Hey dudes,

I know I'm late to the discussion, but to go back to the original topic of LW, yes it is very N5, but there is certainly some useful stuff there. I wasn't previously aware of the research into cognitive biases for instance (e.g. various forms of overconfidence: if someone says they are 99% confidant about something, on average they are wrong about 50% of the time - this is really useful to know when forming opinions!) On the other hand cognitive 'biases' evolved for a reason...
The oddest thing about LW is the use of 'Bayesian' as synonymous with 'awesome' - if they want to emphasise anything, stick Bayesian of the front - e.g. 'a Bayesian A.I. could do x' where 'an A.I. could do x' is also true.
Yes, Bayesian probability is useful, but so are a lot of other things - if knowing Bayes' theorem makes me a Bayesian, does knowing martial arts makes me a Martian?

Hey, Fractal. Here's a neat paper on self-assessment and competence that partially explains, in specific contexts, why most people's metacognitive skills are dismal and the practical importance of humility.

http://people.psych.cornell.edu/~dunnin … naware.pdf

Hi dude

...Hmm, there's another possibility; maybe he thought there was nothing like real life experience to weed out the wimps from the brave? Training can only go so far; nothing prepares one for combat quite like combat.

I'm not sure of the Taoist meaning for 'flow', but it sounds like you are talking about “in the zone”? It certainly does happen to some people in a crisis. Unfortunately it doesn't happen to most, and in Sun Tzu's situation, I guess those who couldn't get there would be the ones who got killed. Contextual selection would leave him with an army of special forces that could withstand extreme situations.

Necessity is the motherfucker of invention and many people rediscover 'the zone' when in a tight squeeze. The most famous stories are about parents lifting cars off their kids.

There's a common belief that we have to have unpleasant experiences in order to grow. This isn't true; what's important is that we continue to have new challenging experiences, and nice ones actually benefit growth more than nasty ones!

Often emotional blocks can be reduced by improved attention and concentration in the here and now, as long as anxiety remains low enough for it to happen. Paying proper attention to what's going on around us in the here and now takes our minds off ourselves. Could it be that you've improved your attention skills and reduced anxiety enough to start interacting more in various contexts?  Just a thought...
Best,
AR

A:
"..Hmm, there's another possibility; maybe he thought[...]"


There is yet another possibility; maybe he meant for the ENEMY GENERAL to expose their soldiers to danger, since it is clear that The Art of War was coded, in case it fell in enemy hands. It's funny how many people don't believe this kind of PsyOp happens, even today... btw Alex, do you plan on checking the Olympic Games there? If so, remember the fundamental financial market rule which we here are all too familiar with (though by any other alias); if majority is amassing somewhere, it's probably NOT a good idea. ;-)


A:
"There's a common belief that we have to have unpleasant experiences in order to grow. This isn't true; what's important is that we continue to have new challenging experiences, and nice ones actually benefit growth more than nasty ones!"


Some fresh science to back you up: ;-)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ … 121611.php (published this weekend)


00010111
MM800

Meta Process Wrote:
Concentration in the here and now excludes planning?
It appears from MRI etc that being 'in the zone' merges imagination (planning) and memory; that's certainly also my personal experience of it; being aware of the here and now in relation to past and future, as a sort of timeless excerpt, damn that sounds dead cosmic LOL  :  )
I'm not sure though if 'in the zone' here holds the same meaning as 'concentration'. There's definitely more to the zone space than just concentration. Concentration lights up N3; the zone employs large lumps of N4 as well. The zone looks like an obsessive sort of focus that jams distraction, enables physical automation and gives the subjective psychological effect of slowing down time.

The difference is portrayed in The Matrix; Neo is concentrating very hard during his fights with Smith, but only after waking up from being 'shot' is he 'in the zone'. No longer any fear or anger; notice that -but ridiculously fast reflexes etc. I thought that feeling of power and being one with everything was portrayed very well.


MM800 Wrote:
Alex, do you plan on checking the Olympic Games there?

I don't pay any attention to TE stuff, so am proud not to know where or when the next olympics is (and I don't want to know)  :  )

Re:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ … 121611.php

There's plenty of awareness that bad experiences can make us stronger, but also that they have dire side effects. What we need more of is this sort of thing:
http://www.dana.org/media/detail.aspx?id=7142

-if anyone has time to look for such papers on the effects of  'environment enrichment'; proving the point that ANY experience makes us stronger, and good experience makes us stronger without so many bad side effects. Most folks are badly deprived of good exciting input, especially if imagination is poor.
Best,
AR

A:
"I don't pay any attention to TE stuff, so am proud not to know where or when the next olympics is[...]"

See Meta... you are however welcome to do as "ok" as you like ;-)

  A:
" (and I don't want to know)  :  ) "

I wont spoil it for you ^_^ nevertheless, it might be useful to check whether trajectories might collide in case there is the slight possibility of occupying the same space and time of a TE fleet. Just thought a heads up were in order since you seem not so far from it =) There is always a train of bollocks leaving the station... (oh.. another financial analogy.. haha dont know what's with me lately ^^)

  A:

"...maybe only if you haven't learned to differentiate LOL  :  )" *

Couldn't agree more integrally.

00010111
  MM800

*Funny, your explanation showed up in the email but not here, probably related to the formatting glitch I tried to warn you guys earlier? (or you edited out?)

Edit: "There's plenty of awareness[...]"

NOT among the general public, as the link I pasted also suggests... They go with the saying of "WHATEVER dont kill you makes you stronger" and stop right there with no qualification.

oh yes, couldn't agree more integrally on that either =) even lab rats with what scientists DARE to call "enrichment" do much better, most still wonder why wild rats are "less similar" to even those!

And now the question is, have you replied about your edit AFTER seeing my own edit conjecturing of your edit OR in those 15 minutes between my post and yours, the (however brief*) interval I took to perceive the possibility and edit was longer than the interval you took to perceive a reply and load the page for reading? Hmmmmmmmmm.... we may never know... =) hahaha

--" Most of the general public isn't even aware of its own ass. "

HUAHAHA.. I dont know why I bother, I sometimes forget we are talking of humans...


--"Btw happy new year in advance, dudes!  :  ) "

Except for any Chinese! (call me racist, but they themselves would agree with me)

00010111
  MM800

*Not considering relativistic effects, geopositional differences and clocks imprecisions... of course.