Most [ argument ] that people engage in isn't formally persuasive. It's a back and forth of giving reasons: I give a reason to do a thing…
In a work context: Consider a junior engineer and a senior engineer. The junior engineer says, 'I think doing X will be better than doing Y…
just in case I'm ever a professor/teacher and forget the personal side of what people might be going through: as a freshman: I started out…
"find the thing that makes you come alive, and do that." I find myself thinking about 'giving up' in the sense of dreams of being an…
The [ hedonic treadmill ] manifests in taste for things like wine, beer, coffee, fine cuisine. I've never spent effort refining my taste in…
Relationships and community and mental health are not automatically maintained, and maintaining them doesn't come for free. Comforting…
Rules that work in many situations are valuable. If you can cook a burger, you're a McDonald's employee. If you can specify the rules for…
(related: [ communication is processing ]) A big part of growing up is communicating to your future self. Your future self isn't going to…
A thought that just occurred watching Billions. The two deputy attorneys (white guy and black woman ??) are in her apartment, which is nice…
For me, imposter syndrome felt like knowing that there was something deeply wrong with me, something I was missing or didn't get, that would…
It can be very hard to hold onto a positive self-image and an [ optimism|optimistic ] worldview, even if you intellectually 'know' these to…
pg says: the random things that you learn as a kid make you into a key. Your job is then to find the lock that you fit into. But that's not…
I don't want to be led. I want to be creative and do things that are dramatically new. Telling other people what to do feels almost evil to…
(I got this concept from SuccessfulFriend.) As people grow up and form their identities, they need models, and not just models; they need…
Take the statement 'human-level AI is possible'. As a kid, I saw this as obviously true. We can simulate physics, and brains are physical…
I used to be able to say 'superintelligent AI is possible'. Now in industry the notion of 'possible' is 'something I can myself do': by…
What have I learned in 2.5 years at Google? What did I not realize? The model of research. How low the expectations are. How fake it felt to…
In every field, there is a store of 'standard' advice that is handed down from mentors to ambitious youngsters. In computer science grad…
I want kids, eventually. I want to be able to talk with them, to build a relationship, to see the world through someone else's eyes. I want…