Three Problems, Three Solutions, and the First Step

June 27, 2017

If there was a technique that might improve your life in just 5 minutes, would you use it? If so, why not give this one a try? Step 1: Write down a list of the three most significant problems in your life right now Example: The three biggest problems are - (1) I don't feel rested when I wake up (2) I worry too much (3) I need to make a difficult decision at work Step 2: Choose the problem from Step 1 that you think it would be easiest to make improvements in, gi...

Productive Disagreements – An Interactive Event Format

June 25, 2017

I ran a "Productive Disagreements" event last night, a new interactive format I've been working on where attendees practice structured disagreements on controversial topics in order to learn from each other and get experience accurately modeling other people's perspectives. Here are the materials, in case you want to run an event like this or just learn about the format: Part 1: Brief presentation about why disagreements are so often unproductive 1. You want to "win" more than you want...

The Maximally Cynical Glossary of Technology Terms

June 25, 2017

Feeling cheery about technology and optimistic about the future, but still confused by what exactly "Deep Learning" and "Quantum computing" mean? Here's your antidote: the Maximally Cynical Glossary of Technology Terms. Not to be taken too seriously :) A Android phones: the closest a company can get to making an iPhone while risking only a dozen lawsuits (see entry on “iPhones”) Artificial Intelligence: the best name for Machine Learning if you’re trying to make it sound cool to people that...

Your Best and Worst Influence – a two-minute social thought experiment

June 21, 2017

A simple 2-minute social thought experiment for you: Note: I highly recommend that you don't just read this list of steps, but instead, that you actually do them! Reading these steps will not give you any benefit, but doing them might! Step 1 - Think for a moment about the person who is the best influence on you, or the person in your life you don't see that much that you most admire the traits or actions of. Step 2 - Visualize something great this person did or said, or think of a ...

Friction in Relationships from Misunderstanding the Mind

June 17, 2017

I've noticed that a significant amount of friction is created among friends and in romantic relationships due to inaccurate models of how the human mind works, and due to unrealistic expectations of the brain. Usually, these involve assuming that someone did something that you don't like on purpose when it would be more accurate to say they did the thing automatically (and they may need significant practice to change that automatic behavior). Of course, it's still up to that person (with yo...

Correlation Coefficient as a Gateway to Skepticism

June 14, 2017

The correlation coefficient as a gateway to radical skepticism:Suppose you calculate that two variables are moderately correlated. For instance, you find that self-reported happiness has a correlation r=0.32 with self-reported willpower, as I found in one of my studies. What are the possible explanations for (or causes of) this? A Causes B - Increasing A is a cause of increasing B but not the reverse. [e.g., more happiness causes more willpower] (2) B Causes A - Increasing B is a cause ...

Redesigning High School from Scratch

June 10, 2017

If you were redesigning high school education from scratch, what material would you include in the curriculum (assuming it's a well funded high school), that is generally not taught in high schools today? Some classes that I might want to include are: Thrive: staying happy and healthy. This could include: Cognitive-behavioral therapy skills training (to help ward off depression and anxiety)Emotional control strategies from dialectical behavioral therapyBehavioral activati...

Problem-Solving Techniques That Work For All Types of Challenges

June 7, 2017

photo by Jorge Láscar (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jlascar/4475570857)

A lot of people don't realize that there are general purpose problem solving techniques that cut across domains. They can help you deal with thorny challenges in work, your personal life, startups, or even if you're trying to prove a new theorem in math. Below are the 26 general purpose problem solving techniques that I like best, along with a one-word name I picked for each, and hypothetical examples to illustrate what sort of strategy I'm referring to. Consider opening up this list when...

Predicting Depression

May 12, 2017

I created simple statistical model (on a sample of people in the U.S.) to help predict how depressed someone is, based on 91 variables about them. I was attempting to predict the severity of the depression by their PHQ9 score, a simple subjective scale that averages scores on 9 common symptoms of depression. For instance, it asks how often you have experienced feeling "down, depressed, or hopeless" and how often you have experienced feeling "tired or having little energy" in the past two weeks....