Warren Buffett suggests the exercise of writing down [ 25 career goals ]. Then choose the five most important. Then avoid at all costs…
Modified: October 02, 2020.
Companies that are on my radar as doing cool stuff, or where I might consider reaching out to people or applying for jobs. Big labs / AGI…
Modified: February 16, 2023.
Normally I think it's valuable to know who you are. Having good models of your future self's actions and desires puts you in a position to…
Modified: May 22, 2020.
Here are some high-quality ways to have fun: Things I do now and should do more of: Ski trips with friends Traveling athletic events (races…
Modified: October 02, 2020.
What would I say to someone I met up with on Tindr? How do I think about the encounter? I like almost everyone, so in particular I like you…
Modified: November 28, 2021.
I've sometimes felt a scarcity mindset with respect to friendship. Like: friends and especially close friends and relationships are things…
Modified: February 10, 2022.
[ meditation ] and dharma: The Buddha's Own Words Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha Science of Enlightenment Seeing that Frees…
Modified: May 20, 2022.
[ writing inbox ] the privilege of having correct advice work out for you ([ the privilege of advice working out ]) Let's stipulate that any…
Modified: February 10, 2022.
USA (45/50 states: all but N Dakota, S Dakota, Minnesota, Lousiana, Mississippi) Canada Ecuador Costa Rica Argentina England Scotland France…
Modified: April 06, 2022.
This is an index of pages that reflect things I'd like to do, or that should otherwise should stay updated to reflect my current thinking…
Modified: September 11, 2021.
MACARONI AND CHEESE 4 Tb margarine 5 tb flour Milk 2 tsp mustard 1 garlic clove, minced or 1 tb prepared minced garlic 2 ½ cups sharp…
Modified: February 22, 2022.
see also [ thoughts about kids ] Get them reading young---ideally by age 2 (like Amitav). Learn an instrument from a young age. Let them…
Modified: February 25, 2022.
see also: [ great shows ] Cloud Atlas Pulp Fiction
Modified: April 04, 2022.
see also: [ great movies ] Deadwood Sense8
Modified: April 04, 2022.
campfires apres ski choir rehearsing under a crisp fall night sky ragnars in vans shabbat various gay gatherings (e.g. pride) -- here the…
Modified: July 13, 2020.
One aspect of depression recently has been feeling like things are pointless, there's nothing valuable for me to do. My entire PhD has been…
Modified: February 10, 2022.
I want to care about an intellectual topic and have friends and colleagues with whom I can enjoy discussing that topic. I used to have…
Modified: November 15, 2019.
Things to pay attention to in setting up a new place: Lighting makes a huge difference and can totally change the ambience of a space. Don…
Modified: January 19, 2022.
Update Feb 2025: I now think the existence of [ memory reconsolidation ] makes the point expressed here much less of a blackpill. Factual…
Modified: February 25, 2022.
Some things are genuinely hard to do. But many others I don't do just out of laziness, or maybe lack of [ agency ]. I know that they're…
Modified: September 12, 2021.
(originally from 2020-04-29) On another note, last night I tried to dictate (on Otter) my sense of my life goals. I came up with a very…
Modified: January 24, 2022.
I don't hold the moral view that it's better to be a morning person than an evening person. Having always tended towards a later sleep…
Modified: March 14, 2023.
I've identified as a 'tech' person, but I now feel uncomfortable in many tech circles. What is tech and what does it mean to be a tech…
Modified: January 24, 2022.
I want to intentionally spend my time well. I remember back in grad school I would spend evenings reading papers, just as a form of growth…
Modified: February 25, 2022.
It's a useful exercise to occasionally reflect on what I value. stab 1: Generally pro tech, creating new things, non-zero-sum contributions…
Modified: November 27, 2023.
Like the proverbial half-full glass, smart people can look at the same reality of the current capacities of neural nets, and come to…
Modified: April 07, 2020.
These are things that I might plausibly decide I want to work on when I sit down on the weekend. Expanding nodes on this graph. Blogging…
Modified: February 22, 2020.
Why do I want to write more? Because: writing forces thoughts to crystallize. It forces me to draw conclusions about what I believe and who…
Modified: May 16, 2022.
See also [ family recipes ]. Roast chicken and vegetables: preheat oven to ~400. cover a spatchcocked chicken with salted garlic butter at…
Modified: March 03, 2022.
(see also: [ impact ]) I've been feeling depressed partly because the actual PhD research I did was (in my view) pointless, and more broadly…
Modified: February 11, 2022.
This note lists some ideas and directions for research I'm interested in or excited about. Some are more fleshed out than others, some more…
Modified: February 21, 2023.
In Korea (and maybe also Japan?) it's common for young guys to bond through physical touch and affection: hugging, holding hands, sitting in…
Modified: February 06, 2023.
I've always been an evening person more than a [ morning person ]. I often stay up until 1 or 2am, and in the absence of hard constraints it…
Modified: March 14, 2023.
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…
Modified: July 10, 2020.
Comparing myself to SuccessfulFriend, I might be tempered to think that because he is interested in antitrust law, zoning reform, political…
Modified: August 15, 2020.
[ things are deeply wrong ]
Modified: August 27, 2021.
Several ideas here: When I try to tell a story about what I'd like to change about my life, at a high level, I can come at it from different…
Modified: May 07, 2020.
AI is going to work. Obviously lots of people believe this. But most 'AI' companies and 'AI' investors are hyping applications of current…
Modified: January 13, 2023.
No matter what other priorities or any incredibly important goals arise in my life, whether through work, family, or other circumstances…
Modified: February 23, 2020.
Write Write regularly: under routine circumstances, at least a few minutes per day. This could be filling in nodes of this graph, blogging…
Modified: February 15, 2020.
See also [ writing inbox ] See also [ ongoing projects ] See, first and foremost, the backlinks below. Crypto trading model. Write a system…
Modified: November 13, 2021.
See also: [ the system is bad ] I find it hard to be okay with a 'normal' life, because that would imply some level of acceptance of the…
Modified: January 25, 2022.
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…
Modified: February 25, 2022.
I feel an obligation to try to do big things with my life, because I've had access to rare opportunities. If ten thousand randomly selected…
Modified: January 25, 2022.
Inspired by [ Emily ], I'm considering going 'mostly' vegetarian. What would that mean for me? I don't myself buy meats or dairy products…
Modified: March 07, 2020.
Why am I doing all of this? If I carve aside hours or days or months to 'fill in' my graph of notes, what am I hoping to get from it? Why is…
Modified: February 25, 2022.
Just like norms in the Trump administration, there are mental habits, rhythms of life, attitudes towards the world, that are powerfully…
Modified: February 23, 2020.
What will I do when I don't have a job? I don't feel that I have a clear direction. I want to learn and explore. There are lots of [ my…
Modified: March 04, 2022.
Regular writing practices that would be valuable. [ prediction as a model-building exercise ]
Modified: February 14, 2021.
Modified: May 01, 2020.