. A book or Google search)\n - Tinkering with the task space (e.g. Attempting to run some computer code)\n\n\n### Environmental Influence\n\nThe human brain constantly absorbs new information from its perspective on the\nenvironment where it is.\nFor learning therefore, it can be helpful to place oneself in an environment\nconducive to learning what you want to learn. This usually makes it more\nobvious what questions to ask to further map out the task space.\n\nhttps://github.com/matthiasn/talk-transcripts/blob/master/Hickey_Rich/HammockDrivenDev.md\n\nhttps://blog.jim-nielsen.com/2022/what-work-looks-like/\n\n\n### Depth First Search of Task Tree\n\nPerhaps a preference of iNtuitive Myers-Briggs personalities, this can lead to\nfast good solutions, but also blindness to obvious other paths.\n\n\n### Breath First Search of Task Tree\n\nPerhaps a habit of Sensing Myers-Briggs personalities, this can lead to good\nscoping of the task space, but may exhaust energy to \"go deep\" on a specific\ntask solution.\n\nI think this is what Nassim Taleb advocates for doing more in complex task\nspace. He writes that exposing oneself to many decision points and giving\noneself the option to travel will long term find one the most success.\n\n\n### Mental Perspective\n\nThe brain only understands the world as it perceives it through the senses.\nAlthough the senses can take in a high volume of information, there is still\nheavy processing that must be done for this information to be useful/actionable\nby the rest of the brain. There are many points along this chain of processing\nwhere learned perspective shapes what the rest of the brain sees. For instance,\nan image of an engine may just look like metal to an untrained brain, but tells\na very different story to a mechanic.\n\nIn a way, learning or training is partially (or completely?) the process of\nacquiring new perspectives from which to see the world. This explains why\nlearning can be such a \"stop and go\" process - it's easy to be stuck on a\nconcept for a while before it finally clicks.\n\n- [Inversion by James Clear](https://jamesclear.com/inversion)\n - Imagining how to avoid failure is often more useful than imagining how to\n succeed." :name "how-to-do-hard-tasks.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/mind/motivation.md"] :size 5091 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1667066083 1655691154 1655657180 1653846065 1651956280 1637430676]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/influences.md" :backlinks nil :title "Influences" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Influences\n\nThese works have guided my thinking about how the mind works. They are roughly\nsorted by their level of influence on my thinking.\n\n## [Atomic Habits by James Clear](https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits)\n\nRefreshing read that shows that building good habits and systems in your life\nis much more effective and doable than using raw willpower to get achieve\ngoals.\n\n## [Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow)\n\nVideo inspired by book done by Veritasium [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBVV8pch1dM&ab_channel=Veritasium).\n\n## Books by David Eagleman\n\nIncognito, Livewired, The Brain: The Story of You. All great pop-neuroscience\nreads! Incognito especially left a big impression of me when I read it as a\nfreshman in college.\n\n## [Investing in Happiness by Ben Felix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNZk-N6uDcg&ab_channel=BenFelix)\n\nGreat review of a lot of happiness literature, presented in a direct, clear way.\n\n## [How to Change your Mind by Michael Pollan](https://michaelpollan.com/books/how-to-change-your-mind/)\n\nInteresting history of psychedelics in the USA, with some particularly\ninsightful ideas about how the brain is organized (and works) in the last few\nchapters.\n\n## [Robert Sapolsky's Human Behavioral Biology Lecture](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNnIGh9g6fA&list=PLD7E21BF91F3F9683)\n\nCool lecture series, not done yet!\n\n## Blog Posts\n\n- https://nabeelqu.substack.com/p/principles" :name "influences.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1533 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757264770 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1630546053 1625880346 1624337751]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/intelligence.md" :backlinks nil :title "Intelligence" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Intelligence\n\n**Disclaimer:** This is not based on any specific research, just my own personal\nobservations and discussions.\nI would love to be shown that any of this is wrong!\n\nI don't think that intelligence is a useful concept, and don't think that some\nkind of \"general intelligence\" (e.g. IQ) even exists in the way it's commonly\ninvoked (e.g. \"Alex is more intelligent than Tom\").\n\nMy main critique is that the human brain is _very_ context/domain specific in\nit's ability.\nA good analogy is athleticism.\nSumo wrestlers, sprinters, archers, and football players can all be considered\n\"athletic\", but their talents are all scoped very narrowly to their respective\nsports.\nI would argue that the brain is like this, but x100.\nWould a talented typist be considered more \"intelligent\" than someone good at\nsolving sudoku puzzles?\nIs someone good at solving the problems posed in IQ tests more \"intelligent\"\nthan a creative scientist?\nTrying to make these comparisons is, in my opinion, silly.\n\nOne interesting thought is that maybe intelligence can be defined as the ease at\nwhich new skills can be learned?\nI would argue that this is also very domain specific.\nAlso this would imply that newborn infants are very intelligent, which runs\ncounter to our intuitions about the word.\n\nAlternatively, maybe intelligence is the number of skills one is proficient in?\nThis seems more reasonable, but still has major flaws.\nFor one, how would difficulty of skills be considered, if at all?\n\nSome skills, like \"reasoning\", \"deduction\", or \"argument\" seem like they should\nbe proxies for intelligence.\nI think skills like this can be learned like many others, and are built by\netching heuristics and patterns into your brain.\n\nRelevant note: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38509399" :name "intelligence.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1831 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1702414019 1701713683 1664936533 1664158460]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/meditation.md" :backlinks nil :title "Meditation" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Meditation\n\n## Descriptions\n\n - [Vipassana](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhDFykDzuJk)" :name "meditation.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 140 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757135665 1756919393]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/motivation.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/me/manifesto.md" "content/docs/mind/how-to-do-hard-tasks.md" "content/docs/mind/things-to-do-when-unmotivated.md"} :title "Motivation" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/me/manifesto.md\" \"content/docs/mind/how-to-do-hard-tasks.md\" \"content/docs/mind/things-to-do-when-unmotivated.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Motivation\n\nNOTE This is a random theory of mine; don't put too much stock into it!\n\nMotivation to do something requires that the \"something\" is **attainable** and\n**meaningful** (has a point/purpose).\n\n## (Perceived) Attainability\n\nObjectives that are *perceived* - which is really all that matters with respect\nto motivation - to be attainable have a trivially easy to accomplish next step\non the path toward them.\n\nWhat makes a next step trivially easy?\nIf your body/mind are primed to do the task such that you could do it with\nminimal/no conscious intervention.\nFor example walking, reading, or doing some trained skill are trivially easy.\nNote that this depends on the current state of your body; walking may not be\ntrivially easy if you are exhausted or have a broken leg.\nAnd also the state of your mind; responding to a conversation may be hard if you\nhaven't caught up on what has been said.\n\nNote that the whole path to the objective does not have to be trivially easy or\neven known.\nAll that matters where motivation is concerned is the next step (at least for\nattainability).\n\nMotivation can flag when the next step towards a goal is unclear.\nIn such situations it's easy to simply switch gears to another activity which\nhas clear steps - this is procrastination.\n\n### How to make things attainable\n\nWhen something feels unattainable because either (a) it seems so hard you would\nfail if you tried or (b) its unclear what step to take next, I have found\nseveral tricks that work pretty well:\n\n#### Thinking Creatively\n\nSee [thoughts on creativity]({{< relref \"/docs/mind/creativity.md\" >}}).\n\n#### Taking a Step Back\n\nTaking a step back both from the problem at hand AND from anything else that\nengages your mind.\nThe goal here is to put yourself in a state of boredom, then slightly nudge your\nthoughts toward your issue.\nOften I find my mind much more eagerly thinks about something when the prospect\nof boredom is there as an alternative.\nOne way to do this is by going and sitting in another chair far from\ndistractions.\n\nAnother alternative is going for a walk or run, preferably with no audio or\nother distractions.\nThis method also usually engages my creativity, which helps open up new\npotential paths to issue resolution.\nThere is the drawback that sometimes here my creativity will wander, and I will\nend up with good ideas about something other than my issue.\n\n#### Talking it Out\n\nTalk to someone (or yourself) about the issue.\nSometimes the act of putting your issue into works can snap some clarity into\nit.\nThe person you are talking to may also offer useful insights.\nWriting thoughts down can also sometimes work here, if no-one is available to\ntalk to.\n\nThis usually involves re-verifying the assumptions you've been making about the\nproblem.\n\n#### Getting Psyched Up\n\nThis only applies when you find the task hard, but you see the path you would\ntake to do it.\nIn this case, for me listening to energetic music or putting myself in an\nenergetic, stimulating, or even stressful environment (e.g. with other people\naround) can help me feel more active and therefore more able to do my hard task.\nI think part of this is that the stimulation occupies the higher level part of\nmy mind that's telling me the task is hard, and just lets the less conscious\nparts of me simply execute.\nAgain, this only works for a case (a) above, **not** when it's unclear what to\ndo next.\nSee the book \"Antifragile\" for more on this, specifically Book 1 Chapter 2.\n\n#### Making Concrete Sub-Tasks\n\nOne highly effective way to keep something consistently attainable is to break\nit into smaller, concrete pieces that are each attainable even to a tired or\ndistracted mind.\nThe actual act of doing this can be very difficult, so this isn't a great\nsolution when you are already finding your motivation flagging.\nThis strategy shines when you let your past self do this for you when it is\nenergized and fresh.\nOf course, your past self wont have the direct motivation to do this (as it's\ndoing fine) so it helps to set reminders for yourself to do this work when you\nare fresh.\n\n#### TODO add a reference to the manifesto \"vision\" section here, or merge the sections\n\n### How to make things LESS attainable\n\nWhen stuck on attainability, there are several counterproductive strategies:\n\n**Eating food** in hopes that it will give you energy to push through.\nThis always just makes me MORE tired especially in the short term.\nPlus I usually feel more able/energetic when I am slightly hungry.\n\n**Trying to brute force** your way through an issue without trying alternate\nroutes.\nThis sometimes works, but usually just makes me feel stupid and can lead to a\nvicious cycle where I continually burn more and more energy in less and less\nwell directed ways trying to prove I am not stupid :).\nThe key to avoiding this is making sure you aren't following the same lines of\nthought over and over, and stopping if you find yourself doing so.\n\nThe tendency to try to brute force I find is more and more temping the most\ntired you are.\nOne way to explain this is that as you do something hard (that you don't already\nhave mental circuits to handle) , your mind contracts/focuses on the problem\nuntil it becomes so rigid that even the slightest unexpected event (or new\nsolution idea) is hard to handle.\nThis is counter to an \"expanded\" mind where many possibilities are open and easy\nto handle.\nIf you have been focusing hard on one thing, a way to expand your mind is to do\nsomething you might find boring and let your mind wander its way to expansion.\nAs discussed earlier, going for a walk or otherwise exercising I find hastens\nthis process.\nSo going for a walk with no stimulation (no reading on phone, no listening to\nanything, no conversations with people) is a great technique.\nSome of this is inspired by the last part of Chapter 5 of \"How to Change Your\nMind\" by Michael Pollan.\n\n\n## (Perceived) Meaning\n\nI find that discussing things with other people, **especially** if those other\npeople care about those things (want them to happen), imbues a lot of meaning to\nthem.\n\nActivities are also meaningful when they fit neatly into a larger narrative.\nThis could be a grand narrative about one's identity (e.g. defined by what\n[virtues you aspire to or\npossess](https://www.viacharacter.org/character-strengths)), or a myopic\nnarrative about what puzzle piece should fit next into the puzzle to bring it\ncloser to solution.\n\nWhat you or others may find meaningful in a certain situation varies a lot for\nmany reasons.\nI have found myself obsessed with completing certain goals, and then having my\nobsession and motivation completely evaporate after reframing the larger context\nthose goals fit into.\n\nOne way to lose motivation for a task is to follow the meaning of the task up\nthrough all the ways it impacts the world, coming to the final conclusion that\nthere is no greater meaning in the world (or you don't know what it is), and\ntherefore the task itself is meaningless.\nThis kind of \"bubbling up\" can happen on a smaller scale as well.\n\nTODO explore ideas from\nhttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/we-learn-faster-when-we-arent-told-what-choices-to-make/\n\nThere are many sources of meaning (just see the above linked virtues list). Some\nof the sources that are strong for me personally:\n\n1. Making something complicated, or hard to think about, clear.\n This could mean writing a good description or coming up with a good\n diagram/model.\n For example: https://ciechanow.ski/gps/.\n - One of the main reasons this is so important is that it breeds motivation\n for you and others to work on the complicated thing.\n1. Building a tool that makes a task someone does regularly much easier.\n Doesn't matter how well the tool is built, just that it works.\n1. Proving competence.\n This involves demonstrating to myself and others that I can overcome\n difficult challenges.\n What the challenge actually is isn't really that important, only that I can\n succeed at it where others (including my past self) fail.\n\n\n## Holding loosely and Ego\n\nBecoming highly personally invested in a task often surfaces a lot of paralyzing\nemotions like fear of failure.\nEven for work that could be life-changing, I find \"holding loosely\" or not\ncaring too much about the outcome is a highly effective strategy.\nThis frees your mind up to perform in the moment, which will often be what\ndetermines the ultimate result of the work.\n\nThis mindset avoids the problem of focusing on things not in your control\n(explored in [this gamedev post about\nSNKRX](https://www.a327ex.com/posts/snkrx_log/#control)).\nBy definition, this thinking can't directly lead to positive action that would\nimprove your situation.\nThe best it can do is _maybe_ make you stumble upon some new information if you\nare doing research about the thing not in your control, but much more often I\nfind that it leads to dead-end thoughts that make you lose motivation entirely.\n\nI found this concept to be extremely helpful when interviewing for jobs.\nHere this is particularly relevant because interviewing involves being social\nwith your interviewer, and having a positive social interaction usually requires\nsharing positive emotions.\nIt's much easier to do this if you are actually feeling these emotions, and not\nfaking them while internally feeling fear or panic.\n\nThis concept is really helpful in sports too, or anything that requires high\nin-the-moment performance.\nIn fact, I was first introduced to this concept when playing tennis.\nI was taught to hold my racket like a tube of toothpaste - if I squeezed too\nhard (get too tense), the toothpaste would come out.\nThis relaxed physical state is tightly coupled to a relaxed mental state of\nbeing \"in the moment\".\n\nOne great exploration of this is the concept of \"effortless effort\" in Zen\nphilosophy.\nI was first introduced to this by the book [Zen in the Martial Arts by Joe\nHyams](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/424340.Zen_in_the_Martial_Arts).\nThere are also some good thoughts about this in [Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by\nShunryu Suzuki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_Mind,_Beginner%27s_Mind).\n\nSee [my thoughts on creativity]({{< relref \"/docs/mind/creativity.md\" >}}) for\nmore exploration of related ideas.\n\n## Expectations\n\nFor me, the hardest part of executing on goals is getting my entire brain on\nboard to apply effort towards my current goal.\nThe best way I've found to do this so far is by keeping the quality of the final\nproduct out of my head.\nIn other words, I try to not have expectations for a specific result or, if\nthat's too hard, I at least try to keep my expectations low.\n\nNot worrying about my goal's final product makes it much easier to just start\ndoing something.\nMy ego is protected from failure, and I can utilize all the parts of my brain\nthat live in the moment.\nUsually, the best final products are honed as they are made anyway - attempting\nto plan out the perfect product from the start without getting feedback from the\nwork often just leads me to a state of analysis paralysis.\n\nThe expectations of others are often even more extreme of a factor than my own\nexpectations.\nFor example, if I am given a task (or collaboratively come up with a task) that\nis perceived as very difficult or impossible, any progress at all will make me\nextremely motivated to continue.\nConversely, if a task is seen as trivial to accomplish, I may not be motivated\nto start right away or, worse, I will feel very stressed if it ends up taking\nlonger than expected.\n\n## Managing Excitement\n\nTODO maybe find a better place for this.\n\nOne common pattern I fall into is getting really into one particular activity\nfor a while, exploring it thoroughly, then getting tired of it and loosing\nmotivation to explore further.\nIn this situation, what can help is breaking the exploration off to keep the\nexcitement going in the next session (having a sense of anticipation for the\nnext session).\n\n## Execution\n\nSome great resources for goal execution:\n\n - https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/03/procrastination-matrix.html\n - https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits\n\n## See Also\n\n - Context about **why** you are working on a project can help frame things:\n https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/p71j9x/comment/h9h8d3f/\n - https://guzey.com/productivity/\n - http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/productivity\n - Meditation to help when getting overwhelmed:\n https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7kh8pNRWOo\n - Work specific motivation: https://jasont.co/ennui/\n - https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/JBR6AF9Gusv4u6Fwo/laziness-death-spirals" :name "motivation.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/mind/creativity.md" "/docs/mind/creativity.md"] :size 12746 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755995343 1755974875 1755322345 1729384063 1729104673 1665034717 1662925934 1655691154 1655657180 1653846065 1652989354 1649089933 1647920813 1643674263 1637430676 1635187875 1629339786 1625940076 1625939465 1625939328 1624337751]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/multifaceted-wedding-speech.md" :backlinks nil :title "Multifaceted Wedding Speech" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Multifaceted Wedding Speech\n\n*A speech I gave at my sister's wedding:*\n\nAs we all know, People are multifaceted creatures.\nWe are the sum of decades of lived experience, compounded upon the experience of\npeople we share the world with.\nAnd within our minds these experiences have shaped not a single entity, but a\nnetwork of different desires, habits, and abilities.\n\nIt’s little wonder then that the ways we interact can be so complex, as these\ndifferent aspects of ourselves play off each other.\nSometimes harmonizing, sometimes clashing.\n\nMarriage provides an excellent opportunity to focus and manage all these aspects\nof ourselves.\nYour spouse is uniquely positioned to see your own facets from a new vantage, as\nyou see theirs.\nIf they notice something new in you, listen to them.\nDon’t be afraid to introspect together to find the source of their observation.\nTheir view of you is truly one of a kind.\n\nMy hope is that you will continue to learn and grow together, and be delighted\nby each new version of yourselves, as you navigate the next chapters of your\nlives together.\nCongratulations." :name "multifaceted-wedding-speech.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1105 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1783625029]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/myers-briggs-personality-typing.md" :backlinks nil :title "Myers Briggs Personality Typing" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Myers-Briggs Type Indication (MBTI)\n\n## Extroverted - Introverted\n\n## Intuitive - Observant\n\nOne perspective: If your brain is trying to build a wall of information, a more\n**Observant** mind will use bricks it finds with its senses in the world around\nit (either via memories or present sensations). A more **Intuitive** mind will\ngather less bricks from around it and instead spent more time combining the bricks it already has into new \"fusion\" bricks to build into the wall.\n\nSee http://paulgraham.com/think.html for a possible description of this.\nGood discussion about that post at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25227651.\n\n## Thinking - Feeling\n\n## Judging - Prospecting\n\n## Cognitive Functions\n\nA great explanation can be found at\nhttps://www.careerplanner.com/8CognitiveFunctions/Cognitive-Functions-Simply-Explained.cfm.\n\n![In a Nutshell](/docs/mind/congitive-functions-nutshell.jpg)\n\nAbove description [found on\nReddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/mbti/comments/mjqz59/the_cognitive_functions_in_a_nutshell)\n\n## Related Metrics\n\n[Hofstede's cultural dimensions\ntheory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstede%27s_cultural_dimensions_theory)\nexplores cultural traits at a national level, but there is some overlap here." :name "myers-briggs-personality-typing.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1284 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1642380817]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/optimism.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/me/potential-life-missions.md" "content/docs/society/solving-societal-problems.md"} :title "Optimism" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/me/potential-life-missions.md\" \"content/docs/society/solving-societal-problems.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Optimism\n\n> Optimism is a duty.\n> The future is open.\n> It is not predetermined.\n> No one can predict it, except by chance.\n> We all contribute to determining it by what we do.\n> We are all equally responsible for its success.\n> - Karl Popper and/or Immanuel Kant\n\nReal progress requires the act of creation, which in turn requires the belief\nthat positive changes are possible, which IMO is a definition of optimism.\n\nIt is easy to sit back and point out all the flaws in the world - the creations\nof others.\nSometimes this can be useful because it inspires new creation, but many many\npeople do not have this goal in mind when they do this.\nPure \"destructive\" pessimism rather causes all sorts of problems:\n\n1. It fosters a helpless victimhood mindset, which almost by definition can't lead\nto productive action.\n1. It can lead to \"burn it down\" actions that leave a worse world in their wake.\nVarious political revolutions come to mind.\n1. It's socially infectious - others can be convinced to take up the same mindset\neasily.\nIt is temping to blame the world when things go wrong after all.\n\nSee https://publicism.info/science/infinity/10.html for a deep dive on another\ndefinition of optimism I like: \"The Principle of Optimism: All evils are caused by insufficient knowledge.\".\n\nFrom Howard Zinn:\n\n> To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic.\n> It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty,\n> but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.\n> What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives.\n> If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something.\n> If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have\n> behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act,and at least the\n> possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.\n> And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand\n> utopian future.\n> The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think\n> human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a\n> marvelous victory." :name "optimism.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2319 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1698604706 1692662334 1659113492 1659025169]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/perspective.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/understanding-the-world/what-to-believe.md"} :title "Perspective" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/understanding-the-world/what-to-believe.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Perspective\n\nOne way to think about perspective is as the narrative you tell yourself about\nthe world.\nI think that perspective really strongly shapes more than anything else your\nexperience and even your abilities, because the way you think about the world\nand the way you conceptualize it informs your behavior directly.\nThe information we get from our senses is full of holes and is just generally\nimperfect.\nOur mind has to construct a coherent perspective out of that to act upon, so\ngiven the same inputs there are many many very valid perspectives to take from\nthem.\n\n\n## Your Mind Makes It Real\n\nYour perspective directly shapes your behavior and **is** your worldview.\nThis means it also shapes your reactions - even involuntary reactions - or even\nemotions or like things like pain.\nEven if you don't actually have real nerve pain if your perspective of the world\nmakes you think that you should be feeling it you probably will (see [rubber\nhand experiments](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxwn1w7MJvk)).\nThis is kind of like in The Matrix when if people die in The Matrix they die in\nreal life because their perspective is so holy fused with their Matrix selves.\nI'm not sure if that's how it would work in real life but I think that's closer\nthan you might otherwise think to the real world.\n\n\n## Learning\n\nLearning about something - understanding some concept - is really just\nincorporating the perspective of it into your mental model.\nSo for instance if you want to learn history or math or something like that all\nit takes is for you to shape your mind so that you see the problem or the\nhistorical event or whatever you see it directly from your perspective.\n\nI think with things like math this is incredibly insightful.\nFor me often math or logic problems are very hard to understand at first.\nEven memorization of the answer often doesn't help with understanding and later\nreproduction.\nHowever at some point the problems just click into place and it becomes second\nnature to deploy that new logical rule or whatever in problem solving.\nI think that's because at that point you see the problem from your perspective\nor it becomes a perspective that you have.\nTreating these problems in that way can help reduce the stress associated with\ntrying to learn them and maybe help hasten the learning process.\n\n## Self Deception \n\nBecause there are many valid perspectives given the same set of sensory inputs\nif you choose to even ignore some of those inputs or twist things it's very easy\nto put yourself in a state where your model of the world is very different from\nthat of most others.\nSome might say this means you are deluded or even being self deceptive if you\nconsciously choose to ignore new inputs.\nI think being in this state of mind is very dangerous when making real decisions\nthat impact people's lives.\nMoreover, this state of mind can be very easy to fall into.\nHowever, if your goal is to explore new ideas or discover new things, adopting\nthis mindset may be necessary to some extent in order to put yourself in a place\nthat allows you to do that.\nSo I do think there's a perilous pro and con trade-off situation to be in this\nself deceiving state.\nI do think self deception can be very positively helpful when it comes to\nmotivation.\nIn Peter Thiel's talk about luck ([You Are Not a Lottery\nTicket](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZM_JmZdqCw)) he mentions that even if\nluck exists it may be valuable to ignore that fact, self-deceiving yourself,\nbecause if you do then the ways in which you act will produce better outcomes\nthan if you just assume some things are not in your control.\n\nSelf deception is really tricky when it comes to being a scientist or doing some\nkind of scientific pursuit, because on the one hand putting yourself in a new\nperspective that is flawed or incorrect enables you to do the experiments and\ntry to reason through whether the perspective is actually true or not.\nHowever by putting yourself there it can be dangerous because if you are too\ndeep in your perspective then you can start to bias your experiments and\notherwise just come up with erroneous results.\nI do think it's important though that some people do put themselves in those\ndangerous position when it comes to innovation and I don't think they should be\nlike a vilified or thrown out as non-scientific or something like that.\nI think their perspectives are important it's just important to realize that\nthey are in a new place which is probably mostly incorrect without just writing\nthem off completely because I think there's a lot of value that can be gained\nfrom people in this periphery.\n\n## Inspirations\n\nI wrote down these ideas after listening to Peter Attia's discussion on Esther\nPerel about like an hour or so into the podcast (1:20)." :name "perspective.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 4885 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1659551821 1659551685 1658277343 1657997776]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/pressure-and-integrity.md" :backlinks nil :title "Pressure And Integrity" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Pressure and Integrity\n\nWhen people end up stressed or under pressure, they will more often \"cheat\" or\notherwise violate their integrity.\nTo assume otherwise is IMO naively optimistic.\n\nInstead of telling yourself that you have principles you will never violate, it\nmay be better to focus your energy on recognizing what causes stress/pressure so\nthat you can avoid or otherwise manage it.\nThis IMO is a more realistic way to uphold integrity.\n\n## Anecdotes\n\nSome anecdotes that illustrate this thought:\n\n - [Slurgi cheating on bbros run](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1iBJNzZaGQ)\n - People who get violent when angry\n - Probably Dark and Darker developers" :name "pressure-and-integrity.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 711 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757135665 1756843241]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/socializing.md" :backlinks nil :title "Socializing" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Socializing\n\n## Positive Vibes\n\nIt helps form connections with others to all be in a similar positive mental\nstate when you are together.\nPeople commonly use drugs (e.g. food, alcohol) to get into this state, but other\nactivities that everyone is excited about can do it too.\nExercise can also help.\n\n## Disruption\n\nAny given person has a whole host of thoughts and concerns that are constantly\ncoming up and being resolved in their heads.\nResolving those concerns can be done in many ways, for example:\n\n1. Actually doing a real world task that resolves the concern (fixing something,\n or looking up a piece of information).\n1. Writing down the task as a reminder to do it later.\n1. Delegating the task to someone else (or an automation).\n1. Simply talking through, or thinking through, the issue.\n\nAll of these resolution methods can be done with the assistance of other people.\nHowever, when doing so, you necessarily disrupt (add to) the roil of thoughts in\nthe other's head(s).\nThis is not necessarily a bad thing - perhaps the other person/people is/are\nlooking for things to do - but it is good to be aware of.\n\nIf you constantly voice your own roil of thoughts as a way to manage it, or\nsimply be social, you can be exhausting to be around." :name "socializing.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1302 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1733985863 1664936533 1664240164]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/standard-of-thought.md" :backlinks nil :title "Standard Of Thought" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# What standard of thought should we expect from people?\n\nI recently read *What's Our Problem* by Tim Urban, where he makes the case that\nmany of our current societal divisions are caused by more primitive parts of our\nminds dominating the conversation.\nHe argues that our \"higher minds\" that are capable of considering many\nconflicting perspectives to seek truth should instead be driving the\nconversation.\nSpecifically, Tim argues that all perspectives should be open to higher-minded\ndiscussion and shutting down discussion on certain topics is dangerously\nilliberal.\n\nTim admits that using our higher minds requires effort, and it is impractical to\ncompletely ignore the primitive mind.\nI strongly agree.\nIn fact, I think that use of the higher mind to discover some truths is\nextremely labor intensive, and the resulting truths are hard won artifacts.\nTo me this means that we should really do a better job of recording and\ncataloging these artifacts so that when discussion comes up about them, we can\npoint directly to them as a way to end the conversation (as opposed to doing the\nhigher minded dance all over again).\n\nIn my opinion, encouraging open mindedness on every subject invites people to\nentertain ideas that have been proven wrong for way too long.\nIn some ways, people use \"open mindedness\" as an excuse to promote bad ideas.\nIt would be better to focus on organizing and preserving the arguments\nfor/against ideas, and make it more of a cultural norm to shut down promotion of\nbad ideas unless the promoter has something novel to add to the conversation.\nOf course, the burden of digging through all the prior art to figure out if\ntheir contribution is novel is on the promoter to do.\n\nShifting our discussion in this way puts more realistic expectations on people.\nAccurately and correctly constructing an argument for an idea is hard and error\nprone, which IMO is why many people just give up and use their primitive minds\nto make decisions.\n\nI don't think freedom of speech should be suppressed by any means here.\nI'm purely speaking about cultural norms, not legal changes." :name "standard-of-thought.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2147 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1756002649 1756002482 1733864097 1733863870]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/things-to-do-when-unmotivated.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/daily-physiological-tricks.md"} :title "Things To Do When Unmotivated" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/daily-physiological-tricks.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# Things to do When Unmotivated\n\nSee also my [deeper dive on the nature of motivation]({{< relref\n\"/docs/mind/motivation.md\" >}}).\n\n## Background\n\nUsually I go through a couple periods of time every day where I don't really\nfeel like doing anything, or I at least don't feel like doing anything\nthat requires focus. I've noticed this happens for a couple reasons:\n\n - It's the afternoon (I think because of some circadian rhythm of mine).\n - I ate in the last couple hours.\n - I exercised around an hour or two ago. Right after exercise I usually feel\n quite focused/energized.\n - I feel hot/sweaty/greasy.\n - I've been sitting and staring at a screen (usually doing focus-requiring\n work) for too long (5+ hours).\n\n## Ideas\n\nThe ideal task would be something that doesn't require focus, works towards\nsomething useful (e.g. a skill), and inspires motivation after doing it for a\nwhile. Some ideas:\n\n - Write a narrative of what you have been doing towards a particular task to\n clear up thinking about it.\n - Con: Can be hard\n - Napping.\n - Going for a run or doing any kind of exercise.\n - Taking a shower\n - Not eating (being hungry), or getting colder in temperature.\n - Con: Stressful. Best if paired with another engaging activity.\n - Organizing stuff.\n E.g.\n going through old browser tabs or loading the dishwasher.\n - Pro: Productive (work that would have to be done anyway).\n - Pro: Can inspire creativity if going through old things that you have\n memories of.\n - Sitting and doing nothing.\n - Pro: Boredom often inspires motivation.\n - Con: Can be uncomfortable.\n - Browsing Reddit or Hacker News.\n - Pro: Can sometimes find really useful information.\n - Pro: Entertaining.\n - Con: Isn't very restful, doesn't do a good job inspiring motivation.\n - Con: Can lead to a time-comsuming rabbit-hole.\n - Listening to energetic music.\n - Pro: Entertaining.\n - Pro: Often inspires focus.\n - Con: Can actually be grating/more tiring sometimes.\n - Con: Sometimes leads to distractions like reading about the artist or\n reading the lyrics.\n This depends highly on the song.\n - Talking to people.\n - Con: People not always available.\n - Con: Can be draining.\n - Con: Can lock you in to a conversation longer than you want to be.\n - Eating.\n - Pro: Is relaxing.\n - Con: Can lead to \"snack-train\"-ing, where I keep going back for more snacks\n and end up overeating.\n This in the worst case can have knock on effects for days of low/bad\n energy!\n - YouTubeing.\n - Pro: Is relaxing.\n - Con: Can lead to time consuming rabbit hole." :name "things-to-do-when-unmotivated.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/mind/motivation.md"] :size 2725 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1710287362 1664387927 1662925980 1662925934 1662925602 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1653111519 1628379851 1628362943]} {:path-categories #{"Mind"} :path "content/docs/mind/working-with-others.md" :backlinks nil :title "Working With Others" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Mind\"}\n---\n# How to Work With Others\n\nEveryone you are working with will have a model in their heads that describes\ntheir best solution to the problem at hand. Everyone involved must take their\nmodels out of their heads so that others can amend their own models in an\neffort to reach some kind of consensus. This is hard work and is not always\ntreated as such.\n\nNot only is it hard work to do this model-sharing, but it can create [cognitive\ndissonance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance), which causes\npain. This can necessitate further model-sharing to resolve, which can balloon\na small issue into a massive ordeal. I like this quote from Valarie Kaur:\n\n \"Deep listening is an act of surrender. We risk being changed by what we hear.\"\n\nTo expect people to readily do this is in my opinion expecting too much. Of\ncourse, putting effort into this process is necessary for many types of work;\nlots of problems arise when someone is not willing to *ever* do this.\n\nThis article does a good job of providing a methodology for resolving friction\naround model-sharing:\n\nhttps://medium.dave-bailey.com/how-to-resolve-a-conflict-when-both-sides-are-right-1f375bc82f7f\n\n\n## Emotional Consensus and Disagreement {#emotional-conversations}\n\nPeople are very sensitive to emotions of others (accurately understood or not)\nin conversations. This is especially true of negative emotions. Because of\nthis, it can very easily become the goal of a conversation to help resolve\nnegative emotions present in your conversation partner. This can be good, but\ncan also be a problem if your are mis-reading your partner's emotions or if\nthey don't want those emotions resolved. I think it's good to be aware of this\ntendency and catch yourself if you see issues arising because of it.\n\nRelated, one thing I've noticed that sparks involved discussions (or heated\narguments) is lack of **emotional** consensus on a topic. I've had several\ntalks where it seems like I agree with my conversation partner, but there is\nstill an unresolved tension in the air. This tension existed because, although\nwe clarified facts, we still had different emotional reactions to the topic,\nimplying that we hadn't created a fully shared perspective. Identifying that\nthis is the root cause of the tension can be a good way to get to the bottom of\nthe disagreement.\n\n\n## Pitfalls in Productive Conversations\n\nIf we say a \"productive conversation\" is one where people are trying to find\nconsensus on a particular question, there are a couple patterns that can make\nthese conversations take much more time and energy to achieving their goal:\n\n### Having unclear definitions\n\nIt can sometimes be easy for a lot of conversation to happen before the\nparticipants realize that the definitions they are assuming are not the same\nfor the relevant terms/concepts. It's usually worth the time to get core\ndefinitions really nailed down before moving past them into what effects they\nhave on other concepts.\n\n### Exploding the Scope\n\nOften conversations lead to tangents that might be even more interesting to\nsome participants than the original conversation. Being explicit about when\none is making a jump to discussing a tangent can be really helpful for several\nreasons:\n\n1. The other participants may not care about the tangent.\n1. The other participants may feel like the tangent-follower is assuming that\n they believe something about the tangent based on the previous conversation,\n when that's actually not true. \n\nA common reason for following a tangent is when trying to argue for a\nparticular viewpoint, and not finding a good path forward with the current\nargument. For instance, take an example where one is arguing why book X is\nbetter than a similar book Y. They might start by describing why they think\nthe main character is more relatable, but then shift into talking about the\nworld being more fleshed out when they run out of points. This can be jarring\nif the other participants are still thinking about character-relatableness, and\nfeel like the tangent-follower is just glossing over their own points. Worst\ncase, the tangent follower can to this intentionally to confuse their\n\"opponents\" to \"win\" a debate.\n\n\n## [Reactance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactance_(psychology))\n\nPeople inherently like to be in control of what happens to them in their lives.\nWhen this control is threatened, resistance to the threat is the natural\nresponse. I definitely have felt this when in a situation where someone tells\nme to do something - even something I know I want to do. The very fact that I\nwas told to do it makes me _less_ interested in doing it! Sometimes this effect\ncan be extreme.\n\nThis is one of the reasons why micromanagement of others leads to all sorts of\nproblems. It is much more motivating to let people come to their own decisions\nabout whether to do something if possible. \n\nIn my experience, learning is also easier when the topic of study is not\ndictated to me, but instead I explore it \"freely\". Even reading a linear\ntextbook can feel free (and I absorb the information better) when I set the\npace and am able to jump around at will.\n\n### Circumventing Reactance\n\nSometimes you still need to tell people what to do to effectively get things\ndone. For cases where reactance is strong, creating an environment in which a\nperson can explore and independently come to your conclusion for what needs to\nbe done may be an effective strategy. This has the added benefit (?) of\nallowing them to come to an even better conclusion than your own!\n\n\n## Assuming Good Intentions\n\nIt's pretty hard sometimes to figure out why someone is doing something in\nparticular. [This clip from Malcolm in the Middle about changing a light\nbulb](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbSehcT19u0) is a pretty funny extreme\nexample, but I find this kind of situation comes up in smaller ways fairly\noften. If you must have expectations for someone doing something for you (which\nare best avoided entirely), it's good to keep in mind that their approach is\nprobably going to be different from yours in ways that are hard to predict.\nTrying to figure it out - or worse, micromanage them - may often be wasted\neffort and lead to interpersonal frustration.\n\n\n## Complaining\n\nPeople complain for at least two main reasons:\n\n1. They need help with something. Either via:\n 1. Direct help (offloading their problem in part to someone else).\n 1. Advice help (having another person help improve their understanding of\n their problem, so that they can solve it alone without transferring any\n responsibility).\n 1. In \"How to Change your Mind\" by Michael Pollan this was described as a\n \"doing\" behavior.\n1. They want to share their feelings so that others around them are on the same\n page about their emotional state. This is helpful e.g. so others around\n them will not burden them further, unaware of their current burden. This is\n also helpful for emotional validation reasons - it is useful to know if the\n thing you are upset about upsets others; if not, perhaps you are missing an\n easy resolution to your problem.\n 1. In \"How to Change your Mind\" by Michael Pollan this was described as a\n \"being\" (in the moment) behavior.\n\nIt is easy (at least for me) to jump strait to advice help when people complain\naround me and ignore the fact that the complainer may need one of the other\ntypes of resolution described above." :name "working-with-others.md" :private false :categories #{"Mind"} :dir? false :links [] :size 7487 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1631562802 1630356900 1629525691 1629339786 1628632251 1628225587 1627319610]} {:path-categories #{"Morality"} :path "content/docs/morality/altruism.md" :backlinks nil :title "Altruism" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Morality\"}\n---\n# Altruism\n\n - Good examination of effective altruism: https://michaelnotebook.com/eanotes/" :name "altruism.md" :private false :categories #{"Morality"} :dir? false :links [] :size 145 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1654406756]} {:path-categories #{"Morality"} :path "content/docs/morality/cancelling-high-contributors.md" :backlinks nil :title "Cancelling High Contributors" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Morality\"}\n---\n# Cancelling Highly Productive People\n\nUnfortunately, it seems like some highly productive people that have\npermanently improved the lives of millions of people are also either not very\nsocially aware and/or are downright abusive to their colleagues. Often this\nleads to allegations of harassment (sexual or otherwise), and a removal of the\nperson from their position.\n\nIt would be cool if we could somehow keep these people doing what they do\nwithout giving them the power over others that they seem primed to abuse. I'm\nnot really satisfied with the current \"derail their lives\" approach to the\nproblem, as it seems like that leads to a net negative impact on society as a\nwhole.\n\nSome people that I was thinking of as I wrote this (note that **I don't know if\nthese people are actually in the wrong or not, just that others think they\nare**):\n\n - [David Sabatini](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_M._Sabatini)\n - [Richard Stallman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman)\n - [Aubrey de Grey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey_de_Grey)\n - [Steve Jobs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs)\n - [Andy Rubin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Rubin)" :name "cancelling-high-contributors.md" :private false :categories #{"Morality"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1221 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1653110865]} {:path-categories #{"Morality"} :path "content/docs/morality/efficient-living-and-morality.md" :backlinks nil :title "Efficient Living And Morality" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Morality\"}\n---\n# Efficiency and Morality\n\nA thought experiment based on some simplified assumptions. Could very well have\nlarge holes in it, but currently has a large influence on how I make decisions.\n\n## Assumption 1: Our goal is to maximize positive emotions.\n\nOur goal is to maximize the amount of time people feel positive emotions:\n\n - happiness\n - fulfillment\n - satisfaction\n - empowerment\n - energy\n\nAnd minimize the time spent feeling negative emotions:\n\n - pain\n - depression\n - apathy\n\nSince this is our goal, I'll define a \"moral\" act as an act that helps further\nthis goal.\n\n\n## Assumption 2: Emotions are personal reactions to experiences.\n\nEmotions arise when an experience is having positive or negative effects on\nyou or people/things you care about (as far as you perceive it). \n\nEmotions are **not** intrinsically tied to specific experiences. For instance,\ndepending on the person and their context, the experience of swimming can\ninduce a wide variety of emotions:\n\n - fear\n - exhaustion\n - empowerment\n - adventure\n - relaxation\n\nThese same emotions can be induced by a wide variety of other experiences. **No\nexperience has a \"monopoly\" on specific emotions**, except for very low level\ndrives (like eating satisfying hunger, drinking satisfying thirst, etc).\n\n\n## Assumption 3: Experience-having requires resource destruction (cost), which often has negative emotional cost.\n\nMost experiences require some destruction of resources to have. All experiences\nrequire the experiencer's time at the very least, but many also require:\n\n1. The work of other people.\n1. A share of a finite resource.\n\nIn our society, we use money as a proxy for these resources, and spend that\nmoney on experiences, quantifying this exchange. Money that goes unspent can be\nused to have more personal experiences in the future, given to others so\nthey can do the same, or used to build a system that makes future\nexperience-having cheaper. \n\n\n## Assumption 4: There is a lower cost threshold required for good experiences.\n\nEveryone needs to eat, drink, and fulfill other basic needs to not suffer large\namounts of negative emotions (and die). These experiences have a cost, although\nit can be very low. One outlier is medical care, but the minimum necessary cost\nof this is controversial.\n\n\n## Assumption 5: Emotional effects of an experience are uncoupled to cost past their lower threshold.\n\nPast the lower threshold for basic need type experiences, my observation is\nthat the emotional effects of experiences are not well correlated to their\ncost. Rather, they are primarily influenced by the context of that experience\nin life. Some anecdotes:\n\n### Media\n\nThe excitement or other emotional reaction to media (books/movies/games) comes\noften from:\n\n - Nostalgia\n - What media one has consumed in the past\n - What one's been thinking about recently\n - What friends are talking about (not necessarily what's new)\n - Media quality. Luckily the globalization of entertainment means this does\n not have a large impact on individual user cost.\n\n### Physicality\n\nMost physical pleasures are almost entirely dependent on context:\n\n - Hunger can make almost any food taste good; fullness can make even the\n fanciest desert sickening.\n - Sleep can be the most important thing in the world, or impossible to do.\n - Sexual experiences can be amazing, or traumatic.\n\n### Novelty\n\nTrips to foreign lands or completely new experiences get their excitement from\nnovelty.\n\n### Side Note: Lifestyle Inflation\n\nMany experiences get boring over time (they become less emotionally powerful).\nA common tendency is to try to make them more interesting by dumping more\nresources into them in an effort to \"upgrade\" them. This is convenient because\nit allows one to feel the comfort of familiarly with the experience while\ngetting the thrill of novelty at the same time.\n\nUnfortunately, this can get very expensive and, even worse, can leave one at a\nnew baseline of cost to uphold the new normal of these experiences. At this\npoint, trying to downgrade will usually cause negative emotional reaction,\nwhich is counter to our goal.\n\n\n## Conclusion: Living efficiently is morally optimal.\n\nI define efficiency as the ratio of maximum positive emotionality achieved to\nthe cost required to achieve that emotionality. I argue that the best way to\nmeet our original goal is to maximize the efficiency of our lives. This will\nallow the greatest number of people to meet their lower threshold experience\ncosts, and leave resources left over to make it even easier to meet this cost\ngoing forward.\n\nWasteful activities, which are high cost but produce the same emotional return\nas lower cost activities, are therefore to be avoided as much as possible.\nTheir cost indirectly takes resources away from places where those resources\nwould be much more emotionally powerful. This can be extreme; people spend many\ntimes a basic income requirement on experiences commonly :(.\n\n\n## Practical Consequences\n\n### Assumption 6: People have some control over their interests\n\nExposure to different people/environments can lead to adoption of a variety of\ndifferent interests.\nOld interests can fade if experienced in new light.\n\nI don't believe that a particular person's passions are out in the world, are\nimmutable, and just require discovery.\n\nThis means that people are not necessarily trapped in inefficient (and therefore\nimmoral) interests.\n\n### What would I choose?\n\nOne practical way to engage with this line of thinking is to try the following\ncreative thinking exercise.\nPretend you are creating a person (say yourself) and need to determine what that\nperson will be interested in or passionate about.\nWhat would you choose for them?\nWhy?\nWhat's stopping you from adopting those interests?\n\n\n## Footnotes\n\nI recently listed to part of Peter Attia's podcast with the author of [\"Die with\nZero\"](https://www.diewithzerobook.com/).\nThe fact that the ideas discussed here don't seem to be discussed in that book\nled to me have a strong negative emotional reaction to the podcast.\nIt felt like a hyper rich individual exploring how to live life as inefficiently\nas possible :/." :name "efficient-living-and-morality.md" :private false :categories #{"Morality"} :dir? false :links [] :size 6188 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1673301100 1673289798 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1642380817]} {:path-categories #{"Morality"} :path "content/docs/morality/future.md" :backlinks nil :title "Future" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Morality\"}\n---\n# Morality of the Future\n\n - Mind Uploading: https://qntm.org/mmacevedo\n - [Three Worlds Collide](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/HawFh7RvDM4RyoJ2d/three-worlds-collide-0-8)" :name "future.md" :private false :categories #{"Morality"} :dir? false :links [] :size 227 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1658277343 1658206871]} {:path-categories #{"Morality"} :path "content/docs/morality/right-to-risk.md" :backlinks nil :title "Right To Risk" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Morality\"}\n---\n# Right to Risk\n\nReading https://www.piratewires.com/p/the-crime-of-curiosity made me think\nabout how much **personally** dangerous/risky behavior we should legally allow.\nShould we allow unhealthy eating? Motorcycle riding? Messing with your own gut\nmicrobiome? Messing with your own genes? Climbing? Self-harm? Attempted\nsuicide? [Not getting vaccinated for\nCOVID-19?](https://peterattiamd.com/a-follow-up-to-my-article-on-vaccine-mandates/)\n\n## Insurance\n\nMore dangerous behaviors cost money. Who pays?\n\n## Responsibility and Legality\n\nIf you have a child, or are personally responsible for someone, then hurting\nyourself pretty directly hurts that person. Therefore, it makes sense to have\nstricter rules about risk taking when someone is responsible for another.\nHurting other people is legally forbidden, after all. How much does this apply\nto caregiver to caretaker relationships (e.g. child -> parent)? Romantic relationships? Friendships?\n\nHow much responsibility should we assume members of the same society should\nhave for each other?\n\n## My Defaults\n\nThis stuff is hard to think about and, in lieu of doing that work for specific\nsituations, I usually just default to valuing personal freedoms over mitigating\ndamage, especially for single people who have distanced themselves from strong\nbinding relationships. I realize that if I'm placed in a position where I have\nto make a consequential decision, this default belief is not strong enough to\nuse :)." :name "right-to-risk.md" :private false :categories #{"Morality"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1520 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1643566176 1631833682 1631833395 1631832180]} {:path-categories #{"Morality"} :path "content/docs/morality/self-sacrificers.md" :backlinks nil :title "Self Sacrificers" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Morality\"}\n---\n# Self Sacrificers\n\nThere are those who corrupt their own moral standing to benefit society:\n\n* Soldiers become killers to protect (a) society\n* Entrepreneurs become overconfident liars to effectively test their ideas, as they cannot know with confidence that their ideas will survive contact with the world, but they must convince some people that they will for investment. Politicians do the same.\n\nI feel like we should have a term for this phenomenon." :name "self-sacrificers.md" :private false :categories #{"Morality"} :dir? false :links [] :size 510 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1740866322 1740862760 1733864097 1733543092]} {:path-categories #{"Music"} :path "content/docs/music/making-music.md" :backlinks nil :title "Making Music" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Music\"}\n---\n# Making Music\n\n## Instruments\n\n - [Making a Mystical Handpan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0O6SFM48Fc)" :name "making-music.md" :private false :categories #{"Music"} :dir? false :links [] :size 158 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757135665 1756919393]} {:path-categories #{"Music"} :path "content/docs/music/music-discussions.md" :backlinks nil :title "Music Discussions" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Music\"}\n---\n# Music Discussions\n\nThis comment made me so incredulous when I read it: https://www.reddit.com/r/progmetal/comments/17kxuio/comment/k7bv8i7/" :name "music-discussions.md" :private false :categories #{"Music"} :dir? false :links [] :size 192 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757135665 1756242385]} {:path-categories #{"Music"} :path "content/docs/music/music-library-management.md" :backlinks nil :title "Music Library Management" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Music\"}\n---\nThis file is private" :name "music-library-management.md" :private true :categories #{"Music"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2831 :modtime 1784607431 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1752514442]} {:path-categories #{"Music"} :path "content/docs/music/my-musical-interest-history.md" :backlinks nil :title "My Musical Interest History" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Music\"}\n---\n# History of my Musical Interests\n\nFor each period are listed some of my most listened to albums.\n\n## Middle School\n\n - Green Day, *American Idiot*\n - First album I ever got (got it as a birthday present).\n\n## High School\n\n - Rise Against, *The Sufferer and the Witness*\n - Played a bunch at my Karate dojo of all places, likely because my friends\n who were also into them went there.\n - Linkin Park, *Minutes to Midnight*, *A Thousand Suns*\n - Disturbed, *Indestructible*\n - Massive Attack, *Mezzanine*\n - Blue Man Group, *Three*\n\n## University\n\n - TesseracT, *Altered State*\n - Introduced to my roommate, who redirected my musical interests\n - Saw live\n - Skyharbor, *Guiding Lights*\n - Intervals, all albums\n - Would listen to a lot when working on molecular simulation research\n - David Maxim Micic, all albums\n - Muse, all albums\n - Great live!\n - Nine Inch Nails, *The Downward Spiril*, *Year Zero*\n - Great live!\n - The Glitch Mob, *Drink the Sea*\n - Destiny Potato\n\n## 20s\n\n - Hubris, all albums\n - Night Verses, *From the Gallery of Sleep*\n - Saw live as an opener for another band and thought they were bad.\n As I listened more this became one of my favorite albums.\n - Tool, *Lateralus*, *10,000 Days*\n - Shiny Toy Guns, *III*\n - Jeremy Blake, [*Juvenile Hyperobject*](https://soundvision.bandcamp.com/album/juvenile-hyperobject-deluxe-edition)\n - [hubris.](https://hubrisband.bandcamp.com/)\n - [jakob](https://jakob.bandcamp.com/)\n - [God is an Astronaut](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhXHH2sZlQU)\n - [Intervals](https://intervalsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-way-forward)\n - [65daysofstatic](https://birdsrobe.bandcamp.com/album/wild-light)\n - [Unprocessed, *Covenant*](https://unprocessed.bandcamp.com/album/covenant)\n - [Russian Circles](https://russiancircles.bandcamp.com/)\n - Amazing live\n - [Zeal and Ardor](https://zealandardor.bandcamp.com/)\n - [Tender](https://tender.bandcamp.com/album/fear-of-falling-asleep)\n - [Metal Mother](https://metalmother.bandcamp.com/)\n - [Pair of Arrows](https://pairofarrows.bandcamp.com/)\n - Neon Trees\n - Ratatat\n - [El Ten Eleven](https://fakerecordlabel.bandcamp.com/album/el-ten-eleven-album)\n - [Glitch Mob](https://theglitchmob.bandcamp.com/)\n - [Tim Hecker](https://timhecker.bandcamp.com/)\n - [Nick Johnston](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfiNRE6IZJM)\n\n## 30s\n\n - Monuments\n - Strummed the strings live reaching from the crowd\n - Makari, *Wave Machine*\n - Meh live\n - Dearest\n - Bad Omens, \n - I Prevail, *Trauma*, *True Power*\n - Wage War, all albums\n - Poppy, *Am I a Girl?*, *Negative Spaces*\n - Breaking Benjamin\n - Used to listen to them a while ago too.\n - The Plot in You, *Vol 1, 2, 3*\n - Time, the Valuator\n - Imminence\n - Vola\n - Sleep Token\n - The Defect\n - Conquer Divide" :name "my-musical-interest-history.md" :private false :categories #{"Music"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2832 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757264770 1755322345 1755114058 1754599626 1742167498 1742166662]} {:path-categories #{"Music"} :path "content/docs/music/shows.md" :backlinks nil :title "Shows" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Music\"}\n---\n# Shows\n\n## VOLA @ Neptune - Sept 2025\n\nFirst show at the neptune!\n\nOpeners (foxcult) had really bad audio balance; all I could hear was the drums and the vocalist.\nVocalist had some real energy though. Would have been cool with a darker light show.\n\nDaedric was OK, guitars/drums a little too noisy IMO. Not as crisp as the recorded music.\n\nVOLA was really incredible. Great lights and energy. I wish I knew their lyrics better!\nDaedric singer joined in on \"Cannibal\", which was amazing!" :name "shows.md" :private false :categories #{"Music"} :dir? false :links [] :size 493 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1758475353 1758475019 1758470453 1758470427 1758470406 1758470292 1758335658]} {:path-categories #{"Society"} :path "content/docs/society/co-ops.md" :backlinks nil :title "Co Ops" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Society\"}\n---\n# Co-ops\n\n## Marxism\n\nI just finished listening to The Lex Friedman podcast with Richard Wolff on\nMarxism.\nAs I understood it he describes Marxism as not really an active proposal for how\nto structure society, but rather as just a critique of capitalism and a specific\ndescription of what about capitalism is wrong without any necessarily specific\ninstructions about what to do instead.\nFor instance he talks about how Marx almost never talked about government.\nIt didn't sound like he had many opinions about whether government should be big\nor small or whatever.\n\n## Co-ops\n\nThis lack of actionability led me to be really grasping during the podcast to\ntry to figure out what could be tried that would be better than capitalism.\nOne thing that caught my attention was Richard Wolff's description of co-ops as\nsomething that Marx would probably approve of.\n\nA co-op is just a business where all the revenue that comes in is distributed by\nthe employees.\nThe people who are employees of the co-op or maybe even co-owners decide what to\ndo with that profit and it's not up to one single individual like an owner to\ndistribute the money as they see fit.\nIt seems like by this definition a co-op like structure could help reduce the\ninequality that we see in the world because it doesn't seem like a collection of\nemployees would vote to pay one person like say the owner a lot more than\neverybody else.\n\nSo I started thinking about what this means - how would you actually achieve a\nco-op like structure where I'll just say everybody is a co-owner.\nThere's probably other ways to do it but that makes the most sense or is the\nsimplest to me.\nSo everybody owns an equal share of the business and they have equal voting\nrights.\n\nI struggle to understand how this could happen.\nFor example, let's say I start a software business, write some software, and\nthen sell it directly to people who pay me for the program and support.\nLet's say that I run the business by myself and one day want to hire somebody\nelse to help me with the business.\nIt seems like what I would have to do is upon hiring of that person I would have\nto give them a gift of half the company.\nOr maybe as they work they would grow their half of the company because if I\njust gave him half the company then in theory they could just sell it and leave\nand never actually work for me and just take the money.\nSo maybe they would have to over time work up to it like a vesting schedule.\n\nEven then it's it seems kind of strange that the person that you hire has so\nmuch leverage immediately on the company.\nMaybe that's not that strange but it feels strange to me especially if you're\nhiring somebody to do a specific task.\nFor instance if you needed to pay somebody to just make the graphics for your\nwebsite and that's it.\nFor someone hired to do some very specific task that doesn't necessarily involve\nstrategic direction over the company it seems weird that they would be given a\nbig part of something that you built.\nThis would mean people would just have to be very careful about how they hire,\nwhich would probably slow a company's ability to hire because you're not really\nhiring somebody you're more like partnering with somebody.\nEvery single person who joins your organization effectively becomes a partner.\n\nThis would make decision making a lot harder because pretty much everything\nwould have to be voted on.\nPerhaps there would be representatives like like an internal senate or something\nwhere representatives would make the decisions for the company's direction and\nnot every single employee would have to be involved.\n\nThe part of this like that's the most unclear to me is like how you could set up\na structure where when you're hiring your first, your second, or third, fourth,\nfifth employee how their ownership would manifest.\nWhat would happen if they leave?\nAre they forced to sell their shares in the company when they leave or does it\njust disappear and everybody else gets a bigger slice of the company?\nOr their voting rights are lost but they still hold their shares?\n\nMaybe thinking about the company in terms of shares is part of my confusion.\nMaybe it shouldn't be thought of that way, although in the end if a majority of\nthe employees decide to sell the company that should be possible.\nThen there would be a way for employees to cash out.\nPerhaps limiting the liquidity of the stock is the way to manage these issues.\n\nThis train of thought makes me interested in learning more how current co-ops\nlike Costco or WinCo or PCC grew.\nHow did they start?\nHow do they grow?\nDoes every employee have an equal voting right who owns them?" :name "co-ops.md" :private false :categories #{"Society"} :dir? false :links [] :size 4679 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1656388528 1656388399]} {:path-categories #{"Society"} :path "content/docs/society/communal-living.md" :backlinks nil :title "Communal Living" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Society\"}\n---\n# Communal Living\n\nIn media like [Everyday Utopia]({{< relref \"/docs/books/everyday-utopia.md\"\n>}}), communal living situations are brought up as a way to help people get a\nbetter sense of community and lead happier lives.\nWhy then do many people not live this way?\n\nI hear personally anecdotes from people that they \"want their own place\" or that\nthey are tired of living with others.\n\n... elaborate ..." :name "communal-living.md" :private false :categories #{"Society"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/books/everyday-utopia.md"] :size 457 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1700078474 1699041494 1698384423]} {:path-categories #{"Society"} :path "content/docs/society/doom-and-how-to-avoid-it.md" :backlinks nil :title "Doom And How To Avoid It" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Society\"}\n---\n# Doom, and how to avoid it\n\n## We got problems\n\n - climate change\n - income inequality\n - asteroids\n - natural disasters\n - pandemics\n - everyone dies of old age\n\n## We need to solve them\n\nThe development of new systems and technologies is the only way we are going to\nbe able to solve all our problems in the long term. In the past, innovated or\nluck are the only ways we've been able to circumvent large problems, and\nrelying on luck long term will lead to externally-caused extinction or self\ndestruction at some point.\n\nCurrently, people are the only entities we know of that can actively create new\nsolutions to problems in a reasonable timescale. Therefore, **it is critical\nthat we get as many people as possible to spend their time innovating**. We\nshould aggressively be trying to get this to happen in at least two ways:\n\n1. Building systems of information transfer that make innovation easier or even\n accessible to most people.\n1. Working hard to automate away things that currently suck up our time.\n\n### Making Innovation Accessible\n\nRight now, it is not easy for a random person to make meaningful progress on\nsolving the world's problems. There are a couple reasons why that we should\nwork to invalidate:\n\n1. Learning about existing research is hard\n - Conferences are very expensive to attend\n - Publications are expensive to read\n - Sites like sci-hub make this easier\n - Formal education is expensive and time consuming\n1. Engaging in serious conversations about these problems with a manageable\n amount of people is hard.\n - Probably there are ways to creating online or local communities to fix\n this.\n1. It is hard to get motivated to work on these hard problems in our current\n culture.\n - I'm not sure how to solve this, but we should try to learn more about how\n to make this a more core societal value.\n\n### Automation\n\nPeople spend too much time on non-creative tasks. Automation with a good\nwealth redistribution system should eliminate this wasted time." :name "doom-and-how-to-avoid-it.md" :private false :categories #{"Society"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2057 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1658509129 1656388528 1656388399]} {:path-categories #{"Society"} :path "content/docs/society/freedom-inequality-meritocracy.md" :backlinks nil :title "Freedom Inequality Meritocracy" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Society\"}\n---\n# Freedom, Inequality, and Meritocracy\n\nI was listening to the rational reminder financial podcast and they had [an\nepisode about financial\nliteracy](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9yYXRpb25hbHJlbWluZGVyLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz/episode/ZjQyYThmNjktZjhiMC00MzFmLTk0NzQtM2EwZTY2ODc0ZTk5?ep=14)\nand one of the statistics they mentioned was 30 to 40% of retirement savings can\nbe explained by financial literacy alone.\nIf true, it’s kind of crazy to think that a large fraction of the financial\ninequality in at least the United States or wherever the study was done is due\nto financial literacy.\n\nThis got me thinking more generally about the price of freedom to make our own\nchoices and to play the game of life.\nI feel like in a very individualistic society like the United States people have\na lot of freedom with their choices and there's relatively little guidance or\nforced defaulting that helps guide people to make the right decisions.\nFor instance, I can do whatever I want with my own money: I can invest it in\nwhatever I want, or just put it all in the bank without investing it anywhere.\nI can buy the most random stuff with it and there's no real fall back if I make\npoor decisions - I just have to suffer the consequences.\nThis is true with a lot of other things too like physical health, media\nconsumption habits, mental health, etc.\nA lot of these areas are very unintuitive and difficult to perform well in so\nit's very easy to “lose” the game of life in certain dimensions without the\ndefaulting or other guardrails that are less \"free\" society would provide to its\ncitizens.\nI think this freedom to make decisions and stuff has a lot of benefits but\nwithout any defaults I feel like you can lead a lot of people to make really\npoor decisions just because they don't know any better and that can perpetuate a\nlot of problems like social inequality.\n\nThis line of thinking has made me think that \"information inequality\" via lack\nof exposure to people who talk about finances or talk about health or whatever\nmight be a bigger problem than I thought.\nIf someone doesn't expose themselves to said people or their culture doesn't\nreally value this kind of knowledge, or has suboptimal opinions on how to\napproach these topics, they are going to have a harder time succeeding in life.\nThey will be making worse decisions due to their information environment.\n\nI think having the government provide some basic default services that people\nhave to opt out of might help combat this inequality.\nThe price of these services would be deducted from paychecks, but if people\nwanted to solve these problems themselves they could just opt out and get their\nmoney directly.\nThere's probably a lot of problems with this idea that I haven't thought of." :name "freedom-inequality-meritocracy.md" :private false :categories #{"Society"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2818 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1663982789 1663623469]} {:path-categories #{"Society"} :path "content/docs/society/gerrymandering.md" :backlinks nil :title "Gerrymandering" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Society\"}\n---\n# Gerrymandering\n\nIn the US, a mostly agreed upon problem is that our legislative districts are\ndrawn in a biased way which favors whichever party was in power when the lines\nwere last drawn.\nThis is easy because geographical boundaries are pretty arbitrary, and IMO do a\nbad job of sorting people into representable groups.\nSo there isn't really a way to judge the quality of the lines as they are drawn.\n\n## Representative Groups\n\nTaking a step back, the goal of a representative democratic system is for\nrepresentatives to _represent_ the needs of their constituents.\nThis is easier if the constituents are more similar in their views, as then the\nrepresentative needs to do less work to consider all the different perspectives\nthey should be representing.\nIt strikes me that where someone lives is not a great determinant of their\npolitical views, or at least there are better determinants (see some discussion\nof this in [The Black Swan - \"The Narrative Fallacy\" - \"to be wrong with\ninfinite precision\"]({{< relref \"/docs/books/The-Black-Swan.md\" >}})).\nSome examples (sorted roughly by practicality as perceived by me):\n\n - Age\n - Profession\n - Income\n - Net worth\n - Gender Identity\n - Racial/Cultural Identity\n\n**It's interesting to think about what would happen if our \"district lines\" were\ndrawn among these dimensions instead of geography.**\n\nFor example, if we shifted to a profession-based system, then all engineers\nwould have a representative, as would all doctors, professors, janitors,\nwarehouse workers, etc.\nPreviously, these same people would have been represented by their location in a\ncity/state/country - the northern district would have a representative, as well\nas the southern, eastern, and western districts.\n\nPersonally it feels like I would be better represented in this system, or at\nleast my representation is easier to conceptualize/understand.\n\nRight away I see a couple problems:\n\n - People may try to make the insincere case that they belong to a specific\n group for political reasons.\n - The problematic \"in-group/out-group\" psychology humans struggle with would be\n triggered more directly (e.g. \"How dare these LGBTQ people call themselves\n [insert gender here] and claim to be part of my group?!\").\n\nIt does seem like this kind of system might at least be more \"honest\" or at least\nstraightforward - it seems like geographical lines are often used as a proxy for\nthese characteristics anyway.\n\n## Issue-Based Representation\n\nOne interesting point is that different groups may be more or less relevant for\ndifferent issues.\nFor instance, geography is very relevant when deciding where to add new bus\nlines.\nAnd profession is very relevant when deciding how to tax different industries.\n\nIf our goal is to make the job of representatives easier by giving them a\nhomogeneous group of constituents, this is an issue.\n\nThere are at least two ways to handle this:\n\n1. Have different representative groups for different issues.\n This gets complicated - do we have multiple presidents??\n1. Try to pick groups that lead to the most relevance across the most issues.\n At least we can do better than geography, right?\n\n## Abandoning Representativeness\n\nWe could instead just get rid of the concept of representation of specific\ngroups of people and just give parties representatives according to a single\npopular vote for the party.\n**Party identity is in a sense the best way to group people by their political\nviews**.\nFor instance, if there were 100 seats and 45% of people nationwide voted for\ndemocrats, then democrats would get 45 seats regardless of the locations of\ntheir voters.\nIt looks like Germany does this in part by giving parties extra seats in their\nlegislature based on their total national vote share after all constituencies\nhave been given seats:\nhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Germany#Bundestag." :name "gerrymandering.md" :private false :categories #{"Society"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/books/The-Black-Swan.md"] :size 3920 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1667948337 1667948286 1667947978 1667947123 1667941051 1667937680]} {:path-categories #{"Society"} :path "content/docs/society/individuals-vs-groups.md" :backlinks nil :title "Individuals Vs Groups" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Society\"}\n---\n# Individuals Vs Groups\n\nPolitical problems are complicated and multifaceted almost by definition.\nTherefore, there are usually many different perspectives from which they can\nbe viewed. Two of these are:\n\n - Looking at the effects the problem (and its solutions) have on\n **individuals.**\n - Looking at the effects the problem (and its solutions) have on **groups of\n people.**\n\nBoth perspectives are important; it's easy to take a solely individual\nperspective and, in doing so, blind oneself to some of the best solution for\nthe world's biggest problems (e.g. climate change, wealth inequality)." :name "individuals-vs-groups.md" :private false :categories #{"Society"} :dir? false :links [] :size 655 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1658509129 1656388528 1656388399]} {:path-categories #{"Society"} :path "content/docs/society/livelihood-traps.md" :backlinks nil :title "Livelihood Traps" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Society\"}\n---\n# Livelihood Traps\n\n## The Problem\n\nMany people are not able to live in accordance with their values because their\nwork constrains their behavior.\nWhen their values come into conflict with those of their employer, often people\ncede to the employer's values because they don't want to lose their job.\nIn America, losing your job means losing your health insurance and potentially\nhaving a hard time finding another job.\n\nThis dynamic leads to persistence of inefficient and often harmful status quos.\nFor instance, there are many jobs that are \"bullshit\" in that they don't\ncontribute meaningfully to society, or even detract from it.\nPeople with these jobs are often aware of this, but they don't want to lose\ntheir job, so they continue to do it and even defend its existence!\n\nPoliticians often pander to large electorates of people with jobs on the sole\nplatform of maintaining them or making more, nevermind the usefulness of the\njobs in question. This makes me sad.\n\nFor some, their job also becomes a part of their identity, and then they start\ndefending their job for more personal reasons like these:\n\nhttps://www.astralcodexten.com/i/157690414/so-what-does-drive-political-disagreement\n\n### Value Displacement\n\nMany people get so immersed in the culture livelihood traps have built that\ntheir core values themselves dissolve, or become a low priority.\nIn their place, people value things that lead to them having success in their\nenvironment, such as:\n\n - Presenting a self image that powerful people who control employment will\n like.\n This leads to behavior like:\n - Working hard on resumes / portfolios of work.\n - Being very agreeable when with these people, ceding to their value system.\n - Taking on work that the powerful people want done, regardless of personal\n beliefs.\n - Related, increasing your \"social status\"\n - Increasing your salary\n - Choosing work that pays more over work that is more important as dictated\n by core values.\n\nI've noticed this happening to me when I take actions to chase promotion at work\nover doing other things.\n\n### Value \"Shortsightedness\"\n\nAnother related phenomenon I've noticed in myself is a \"shortsightedness\" when\nit comes to values.\nI personally know that certain behaviors make me feel good regardless of how\nthey serve my core values. These include:\n\n - Showing other people how to solve a problem they are stuck on. For example:\n - Answering questions on message boards at work and outside of it.\n - Teaching other people technical skills.\n - Automating work that people were doing manually.\n - Solving approachable problems myself. For example:\n - Rock climbing\n - Playing video games\n - Programming\n - Small home improvement projects\n\nAnother way to say this is that I can be prone to getting \"nerd sniped\"\n(https://xkcd.com/356/), and can be very happy when immersed in some new\nproblem.\n\nThe problem here is that it is easy to just find the easiest path towards\nimmersion regardless of the larger values the problems I'm solving serve.\nIn other words, I'm so \"shortsighted\" that I act without considering any values\nat all!\n\n## Solutions\n\n- Government-provided health insurance or even income\n- Make it easier / less risky to create startups.\n For instance by:\n - Improving social safety nets to reduce reliance on traditional employment.\n - Weakening intellectual property laws so that more information / software\n infrastructure is freely available to build upon.\n- Build systems that make hard, important problems more accessible for the\n average person to start working on.\n- Easier ways for people to self organize to retrain for new jobs.\n This could be accomplished via making interviews at companies based more on\n skill demonstration and less on credentials." :name "livelihood-traps.md" :private false :categories #{"Society"} :dir? false :links [] :size 3848 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1768935047 1756002649 1756002482 1740866322 1740862760 1740688726 1740678785 1740593638 1740030470]} {:path-categories #{"Society"} :path "content/docs/society/multi-job-normalization.md" :backlinks nil :title "Multi Job Normalization" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Society\"}\n---\n# Normalizing Multiple Jobs\n\nIt would be interesting if it was the norm for most people to work multiple\n(e.g. 2) part time jobs, instead of one full time job.\n\nBenefits:\n\n - You are more diversified.\n If one of your employers has to lay you off you are in a less severe\n situation.\n - Your work might be less monotonous.\n\nIssues:\n\n - In a \"knowledge worker\"-type role, one job might interest you more than the\n other for a time period, leading to an uneven distribution of mental effort.\n - Benefits (e.g. healthcare) would be more complicated to manage.\n IMO benefits shouldn't be tied to employment as much as they are in the U.S.\n now, but this would currently be a problem." :name "multi-job-normalization.md" :private false :categories #{"Society"} :dir? false :links [] :size 741 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1674251134]} {:path-categories #{"Society"} :path "content/docs/society/politics.md" :backlinks nil :title "Politics" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Society\"}\n---\n# Politics\n\n## Institutions and Refactoring\n\nI listened to https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/david-deutsch/ today,\nand was also thinking about code cleanliness at work. These ideas meshed in my\nmind to draw the following analogy:\n\nThere is often the temptation in software development to do a complete rewrite\nof some code. This is tempting because it promises that the clean model in your\nhead for how things should work could be reality, and you wouldn't have to deal\nwith the current system with its quirks and bad models any longer. [This is\ndangerous](https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-never-do-part-i/)\nbecause within all those quirks exist real decisions made by prior developers\nthat handle real use cases. Many of these decisions will inevitably be lost in\nthe re-write, and will need to be re-discovered and patched over time, which is\nduplicate work.\n\nIn the podcast David mentions that he is a fan of evolutionary societal change,\nwhere existing institutions are respected and changed slowly, instead of being\ntorn down in a revolution. I think this is kinda similar to the idea of\nincrementally changing code, as opposed to rewriting it from scratch.\nInstitutions (I assume) also have many quirks and patched edge cases that carry\nreal, hard won value. Erasing all that may be more destructive that it seems in\nthe mind's eye." :name "politics.md" :private false :categories #{"Society"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1428 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1658509129 1656388528 1656388399]} {:path-categories #{"Society"} :path "content/docs/society/shelter-in-the-storm.md" :backlinks nil :title "Shelter In The Storm" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Society\"}\n---\n# Shelter In The Storm\n\nSometimes it feels accurate to describe the world as a raging storm that drains\nyour wealth as your stand in it.\nThe only way to survive is to find pockets of shelter that shield you from this\ndrain and build you up for any future forays into the storm.\nThese pockest are most commonly jobs, but could also be self constructed passive\nincome systems." :name "shelter-in-the-storm.md" :private false :categories #{"Society"} :dir? false :links [] :size 427 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1736835711 1736835384]} {:path-categories #{"Society"} :path "content/docs/society/solving-societal-problems.md" :backlinks nil :title "Solving Societal Problems" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Society\"}\n---\n# Solving Societal Problems\n\nHere I'm defining a \"societal problem\" as a large problem facing many people\nthat could be solved if said people changed their behavior in some systematic\nway. For example:\n\n - **Climate Change** could be solved if we all transitioned to using more\n renewable sources of energy.\n - The **Obesity Epidemic** could be solved if we all ate less food.\n\n## Individual Change and Shaming\n\nOne common proposal I've heard for solving at least the above problems is using\na \"grassroots\" approach. This method would involve first changing your own\nbehavior such that the problem would be solved if everyone behaved like you,\nthen trying to influence others to adopt your new behavior(s). This seems\nsimple enough, but I don't think it's the best way forward, and in some ways is\nactively harmful.\n\nThe tacit assumption with this proposal is that people are able to choose what\nbehaviors to adopt. I would argue that in fact our behaviors are much more\ninfluenced by our environment than we would like to admit. One component of our\nenvironment is indeed other people peer pressuring us, but (IMO) far more\ndominant factors include:\n\n - Economics (how much the behavior change costs)\n - \"At hand\"-ness (what other behaviors are \"at hand\" and easy to do)\n\nWhen these factors are overpowering (which I argue they usually are), peer\npressure becomes a form of bullying and social rejection that the target of\nwhich is powerless to stop. Perpetuating this is downright cruel.\n\n## Changing the Environment\n\nIf a grassroots behavior change movement isn't the best way to solve the\nproblem, then what can we do instead? In my opinion, the answer is\nenvironmental change. This can take several forms:\n\n### 1. Local Environmental Change\n\nThis involves making changes to an individual's local environment (the spaces\nthey interact with on a habitual basis) to guide them to certain behaviors.\nSome examples would be intentionally not buying unhealthy food when at the\ngrocery store so that when at home these foods are not \"at hand\". Or not buying\na car so that you instead need to bike or bus to get around.\n\nNote that the line here can be pretty blurry between what is an actual behavior\nchange and what is simply an action that changes one's environment. Because of\nthis, I think the stronger, ultimate solution is:\n\n### 2. Policy-Level Environmental Change\n\nGovernment policies can create massive environmental changes. For example,\nextra taxes on certain products can massively impact people's buying decisions.\nOr bans of certain products can completely change the suite of chemicals that\nindividuals are exposed to on a daily basis.\n\nA natural objection is to point out that in a democracy, the majority of people\n(in theory) choose what policies are enacted. Because of this, wouldn't people\njust vote for policies that help them perpetuate their current behavior set -\nwhich they presumably \"chose\" and/or otherwise would like to keep?\n\nI argue that actually **people are quite able to vote in a way counter to their\neveryday actions**. For instance, people who enjoy soda may vote for a\nsugar-sweetened beverage tax. The reason why (I think) this is because the\nmental state you adopt when voting is generally different that the mental state\nwhen deciding - or not consciously deciding at all - to engage in a particular\nbehavior.\n\nThis is especially true when voting on higher level, more abstract policies.\nFor instance, banning a certain type of energy production might indirectly\nincrease someone's cost of living by quite a bit in various ways, but thinking\nabout the policy in a more abstract sense may lead someone to approve it\ndespite this personal impact.\n\nBased on my own emotions, I also think that people by and large care deeply\nabout how their lives compare to those of others around them. A tax that\ngreatly increases everyone's cost of living is much more bearable than one that\ntargets just an individual person. It's much rarer for people to worry about\ntheir absolute standing than how they compare to others - the fact that the\nmajority of people today live like the elites of a couple centuries ago is not\na great source of comfort and satisfaction generally speaking.\n\nThis, like many solutions to big problems, does depend on an educated populace\nthat is able to reason about the effects of certain policies. Ensuring this\ncondition is itself a large scale societal problem that hopefully can be solved\nwith this same line of thinking. I do admit there's a bit of a chicken-and-egg\nproblem here :/.\n\n#### Nudging\n\nThe book [Nudge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudge_(book)) explores one\nphilosophy with which good policies can be crafted without impinging too much on\nindividual liberty.\n\n#### Externality-based Policies\n\nMany societal problems are due to hard-to-track externalities of existing\nbehaviors that are not \"priced in\" to the cost of the behavior. For instance,\ncompanies that make unhealthy food do not pay for the healthcare costs their\nproducts incur. Or single-use plastic producers do not pay for waste cleanup\nefforts. Or petroleum refiners do not pay for CO2 emissions. If these\nexternalities were priced in, then the consumer would have a much easier time\nmaking buying decisions, as the real cost of their consumption would be obvious\nto them.\n\nCurrently, it's hard to know the real cost of a given behavior, which is\nfurther confused by emotional arguments on either side. For example, if you\nwant to know if you should use plastic straws or not, the low price of them\nmight make you think they are an efficient way to solve your problem. But\nothers would argue that [some large number] of straws are used every second!\nUnfortunately, that doesn't really tell you very much. If instead it cost a\ndollar to clean up every discarded straw, and that was priced into the straws\ncost since the producing company had to clean up the straws, then you as the\nconsumer could make a more informed decision about whether that dollar is worth\nit.\n\nOf course, tracking all these externalities is hard. But this seems like a\nuseful framework, or at least more useful that trying to get consumers to all\nindividually understand the externalities of their actions.\n\nProbably someone else somewhere has done a much better job exploring this\ntopic.\n\n### 3. Technological Environmental Change\n\nNew technologies dramatically change the environment people live in.\nInterestingly, they usually do this without requiring the bureaucracy required\nto enact government policies. Therefore, the development of new technologies to\nsolve societal problems, like geoengineering techniques for climate change,\nhas a lot of potential. And some problems can **only** be solved with new\ntechnologies (like preventing aging).\n\n### 4. Cultural Environmental Change\n\nShifting cultural norms also can lead to massive change in individual behavior.\nI don't really know the best way this can be leveraged without the \"grassroots\"\nproblem I mentioned above, but I thought it would be worth mentioning.\n\n## Personal Impact\n\nGiven this theory, if someone feels strongly that certain problems need to be\nsolves, what should they do?\n\nInfluencing government policy is a lot of work and is, I would argue, a task\nthat requires specialized skills. This means that someone who invests more time\nin building these skills will hone them, and have more leverage when applying\nthem. Therefore, an effective path to personally solving societal problems is\nto invest a lot of time and energy in honing and applying these skills. Note\nthat I'm not talking about lobbying here, but rather actually writing laws and\ndoing the research that motivates their creation and design. This kind of\nenvironment building can also be done outside of formal government in private\norganizations that fill some roles that a government might otherwise fill.\n\nOur hypothetical person could also get deep into creating a technology that\nsolves the problem they care about. This arguably takes even more time/energy\ninvestment to see significant returns.\n\nFor those who do not want to, or cannot, invest time/energy in influencing\npolicy or developing new technologies, one fallback option is to instead hone\nanother set of skills, apply them to make money, and then fund\npolicymakers/inventors with the proceeds. This will probably have a bigger\nimpact than dabbling in invention/policymaking, and certainly will have a\nbigger impact than just changing your own behavior.\n\nRegardless, being a [creative optimist (as opposed to a destructive\npessimist)]({{< relref \"/docs/mind/optimism.md\" >}}) is important.\n\n### Hypocrisy\n\nIf you assume that \"grassroots\" individual change has little to no impact on\nsocietal problems, then a lot of seemly hypocritical behavior is explained and\neven excused. For instance, it is very reasonable to believe strongly that\nsociety would be better if everyone was vegan, while eating the readily\navailable non-vegan foods provided by society. It even makes some sense that\nsomeone super passionate about some political issue - to the point where they\norganize protests or voting campaigns - may not vote for the issue themselves!\nIn my opinion, these behaviors are more a demonstration of how these\nhypothetical people think they can manifest change as opposed to what they\ntruly believe.\n\n## Testing this Theory\n\nRight now this line of thinking is just a plausible (at least to me) idea. I\nwould love to see some evidence for this, but don't have any at hand right now\nto cite. So (as always) I might be totally wrong :)." :name "solving-societal-problems.md" :private false :categories #{"Society"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/mind/optimism.md"] :size 9603 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1667066083 1659551685 1659113492 1659025169 1658509129 1656388528 1656388399]} {:path-categories #{"Society"} :path "content/docs/society/utopia.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/me/potential-life-missions.md" "content/docs/society/utopian-idea-management.md" "content/docs/understanding-the-world/copyright-and-ip.md"} :title "Utopia" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/me/potential-life-missions.md\" \"content/docs/society/utopian-idea-management.md\" \"content/docs/understanding-the-world/copyright-and-ip.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Society\"}\n---\n# Achieving Utopia\n\n## Problems\n\nHumanity has some big problems that need to be solved before we can safely say\nwe have built a utopia.\n\n### Wasted Human Potential\n\nMost people spend their productive time doing work that does not materially\nmove our society forward. As discussed later, people have the potential to\ncreate completely new ideas that radically and positively improve the lives of\nhumanity as a whole. Any work that does not leverage this potential by\ndefinition wastes it, slowing our progress toward a utopia.\n\nIf our economy could somehow adequately value this potential, a lot of these\nproblems might solve themselves (as the cost of labor would be prohibitive).\n\n#### Maintenance Work\n\nThis kind of work is currently necessary work that keeps society from\nbacksliding. It is extremely important, but we should be working to automate\nit or find ways to avoid needing it to make progress.\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WAe0f74Q0s\n\n#### Service Work\n\nIn my opinion, most service work is already unnecessary given the alternatives.\nIt makes me sad to see so many people working as waiters/waitresses, cashiers,\nin call centers, etc. when there are (often better) systems that provide the\nsame service without requiring people.\n\n#### Not Seeing the Potential\n\nRejecting the idea that all humans have creative potential is commonplace, and\ngreatly harms the many people that are discriminated against when selection for\ncreative roles occurs. TODO flesh this out.\n\n### Death\n\nThe death of an individual is extremely tragic for at least these reasons:\n\n - All the knowledge and perspective the individual accumulated over their\n lifetime is lost permanently.\n Records can only partially remedy this.\n - The social web the person was a part of is violently damaged.\n - The people close to the dying person suffer greatly and are less able to\n create for a time (sometimes permanently).\n\nTo protect ourselves emotionally, we have built traditions and societal norms\naround accepting death and treating it an inevitable.\nGiven our progress towards understanding aging (the cause of the vast majority\nof deaths), this is starting to become a problem.\n\n### War\n\nThe terrible combination of the above two problems. Should be avoided at all\ncosts.\n\n\n### Meritocratic Thinking\n\nOur society is structured so that more successful people are seen as more\n\"deserving\" that less successful ones.\nThis can help with motivation to be better, but leads to a lot of injustice.\nIn my opinion the emotions of all people are equally important to maintain in a\npositive place - meritocracy is often directly opposed to this goal.\n\n\n## Solutions\n\nIn my opinion, we should be putting **all** people to work solving the above\nproblems. In doing so, we should be able to reach utopia more quickly, and in\nso doing alleviate much suffering.\n\n### Humanity's Superpower\n\nPeople have the uniquely powerful ability to come up with arbitrary explanations\nfor how stuff works and then critically compare them against each other.\nThis creative process has led to all major advances in human history, and is\nresponsible for the accelerating rate of progress we all enjoy today.\nThis progress is in turn responsible for alleviating a tremendous amount of\nsuffering, and for creating a myriad of new ways for people to feel happy,\nsatisfied, or otherwise good.\nIt also has enabled people to automate many time and energy consuming tasks that\nhave historically either directly caused suffering, or gotten in the way of\nfurther progress and/or doing things that feel good.\n\nCreative thought as I've defined it is the most important tool we have to\nimprove our state as a species (and to continue avoiding existential threats).\nTherefore, we should be primarily orienting our society to encourage creative\nthought and reduce the amount of time required to engage in non-creative work to\nkeep things running.\nIf we can successfully do this, then we will maximize our ability to solve all\nother hard problems facing our species, such as resource shortages, aging,\nclimate change, and successfully governing ourselves.\nAdditionally, arguably people will lead more fulfilling lives, as more of their\ntime will be spent thinking about interesting things and sharing those thoughts\nas opposed to grinding away at Sisyphean maintenance tasks.\n\nHow can we do this?\n\n### Basic Need Satisfaction\n\nWe need to ensure that every person on earth has their basic (food, shelter,\nmedicine, mental health) needs met through automation.\nWorrying about basic needs is probably the biggest distraction away from\ncreative thought that exists today.\n\nWorrying about basic needs and/or accumulation of wealth for a rainy day can\nalso lead to perverse incentives, where someone will work on something with\nmoney as their only object.\nIdeally, our economic system would make the most useful work the most lucrative\n(and this problem wouldn't exist), but unfortunately this isn't always the case.\nThis leads to the all too common situation where people choose not to do the\nmost helpful/important thing they could be because another option is more\nlucrative.\n\nA simple solution to this would be to supply everyone with a nanofabricator that\ncan produce food, tools, and everything else required to survive.\nUnfortunately, currently this solution is still science fiction, and we instead\nmust rely on large shared systems that utilize economies of scale to provide\nneeds at a minimum cost.\nDistributing resources in these systems is hard, and our growing wealth\ninequality today is evidence that we are doing a poor job.\n\nSo far, some kind of universal basic income seems to me to be the best short\nterm solution to this problem.\nThis would provide a \"floor\" that people wouldn't be able to fall beneath.\nIt would also allow markets to keep service production efficient, which wouldn't\nnecessarily be the case if the government simply provided the needs directly.\n\n#### Tyranny of Other People\n\nAll societies have some parts in which people are at the mercy of other people\nwho control their employment status, political status, time, and/or access to\nresources.\nThis often leads to disasterous results (see the atrocities committed by\ntotalitarian regimes, or the depression caused by an abusive boss) and in\ngeneral creates a lot of daily stress for the people that have to make sure\ntheir controllers are happy with them.\nBasic need satisfaction would go a long way towards eliminating this problem as\nwell.\n\n\n\n### Freedom of Information and Education\n\nIt's hard to think creatively when you have no prior ideas to remix together\ninto new ones.\nMaking information and educational resources universally accessible and engaging\nis crucial to spark creativity.\nTo do this we should continue encouraging the growth of the internet, and the\ngrowth of free and open publication of scientific discovery (and thoughts in\ngeneral).\nPeople who write down novel ideas should have their needs covered by the\nautomation described above, and therefore will not need to worry about how to\nmonetize their work (which wastes everyone's time and energy, and cuts people\nout of the creative process).\n\nSpecifically, I think we should severely limit copyright laws and allow people\nto copy and access all digital content freely, including source code, movies,\nbooks, school courses, \"trade secrets\", etc.\nDirect compensation for this work would come from UBI and possibly grants if UBI\ndoesn't cover all expenses.\n\n\n### Freedom of Direction\n\nIn the book [\"Greatness Cannot be Planned: The Myth of the Objective\"]({{<\nrelref \"/docs/books/why-greatness-cannot-be-planned.md\" >}}), the authors argue\nthat all hard problems suffer from deceptive paths to their solutions.\nTherefore, attempting to grade or judge performance by comparing a current state\nto a specific goal is misleading.\nThis focus on objective thinking is particularly dangerous when applied to\npeople - using objectives to encourage someone to do X or Y stifles that persons\nability to exercise their most powerful tool: their creativity.\nInstead, that person will just act in accordance with the given objective, even\nif they have novel ideas they would otherwise try to pursue.\n\nTo approach utopia, it makes sense to try to constrain the behavior of\nindividuals as little as possible so that the most novel ideas can be explored.\nOne way this could be conceptualized is by encouraging\n[flaneur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fl%C3%A2neur)-like behavior as described\nin [\"Antifragile\" by NN Taleb]({{< relref \"/docs/books/antifragile.md\" >}}).\nThis has the additional side benefit of giving people space, time, and therefore\nability to support the ideas of others that they discover and think are\nimportant.\nRelated is Taleb's [\"Convex\nTinkering\"](https://fooledbyrandomness.com/ConvexityScience.pdf) concept, which\nsupports the idea that randomly exploring many ideas is perhaps the most\nefficient path to discovery.\n\n#### Organizations\n\nThis concept can also apply to larger organizations of many people, like local\ngovernments.\nIf those governments have a lot of freedom to experiment with different\npolicies, this could lead to discovery of the best policies overall.\nIn practice, this would looks like a confederation of autonomous states, like\nSwitzerland and to a lesser extent the United States of America.\n\nAt the government level, this experimentation can be dangerous, so it is crucial\nthat people are able to leave governments that they anticipate will harm them.\nThis means that both some kind of universal bill of rights and resources that\nhelp people move are extremely important.\n\n\n## Influences\n\nThis is heavily inspired by\n[The Beginning of\nInfinity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beginning_of_Infinity) by David\nDeutsch.\n\nOther reading: https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/\n\nSee also [thoughts on creativity]({{< relref \"/docs/mind/creativity.md\" >}})." :name "utopia.md" :private false :categories #{"Society"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/books/why-greatness-cannot-be-planned.md" "/docs/books/antifragile.md" "/docs/mind/creativity.md"] :size 10111 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1701207308 1697236141 1694020059 1691798344 1689646296 1667844143 1667762893 1667703247 1661792280 1658509129 1656990200 1656388528 1656388399]} {:path-categories #{"Society"} :path "content/docs/society/utopian-idea-management.md" :backlinks nil :title "Utopian Idea Management" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Society\"}\n---\n# Utopian Idea Management\n\nAs touched on in [Utopia]({{< relref \"/docs/society/utopia.md\" >}}), in my\nopinion the concept that people can \"own\" any form of information and have sole\nright to profit off of it is deeply problematic to me.\n\nIdeas and information more generally is derived from existing info, no matter\nhow \"original\" it may look.\nThis means that:\n\n1. Any \"right\" to own ideas/info is just as valid as the \"right\" a LLM has over\n the work it produces (none at all).\n2. Restricting the free usage/remixing of information will stymie further\n progress, as new creators will have less information to work with when\n synthesizing old ideas into new ones.\n\nIf we do decide to remove all forms of idea ownership (copywrite, trade secrets,\netc.), this has several large downsides in our current society:\n\n1. Some jobs will be much less profitable (e.g. writing, commercial research).\n2. There will be less incentive to innovate.\n\nTherefore, in order to do this effectively, we need some new societal structures/systems.\n\n## New Systems\n\n### UBI\n\nSome form of basic income is required for this to work out.\nThis will remove the human (salary) costs from the equation of generating new\nideas.\nFor many creative workers (e.g. digital artists, writers, etc.), this should be\nenough to enable them to continue creating.\n\n### Grantmaking\n\nFor some info generation (drug discovery, clinical trials, movies), salary of workers is\nonly part of the cost of the process.\nThe creation itself also consumes resources.\nTo make this kind of creation possible, I propose a diverse grantmaking\necosystem funded out of the same pool as UBI.\nThis would include grants determined by:\n\n1. Popular vote\n2. Expert commitee\n3. Random lottery\n\nIt's crucial to have a variety of ways to give grants to make sure all ideas\nhave some chance at being explored, even if they are niche or unpopular.\n\n## Unfree Information\n\nSome information should still be restricted. This includes:\n\n1. Cryptographic secrets\n2. Branding.\n An individual with a canonical fantasy world for instance should have a way\n to prove/show that new books they write were written by them in a specific\n canonical world, even if the books themselves are freely copyable." :name "utopian-idea-management.md" :private false :categories #{"Society"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/society/utopia.md"] :size 2284 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1697236141 1694020059 1694019965]} {:path-categories #{"Software Dev"} :path "content/docs/software-dev/actionable-tips.md" :backlinks nil :title "Actionable Tips" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Software Dev\"}\n---\n# Actionable Tips to Improve Code\n\nHere are various specific and actionable things you can try out to improve code\nquality (and/or challenge yourself).\n\n - Minimize the number of arguments each function takes (ideally to 1 or 2\n only). This was taken from Clean Code, Ch. 3.\n - Don't mutate anything (instead copy). This may be more possible in some\n languages than others" :name "actionable-tips.md" :private false :categories #{"Software Dev"} :dir? false :links [] :size 434 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1642529832]} {:path-categories #{"Software Dev"} :path "content/docs/software-dev/auto-input-data-collection.md" :backlinks nil :title "Auto Input Data Collection" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Software Dev\"}\n---\n# Auto Input Data Collection\n\nFrequently when I am debugging code, I will make some changes to a single\nfunction, then re-run tests that call my function as well as many others above\nit in the stack. If there are few large tests, they make take a long time doing\nlots of computations that I don't care about in the process of testing my\nfunction.\n\nOne solution to this is to write unit tests that test every function.\nThis is widely recommended, but also laborious and at times \"flow-killing\".\nAlso if your system is composed of many small functions, it can be hard to\nmotivate yourself to write multiple tests for every single one.\n\nAnother solution is to use a debugger, and stop execution of your program at\nthe function in question and use the context from the debugger to fix the\nproblem. The few times when I have used a debugger, I've been bothered by the\nfact that in order to test new changes to my function, I need to re-run\neverything all over again. Effectively, I haven't seen much difference for\nmyself between a debugger and use using log/print statements.\n\n**It would be really neat if I could run my program with a special flag that\ncollects all inputs passed to all functions and stores them somewhere\nautomatically. Then, when testing my function I could run ONLY my function in\nisolation with the collected inputs, without having to construct them myself\n(e.g. in a unit test).**\n\nThis system could also try to generate unit tests with this data, but that\nmight get messy.\nProbably the best way to do this is have this system assist\nunit test generation by starting you out with example data that can be tuned.\nOr give you lots of test cases and then have the unit testing work be deleting\nthe unnecessary ones as opposed to writing your own.\n\nI imagine interacting with this stored data in an editor.\nWith your cursor in a function, you would hit a hotkey and the function would be\nrun with the last input (or N inputs) that it saw during its last execution,\nshowing you the return value and any print/log statement outputs.\n\nProbably this is much easier to implement (or much more likely to already\nexist) in an interpreted language like Python or Javascript.\n\nThis could also make reading code much easier, as example data would be just a\nhotkey away.\n\nThis is similar to using a REPL in Clojure with generative test case-ing via\nspec, but crucially captures data that causes errors in a real run of the\nprogram (unlike Clojure with a REPL and random data).\n\nConversation about this idea:\n\n - https://clojurians.slack.com/archives/C03S1KBA2/p1688414895048359\n - https://www.reddit.com/r/Clojure/comments/14pt9qj/automatic_function_argument_return_value/\n\n

\nConversation sparked by this:\n

\n\n```\nTanner Young, Jan 19, 2022, 3:52 PM\n> One solution to this is to write unit tests that test every function.\nThis is usually a big waste of time (or at least easily perceived as such),\nsince most functions will probably never be broken, especially if they are kept\nsmall.\n\nSpicy take on that one.\n\nI think the problem you are running against is that you want to define your\ncode, then write your tests to verify it doesn't change (correctness regression\nchecking).\nI'd assert this is the wrong way to approach testing behavior.\nYou should consider reading on\nhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavior-driven_development (a off-shoot of TDD)\nin which you write tests of API behavior before writing the code itself.\nIf you can change your code without failing your tests, then by definition it is\ncorrect.\n\nKovas Palunas, Jan 19, 2022, 4:09 PM\ni know 😛 I didn't feel like being more nuanced as I was getting this off my head. \n\nYou're right that some form of TDD would solve this problem.\nBut if you are not doing TDD this would be nice.\nI feel like the pros and cons of TDD are a big rabbit hole that might be fun to\ndiscuss more (perhaps in the programming discussion group?).\nI guess I'll just say that I have done a LOT more non-TDD programming than TDD\nprogramming, but maybe that's just me\n\nTim Ford, Jan 19, 2022, 4:11 PM\nI think Tanner's response only begs the question of which API you're testing.\nAt which level.\nAre you doing BDD on the interfaces between large subsystems?\nOnly on your public API (what which point your space of possible inputs/ouputs\nis ~infinite)?\nIf you squint right, a unit test on a function is BDD applied to the interface\nof that specific function.\n\nKovas Palunas, Jan 19, 2022, 4:11 PM, Edited\nAlso to clarify, if you are doing some kind of test driven development where you\nhave only high level public interface tests written first (maybe this is BDD?)\nyou would still be writing nested functions without tests\n\nAndrew Stewart, Jan 19, 2022, 4:11 PM\nI wouldn't say I do much BDD / TDD, but a lack of unit tests is a major code smell\n\n+1 to what Tim said, depends a lot on which layer you're testing or not testing\n\nKovas Palunas, Jan 19, 2022, 4:12 PM\nthe inspiration for my idea was to smooth the code writing/reading process, NOT\nto replace unit tests\n\njust to be clear\n\nTim Ford, Jan 19, 2022, 4:13 PM\nTo Kovas's initial question...\nI've thought about this very thing too Kovas.\nI think you could implement such a thing very similarly to how we do image diff\ntesting with SCUBA.\nSpecifically, the tooling helps A LOT in the ergonomics of accepting desired\nchanges that might effect lots of \"goldens\", showing diffs between \"goldens\" and\nvariants, etc.\n\nKovas Palunas, Jan 19, 2022, 4:14 PM\nisn't SCUBA just helping interpret test results at a very high level tho?\nwhat if it takes 20+ seconds for your scuba test to run?\n\n(i haven't used SCUBA, so maybe it's faster)\n\nTanner Young, Jan 19, 2022, 4:16 PM\nI suppose my assertion is that if you have code which isn't tested then there is\nliterally no definition of correct except for the behavior as written, which\nbecomes also correct when changed in arbitrary ways.\n\nIf you are debugging something you are trying to figure out why it is not\ncorrect, but you should have an assertion that it is indeed not correct before\nyou attempt to \"fix\" the code\n\nTim Ford, Jan 19, 2022, 4:16 PM\nActually my idea is different from yours.\nYoure talking about saving off the inputs.\nI was talking about saving off the outputs.\n\nTake all the tests we do which EXPECT protos to have certain fields.\nI've wondered...\nwhat if we just dumped all the wanted protos to text format in a file...\nand then saved that file as a golden, and used diff tools to see the difference?\nThe benefit is you avoid having to have written all those test cases.\n\nThen add proto-level annotations in order to automatically ignore fields that\ncan change (e.g. timestamps)\n\nSorry to take it off track 😀\n\nTanner Young, Jan 19, 2022, 4:18 PM\nPractically speaking though, I think you could look up auto-generated\nparameterized unit tests to match the idea you've had\n\nTim Ford, Jan 19, 2022, 4:20 PM\nyeah\n\nAndrew Stewart, Jan 19, 2022, 4:21 PM\nIt's not a mechanism for capturing inputs, but stuff like\ngoogle3/testing/production_stub/public/testvalue.h does allow tests to inject\nvalues in tests that might otherwise be difficult\n\nTanner Young, Jan 19, 2022, 4:22 PM\nAt my old company we would use a system of input generators which were called\n\"Arbitrary[x]\" which would generate an arbitrary instance of X.\nThis is similar to proto generators I suppose, but slightly more nuanced in that\nyou could define what an arbitrary instance looks like and relationships between\ndata on it.\nThen when you tested the interface, you would construct said arbitrary instance\nof your inputs with constraints on specific things you cared about, and very\nergonomically write unit tests in a BDD fashion (with associated language)\n\nSee https://www.scalatest.org/user_guide/generator_driven_property_checks if you\nare interested; I very much like that style of testing\n\nand https://www.scala-exercises.org/scalacheck/arbitrary\n\nKovas Palunas, Jan 19, 2022, 4:26 PM\nHere's a more concrete example of how I think this would be useful:\n\nYou're debugging a flaky error in a program that normally takes a while to run. You could: \n(1) Run the program with a debugger/print statements multiple times to try to\ntriangulate what function is causing the error so you can reproduce the issue in\na unit test, then fix the function.\n(2) With this idea, you run the program once, then run individual functions with\nthe saved input data until you find the problem, write your test, and fix it.\n\nIn case (2) there is less waiting and more interactive development\n\nTim Ford, Jan 19, 2022, 4:26 PM\n@Tanner Young Would that be similar to adding lots of assert statements that\ncheck that certain relationships between your data hold, and then feeding in\narbitrary data?\n\nTanner Young, Jan 19, 2022, 4:27 PM\n@Tim Ford in implementation no; it does not generate random data and then\nverify assertions on it.\nYou instead write your own generator using more basic building blocks (like\nother generators).\n\n> You're debugging a flaky error in a program that normally takes a while to run. You could: \n\nJust use the original flake error, no?\n\nKovas Palunas, Jan 19, 2022, 4:29 PM\nbut what if you're not sure which function is causing the error?\n\nTanner Young, Jan 19, 2022, 4:29 PM\nI guess it depends, I was only thinking about test execution order as a source\nof flake (which can be reproduced), doesn't work for thread locking errors\n\nTim Ford, Jan 19, 2022, 4:29 PM\n@Kovas Palunas I guess I see what you're saying...\nin practice, in such scenarios, I think I usually find a place where a test\nshould be but isn't.\nor where a test is wrong or incomplete\n\nKovas Palunas, Jan 19, 2022, 4:29 PM\ni agree, but finding the root cause has to be done before you can write the missing test\n\nTanner Young, Jan 19, 2022, 4:29 PM\nThis is especially difficult for classes of parallel execution errors..\n\nKovas Palunas, Jan 19, 2022, 4:29 PM\nyep that's true\n\nTim Ford, Jan 19, 2022, 4:39 PM\nyeah...\nif you could replay all sources of input to the program (not individual\nfunctions), then you could attach a debugger, set whatever breakpoints you might\nwant, and then replay.\nIn a past game development job we did something like that.\nBut with parallelism issues, the kernel's scheduling decisions are inputs, and\nyou have subtle timing issues too...\nso yeah, it could not handle that kind of thing\n\nI think that class of issue is better handled with something like TSan or Rust\n\nstatic or dynamic data race detection/prevention\n\nTanner Young, Jan 19, 2022, 4:39 PM\n> I think that class of issue is better handled with something like TSan or Rust\n\nNow we're talking...\n\nAndrew Stewart, Jan 19, 2022, 4:59 PM\nNot explicitly related to the topic, but http://go/atomic-danger talks about some things that are difficult to test\n\nDavid Poliakoff, Jan 20, 2022, 7:42 AM\nAnother use case for this was at my last job, we often couldn't share entire\nsensitive codes or inputs externally, but could share security-reviewed\nsnippets.\nSo we would often write code that would wrap functions, typically at a library\nboundary, and record inputs.\nThen we would be able to relaunch functions with those given inputs.\n\n It turned out to be pretty expensive to do in practice.\n Personally I'm of an \"if you can test it, do test it\" mentality.\n There were also efforts in resilience, though, which could detect whether the\n same execution of a kernel/function could produce substantively different\n outputs, if you're looking for nondeterminism.\n```\n

" :name "auto-input-data-collection.md" :private false :categories #{"Software Dev"} :dir? false :links [] :size 11590 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1688672321 1688488756 1688414476 1688412623 1688412590 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1643566176 1642635677]} {:path-categories #{"Software Dev"} :path "content/docs/software-dev/choosing-a-language.md" :backlinks nil :title "Choosing A Language" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Software Dev\"}\n---\n# Choosing a Language\n\nWhen deciding what programming language to use, there are several important\nfactors:\n\n**The ergonomics of the language itself.** This includes things like the\ntype system, immutability/functional programming support, OOP support, etc.\nMostly, these features contribute to how pleasant it is to develop in the\nlanguage, which leads to productivity gains and potentially ease of debugging.\n\n**The library/tooling ecosystem around the language.** Some very non-ergonomic\nlanguages may still be the right choice because lots of libraries have been\nwritten for that language, so the total amount of work to do to accomplish\nanything is dramatically reduced. One good example of this is GDScript (a\nless-featureful Python), which is built into the Godot Game Engine. Another\nexample is Javascript, which has tons and tons of libraries.\n\n**Productivity?** This is really hard to measure, but there have been [some attempts](https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammingLanguages/comments/17mim5r/programming_language_paradigm_productivity/).\n\nThis is a cool way to directly compare the look and feel of different languages:\nhttp://www.rosettacode.org/wiki/Rosetta_Code." :name "choosing-a-language.md" :private false :categories #{"Software Dev"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1239 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1700078474 1699041494 1659551685 1659124913 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1626209569]} {:path-categories #{"Software Dev"} :path "content/docs/software-dev/complexity.md" :backlinks nil :title "Complexity" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Software Dev\"}\n---\n# Complexity\n\nA killer of productivity (and fun).\n\n## Perspectives\n\n- [Simple made Easy by Rich Hickey](https://www.infoq.com/presentations/Simple-Made-Easy/)\n - Complex = entangled = difficult to reason about\n - To make systems more understandable, need to reduce them to small,\n **independant** pieces (like pure functions with no side effects)\n- [The Origin of Complexity by Joakim\n Tengstrand](https://itnext.io/the-origin-of-complexity-8ecb39130fc)\n - Complexity arises when systems are not changeable. To make systems more\n changeable, increase their **usability** and reduce **coordination**\n between their pieces.\n\n## Quantifying Complexity\n\nUseful to identify where complexity is coming from in your project.\nAlso useful to make a case for why it should be addressed (that it is bad\nenough).\n\nYuanfang Cai has done a lot of cool work here. See:\n\n - [Software Health Management Talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC7khoMu0NA)\n - Quantifying coupling in code constructs: https://www.cs.drexel.edu/~yfcai/papers/2016/icse2016-DL.pdf\n - Quantifying coupling by which code files are changed together: https://www.cs.drexel.edu/~yfcai/papers/2019/icpc2019.pdf" :name "complexity.md" :private false :categories #{"Software Dev"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1238 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1659551685 1659124913 1659113492 1659113460]} {:path-categories #{"Software Dev"} :path "content/docs/software-dev/design.md" :backlinks nil :title "Design" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Software Dev\"}\n---\n# Design via Documentation\n\nOne trap that I've fallen into early on in a project is a lack of \"concreteness\"\nabout what the final proposed product will look like.\n\nDesign documents should solve this problem, but often contain so much\ninformation that it is hard to come to a singular view of how someone would use\nthe final product.\nFor instance, design documents often have lists of requirements, UML/component\ndiagrams, sections on supporting systems (telemetry, testing, security, etc.),\ninternal technical details, etc.\nThis can make it hard to spot holistic issues with the design, as focus will\nmostly be on individual sections.\nAdditionally, large designs can push reviewers to mentally paraphrase and gloss\nover complex sections, making holes of vagueness in the design easy to miss.\n\nDesign documents can also be very hard to write when there are so many\nunknowns at the outset of a project.\nPrototyping before design is a good way to manage this, but is not a perfect\nsolution.\nThere is always the danger of going too far with the prototype (spending too\nmuch time on work that will need to be re-done) or not going far enough (and\nmissing important insight about how things should be done).\nPrototying is also not always technically feasible.\n\nAn alternate step to take before design (or instead of design), is to write\nguided documentation for the final product as if it existed.\nThis documentation would walk though the critical user journeys of the proposed\nproduct, going into more implementation detail than a normal documentation page.\nOne way to think about this is \"prototying via documentation\" (instead of in\ncode).\n\nBy walking through all the steps like this, it is much more concrete what the\nuser experience will be like, and holes or unknowns will be easier to spot.\nAdditionally, feedback can be much more precise and specific; reviewers can\npoint to a specific step in the user journey and express skepticism or propose\nan additional step.\n\nDiscussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38725340#38727474" :name "design.md" :private false :categories #{"Software Dev"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2092 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1704232292 1703793258 1703198756 1703198727 1703198665 1703184965 1703184859 1703122441]} {:path-categories #{"Software Dev"} :path "content/docs/software-dev/functional-programming.md" :backlinks nil :title "Functional Programming" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Software Dev\"}\n---\n# Functional Programming\n\n## What it it?\n\nThis talk is a really good overview:\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=vK1DazRK_a0.\n\n## Personal Observations\n\nAs I've writing I've done [a](https://github.com/kovasap/reddit-tree)\n[few](https://kovasap.github.io/docs/health-and-longevity/biomarker-correlator/)\nprojects using Clojure, a functional programming lisp-like language. From those\nprojects, I've noticed a few distinct differences between Clojure and Python,\nthe procedural/object oriented language I'm most familiar with.\n\n### Programming a function\n\nWhen getting down to implementing a specific function in Clojure vs Python,\nI've noticed that Clojure requires more upfront thought and searching to try to\nfind the proper functions to compose together to achieve the desired\nfunctionality. In Python, I find it's much more natural to just start\nincrementally building a solution, whereas in Clojure I feel like I need to\ncome up with the whole solution all at once, which is more difficult. I think\nas I learn the Clojure standard library of functions better, this will become\neasier with time and ultimately I will be implementing less stuff myself than I\nwould be in Python.\n\nI interviewed someone currently working at Nubank for a Google job in Clojure\n(their preferred language). This underscored to me the above observation - the\ninterview didn't go very well in part because the candidate had trouble\nincrementally building up the solution." :name "functional-programming.md" :private false :categories #{"Software Dev"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1520 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1684276597 1655757336 1655754535 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1647196682]} {:path-categories #{"Software Dev"} :path "content/docs/software-dev/getting-into-it.md" :backlinks nil :title "Getting Into It" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Software Dev\"}\n---\n# Getting Into It\n\nThe hardest part of many programming endeavors (or creative projects in general)\nis \"getting into it\".\nThis is the initial stage of the project where you are loading in the context\nrequired to fix your bug, add your feature, etc.\n\nThe difficulty comes mostly from ambiguity: not knowing what actions to take to\nmake progress.\nUsually, ambiguity in these cases leads to lots of \"wasted\" time trying things\nthat don't work or otherwise stumbling around blindly.\nNot only is this a loss of time, but it can kill motivation too; it's hard to\nmotivate doing something that you are pretty sure will lead nowhere.\nLoss of motivation here can lead to project abandonment, or more often \"waiting\nwork\"; waiting for answers to questions posted online or inspiration to strike.\n\n## Strategies\n\nOne thing that has helped me with this problem is spending time reading about\nthe issue.\nReading is nice is that it is very unambiguous what to do; you just read the\nwords.\nEven if you are reading the wrong thing initially, the process of reading often\nhelps lead to the right place.\nAt the very least it lets your subconscious work on the problem as it tries to\nmap what you are reading onto the problem." :name "getting-into-it.md" :private false :categories #{"Software Dev"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1265 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1700078474 1699041494]} {:path-categories #{"Software Dev"} :path "content/docs/software-dev/impact.md" :backlinks nil :title "Impact" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Software Dev\"}\n---\n# Impact\n\nDoing the right thing is infinitely more important than doing something.\n\n - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28025693" :name "impact.md" :private false :categories #{"Software Dev"} :dir? false :links [] :size 190 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1627847421]} {:path-categories #{"Software Dev"} :path "content/docs/software-dev/influences.md" :backlinks nil :title "Influences" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Software Dev\"}\n---\n## Influences\n\n- [Getting things done by Johnathan Blow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCzrKjbXZQY)\n - Depth first approach to problem solving can be bad because you end up going\n in the wrong direction (which you would have avoided going breath-first)\n- [Hammock Driven Development by Rich Hickey](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f84n5oFoZBc)\n - Stepping back from a problem and doing other things or sleeping allows\n unconscious parts of your mind draw connections that you otherwise wouldn't\n draw. This allows you to solve problems that otherwise would be much harder\n or impossible.\n- [Thinking Above the Code by Leslie Lamport](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Yp3j_jk8Q)\n - It is easy to trick yourself that you are thinking rationally when you do\n not share your thoughts by writing them down or speaking them out loud. If\n you are serious about solving a problem, write down your thought process!\n- [Things You Should Never Do by Joel Spolsky](https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-never-do-part-i/)\n - Rewriting code is tempting, but can destroy solutions to many\n micro-problems that are hard to see from the top level.\n- [The Grug Brained Developer](https://grugbrain.dev/)\n - A good reality check on being practical when programming, and being honest\n with oneself about how things are actually working.\n - [Cognitive load is what matters](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42489645)\n - A framework for thinking about what organizational systems to adopt in your code." :name "influences.md" :private false :categories #{"Software Dev"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1600 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1736273893 1735342544 1659113492 1659113460 1656388528 1656095059 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1627280699 1626209569]} {:path-categories #{"Software Dev"} :path "content/docs/software-dev/patterned-code.md" :backlinks nil :title "Patterned Code" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Software Dev\"}\n---\n# Patterned Code\n\nI wonder if code with lots of visual patterns would be judged as more readable\nthan other code. For instance:\n\n```\nresult = CodeGenerator(var)\nres = WordGenerator(var34)\n```\n\nThe above code may not have meaningful patterns, but is visually patterned." :name "patterned-code.md" :private false :categories #{"Software Dev"} :dir? false :links [] :size 330 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1642121401]} {:path-categories #{"Software Dev"} :path "content/docs/software-dev/what-using-ai-is-like.md" :backlinks nil :title "What Using Ai Is Like" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Software Dev\"}\n---\n# Using AI: How it's Been Feeling\n\n## Pre-AI\n\nBefore AI coding agents got really good, my process of implementing some idea\ninto software looked something like this:\n\nFirst, I'd start reading about the part of the system I want to change.\nSlowly I'd learn the code and APIs I might need to make my change to see what's\npossible.\nThrough this process I would build an incremental understanding of how all the\nparts of the system fit together.\nThis would show me where to put my new code and how to wire it all up.\nThen I would write my code, test it, and be satisfied with the result.\nI'll call this way of writing code **Incremental Understanding**.\nIn this method using AI tooling like autocomplete and search/chat is really\nuseful and a valid part of this process as I'm defining it.\n\n## Post-AI\n\nIn the new age of AI, a new option is now available, which I'll dub the\n**Agent Delegation** option.\n\nTo take this option, you just feed your idea directly to a coding agent and let\nit go wild.\nThen you go do something else while it works.\nAfter a hard-to-predict amount of time, you will get some result.\nIt might work perfectly, it might be broken.\nIt might be really clean internally, or it might be wired together with duct\ntape and messy glue.\n\nFrom an external, user's perspective, if it works then you are done!\nThis feels magical and a little surreal.\n\nHowever, if it doesn't work, you have three options that all feel bad (to me):\n\n1. Scrap all the AI's work and go back to **Incremental Understanding**.\n This feels bad because it feels like you are missing out on the time / energy\n savings that an AI agent would provide.\n2. Tell the agent to try again or fix a problem you see, doing another **Agent\n Delegation** loop.\n This feels bad because in the back of my mind I'm expecting the agent to fail\n again, or at the very least expecting to have to do multiple iterations.\n The fact that it takes an unknown amount of time (sometimes hours) to get\n feedback on this makes it a lot worse.\n3. Try to understand the agent's code and fix it yourself or delegate other\n agents to fix sub-parts.\n I'll call this **All-at-once Understanding**, as here you are trying to\n understand a complete code artifact that will likely change dramatically on\n the next agent loop.\n This feels bad because (1) understanding code is hard, (2) agent-generated\n code is not always very readable, and (3) all the code may be thrown away\n soon.\n Of course you can ask the AI to try to walk you through the code or make it\n more readable.\n But it can be hard to trust - it always speaks so confidently even about\n things it should be unsure about.\n\nThe worst part about this choice is that the first option that was always\navailable, **Incremental Understanding**, has been somewhat poisoned by the\nexistence of AI agents.\nFor me at least, it is hard to motivate the hard work of learning a system or\nsome arcane API when you can just trust an agent to maybe do it much faster.\nThis is made even worse by a general cultural shift where there is a lot of FOMO\nwhen not using AI.\n\"It seems to work for other people, maybe I'm just holding it wrong, let me try\nagain...\".\n\n## Other Thoughts from a Coworker\n\nI totally relate to your experience.\n\n - While code generation is faster, the overall expectation of what we can do\n has expanded and that leads to higher stress and frustration.\n - AI output often requires significant cleanup and rework.\n This cleanup work feels like a chore rather than novel development.\n It feels like fixing a \"broken promise\" of what the AI was supposed to\n deliver.\n - Pre-AI coding process allowed for deeper reflection, where ideas emerged and\n implementations were corrected and understanding deepened on the fly.\n - With AI delegation, the temptation to think deeply while the AI works is\n reduced.\n - Context switching while the AI is in progress is my dilemma.\n It is always a hard decision whether to stay in this project vs. switch\n context fully.\n\nThere are great things to note as well.\n - I think AI is awesome as an enabler of Understanding actually\n - It does a lot of the heavy lifting in gathering information, removing the\n need to search across fragmented sources (g3doc, codesearch, design docs,\n Buganizer).\n - I use it to generate high-level descriptions, flow diagrams and test scripts\n to understand how some things work.\n - While the accelerated learning is faster I agree that it is shallower.\n But I think it is a trade off for a broader horizontal knowledge of more\n systems.\n - At the same time, I have used to understand some deep parts of a code by\n asking it to code search and find me specific location where some specific\n logic or behavior is implemented.\n\nI think the Post-AI world you mentioned is still being shaped and highly chaotic\nrn.\nI think there is a good chance the tools will become more aligned in helping\nengineers do our job more effectively.\nI think they'll redefine our role.\nAnother probability is this highly stochastic scenario worsening because there\nis just too many sources of a paradigm shift." :name "what-using-ai-is-like.md" :private false :categories #{"Software Dev"} :dir? false :links [] :size 5132 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1780082835 1779989458]} {:path-categories #{"Thought Experiments"} :path "content/docs/thought-experiments/artificial-intelligence.md" :backlinks nil :title "Artificial Intelligence" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Thought Experiments\"}\n---\n# Artificial Intelligence\n\nReading Chapter 7 (Artificial Creativity) of \"The Beginning of Infinity\" by\nDavid Deutsch gave me some ideas for things to try out WRT creating some kind\nof artificial intelligence.\n\n## Modelling the Intelligence\n\nThe AI could be composed of \"neurons\" in a graph data structure. Each neuron\nwould have multiple other neurons connected to it's \"input\" side, and connect\nto one other neuron as it's \"output\". It would carry a single \"fire/no fire\"\nsignal during every tick of time. The signal would be \"fire\" if during the\nlast tick more than half (or some percent) of the input signals were \"fire\",\notherwise it would be \"no fire\".\n\nNeurons would be grouped arbitrarily into sub-networks with relatively few\ninputs/outputs compared to the interconnections within them.\n\n## Evolution\n\nThe model would evolve using a random application of the following changes:\n\n1. A random neuron would move its output side to another random neuron, with a\n preference to move its output to neurons \"close\" to it, as judged by\n distance in the graph.\n1. A random neuron would be replaced by a copy of another neuron group with the\n same number of inputs and a single random output. This is simulating\n \"creativity\", or the combining of disparate ideas. Another way to do this\n would be to connect a single neuron's output to the input of another group,\n although this may lead to situations where that new group becomes\n ineffective due to overloading of random inputs.\n\nEvolution can happen to a network during its normal running (it can learn on\nthe fly).\n\nIt might be interesting to think more about the difference between \"learning\"\nand \"evolution\" - perhaps at a certain point only \"learning\" will be allowed,\nand not \"evolution\". To start out with it probably makes sense to not\ndemarcate these.\n\n## Input/Output\n\nThe entire network would have a very simple output (perhaps even just one\nbinary signal), and few/no inputs.\n\n## Starting Points\n\nI think the nervous system of _C. elegans_ has been completely mapped, so maybe\ncopying that would be a good place to start?\n\n## Objectives\n\nI don't really know what to do here (how to bias the network to evolve in a\nspecific direction, or how to reward it for making \"good\" changes).\n\n## Prior Art\n\n - https://github.com/uber-research/backpropamine" :name "artificial-intelligence.md" :private false :categories #{"Thought Experiments"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2393 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1648766627 1646243696 1646242938]} {:path-categories #{"Thought Experiments"} :path "content/docs/thought-experiments/life-quests.md" :backlinks nil :title "Life Quests" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Thought Experiments\"}\n---\n# Life Quests\n\nOne exciting way to spend time is to try to complete little open-ended\nchallenges under time pressure. Some examples of this would include:\n\n - [Make $1 on the\n internet](https://twitter.com/jackbutcher/status/1252625385860354048?lang=en)\n in a couple days\n - Make some kind of art in a new medium" :name "life-quests.md" :private false :categories #{"Thought Experiments"} :dir? false :links [] :size 381 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1651115636]} {:path-categories #{"Thought Experiments"} :path "content/docs/thought-experiments/mind-mapping-concept.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/experiences.md"} :title "Mind Mapping Concept" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/experiences.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"...\" \"Thought Experiments\"}\n---\n# Mind Mapping Concept\n\nOrganize notes into different **types**, each getting their own directory.\n\n## Types\n\n - Feelings\n - Experiences\n - How-Tos\n - Facts\n - Theories/Explanations\n\n## Categories\n\nEach note will have a list of categories it falls into. These can be used to\nsort the notes into a directory-tree-style view (sidebar site menu) by said\ncategories.\n\n## Tree View Algorithm\n\n1. Find the category that contains the most notes.\n1. Remove all the notes in said category from the pool.\n1. Find the next largest category\n1. Repeat until all notes have categories. These categories are the first level\n in the tree. Notes will no categories are leaves of the root node.\n1. Repeat this entire algorithm within each category to create sub-categories.\n\nFormat this tree into html and use it as the website index.\n\nTODO implement this\n\n## Links\n\nEach note will have links to other notes.\n\n## Note Template\n\n```\n\n\n```\n\nTODO update all notes with categories based on their current file tree position\n\n## Backlinks\n\nAt the end of every note, generate a list of links to all other notes that\nlink to it. This would serve the purpose of answering questions like \"what\nexperiences evoke certain feelings\" in a more general way.\n\nTODO implement this in joker\n\n## Existing System\n\nA subset of this is my [Experiences]({{< relref\n\"/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/experiences.md\" >}}) page.\n\n## Visualization Examples and Libraries\n\n - https://biomindmap.com/nodes/185\n - https://beepb00p.xyz/blog-graph.html\n - https://github.com/hikerpig/note-graph\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Cat1]({{< relref \"/\" >}}?Cat1=true),\n[Cat2]({{< relref \"/\" >}}?Cat2=true),\n[Thought Experiments]({{< relref \"/\" >}}?Thought-Experiments=true)" :name "mind-mapping-concept.md" :private false :categories #{"..." "Thought Experiments"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/experiences.md" "/" "/" "/"] :size 1833 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1662924312 1655691154 1655657180 1653846065 1653508418 1653433258 1653367488 1653360667]} {:path-categories #{"Thought Experiments"} :path "content/docs/thought-experiments/random-ideas.md" :backlinks nil :title "Random Ideas" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Thought Experiments\"}\n---\n# Random Ideas\n\nA collection of random short ideas I've had over the years that I haven't\nexecuted on (yet). If you find or do one of these things let me know!\n\n\n## Programming\n\n### Make $1 on the Internet\n\nWill probably lead to an interesting journey!\n\n### \"System 1\" Chatbot\n\nA chatbot that simulates talking to the \"system 1\" part of the brain only as\ndescribed in \"Thinking, Fast and Slow\".\n\n### Album Cover Quiz Site\n\nGiven an album cover (or movie cover or book cover), try to guess its genre or\nother things about it. Basically [this](http://playjudgey.com/). \n\n### Money Conversion App/Site\n\nAn app that allows the user to compare current market values of different\nthings. For example, avocados to dollars or hours of specific work to rocks\netc. Would be cool to have a web page associated that points out interesting\ncomparisons. \n\n### String Image Formatter\n\nWrite a program that takes in a string and an image file, then adds\nnewlines/spaces/formatting to the string so that it looks like the image when\nviewed from a distance. If the string is too short to work, repeat it or\nsomehow compress the image so it works out perfectly. \n\n### Synonym Finder\n\nA program (or text editor plugin) where you can search text using all synonyms\nof the words you typed to search. For example, searching some documentation for\n\"log\" would search for the word \"log\", but also (and with lower priority) the\nwords \"stderr\", \"stdout\", \"output\", etc. This could also just be build in to\nthe search bar, where a window would pop up containing reframings of what you\nsearched for, as suggestions for what else to try. \n\n### See Through Walls with VR/AR\n\nTry to (using google maps or pre-collected data) model an object in the real\nworld at its exact real world position in a VR or AR simulation. For example,\nmodel a toothbrush in a bathroom so that when using VR in the living room you\ncan \"see through walls\" to see exactly the toothbrush. Could be used to show\nlarge objects around the world at their exact positions (like the Eiffel tower\nor Mt Everest). This would have a cool effect of giving you a really good\nbearing on your location with respect to the rest of the world. \n\n### Word Traversal Game\n\nMake a word game where you try to get from one word to another via connections\nsuch as:\n\n - Words used in the same sentence of a given book\n - Synonyms/Antonyms\n\nhttps://www.word.golf/ is pretty close to this. It would be cool if it could be\nextended to other ways of connecting words.\n\n### Open Twitter\n\nA social network that just provides a raw database of tweets or posts and lets\nmany third party sites pop up that censor/curate/organize the posts/tweets in\ndifferent ways.\n\n### Memorization Game Mod\n\nMod a game you play often (e.g. Skyrim) so that random quips (e.g. \"arrow to\nthe knee\") are replaced by random facts you want to memorize.\n\n\n## Lifestyle Optimization\n\n### Water Saving Toilet\n\nMake a toilet where urine is redirected (like a composting toilet) into a\nseparate area with no water in it (the back of the toilet still has water).\nThen, when you pee in that area you don't need to flush, but when you poop (or\notherwise flush), the rising water will drain into the pee area as well,\nwashing it. This should reduce the number of flushes per day by a lot for the\naverage toilet.\n\n### \"Feeling\" Biomarkers\n\nTry hooking up a continuous glucose (or other biomarker) monitor up to a\nvibration arm band (as discussed in the book \"Livewired\" by David Eagleman) to\n\"feel\" blood glucose concentration.\n\n### Hot Water Towel Rack\n\nExtend the hot water pipe that feeds a shower outside of the wall in a towel\nrack shape.\nThis will let the water flowing through the pipe heat your towel so it's nice\nand warm when you go to dry off.\n\n### Upside Down Keyboard\n\nPut your keyboard and mouse underneath your desk and use them with your palms\nfacing up.\nThis might help with RSI or at least would be a funny joke to surprise coworkers\nwith.\n\n\n## Amusing\n\n### Musical Toothbrush\n\nA vibrating toothbrush that can accept a midi or other audio file. Then it will\nmodulate the vibrations to the tune of the audio.\n\n### Random Ice Prank\n\nPut [two liquids that\nfreeze](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.macromol.8b00239) (or get cold)\nwhen mixed in a laundry machine, surprising whoever goes to transfer their\nclothes!\n\n### Reverse Car Wash\n\nInstead of (or in addition to) spinning the bristles in a car wash, spin the\ncar instead!\nMore specifically, move the car around quickly like an amusement park ride so \nthat it rubs against the bristles.\n\n\n## Data Exploration\n\n### Ambiguous Acronyms\n\nMake a survey with ambiguous acronyms and see how the results differ based on\nthe community that's being asked (e.g. AC could be Armor Class or Air\nConditioning). This could be done on subreddits.\n\n### Regular Break Lifelogging\n\nEvery 30 minutes get up, walk around, and quickly note down what the last 30\nminutes was spent doing. Then use that data for cool visualizations.\n\n### Tracking Digestion with Center of Mass\n\nUse body's center of mass to estimate digestion progress/state. Presumably\nright after eating mass is centered in the stomach, then slowly diffuses to\nother parts of the body\n\n\n## Food\n\n### Bell Pepper Cup\n\nCut the top off of a bell pepper and use it as a cup. \n\n### Popped Potatoes\n\nPop potatoes like corn by wrapping them in a hard shell and cooking them.\n\n### Refried Bean Pizza\n\nPut refried beans on pizza.\n\n### Selling Chip Dust\n\nCompanies should sell the flavoring blends that flavor potato chips.\n\n\n## Cultural\n\n### Day of Music\n\nA holiday where everyone in their own homes/neighborhoods plays along to a\nsingle song in whatever way they can.\n\n### 1000 Hour Tattoos\n\nEverybody has a list of activities that they've done for a thousand hours or\nmore.\nIt would be cool if people had a piece of jewelry with removable parts like a\nnecklace with beads, and each activity that they've done for over a thousand\nhours would be represented by one bead.\nYou could also do this with a tattoo where you have different parts of a pattern\ninterlinking, with each part representing an activity.\n\nI think this would be a cool way to start conversations and also show people\nthat people spend a lot of time doing things that you may not expect just by\nlooking at them.\nEspecially things that are mindless or relaxing; everybody would have a bead for\nsleeping but people might also have beads for zoning out.\nI think visualizing this is a good way of normalizing the fact that everybody\nneeds that kind of time.\nAnd that that kind of time isn't an impediment to success, because many people\nthat you may aspire to be like may have beads like that, which shows that\nthey're more human than you might think.\n\n\n## Artistic\n\n### Monthly Clock Garden\n\nMake a circular (or square) yard with 12 plants that each bloom during each\nmonth of the year.\n\n### Mood Ring Contacts\n\nContact for you eyes that change their color based on your mood. For example,\nred eyes could signify anger, black eyes depressions, blue eyes calm, green\neyes joy, etc.\n\n### Encoding Vocal Inflection in Text\n\nIn March 2022 I started using text to speech converters to generate audiobooks\nfor me to listen to on commutes. The biggest difference I noticed between robot\naudio and a human reading out loud is that spacing between words and vocal\ninflections don't always happen in the same way. For instance, a robot voice\nmay not give weight to a sentence that a human would.\n\nIt would be neat if an author could somehow encode this vocal inflection in\ntheir text (by using bold/italics or special characters) in such a way that a\ntext to speech encoder could react to, to generate more natural sounding audio.\n\nPoets (or artistic authors) could even hijack this system to instead add\nbizarre inflection to their text such that it would sound strange when\ntext-to-speechified. I imagine you could do some pretty wild stuff here, from\ncreating novel accents to spicing up rhyming verses. This technique would also\nallow you to encode sounds in writing that are impossible for a human voice to\nmake.\n\n### Laser Cut Leaves\n\nEtch some cool pattern in tough, large leaves (treating them like paper).\n\n### Laser Cut Flip Book\n\n#### Main Idea\n\nCreate a flip book by laser engraving a stack of thin wood (or thick paper)\npieces, each with one frame of a gif or short video. Then, create a box that\nthe stack can fit into snugly, with one of the walls perpendicular to the stack\nremoved. In the place of that wall, put a mobile rod (or just make the wall\nremovable). If you then turn the box so that the rod or movable wall is facing\nthe ground, you can remove the wall and let the pieces fall downward, advancing\nthe frame and animating the gif/video.\n\n#### Variation\n\nMake the stack of frames, then drill a hole in one corner and thread a rod\nthrough the stack. You should be able to then rotate the stack around like a\nspiral staircase. Maybe you can animate it like this?\n\n### Table Fountain\n\nIf you have a round table to eat at that seats ~4 people, put a symmetrical\nfountain like those found in gardens in the middle for people to use to refill\ntheir water cups. Could have four streams for easier filling." :name "random-ideas.md" :private false :categories #{"Thought Experiments"} :dir? false :links [] :size 9254 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1697236141 1694034285 1667066083 1661202031 1661202005 1658554077 1658553735 1658277343 1658206871 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1654381598 1654023324 1653846065 1653190047 1650829356 1649785449 1649286357 1648862610]} {:path-categories #{"Thought Experiments"} :path "content/docs/thought-experiments/two-glasses.md" :backlinks nil :title "Two Glasses" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Thought Experiments\"}\n---\n# Mixing Milk Tea\n\nGiven a glass of tea and a glass of (almond) milk, each 9/10ths full, how many\ntimes would you need to mix the glasses for each to contain a 50% mixture of tea\nand milk?\n\nThis python code:\n\n```\nmax_size = 10\na_volume, a_tea_fraction = 9, 1.0\nb_volume, b_tea_fraction = 9, 0.0\nmixes = 0\nwhile a_tea_fraction > 0.51:\n mixes += 1\n print(mixes, a_tea_fraction, b_tea_fraction)\n if a_volume != max_size:\n # Mix B into A\n amount_transferred = max_size - a_volume\n a_tea_fraction = (a_volume * a_tea_fraction\n + amount_transferred * b_tea_fraction) / max_size\n a_volume = max_size\n b_volume -= amount_transferred\n else:\n # Mix A into B\n amount_transferred = max_size - b_volume\n b_tea_fraction = (b_volume * b_tea_fraction\n + amount_transferred * a_tea_fraction) / max_size\n b_volume = max_size\n a_volume -= amount_transferred\n```\n\nsays this:\n\n```\n1 1.0 0.0\n2 0.9 0.0\n3 0.9 0.18\n4 0.756 0.18\n5 0.756 0.2952\n6 0.66384 0.2952\n7 0.66384 0.36892800000000003\n8 0.6048576 0.36892800000000003\n9 0.6048576 0.41611392\n10 0.5671088639999999 0.41611392\n11 0.5671088639999999 0.4463129088000001\n12 0.54294967296 0.4463129088000001\n13 0.54294967296 0.465640261632\n14 0.5274877906944 0.465640261632\n15 0.5274877906944 0.47800976744448\n16 0.517592186044416 0.47800976744448\n17 0.517592186044416 0.4859262511644672\n18 0.5112589990684262 0.4859262511644672\n19 0.5112589990684262 0.49099280074525903\n```\n\nGetting to complete 50-50 would take a very long time, but getting close takes\nabout 16 mixes.\n\n## Follow up questions\n\nIf I only wanted to mix N times, how much milk tea can I make with two glasses\nof fixed size?" :name "two-glasses.md" :private false :categories #{"Thought Experiments"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1737 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1633990351]} {:path-categories #{"Toys"} :path "content/docs/toys/yo-yo.md" :backlinks nil :title "Yo Yo" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Toys\"}\n---\n# Yo-Yo\n\nIs fun!" :name "yo-yo.md" :private false :categories #{"Toys"} :dir? false :links [] :size 17 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757136307]} {:path-categories #{"Understanding The World"} :path "content/docs/understanding-the-world/applying-theories.md" :backlinks nil :title "Applying Theories" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# Applying Theories\n\n**NOTE: This is a very rough draft, and in some ways doesn't really make sense\n: )**\n\nOne way to look at learning is as a cyclical process:\n\n1. Have some experiences in the world.\n1. Mentally find commonalities between those experiences and create an abstract\n model in your head to help predict what might happen in a similar, future\n experience.\n1. Test your model by having that future experience and seeing what happens.\n1. Refine or discard the model as more experiences inform it.\n\nA key trap to avoid falling in to here is exiting the loop and believing that\nyour model is \"the truth\". This assumes that all possible experiences have been\nexplored, which is impossible.\n\nThe presence of this trap does **not** mean abstract theories are useless or\nnot worth developing (because you will never find their solution). Abstract\nmodels are in fact very useful as tools in your toolbox when approaching a new\nexperience. They just must be applied as hypotheses, and held lightly.\n\nThis kind of thinking can be hard sometimes, because it sort-of involves\nholding two conflicting ideas in your head ([which is\npainful](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance))[^1]. These are:\n\n[^1]: Note this this isn't the most common way the term cognitive dissonance is\n used - usually it explains the pain that directs people towards ignoring new\n information that conflicts with their existing beliefs.\n\n1. The theory explains how something abstract works.\n1. The theory is only applicable in some concrete scenerios (and even then, may\n not be correct).\n\nThis is a bit of a paradox because to describe an abstract theory you\nnecessarily must state that it works in an abstract context. They key is\nrealizing that this explanation is incomplete. So you kinda have to \"believe a\nlie\" in part to apply the theory.\n\n\n## Example: Personality Typing\n\nOne very abstract theory is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)\nfor personality typing. It attempts to condense the complexity of an individual\nperson into a 4 letter code (4 binary dimensions) that describes their\nbehavior. This is extremely abstract and incomplete.\n\nDespite the oversimplicity of MBTI, it can still be useful. For example, if two\npeople are clashing because they are approaching a problem in two different\nways (and each thinks their way is best), MBTI can give them a language with\nwhich to see the validity of the other person's approach. Here the theory acts\nas a neutral third party to help settle the dispute.\n\nIt could also not work in this situation at all depending on the people. The\ndanger is believing too much that the theory is correct and trying to force\nits application. This is where general theories become dangerous. The best\napproach if the theory's application isn't leading to practically useful\nresults (here helping the two people see eye-to-eye) is to move on to the next\ntheory in the toolbox that could help.\n\n\n## Giving Advice\n\nOften advice takes the form of an abstract adage or theory that the advice\ngiver thinks will help the advice seeker. Just like with applying theories in\nother ways, IMO advice is best given as a hypotheses; a \"this might help you\"\nkind of statement.\n\nA lot of interpersonal tension and harm can come when the advice giver assumes\nthat the theory 100% applies to the seekers situation. In this case, if the\nseeker doesn't follow the theory, the giver would conclude that the seeker\n\"just doesn't get it\" or is otherwise misinterpreting them. Then they might\npush the theory and start to feel unheard or ignored. The issue here is that it\nis really really hard to know what is going on in the seeker's mind (only they\nmight know, but even that is not guaranteed). For the giver to presume they do\nis already a massive error.\n\nThis can happen a lot (with bad consequences) in power-asymmetrical\nrelationships like child-parent or teacher-student or wife-husband in some\ncultures. As far as I've experienced, it's best as a giver to just listen to\nthe seeker as much as possible to help them work through their problem,\nproviding lightly-held hypotheses as they think of them.\n\nThis can be true even in a very technical field (e.g. engineering) where the\ngiver might be confident that eventually the seeker will realize that truth of\nwhat they are saying. Even here, in order to properly incorporate the advice,\nthe seeker's mind must be prepared (e.g. have taken the prerequisite courses).\nJust because the advice is good in this case does not mean it's good in\ngeneral!\n\nSome good thinking on advice giving: https://guzey.com/advice/" :name "applying-theories.md" :private false :categories #{"Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links [] :size 4653 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1634594763 1631562802 1629341738 1629340712 1629339786]} {:path-categories #{"Understanding The World"} :path "content/docs/understanding-the-world/copyright-and-ip.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/mind/creativity.md"} :title "Copyright And Ip" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/mind/creativity.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# Copyright and IP\n\nTODO finish this piece.\n\nHarnessing [creativity]({{< relref \"/docs/mind/creativity.md\" >}}) is the [key\nto improving society]({{< relref \"/docs/society/utopia.md\" >}}).\n\nBecause creativity is mostly about [remixing existing\nideas](https://youtu.be/nJPERZDfyWc), then it makes sense to make sharing ideas\nas easy as possible.\n\nhttps://buttondown.email/a327ex/archive/authorship-isnt-real/\n\n\n\nThe question of copyright is even more important in the case of creativity\nmeant to solve real world problems.\n\nhttps://sci-hub.se/\n\nhttps://libgen.rs/\n\nhttps://laniakeabooks.org/#home\n\nhttps://matthewstrom.com/writing/copying/\n\nhttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44914109" :name "copyright-and-ip.md" :private false :categories #{"Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/mind/creativity.md" "/docs/society/utopia.md"] :size 790 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1755277458 1721686505 1702414019 1656388528 1655691154 1655659991]} {:path-categories #{"Understanding The World"} :path "content/docs/understanding-the-world/great-explanations.md" :backlinks nil :title "Great Explanations" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# Great Explanations\n\nA list of great explanations for things I've stumbled across.\n\n - **GPS**: https://ciechanow.ski/gps/\n - **Programming Tetris in ClojureScript**: https://shaunlebron.github.io/t3tr0s-slides/#0" :name "great-explanations.md" :private false :categories #{"Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links [] :size 283 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1649439956]} {:path-categories #{"Understanding The World"} :path "content/docs/understanding-the-world/influences.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/investing-and-finances/influences.md" "content/docs/understanding-the-world/influences.md"} :title "Influences" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/investing-and-finances/influences.md\" \"content/docs/understanding-the-world/influences.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# Influences\n\nThese works have guided my thinking about how to discover truths about the\nworld. They include examinations of general patterns that reappear in many\nparts of the world - understanding these I feel helps hasten future discovery,\nso I put them in this section of the website.\n\n[Click here to make the sidebar filter down to the works.]({{< relref \"/docs/understanding-the-world/influences.md\" >}}?Books=true&Understanding+The+World=true)\n\n - [_Zero to One_]({{< relref \"/docs/books/zero-to-one.md\" >}})\n\n\n## [Kevin Bass](https://thedietwars.com/)\n\nRepresentative articles:\n\n - https://thedietwars.com/how-to-determine-who-is-a-legitimate-science-based-health-expert/\n\n\n## Tech Blogs\n\n- [danluu](http://danluu.com)\n- [Paul Graham](http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html)\n- [Apenwarr](https://apenwarr.ca/log/20231006)" :name "influences.md" :private false :categories #{"Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/understanding-the-world/influences.md" "/docs/books/zero-to-one.md"] :size 1007 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757264527 1755322345 1667510508 1667452680 1655691154 1655657180 1653846065 1646971821 1632951015 1624337751]} {:path-categories #{"Understanding The World"} :path "content/docs/understanding-the-world/judging-decisions.md" :backlinks nil :title "Judging Decisions" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# Judging Decisions\n\n## Why?\n\nTwo primary reasons for why it's important to be able to judge\ndecisions others have made jump out at me. Both help you make your own\ndecisions:\n\n### Reason 1: To help you determine if you should make the same decision or not.\n\nThis is fairly straightforward: if someone else has already gone through the\nwork of making a decision, it can be easier to try to judge their decision\ninstead of coming up with your own from scratch. If you deem their decision\ngood, then you can simply make it. Otherwise, you'll have a starting off point\nfor making your own decision.\n\n### Reason 2: To help you determine if the decision maker is to be trusted with other similar decisions.\n\nA common concrete application is hiring. Interviews are ultimately trying to\ndetermine if a candidate will be good at the job, which can be modeled as a\nbunch of decisions. If the candidate is bad at making the decisions they will\nneed to in their work, then they shouldn't be hired.\n\n## How?\n\nI think judging decisions is really tricky. The idea I outline here is just\nthat: an idea. I don't claim that this is better than other methods, or that\nit's even useful at all in practice.\n\nOne way to judge decisions is by seeing them as a tree of considerations. For\nexample:\n\n- Should I vote for candidate X or Y?\n - Which candidate will be better for the economy?\n - Which candidate will be better for my local economy?\n - Which candidate's morals align more with my own?\n - Which candidate do I think is more honest?\n\nFor many decisions, a massively complex tree of possibilities can be built.\nWhen these trees are explored by decision makers, most of the exploration is\nonly done in their heads, and only the parts deemed most important are\nvocalized or written down when presenting the decision.\n\nI propose that one way to judge the quality of a decision is by the decision\nmaker's ability to express their exploration of this tree. The fewer questions\nyou can ask that are unanswered by the decision maker's justification, the\nbetter.\n\nThis approach can be used in technical interviews, or judgment of someone's\nwork (e.g. when evaluating performance), by asking yourself \"How much of the\npossibility space has this person explored?\"." :name "judging-decisions.md" :private false :categories #{"Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links [] :size 2309 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1638937972]} {:path-categories #{"Understanding The World"} :path "content/docs/understanding-the-world/notetaking.md" :backlinks nil :title "Notetaking" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# Notes on Notetaking\n\n## References\n\n- https://tkainrad.dev/posts/managing-my-personal-knowledge-base/\n- https://vimways.org/2019/personal-notetaking-in-vim/\n\n## Graph Notetaking Idea\n\nUse a set of nodes connected to other notes in a graph (like\n[zettelkasten](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zettelkasten)) to store knowledge.\nEach note should have:\n\n - Constraints under which the notes info doesn't apply (limitation of a study)\n - Some new knowledge, assuming the constraint\n - References to other notes\n\nIn addition, the body of notes should contain guiding essays that string\ntogether notes in an easy to understand way. This way the graph of knowledge\nis approachable, and essays/papers don't have to worry about not mentioning\nthings, since they are still notes. Later essays can keep exploring the\nunguided territory. \n\nThis system has the benefit of encouraging new essays to form from the body of\nwork, which is always at hand and even partially connected already." :name "notetaking.md" :private false :categories #{"Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links [] :size 1046 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1624337751]} {:path-categories #{"Understanding The World"} :path "content/docs/understanding-the-world/opression.md" :backlinks nil :title "Opression" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# Oppression\n\n## My Definition\n\nNot having the freedom to end some form of suffering.\n\n## Natural Oppression - The Default\n\n### Aging\n\nDegradation with age robs us of so much time.\n\n#### Prevention\n\nScientific advancement.\n\n### Predation\n\nNatural systems are constant warzones, where constant defense is necessary to\navoid getting killed and harvested for your natural resources.\n\n#### Prevention\n\nBuilding social systems that have power to kill or imprison predators.\nOr stop them from existing in the first place.\n\n\n## Social Oppression\n\n### Law\n\nSome laws prevent people from doing things that would reduce their suffering.\n\n### Stigma\n\n### Tax" :name "opression.md" :private false :categories #{"Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links [] :size 716 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1757135665 1756944387]} {:path-categories #{"Understanding The World"} :path "content/docs/understanding-the-world/physics.md" :backlinks nil :title "Physics" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# How the World _Really_ Works (Physics)\n\nYet-untestable questions about physics described in [Interpretations of Quantum\nMechanics by Domain of Science](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqofuYCz9gs).\nSee also [Bells Theorem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell%27s_theorem), which\nI really want to deeply understand if possible." :name "physics.md" :private false :categories #{"Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links [] :size 396 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1625947450]} {:path-categories #{"Understanding The World"} :path "content/docs/understanding-the-world/predicting-the-future.md" :backlinks nil :title "Predicting The Future" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# Predicting the Future\n\nPredicting the future is very difficult.\n\nThis is especially true when [working with complex systems]({{< relref\n\"/docs/understanding-the-world/working-with-complex-systems.md\" >}}), which\nunfortunately compose most of our world.\n\n## [The Problem of Induction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_induction)" :name "predicting-the-future.md" :private false :categories #{"Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/understanding-the-world/working-with-complex-systems.md"] :size 406 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1667941051 1667937680 1667844143]} {:path-categories #{"Understanding The World"} :path "content/docs/understanding-the-world/productive-conversations.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/daily-physiological-tricks.md"} :title "Productive Conversations" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/lifestyle-optimizations/daily-physiological-tricks.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# Productive Conversations\n\n - Start with \"what would convince you that you're wrong?\"\n - Talk about how specific possibilities make you feel, then try to pin down\n why.\n This can lead to identifying more specific concerns that may not be the same\n as the initial point of argument.\n - Don't change the subject or gloss over a point until it is resolved.\n Especially don't counter a point with something unrelated.\n - Make sure the objective of the conversation is crystal clear to all parties\n (state it explicitly).\n - Ask people to explain how the thing that's being discussed works (objectively).\n See https://freakonomics.com/podcast/how-to-change-your-mind/." :name "productive-conversations.md" :private false :categories #{"Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links [] :size 816 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1664936533 1664901571]} {:path-categories #{"Understanding The World"} :path "content/docs/understanding-the-world/what-to-believe.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/health-and-longevity/aging-science.md" "content/docs/health-and-longevity/sens.md" "content/docs/me/manifesto.md"} :title "What To Believe" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/health-and-longevity/aging-science.md\" \"content/docs/health-and-longevity/sens.md\" \"content/docs/me/manifesto.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Important\" \"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# What to Believe\n\nIn order to make good decisions, people need to build an understanding of how\nthe world works by gathering information.\nLuckily, it is getting easier and easier to do this as technology becomes more\nand more efficient at sending data around the world.\nUnfortunately, simply gathering information is not enough; one must also make\nsure that the information is of high enough quality to use in world modeling or\ndecision making.\n\nThere are many reasons why information people share with each other may be\nmisleading or wrong. \n\n\nhttps://thedietwars.com/how-to-determine-who-is-a-legitimate-science-based-health-expert/\n\n\n## Stories\n\nTo transfer information, people share stories with each other.\nThese stories get etched in people's minds as they hear them, and can get more\ndeeply etched with repetition or other validation.\n\nMany (technically most) stories are not accurate descriptions of the real,\nphysical world. \n\nInaccurate stories can be useful.\nFor instance, they can be \"stepping stones to the truth\", like our story about\nhow electrons are particles that orbit the nucleus of an atom (Bohr model).\nThey can also provide practical ways to encourage a behavior; for instance, the\nstory that virtuous people are rewarded in the afterlife.\nOr auervedic medicine promoting health.\n\nUnfortunately, inaccuracy can also lead to bad decision making with serious\nconsequences.\nTo be safe, it would be ideal if we could clearly determine inaccuracy and\nweight that in our consideration of whether or not to use the story in informing\nour behavior.\n\n\n## Story Plausability vs Accuracy\n\nFirstly, it is important to know that **plausability DOES NOT correlate well\nwith accuracy**, especially in complex systems.\nThis is true even when the plausible theory holds in controlled experiments done\nin a simplified version of the complex system (e.g. a model organism).\nThere are many, many more plausable statements about systems like our economy or\nthe human body that there are statements which are actually true.\nSome random examples (NOT MY OPINIONS):\n\n### Health\n\n - Any dietary sugar crystallizes in the blood, causing arterial damage.\n - Sugar has no harmful effects on the body when <50g/day are consumed.\n - Saturated fat hardens in the blood, clogging arteries.\n - Saturated fat does not clog arteries, it gets dissolved in blood just fine.\n\n### Economy\n\n - Poor people are poor because they don't work hard.\n - Poor people are poor because powerful people with malicious intent are\n taking their resources.\n - Poor people are poor because our economy makes it hard to increase your net\n worth.\n\n\n### Education\n\n - Girls and boys have inherent (from birth) differences in what topics they\n are interested in, and therefore end up finding careers in.\n - Girls and boys have the same chance to become interested in something at\n birth, but are unevenly distributed in careers due to how they are raised.\n\nMore theories like this that were widely believed but are now disproven can be\nfound on [this Wikipedia\npage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superseded_theories_in_science).\nAlso [this study of medical\ntherapies](https://twitter.com/kevinnbass/status/1184599630312427520).\n\nNote that some stories can be completely true, but still not have the effect\nthey imply.\nFor instance, certain foods contain toxins that kill and/or mutate our cells.\nBut this does not mean that we shouldn't eat those foods (perhaps every food\nfalls into this category?).\n\nSee https://superbowl.substack.com/p/causal-explanations-considered-harmful for\na good exploration of misleading causal theories.\n\nFor each of the above statements/stories, there are groups of people who would\nfind them plausible.\nSince some directly contradict each other, how are we to know which to believe?\n\n\n## The Scientific Method\n\nWe can use scientific reasoning to falsify inaccurate stories!\nIdeally, we would do this for all information we incorporate into our decisions;\nif no one has tried to falsify a certain piece of information, then we probably\nshouldn't use it for important decision making.\n\nUnfortunately, science is really hard, so many falsification studies have not\nbeen done.\nAdditionally, science doesn't give hard yes-or-no answers - it gives\nprobabilities (e.g. p-values) that something might be true given a long list of\nassumptions or constraints.\nContext is crucially important - studies generally are very narrow in the\nsituations they apply to!\nIn order to accurately incorporate a scientific finding into a justification for\nmaking a certain decision, the uncertainties in the study and the required\ncontext to apply it should be understood.\n\nOh yeah, also scientific studies can just be wrong due to errors in their\nexecution, even if the experimenters themselves were unbiased.\nA good practical way to get around this problem is to [read review articles\ninstead of individual\nstudies](https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/12/12/beware-the-man-of-one-study/).\n\nIt is hard to do this, just like it is hard to come up with scientific findings\nin the first place.\nIf we as a society deeply recognized this difficulty, it may give more respect\nto good scientific findings, and help us have more informed debated about what\nactions to take on big important issues.\nThis recognition may also make people more patient and willing to embrace the\ndifficulty, instead of looking for shortcuts.\n\n(I have nothing against finding the most efficient ways to solve problems,\nexcept when these shortcuts are less rigorous or otherwise worse than harder\nsolutions AND we pretend that they are just as good just because of their\nconvenience).\n\nSee also:\n\n - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Popper\n - \"The Beginning of Infinity\" by David Deutsch\n\n\n## People and Stories\n\nWhen it comes to deciding what stories are accurate, or worth etching deeply\ninto your own mind, it is important to select stories which have had a lot of\neffort put towards their falsification, but still hold up.\nTo verify this process, it is ideal to try your hardest to falsify the story in\nquestion yourself.\n\nLooking at what others believe is a good way to find new stories, and also can\nbe a good way to vet stories.\nIt is crucial however to think about WHY believers trust the stories they do.\nIf they have not actively tried to falsify their own stories, that is a red flag\nthat their belief may not be sound.\nEvidence that people have tried this falsification includes:\n\n - Advertisement of conditions under which their story does not hold true.\n - Write ups of experiments that were done in the effort of falsification.\n\nAt a higher level, if the person in question has a history of changing their\nbeliefs when shown new evidence, that is also a good sign.\n\nFor those people who have a long history of believing the same story, or have\nfinancial or social incentives to believe said story, be wary that their\nconfirmation bias may blind them a bit to new information.\n\nIn extreme cases, people who do not try to falsify their own stories can become\nzealots; so blind to the limitation of their own beliefs that there is no\npractical difference between them and someone who is intentionally promoting a\nbelief they know to be wrong (lying).\n\nOne thing to note is that people holding hard to old beliefs seems to be a\nnatural thing for humans to do, and there are ways to exploit this without\nchanging people's minds: \n\n - [VSauce reasoning video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ArVh3Cj9rw)_\n - [Antifragile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifragile) discusses how it\n might be ideal to have many strongly supported ideas fight it out in e.g. a\n market to find the best ones and move the whole system forward optimally.\n\nThis is related to the idea of \"science advances one funeral at a time\", which\nassumes that (1) famous accomplished sciences direct future research and (2)\nthese scientists have entrenched beliefs.\nThese things combined mean new research directions that do not fit into the\nbeliefs of the accomplished scientists do not get funding/attention.\nIt would be nice if this wasn't as true, but at the least there is still\nadvancement \\*shrug\\*.\n\nSee also the [\"Self Deception\" section of _Perspective_]({{< relref\n\"/docs/mind/perspective.md\" >}}#Self-Deception).\n\n### Reasons People Share Ideas\n\nThinking about why an idea is being shared might make your decision of whether\nto believe it or not easier.\nNote that all of these reasons are extremely important and enable our modern\nsociety; I'm not saying that if you are listening to e.g. an advocate you can\njust ignore everything they are saying.\n\n - **Truth Sharing**: Simply to share the truth to others, for them to do what\n they will with it. This type of sharing happens a lot in dense academic\n research papers that effectively just share numbers and contain very little\n interpretation. It's easy to think you are doing this when you actually\n aren't. Examples:\n - Michael Lustgarten's YouTube Channel\n - **Advocacy**: To change the behavior of others. For instance, sharing\n pictures of smoker's lungs to get people to stop smoking. Or to get atheists\n to accept God.\n - Public health initiatives\n - COVID vaccine advertisements\n - **Brainstorming/Theorizing**: To get others to think about a problem or\n model of the world that might be useful or inaccurate. Partially in the\n hopes that others will find the model useful, and partially in the hopes\n that others will improve or soundly reject the model.\n - [\"Why Greatness Cannot be Planned\" by Kenneth O. Stanley and Joel Lehman]({{< relref \"/docs/books/why-greatness-cannot-be-planned.md\" >}})\n\nSee also [\"The Enigma of Reason\"]({{< relref\n\"/docs/books/The-Enigma-of-Reason.md\" >}}) for an excellent theory about how\npeople reason to defend theories, not to generate them.\n\n### \"Experts\"\n\nSome fields, like chess, can legitimately have experts - people who deeply\nunderstand the problem space and make predictions about it very accurately.\nOther fields are less amenable to this - see [_Complex Systems_]({{< relref\n\"/docs/understanding-the-world/working-with-complex-systems.md\" >}}).\n\n### Belief Matrix\n\nThe following matrix provides a simplified view of how a person can stand **on a\nsingle statement**.\nThe East/West axis describes how strongly the person agrees or disagrees with a\nstatement.\nThe North/South axis describes the level of evidence that person **personally\nunderstands and accepts** that supports the statement.\nNote that \"scientific consensus\" does **not** mean agreement of many trusted\nscientists, but rather the agreement of their work itself (e.g. compiled and\nreviewed by the person trying to form an opinion).\nTherefore, for example, if a person personally accepts strong evidence\nsupporting the statement, yet disagrees with the statement, they must be lying.\n\nNote that it is very difficult to know the extent of understanding a person has\nabout an issue.\nTherefore, it can be hard to distinguish between liars and skeptics, or even\nzealots supporting the counter-idea and liars.\nAt least we can make some assumptions about the popularity/availability of\nscientific studies; if an \"expert\" in a field ignores very available work, it's\nmore likely they are not an honest knowledge spreader.\n\n```\n Scientific Consensus\n Understood by Person\n ----------------------------------------------------\n | | |\n | A Liar or propagandist | Someone spreading |\n | with hidden motives | real information |\n | (good or bad). | | \n ------------------A Plausible Idea------------------\n | | |\nVocal | A skeptic | A zealot or person | Vocal\nDisagreement | | with blind belief | Agreement\n | | |\n ------------------A Plausible Idea------------------\n | | |\n | Someone spreading | A liar or propagandist |\n | real information | with hidden motives |\n | | (good or bad). |\n --------------------------------------------------\n Scientific Rejection\n Understood by Person\n```\n\nI personally believe the plausible idea (I haven't looked for or found studies\nyet) that certain people can be more amenable to falling into a certain quadrant\nquickly when given some idea.\nAnd additionally, if someone is shown to be OK with lying about ideas in one\narea, they are probably more likely to do so in other areas as well.\nProbably then, if one wants to save time/energy/resources reviewing ideas, they\ncould discount those that are supported by people who have lied or shown blind\nbelief in other ideas.\n\n**However**, if one has the time and wants the most complete picture, in my\nopinion it is worth examining ideas from these people, since (again, in my\nopinion) it is very unlikely that they are **completely** incorrect in all their\nopinions.\nIn fact, some of the most novel, and therefore potentially useful, ideas can\ncome especially from strong believers in yet-untested plausible ideas.\n\n
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\n\n----------------------- OLD THOUGHTS BELOW HERE ------------------------------\n\nOne useful lens to look at this further is to think about where the shared\ninformation is ultimately coming from:\n\n## From Past Personal Experience\n\n### What works \n\nTinkerers (as described in the book\n[Antifragile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifragile)) are people who use\nfeedback from a specific task to improve and eventually become experts at doing\nthat task. For instance a self-taught woodworker will eventually learn how to\ncreate complex wooden structures based on past experience of how wood behaves\nwhen he or she does things to it. Or a chess player may learn that certain\npatterns of pieces are dangerous or safe over time after winning or losing many\ngames.\n\nInformation derived from tinkerers is:\n\n - Often very practically useful\n - Rarely completely \"wrong\", just maybe only right in a very narrow scope.\n\nBut has these problems:\n\n - Deeper theories or reasons behind why the information is what it is are\n often absent or unrecoverable. This limits the scope at which the\n information can be accurately applied.\n - Reproducing the logic behind the information can be very difficult or\n impossible, since it requires walking though the life experience of the\n tinkerer. This can make it easy for the tinkerer to hide bias." :name "what-to-believe.md" :private false :categories #{"Important" "Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/mind/perspective.md" "/docs/books/why-greatness-cannot-be-planned.md" "/docs/books/The-Enigma-of-Reason.md" "/docs/understanding-the-world/working-with-complex-systems.md"] :size 15027 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1755322345 1749182667 1740866322 1740862760 1670262823 1667762893 1667703247 1659922160 1659727276 1659551685 1659113492 1655691154 1655657180 1653846065 1649781155 1633021617 1633021101 1633020535 1629340059 1628657845 1624337751]} {:path-categories #{"Understanding The World"} :path "content/docs/understanding-the-world/working-with-complex-systems.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/understanding-the-world/predicting-the-future.md" "content/docs/understanding-the-world/what-to-believe.md"} :title "Working With Complex Systems" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/understanding-the-world/predicting-the-future.md\" \"content/docs/understanding-the-world/what-to-believe.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Understanding The World\"}\n---\n# Working With Complex Systems\n\nSystems of a sufficient complexity are hard/impossible to intuitively reason\nabout, or become an expert in.\nOne way to think about these systems is as \"low validity environments\" as\ndescribed in [the Veritasium video on\nexperts](https://youtu.be/5eW6Eagr9XA?t=321).\n\nThis means that predicting the future state of a complex system like the\neconomy, the health of a human, or a political system is extremely error prone.\nThat doesn't mean we should attempt this prediction, but IMO it does mean that\nputting a lot of faith in predictions is a mistake.\nIt might be a better strategy to have different plans of action for different\npossible outcomes." :name "working-with-complex-systems.md" :private false :categories #{"Understanding The World"} :dir? false :links [] :size 872 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1667937680 1659551949 1659551821 1659551685]} {:path-categories #{"Visual Art"} :path "content/docs/visual-art/generative-art.md" :backlinks nil :title "Generative Art" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Visual Art\"}\ntesting: frontmatter\n---\n\n# Generative Art\n\n## Inspiration\n\nI was originally inspired to work on generative art after viewing this blog:\nhttps://beesandbombs.tumblr.com/. I find it fun to try to imagine how each of\nthese gifs were generated - each one is like a visual puzzle.\n\nSee more inspiration [here]({{< relref \"/docs/visual-art/inspiration-and-resources.md\" >}}).\n\n## My Art\n\nClick on each piece to see it in motion!\n\n[![double helix](/docs/visual-art/double-helix.png)](/docs/visual-art/double-helix-unindexed)\n\n

\"perlin — Note this was done from a tutorial - it's not an original!

\n\nSource code for the above gifs can be found at\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/generative-art.\n\n\n $\"encircle\"$ \n\n\nSource code for the above gif can be found at\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/geometrical_gifs.\n\nAn even older project can be found at\nhttps://github.com/kovasap/perspective_words. This project was made while doing\nmolecular simulation research, and arranges virtual atoms so that they spell\nout works when looked at from certain angles.\n\n## Ideas to Try\n\n### Sound\n\nAdd music/sound to BeesAndBombs-type visualizations like\n[ChaosDoodle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcBn04IyELc) videos." :name "generative-art.md" :private false :categories #{"Visual Art"} :dir? false :links ["/docs/visual-art/inspiration-and-resources.md"] :size 1563 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1669743672 1668204865 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1649286357 1642463614 1632246553 1631990398 1631653235]} {:path-categories #{"Visual Art"} :path "content/docs/visual-art/inspiration-and-resources.md" :backlinks #{"content/docs/visual-art/generative-art.md"} :title "Inspiration And Resources" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: #{\"content/docs/visual-art/generative-art.md\"}\ncategories-set: #{\"Visual Art\"}\n---\n# Inspiration and Resources\n\nCool art and art tutorials that I've stumbled across.\n\n## Wallpapers\n\n - https://desktopography.net/\n - https://wallpapercave.com/pc-4k-macro-wallpapers\n\n## Tutorials\n\n - Awesome pixel art walkthroughs: https://www.slynyrd.com/blog\n\n## Tools and Art Generators\n\n - Map generators (designed for games):\n - https://www.dungeonalchemist.com/\n - https://dungeondraft.net/\n - https://github.com/mxgmn/WaveFunctionCollapse\n - https://github.com/mxgmn/MarkovJunior\n\n## Misc Projects\n\n - https://beesandbombs.tumblr.com/\n - https://oimo.io/works\n - https://emoji.supply/kitchen/\n - https://pokemon.alexonsager.net/\n\n## Natural Inspiration\n\n - https://images.wur.nl/digital/collection/coll13/search" :name "inspiration-and-resources.md" :private false :categories #{"Visual Art"} :dir? false :links [] :size 824 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1712860286 1668204865 1659113492 1659025169 1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1654138836 1653846065 1652818831 1649439956]} {:path-categories #{"Visual Art"} :path "content/docs/visual-art/judging-art.md" :backlinks nil :title "Judging Art" :markdown "---\nbacklinks-set: \ncategories-set: #{\"Visual Art\"}\n---\n# Judging Art\n\nHow can you tell what art is high quality and/or worth consuming?\n\n## Reviews\n\nGood, but can be biased by competing interests.\n\n\n## Meaning\n\nIt would be cool to ask many people to give a ranked list of the 50 most\nmeaningful experiences in their lives. From this, you could extract art entries\nand rank them by their occurrence, which would probably give a good list of\nwhat is worth experiencing yourself.\n\nhttps://www.pewforum.org/2018/11/20/where-americans-find-meaning-in-life/ is\nan interesting place to start here." :name "judging-art.md" :private false :categories #{"Visual Art"} :dir? false :links [] :size 591 :modtime 1784607408 :mode 420 :modification-unix-timestamps [1655753252 1655753185 1655657180 1653846065 1631653235]}]

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