In the group that performed poorly on the cognitive reflection test, only 40% of men and 25% of women said they would take a 15% chance of $1,000,000 over a sure $500. In the…
I read quite a few non-fiction books and read some reviews as well. Most of them are describing what the book is about. However, sometimes I wonder what people got out of it, did…
I recently ran across a reference to the internet site DeathClock.com. I clicked over to it, and entered a few simple facts about myself—birthday, gender, temperament, BMI, smoker/non-smoker—and the site spat out a projected…
While investigating how to give good careers advice, we asked ourselves whether the Myers Briggs test, the world’s most widely used personality test, might be useful. We’ve concluded that it probably isn’t. The Myers…
Are the current high levels of unemployment being caused by advances in Artificial Intelligence automating away human jobs? Conventional economic theory says this shouldn’t happen. AI, Robots, and Automation aren’t taking our jobs. Or rather,…
This coming Tuesday, MIRI’s Executive Director Luke Muehlhauser will give a talk at Quixey titled Effective Altruism and the End of the World. If you’re in or near the South Bay, you should come! Come…
The extraordinary thing about Sanskrit is that it offers direct accessibility to anyone to that elevated plane where the two — mathematics and music, brain and heart, analytical and intuitive, scientific and spiritual— become…
Just as football players lift weights, knowledge workers need to train their core systems to perform. 1. Quantified Mind is a really good way to measure and improve your cognition. 2. Nudger apps are…
On the Overwhelming Importance of Shaping the Far Future Thursday 15 August, 16:00 GMT (9:00 Los Angeles, 12:00 New York, 17:00 London) To be held online via Skype. RSVP required by email to Seth…
The new PBSOffBook video takes us on a tour of the rise of artificial intelligence. Robin Hanson and Gary Marcus summarizing the intertwined promise and peril of the inevitable development of AI.
Huge boosts in productivity and happiness await those willing to try: Workflowy Checklists Todo lists Beeminder Reflection Pomodoro Calendar Time Logging Catch Morning Checklists, Catch, Beeminder, Google Calendar, and Pomodoros. Why am I using…
According to Alexander Bolonkin and Joseph Friedlander, it may be possible to produce “self-supporting detonating thermonuclear reactions that spread to the full solar volume” — a similar process to the triggering mechanisms in a thermonuclear bomb. CAUSE…
Sure, you might not feel all that rich compared to the mansions and millionaires around you, but what if you compared yourself to the global poor?Peter Hurford explores the new data behind our ‘How…
Sensing phantom phone vibrations is a strangely common experience. Around 80% of us have imagined a phone vibrating in our pockets when it’s actually completely still. Almost 30% of us have also heard non-existent ringing. Are…
A smart drug or Nootropics as they are known are cognitive supplements that are used to boost cognitive functions, intelligence and attention. Modafinil is a commonly used cognitive enhancer which was initially used to…
Eradicating any organism would have serious consequences for ecosystems — wouldn’t it? Not when it comes to mosquitoes. Malaria infects some 247 million people worldwide each year, and kills nearly one million. Mosquitoes cause…
Just as Soylent is disrupting the traditional food industry, Bitcoin is revolutionizing the way value is transferred between individuals and businesses. A completely decentralized online currency,… I’m glad to see “food” and “money” are…
Exercise science is a fine and intellectually fascinating thing. But sometimes you just want someone to lay out guidelines for how to put the newest fitness research into practice. An article in the May-June issue…
Today MIRI released a new technical report by visiting researcher Katja Grace called “Algorithmic Progress in Six Domains.” The report summarizes data on algorithmic progress – that is, better performance per fixed amount of computing hardware…