lack of focus was caused by ignoring my impulses to do a wide variety of things for years, so they would distract me when I tried to concentrate. I made a point to act on almost all of my impulses. also meditation helps
Jun 3, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
providing meaning is a fundamentally different kind of thing than providing economic value. it’s so much more powerful, lasting, and personal, and imo it’s the difference between people who impact our culture and people who don’t, regardless of power or wealth
for example a lot of tech power players seem kind of one-dimensional. often the artists and creators who take advantage of the technology become far more influential and well-loved than the people who built the technology itself! in spite of providing less monetary value
Jun 1, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
I spent a year introspecting and reverse engineering how my mind works in an attempt to stop being unhappy/frustrated/angry
what actually happened is I have the same feelings as before, but now they’re narrated in my head like I’m an animal on the discovery channel
it might be time to stop. I don’t think introspecting has actually made me any happier- I have more friends, more opportunities, etc because I’m more friendly and pleasant to be around now, probably because I can easily recognize emotions and dismiss them
Feb 27, 2023 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
a lot of viral substack posts are written in a special mode consisting of vague proclamations about the nature of people and emotion, peppered with reassuring truisms.
I dislike this style
you usually can’t achieve widespread appeal *and* express strong opinions. so this sort of viral writing is designed to be maximally inoffensive and reassuring
Feb 27, 2023 • 12 tweets • 2 min read
how to build artificial general intelligence, from first principles
(overview of my research)
generating a brain is only as hard as generating a brain generator. the only system we know to have produced intelligence is natural evolution
Feb 26, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
thread of threads
reflections on quitting my job after a year
reflections thread
the issue in my life was not my job. it was that I didn't know how to make choices that prioritized my desires, felt powerless and hopeless as a result, and blamed my job for this (since it was the only obvious external factor, and occasionally caused me stress)
