2tweet
- }}
324 linked references
August 4th, 2026
- #2tweet [missing block] 3 tones of why not
- 3 tones of "why not":
- this is why I'm not doing this, I have an excuse, leave me alone
- this is why I'm not doing this, maybe it's too hard, I'm not sure
- this is why I'm not doing this, how do I find a solution, so I can do it
- the second one subtly shades into the first (and I guess the third) in that "I'm not sure" can sorta be indefinite limbo or it can be "I need to really consider/negotiate this to decide"
- but yeah, the true 2nd is more like "I'm not sure this is worth finding a solution to but I am going to decide/clarify)
- in any case, it's very important to not confuse myself about which of these I'm doing
May 7th, 2026
- #2tweet TIL buildings also basically went through the great renunciation
it's not too late to restore them
as Christopher Alexander would say: do the next right thing
x.com/cairoasmith/status/2050048658880737387- TIL buildings also basically went through the great renunciation
it's not too late to restore them
as Christopher Alexander would say: do the next right thing
x.com/cairoasmith/status/2050048658880737387
February 28th, 2026
- #2tweet what if nobody else needs to change, and you don't need to change either, and it's all going to work out anyway
- what if nobody else needs to change, and you don't need to change either, and it's all going to work out anyway
December 31st, 2025
- #2tweet what is the interplay between the upward spiral of slack and the upward spiral of mindset & exaptation?
- what is the interplay between the upward spiral of slack and the upward spiral of mindset & exaptation?
- #2tweet was vaguely thinking about how famously people always take way too much weed when it's an edible, and found myself thinking that leaving aside long delays somewhat, that if the THC were power-law distributed through the edible, that might cause precisely this failure mode
- was vaguely thinking about how famously people always take way too much weed when it's an edible, and found myself thinking that leaving aside long delays somewhat, that if the THC were power-law distributed through the edible, that might cause precisely this failure mode
- or the fun version:
- the reason people famously always take way too much weed when it's an edible is that the THC in edibles is power-law distributed
November 2nd, 2025
- #2tweet wow football is the nerd-jockiest thing, which makes it kinda my natural nemesis as a jock-nerd
- wow football is the nerd-jockiest thing, which makes it kinda my natural nemesis as a jock-nerd
November 1st, 2025
- #2tweet “the purpose of a system is what it does” (aka “POSIWID”) which is easy to misunderstand as attributing malice to people who are part of a system that does evil—but that misunderstanding comes from interpreting this cybernetics principle through a non-cybernetics lens.
- “the purpose of a system is what it does” (aka “POSIWID”) which is easy to misunderstand as attributing malice to people who are part of a system that does evil—but that misunderstanding comes from interpreting this cybernetics principle through a non-cybernetics lens.
- (from pt1 of coalitions post)
September 24th, 2025
- #2tweet idea for a tool: put in a piece of writing and each word/token gets colorized by a base model by how high-perplexity it is, given the writing up to that point
- idea for a tool: put in a piece of writing and each word/token gets colorized by a base model by how high-perplexity it is, given the writing up to that point
- #2tweet idea for a tool: recursive system for LLMs to read a blog post while following links to N depth (this would actually be a very cool simple MCP!)
- idea for a tool: recursive system for LLMs to read a blog post while following links to N depth (this would actually be a very cool simple MCP!)
September 23rd, 2025
- #2tweet the surest way to ruin the extremists on the other side is to kick the extremists on your side out of your coalition
because then you win the centrists! and then the other side has to come towards center or they can't get votes- the surest way to ruin the extremists on the other side is to kick the extremists on your side out of your coalition
because then you win the centrists! and then the other side has to come towards center or they can't get votes
September 20th, 2025
- one parent who always lies and the other who always tells the truth
- #2tweet if something feels expensive, in some ways that's because you have less money than other people, and in other ways that's because they like the thing more than you do
(or because there's a short-term supply shortage)- if something feels expensive, in some ways that's because you have less money than other people, and in other ways that's because they like the thing more than you do
(or because there's a short-term supply shortage) - (this idea brought to you by grapes, which I like just don't buy at the price they're always at, but clearly other people do or nobody would be able to make money growing grapes, so I must value them less)
- obviously this also only applies to something whose underlying marginal cost is not that high, like if buying a space laser seems expensive that's a different thing
September 19th, 2025
- man was born a bespoke weirdo but everywhere is a type of guy
- #2tweet I keep needing to remind myself that even though it's okay things went the way they did (post-regret, can't throw out the cosmos and get a new one) it also sucks that things went the way they did (counterfactual reasoning is a key human superpower and part of learning)
- I keep needing to remind myself that even though it's okay things went the way they did (post-regret, can't throw out the cosmos and get a new one) it also sucks that things went the way they did (counterfactual reasoning is a key human superpower and part of learning)
- (I don't quite like the second parenthetical)
September 15th, 2025
- #2tweet things are becoming easier as I accept that:
A) I can't get anything interesting or difficult done while my desk/house is a mess
B) I quite enjoy tidying!
C) given A & B, if I ask "what do I feel like doing?" the answer is often tidying
D) I can work in a park in the meantime- things are becoming easier as I accept that:
A) I can't get anything interesting or difficult done while my desk/house is a mess
B) I quite enjoy tidying!
C) given A & B, if I ask "what do I feel like doing?" the answer is often tidying
D) I can work in a park in the meantime
- I was fucking myself up by inhibiting the cleaning, seeing it as a kind of cope rather than something that could possibly be the answer to "what do I feel like doing?" (for more than like a few minutes)
- and there's some truth to that, or can be, that I can get pulled into avoiding important but scary work by doing something more tangible
but like, until my house is spotless, what if I just didn't worry about that?
September 1st, 2025
- #2tweet tired: having a theme for your slide deck
wired: having a bespoke ai-generated image fill each slide of your deck, with no overall coherence- tired: having a theme for your slide deck
wired: having a bespoke ai-generated image fill each slide of your deck, with no overall coherence
- #2tweet what if we published, on a per-airline AND per-airport basis, the monthly number of lost and damaged bags? simple way to encourage quality, without adding regulations or requiring consumers to sue
- what if we published, on a per-airline AND per-airport basis, the monthly number of lost and damaged bags? simple way to encourage quality, without adding regulations or requiring consumers to sue
- QT donella info flows
August 28th, 2025
- #2tweet what makes two instances the same 'meme'? there's lineage, sure, but there can also be parallel developments that mutually recognize each other as same"
- [I tweeted just the first question today]
- what makes two instances the same 'meme'? there's lineage, sure, but there can also be parallel developments that mutually recognize each other as same"
- "what makes two instances the same 'meme'? core question for memetics, that I gather Blackmore's attempt at a memetics field died failing to answer. I don't have a robust answer yet but it seems like it has something to do with self-recognition
- when the meme is simple, the recognition is done by an intelligence that doesn't identify as the meme
- when the meme is complex enough to have an identity, the recognition is a form of self-recognition
- sometimes one version of a meme will recognize the other, but not vice versa
- [QT the "having an ego is a meme"]
- wait but also the ego itself is a meme in a different sense, it's just usually harder/slow to transmit between minds
August 10th, 2025
- #2tweet [missing block]
- so I went to ask Claude what "BBS" stood for in this excerpt from infinite backrooms... and... inadvertently activated backrooms mode.
- I realized this was probably gonna happen half a second before it did.
August 8th, 2025
- #2tweet “if I’m gonna come any closer to you, I’m going to have to have a thought that I’ve never had before”
— @filmerjarred- “if I’m gonna come any closer to you, I’m going to have to have a thought that I’ve never had before”
— @filmerjarred
August 6th, 2025
- #2tweet benefits of monogamy (written from the perspective of a man who was formerly poly). not particularly intended to convince, or to say these outweigh costs. just naming them for further inspection.
- benefits of monogamy (written from the perspective of a man who was formerly poly). not particularly intended to convince, or to say these outweigh costs. just naming them for further inspection.
- 🙂 focus and simplicity - if I'm attracted to someone, I can kinda just enjoy the moments of delight but then move on because it's just off the table (similar to right now when I'm doing alternate day fasting — 100× easier than trying to maintain a specific diet or calorie count while also eating)
- 😅 not feeling like I need to be seducing people at every party or dance context (a surprising one, and a huge relief)
- 🧘♀️ stability due to not finding some new partner that causes emotionally messy conflict with existing partnership (which people often don't realize it will until they're too deep in to easily back out)
- 🤑 get to stop worrying about sexual market value (a confused idea in the first place, but it points at something real that you do have to concern yourself with while single or poly)
- 🙄 if you and your partner are having bedroom issues, you have to actually deal with them rather than someone just going and sleeping with someone else (or someone saying "what if you got those needs met with someone else?" which a partner said to me once)
- Oh and of course the classics:
- 💦 zero worry about someone else impregnating my woman
- 😬 zero worry about me impregnating someone else
- Oh and a few more
- ⌚ there's something about time... hard to put my finger on how this is different from just like, other friendships. But there's something here about focus, again. Like if all of my romantic budget goes into making this one relationship awesome, that I get to keep forever (well, til death), then there's kind of a potential for really good ROI there. Like if Jess were seeing other people, or I would, that would just be such a huge distraction from us building our life together.
- 🕸️ dramatically fewer relationships to manage: one additional partner means 2 new relationships (between the lovers, between the metamours). decisions become more complicated. privacy becomes messier. who do you share google calendars and other info with? etc
- 🪢 simpler conflicts. there are gonna be enough tradeoffs to make between work and kids and spouse and everything else. best if my dick only gets to vote in one direction, rather than like, feeling torn because I'm horny during the first month postpartum and I'm tempted to try to squeeze in time to see a secondary partner while my wife is still recovering!
July 30th, 2025
- #2tweet in this era, metta meditations would benefit from an additional step after "person you find difficult", where you send well-wishes to someone who you hate or who you feel hates you—who is against everything you stand for (who you may not know personally)
- in this era, metta meditations would benefit from an additional step after "person you find difficult", where you send well-wishes to someone who you hate or who you feel hates you—who is against everything you stand for (who you may not know personally)
- maybe with a caveat that that you may yet wish for their ideology to self-destruct. but towards the person, you
- (aside: I am confused about the extent to which memeplexes, egregores, etc, ought to have anything resembling moral patienthood. seems plausible that somewhat/somehow/sometimes? but this way of asking the question is probably itself confused)!
- #2tweet faith is for converging on a self-stabilizing view. the same way that it is an error to try to believe a falsehood, it is an error to try to stabilize your faith on a view that does not self-stabilizing.
- faith is for converging on a self-stabilizing view. the same way that it is an error to try to believe a falsehood, it is an error to try to stabilize your faith on a view that does not self-stabilizing.
- (or maybe just text something about this to MS first. might not be baked enough to tweet it)
July 29th, 2025
- #2tweet just watched some teens throw a broom to get a toy plane out of a tree, and I'm like: wow, this is such a human experience. like how long ago did our ancestors first experience "get thing stuck in tree, throw other thing to knock first thing out"? some atavistic shit right there
- just watched some teens throw a broom to get a toy plane out of a tree, and I'm like: wow, this is such a human experience. like how long ago did our ancestors first experience "get thing stuck in tree, throw other thing to knock first thing out"? some atavistic shit right there
July 18th, 2025
- meta-thread of ideas for weird pronouns
- part-to-whole pronoun + whole-to-part pronoun
- fractional pronoun
- a pronoun for memes/spirits
- pronoun to indicate [collection as parts] vs [collection as whole]
- "we are one nation"
- "we are 50 states"
July 16th, 2025
- cybernetics—the study of how systems steer
- #2tweet huh. I just noticed that I've sometimes felt bitter towards online courses I never finished, but rarely towards books. I wonder to what extent that's about the price point, or the sales process, or the fact that the book exists as an artifact with affordances, in my space
- huh. I just noticed that I've sometimes felt bitter towards online courses I never finished, but rarely towards books. I wonder to what extent that's about the price point, or the sales process, or the fact that the book exists as an artifact with affordances, in my space
July 15th, 2025
- #2tweet interesting how normal it is for people to be on their phones in situations where it's pretty weird for people to be on their laptops
- interesting how normal it is for people to be on their phones in situations where it's pretty weird for people to be on their laptops
- I suspect it's something to do with the fact that phones are just with people by default, whereas you kind of have to bring your laptop on purpose (weird if you're at a playground or at dinner). and phones notify you, which prompts you to pull them out
- but I also think there's something related to how laptops are more purposeful, and so it's more of an act of defiance to be using one mid-conversation.
sort of like...- QT:
- it's kinda bad if your boss catches you scrolling fb at work (presumed tiny break and/or lack of control) but it's very bad if you're caught working on a non-work project (presumed rejection of work authority altogether)
- like in some ways, to have your laptop out is to suggest that what you're doing is quite important, maybe more important than whatever else is happening. whereas your phone can more readily
- but all of this is unstated, implicit, cultural, and varies. I lived in a house where we never stacked dishes in the sink and I forgot how usual it is elsewhere until someone did it at my place. likewise screen norms evolve and are invisible til someone does them in a way that surprises you
- this is extra salient to me this week because my phone's screen broke last week and I've been indulging in the enjoyment of not having a working phone for as long as possible
July 10th, 2025
- #2tweet kid so mad that his hair's being pulled, by his own hand, which is clenching harder because he's so mad... geopolitics feels like this sometimes (at a scale above countries or individual leaders)
- kid so mad that his hair's being pulled, by his own hand, which is clenching harder because he's so mad... geopolitics feels like this sometimes (at a scale above countries or individual leaders)
July 1st, 2025
- #2tweet Basically I think I've fucked myself over by setting out to do what I feel like doing, and I start cleaning. After some amount of cleaning, I conclude this can't possibly be me doing what I feel like doing; this has got to be some sort of avoidant behavior. Then I inhibit my cleaning, and I don't know what to do.
But I think that actually, if my spaces are not clean, then I just want to clean them—that's like the thing I most feel like doing. The Flow checklists that I've been using recently (like this checklist for getting into flow states and working on stuff) have been really good. One of the things presented by the article that explains this checklist is "clean your desk." When I tried to follow what I remembered of the advice in the article without actually rereading it (I'd read it days earlier), I was like, "Cool, I'm gonna do a little ritual and then get into flow." But then I ended up cleaning my desk instead of working on the thing I set out to work on. Then I looked at the article, and it was like, "Yeah, one of the things on your pre-flow ritual checklist should be clean your desk." I was like, "Makes sense."
I think there's something funny to that where it's like you have a concept of what sorts of things you think you would do for fun, but like, no actually, if things are dirty you want them clean. And it's not just like, if it's a really nice day and your house is messy, maybe you just want to go for a walk and deal with it later. But yeah, so um yep.- Basically I think I've fucked myself over by setting out to do what I feel like doing, and I start cleaning. After some amount of cleaning, I conclude this can't possibly be me doing what I feel like doing; this has got to be some sort of avoidant behavior. Then I inhibit my cleaning, and I don't know what to do.
But I think that actually, if my spaces are not clean, then I just want to clean them—that's like the thing I most feel like doing. The Flow checklists that I've been using recently (like this checklist for getting into flow states and working on stuff) have been really good. One of the things presented by the article that explains this checklist is "clean your desk." When I tried to follow what I remembered of the advice in the article without actually rereading it (I'd read it days earlier), I was like, "Cool, I'm gonna do a little ritual and then get into flow." But then I ended up cleaning my desk instead of working on the thing I set out to work on. Then I looked at the article, and it was like, "Yeah, one of the things on your pre-flow ritual checklist should be clean your desk." I was like, "Makes sense."
I think there's something funny to that where it's like you have a concept of what sorts of things you think you would do for fun, but like, no actually, if things are dirty you want them clean. And it's not just like, if it's a really nice day and your house is messy, maybe you just want to go for a walk and deal with it later. But yeah, so um yep.
June 17th, 2025
- #2tweet Trust is conjunctive: You need confidence from ALL parts of yourself (gut feeling AND rational analysis AND past experience AND intuition) to truly trust
Distrust is disjunctive: ANY single red flag or suspicious element can trigger distrust- Trust is conjunctive: You need confidence from ALL parts of yourself (gut feeling AND rational analysis AND past experience AND intuition) to truly trust
Distrust is disjunctive: ANY single red flag or suspicious element can trigger distrust - (this is from Claude, maybe rephrase)
- > This is why trust is hard to build but easy to break - it requires everything to align (conjunctive), while distrust can arise from any single concern (disjunctive).
It's similar to how in logic:
AND statements fail if ANY component is false (conjunctive failure)
OR statements succeed if ANY component is true (disjunctive success)
June 16th, 2025
- #2tweet [missing block]
- Dick Schwartz on how parts are fractal - IFS parts can have their own selfness wrt their own parts, particularly in folks w DID
- YO DAWG meme
- "what [Buddhists] call no-self is what I call self"
- "there's nobody in here"
- self is nobody and nobody's perfect
- (from very shortly after the previous snip )
June 5th, 2025
- #2tweet idea: make basic spellcheck be backed by LLMs rather than a dictionary—
twould deconfuse erroneosity from ontoflexibility, and thereby avoid redsquigglifying pseudocromulent neologistic masterpieces- idea: make basic spellcheck be backed by LLMs rather than a dictionary—
twould deconfuse erroneosity from ontoflexibility, and thereby avoid redsquigglifying pseudocromulent neologistic masterpieces
- #2tweet one of my favorite things to do is to make a list of the dimensions of some problem/question/domain (eg "ways X could be used for Y" or "necessary factors in order to have Z").
...give me a prompt below and I'll dimensionalize it for you- one of my favorite things to do is to make a list of the dimensions of some problem/question/domain (eg "ways X could be used for Y" or "necessary factors in order to have Z").
...give me a prompt below and I'll dimensionalize it for you
- I want to tweet this sometime when I'm there live to reply to peoples' responses
June 4th, 2025
- favorite flavor of commitment
- POLL
- handstand
- code to push
- vow
- contract
- this doesn't have to be a poll, also! could be interesting to just explain these different meanings
May 26th, 2025
- #2tweet I was idly musing that maybe it would be better just not to have any opinions about gender, and then some voice in my mind was like:
- I was idly musing that maybe it would be better just not to have any opinions about gender, and then some voice in my mind was like:
- you may not have opinions about gender, but gender has opinions about you
- ...which, to be clear, is not a knock-down argument for not having opinions about gender
- also I don't think I'm capable of just not having any opinions about gender, but I think I could stand to spend less time thinking about it
- spent so much of my 20s trying to pour more try into problems that can't be solved with try
- spent so much of my 20s trying to get my left hemisphere to be a right hemisphere
May 5th, 2025
- when you break, how do you tend to break?
- POLL
- break out laughing
- break up
- break down
- break out??
May 3rd, 2025
- #2tweet in order to be acting "in good faith" you have to be doing so in reference to a shared understanding of something
- in order to be acting "in good faith" you have to be doing so in reference to a shared understanding of something
April 20th, 2025
- #2tweet if your app has some structured data that users can create, and you haven't made a flow where they can describe it in natural language and have an LLM whip up the whole JSON object representation (using few-shot examples of this task) then you are SLEEPING on a HUGE UX WIN.
- if your app has some structured data that users can create, and you haven't made a flow where they can describe it in natural language and have an LLM whip up the whole JSON object representation (using few-shot examples of this task) then you are SLEEPING on a HUGE UX WIN.
- probably the tweet would hit harder if the sleeping part came first?
April 17th, 2025
- a reply to this
- trust is something that learning systems have
tho huh, so is the sense of something being true!
the difference is, when we talk about objective truth [here redundant], we're talking about something that can't be affected by
x.com/Morphenius/status/1879962878142476539
March 15th, 2025
- #2tweet if you have N people, you have N different senses of the meta-protocol (what is crucial to full meta-trust-building and collaboration) and all of these must be satisfied at once to do real non-naive trust-dancing
ie you get N equations with N unknowns—so it's totally solveable!- if you have N people, you have N different senses of the meta-protocol (what is crucial to full meta-trust-building and collaboration) and all of these must be satisfied at once to do real non-naive trust-dancing
ie you get N equations with N unknowns—so it's totally solveable!
- TWEETED:
February 28th, 2025
- trying to play peekaboo with my child but she's into Don Hoffman's Interface Theory of Perception:
me: where'd daddy go?
baby: my
- #2tweet it's impossible for an LLM to hold a single consistent intention without articulating that intention out loud. It is simply a giant probability distribution and any opportunity that is even vaguely compatible with what it said so far is on the table.
Which means that in addition to chain of thought being useful for solving problems via spending more time on it... It's also useful for having a coherent response to the user (which does kind of require engaging with the problem enough to have apparently decided, such that the decision articulated out loud then constraints the user facing output)- it's impossible for an LLM to hold a single consistent intention without articulating that intention out loud. It is simply a giant probability distribution and any opportunity that is even vaguely compatible with what it said so far is on the table.
- Which means that in addition to chain of thought being useful for solving problems via spending more time on it... It's also useful for having a coherent response to the user (which does kind of require engaging with the problem enough to have apparently decided, such that the decision articulated out loud then constraints the user facing output)
February 20th, 2025
- poll: how many times have you told somebody "I'm not a lawyer"?
- never?
- 1-5
- 6-30
- >30
January 9th, 2025
- you don't have to tell anybody what you're doing. not even yourself
- a complaint is a prayer without hope
- complaint = prayer – hope
- (huh, I wonder what we might get by doing stupid math with faith/joy/love)
- #2tweet the biggest thing missing from this, from my current perspective, is "you don't have to think about any of this, you can just do it. it happens outside of thoughts (although thoughts may arise in relation to it)"
[QT my mark summary]- the biggest thing missing from this, from my current perspective, is "you don't have to think about any of this, you can just do it. it happens outside of thoughts (although thoughts may arise in relation to it)"
[QT my mark summary]
January 8th, 2025
- #2tweet - bang bang bang
- I don't want to watch the breath. I just want — EGO DEATH
- I don't want to sit and wait. I just want — EGO DEATH
- I don't want to
- asking God to do something very difficult then saying "I believe in you"
- #2tweet What will have you like "I view this research program as integral to both human flourishing and AI alignment."
- What will have you like "I view this research program as integral to both human flourishing and AI alignment."
- (link to vasocomputation)
December 22nd, 2024
- #2tweet THIS THREAD from NOV 13: politics thread I started drafting (lost chunks of it, but had copied most before brave crashed)
- THIS THREAD from NOV 13: politics thread I started drafting (lost chunks of it, but had copied most before brave crashed)
December 14th, 2024
- zoom baby cry noise cancel
November 30th, 2024
- #2tweet it's very trippy building a messaging app where one of the users can ONLY be talked to THROUGH said app
- it's very trippy building a messaging app where one of the users can ONLY be talked to THROUGH said app

- #2tweet when I'm building an LLM app, the LLM is one of the users. I think eg the claude API's role division into "user"/"assistant" is fundamentally confused and the API should not force these categories, because claude is also a user.
- when I'm building an LLM app, the LLM is one of the users. I think eg the claude API's role division into "user"/"assistant" is fundamentally confused and the API should not force these categories, because claude is also a user.
- "the AI is a user" is something that people sense even if they are confused & misframe it, and I think this corresponds precisely to the sense that we've finally arrived at an "AI" that breaks the "AI effect" aka Tesler's Theorem: "AI is whatever hasn't been done yet".)
November 14th, 2024
- #2tweet > when the dust settles and we start to get a sense of how the public reacts to the way that Republicans start to govern, it will become clear that the most unpopular position any party can hold is just being in power.
readtangle.com/answering-all-of-your-biggest-post-election-questions/…- > when the dust settles and we start to get a sense of how the public reacts to the way that Republicans start to govern, it will become clear that the most unpopular position any party can hold is just being in power.
readtangle.com/answering-all-of-your-biggest-post-election-questions/…
November 12th, 2024
- #2tweet what if someone made an AI image system specifically for fixing too-many-fingers type issues with other AI-gen'd images?
probably not so useful as those issues will be gone in a year or two- what if someone made an AI image system specifically for fixing too-many-fingers type issues with other AI-gen'd images?
probably not so useful as those issues will be gone in a year or two
November 11th, 2024
- #2tweet trans norms & laws & "established science" came at society way too fast to metabolize sanely.
safety & dignity for trans people can't come fast enough.
these statements are not in conflict—the speed of the first is jeopardizing the second ❤️- trans norms & laws & "established science" came at society way too fast to metabolize sanely.
safety & dignity for trans people can't come fast enough.
these statements are not in conflict—the speed of the first is jeopardizing the second ❤️ - a related thought I have is something like... while I'm worried for my trans friends about the short term impacts of R government, I might have been even *more* worried if there'd been 4 more years of going too fast
October 22nd, 2024
- #2tweet 3 kinds of positive feedback:
🎉 celebration: delighting together in something the learner already sees as a success
🙏 appreciation: reflecting that something landed well for you (whether a favour or "I like that drawing")
💯 praise: a claim that something is objectively good- 3 kinds of positive feedback:
🎉 celebration: delighting together in something the learner already sees as a success
🙏 appreciation: reflecting that something landed well for you (whether a favour or "I like that drawing")
💯 praise: a claim that something is objectively good- I want to get at something that is weird/bs about the moral authority aspects of praise, but this doesn't quite do it
- and meanwhile Claude offers a third useful kind of thing:
- 💯 Praise: Highlighting specific achievements or qualities
- Key aspect: Naming concrete strengths or progress
- Example: "The way you broke down that complex problem shows strong analytical thinking"
- here's its paraphrase of what I'm trying to get at tho
- > Joining in someone's own process/excitement/pride (celebration)
- > Expressing genuine personal response (appreciation)
- > Trying to shape behavior through approval (praise/evaluation)
- relatedly
October 9th, 2024
- #2tweet so sad there's no way to turn the airplane seat screen into a 2nd monitor for my phone or computer. would help the ergonomics of plane-typing so much
- so sad there's no way to turn the airplane seat screen into a 2nd monitor for my phone or computer. would help the ergonomics of plane-typing so much
- #2tweet TIL that at least some airlines will give you a glass of milk if you ask (even though the milk is not on the menu except as an addition to tea/coffee). and unless you're lactose intolerant this is one of the healthiest consumables found on an airplane!
- TIL that at least some airlines will give you a glass of milk if you ask (even though the milk is not on the menu except as an addition to tea/coffee). and unless you're lactose intolerant this is one of the healthiest consumables found on an airplane!
- two other fun simple tricks:
1. you can ask for more than one drink or snack. if they offer pretzels or cookies you can say "I'll take both" or even "two cookies"
2. also, you can go to the back of the plane and just ask them for more of whatever free thing - it's possible some airlines will refuse this (especially cheapo ones although those often don't have free food anyway) but the fact that some clearly don't means they can hardly fault you for asking
- as long as you're chill & polite about it I'm sure the flight attendants aren't bothered at all. they get lots of rude/mean people and they're probably just happy you aren't one of those
- although maybe there's a quantity of asks at which even if you're asking politely they'll be like "uhh wtf this guy lol".
- life is patient, life is kind
October 4th, 2024
- #2tweet "anyone who wants to feed you has to go through me!"
— @utotranslucence, when I offer our newborn a cookie- "anyone who wants to feed you has to go through me!"
— @utotranslucence, when I offer our newborn a cookie
October 3rd, 2024
- #2tweet one way mutual gaslighting happens:
A: "I want X"
B: "Seems to me you really want Y"
A: "no, I want X, stop fucking with me"
and A's whole system DOES want Y (tho maybe also X) but the part that wants Y is unconscious, so the conscious part is accurately reporting what it's got!- one way mutual gaslighting happens:
A: "I want X"
B: "Seems to me you really want Y"
A: "no, I want X, stop fucking with me"
and A's whole system DOES want Y (tho maybe also X) but the part that wants Y is unconscious, so the conscious part is accurately reporting what it's got!
August 30th, 2024
- in order to truly find out if you can do something, you really have to give it your all
- act in such a way that you find out if you can't
- "she's trying to contend... which makes her someone to contend with"
— @johnsalvatier
- #2tweet as a kid I heard about the footbinding of women in china, and it never occurred to me that my own feet were getting similarly distorted (albeit less) by the shoes I was wearing, for similar reasons (fashion) but with much less conscious intent
- as a kid I heard about the footbinding of women in china, and it never occurred to me that my own feet were getting similarly distorted (albeit less) by the shoes I was wearing, for similar reasons (fashion) but with much less conscious intent
- it might not happen to you. you might have to notice it
August 29th, 2024
- #2tweet god grant me the X to
the nerve to say "not my circus, not my monkeys" to that which isn't
and the wisdom to know the difference- god grant me the X to
the nerve to say "not my circus, not my monkeys" to that which isn't
and the wisdom to know the difference - ()
August 16th, 2024
- newborn life is just one blessed thing after another
- metagogy
- #2tweet yep, communication between people is never about having the same knowledge (as a THING), but about having compatible interfaces/translation layers between your knowing and my knowing
x.com/DefenderOfBasic/status/1815738707023990798- yep, communication between people is never about having the same knowledge (as a THING), but about having compatible interfaces/translation layers between your knowing and my knowing
x.com/DefenderOfBasic/status/1815738707023990798
- reply to this one, with stuff about how justification is the root of evil
August 14th, 2024
- #2tweet "get their consent" feels to me like a weird and clinical and way to say "find out if they want it"
- "get their consent" feels to me like a weird and clinical and way to say "find out if they want it"
August 13th, 2024
- #2tweet a should is an ought, an ought is what's owed, a debt can be honest (from an agreement) or extorted (created purely via threat of punishment)
- a should is an ought, an ought is what's owed, a debt can be honest (from an agreement) or extorted (created purely via threat of punishment)
- "roped-in"
August 11th, 2024
- #2tweet however, outside of a deeply authoritarian context, the best move in response to this is not asking "may I?" but saying "oh yeah good point, silly of me to ask you if I can when only reality gets to answer that question. let's find out!" and just going
- schoolteachers saying "idk, *can* you go to the bathroom?" are being assholes, but disambiguating capability & permission is worth standing for
- however, outside of a deeply authoritarian context, the best move in response to this is not asking "may I?" but saying "oh yeah good point, silly of me to ask you if I can when only reality gets to answer that question. let's find out!" and just going
- by "not deeply authoritarian" I basically mean that if you ever exchange genuine laughter with your
- but outside emergencies, people should rarely need permission to go to the bathroom.
- ---
- "idk can you", in an honest context, should be taken as permission, speech act wise
- maybe they physically CAN stop you (not just punish you if you do it without their perm)
August 5th, 2024
- #2tweet Still a lil degenerate but not as bad is "My biz can't make payroll next month". Because it highlights batna solution of firing people, coming to some agreement where people take less pay (or get paid in shares) for a bit, raise more money, get a loan, etc.
- Money is a weird problem to try to solve because it's so umm.... like ULTIMATELY you need to get money, there's kind of no way around it. But there are basically infinite (combinatorially-explosively-infinite) possible ways to make money. So it doesn't lend itself to "okay I'll solve this problem" nature very well. Probably a better way to think about it is that "making enough money" or "having enough money" are degenerate problems to try to solve.
- Not degenerate is something like "I don't have a good relationship between the stuff I want to spend my time doing and money-engines". Because that lends itself to solving one end of the problem or the other end, but it's sort of clear that you're fixing a system/situation not just trying to accumulate money.
- Still a lil degenerate but not as bad is "My biz can't make payroll next month". Because it highlights batna solution of firing people, coming to some agreement where people take less pay (or get paid in shares) for a bit, raise more money, get a loan, etc.
August 1st, 2024
- half-truths are so annoying precisely because they're half-true
- wild that they sell groceries at the abstraction store now
- #2tweet "a sufficiently clear articulation of the present ends up looking like knowledge of the future" - @EthanAReeder as we talked about prescience in song lyrics
- "a sufficiently clear articulation of the present ends up looking like knowledge of the future" - @EthanAReeder as we talked about prescience in song lyrics
- #2tweet an uncomfortable amount of society is built on equivocating between voluntary agreement and agreement under duress
- an uncomfortable amount of society is built on equivocating between voluntary agreement and agreement under duress
- a situation in which honesty is enthusiastically encouraged, but not possible in practice
- #2tweet I believe in* God
*put my weight behind, bet on (as in "I believe in you" or "I believe this mission")
the largest-scale forces of creativity and love in the cosmos- I believe in* God
*put my weight behind, bet on (as in "I believe in you" or "I believe this mission")
the largest-scale forces of creativity and love in the cosmos - for an extended take on what I mean "believe in", see this article by [ANNA SALAMON]
lesswrong.com/posts/duvzdffTzL3dWJcxn/believing-in-1 - for an extended take on what I mean by "God", listen to this conversation between @RomeoStevens76 and @aneeshm
youtu.be/X6MYsKeTjKk
- #2tweet thinking about hosting a "work 100× softer" bootcamp. any takers?
*stage-whispered drill sargeant voice*:
you call that soft? you can work way softer than that!- thinking about hosting a "work 100× softer" bootcamp. any takers?
*stage-whispered drill sargeant voice*:
you call that soft? you can work way softer than that!
July 20th, 2024
- #2tweet I don't really see anything as a justification for anything. things can provide context, or cause things to make sense, but... that's it.
- I don't really see anything as a justification for anything. things can provide context, or cause things to make sense, but... that's it.
July 19th, 2024
- #2tweet reward & punishment, "right thing to do" are also making things in terms of what you want... they're just degenerate cases, because they can be used to argue anything
- reward & punishment, "right thing to do" are also making things in terms of what you want... they're just degenerate cases, because they can be used to argue anything
- (this needs some additional preface)
- #2tweet weird paradox: the moment when it truly becomes a choice is the moment when it becomes obvious what to do
- weird paradox: the moment when it truly becomes a choice is the moment when it becomes obvious what to do
- more of a discovery
July 18th, 2024
- #2tweet incredible confabulation here by Claude, re this quote:
"I had too much stuff. My machines came from too far away."- incredible confabulation here by Claude, re this quote:
"I had too much stuff. My machines came from too far away." - (sonnet 3.5 | opus 3)


- #2tweet if your ethical theory doesn't come with its own pedagogical theory, then no matter how wise & kind your ethics is in principle, it will only be as wise & kind as the surrounding understandings of how learning works
- if your ethical theory doesn't come with its own pedagogical theory, then no matter how wise & kind your ethics is in principle, it will only be as wise & kind as the surrounding understandings of how learning works
- #2tweet is there a gdocs hotkey for "focus the comment thread that my caret is currently in?"
(in this case it was an unfinished comment). pressing the usual hotkey for "leave comment" made a new one- is there a gdocs hotkey for "focus the comment thread that my caret is currently in?"
(in this case it was an unfinished comment). pressing the usual hotkey for "leave comment" made a new one
- #2tweet finally wrote up a short bit on how contempt is not helpful for making sense of things, as this LW comment
lesswrong.com/posts/svuBpoSduzhYjFPrA/elements-of-rationalist-discours…- finally wrote up a short bit on how contempt is not helpful for making sense of things, as this LW comment
lesswrong.com/posts/svuBpoSduzhYjFPrA/elements-of-rationalist-discours…
- #2tweet > "I statements" can serve me far beyond managing my perspective relative to others or expressing my needs. "I statements" simply make a better story.
omniwin.substack.com/p/i-statements- > "I statements" can serve me far beyond managing my perspective relative to others or expressing my needs. "I statements" simply make a better story.
omniwin.substack.com/p/i-statements
- #2tweet the true reason why Nonviolent Communication (NVC) has the name it does is because it's an attempt to only use asymmetric weapons send tweet
slatestarcodex.com/2017/03/24/guided-by-the-beauty-of-our-weapons/- the true reason why Nonviolent Communication (NVC) has the name it does is because it's an attempt to only use asymmetric weapons send tweet
slatestarcodex.com/2017/03/24/guided-by-the-beauty-of-our-weapons/
July 8th, 2024
- there's also some sort of reverse version, that's more like the "tend to be" vibe of the evolution one
June 30th, 2024
- even your blindspots have blindspots
June 27th, 2024
- you're not working soft enough. you need to be working like 100× softer.
- #2tweet you can't do what you can't do. simple as.
you can learn to do it, or you can discover that despite thinking you couldn't do it, you can. but if, on a given timescale, you can't do it, then you can't do it, and no amount of you or anyone else telling you to do it, can change that- you can't do what you can't do. simple as.
you can learn to do it, or you can discover that despite thinking you couldn't do it, you can. but if, on a given timescale, you can't do it, then you can't do it, and no amount of you or anyone else telling you to do it, can change that
- #2tweet seeking book/vid recommendations for one of the perspectives I'm trying to integrate right now. could summarize it as:
- trust in life's curriculum
- stop going against the grain of life
- surrender without even knowing quite what you're surrendering to
- God is trustable
- faith- seeking book/vid recommendations for one of the perspectives I'm trying to integrate right now. could summarize it as:
- trust in life's curriculum
- stop going against the grain of life
- surrender without even knowing quite what you're surrendering to
- God is trustable
- faith
- #2tweet so I was in the shower, and I wasn't having any good showerthoughts, and then I was like "come on showerthoughts I don't have much shower left" and then I had an insight
- so I was in the shower, and I wasn't having any good showerthoughts, and then I was like "come on showerthoughts I don't have much shower left" and then I had an insight
June 22nd, 2024
- #2tweet having your life be a case study can be great, but have it be a good life first and a case study second
- having your life be a case study can be great, but have it be a good life first and a case study second
- people are kaleidoscopes
June 20th, 2024
- showed @Morphenius this blog post excerpt and he said "huh, you're talking about downward-spiral friddlydazmilagoolia thought.. which you manage to point at by talking about how you can't point at it without instantiating it"

- (the post itself)
malcolmocean.com/2021/11/thinking-that-rejects-other-thinking/
June 19th, 2024
- #2tweet being a rationalist is self-evidently the right way to be, if you're blocking out a lot of things
- being a rationalist is self-evidently the right way to be, if you're blocking out a lot of things
- we have found the god and he is us
June 18th, 2024
- #2tweet *my wife says something really attractive about an approach to letting kids in on the unfolding sensemaking process adults are using*
me: unngh yes, let's have kids together
her, patting pregnant belly: here's one I prepared earlier- *my wife says something really attractive about an approach to letting kids in on the unfolding sensemaking process adults are using*
me: unngh yes, let's have kids together
her, patting pregnant belly: here's one I prepared earlier
- #2tweet seems to me basically wrong to talk of "the environment". it's "our environment". or it's "my environment but not your environment", or it's "your environment", or "their environment". but there is no "the environment". that's like saying "the friends".
- seems to me basically wrong to talk of "the environment". it's "our environment". or it's "my environment but not your environment", or it's "your environment", or "their environment". but there is no "the environment". that's like saying "the friends".
- specifically we often mean "earth's environment" but there's a difference between locally trashing some nearby place and causing global warming. you wanna pile trash in your backyard? not really my problem! (unless I live nearby such that your backyard is part of my environment)
June 15th, 2024
- #2tweet was trippy to realize that 2500 years ago, my ancestors were pagan celts in scotland. growing up Christian, I'd sort of vaguely got the impression that my lineage went back to Judea
- was trippy to realize that 2500 years ago, my ancestors were pagan celts in scotland. growing up Christian, I'd sort of vaguely got the impression that my lineage went back to Judea
May 31st, 2024
- #2tweet imagining a not-so-distant future where as a result of deepfakes people start encryptedly-recording 24/7, and any media posted without a precise timestamp is immediately sus because it can be disproven
- imagining a not-so-distant future where as a result of deepfakes people start encryptedly-recording 24/7, and any media posted without a precise timestamp is immediately sus because it can be disproven
May 8th, 2024
- #2tweet the whole deal with a marriage is that once you have it you try to make it work—you don't just give it up
- the whole deal with a marriage is that once you have it you try to make it work—you don't just give it up
- but marriage and family therapists work largely with people who are already married so they emphasize the value of trying to make it work
- since I'm starting with people who AREN'T married, I can really emphasize the "choose wisely" part
- #2tweet higher rates of divorce is very sad but it's probably less sad than those marriages continuing
- higher rates of divorce is very sad but it's probably less sad than those marriages continuing
- what opinion about marriage will have you like
May 4th, 2024
- #2tweet don't promise your partner you won't leave them (or break their heart, or pull the rug out from under them the way past situations have) until you're married (or at least engaged). if you do, it may incline you towards rationalizing why you should get married
- don't promise your partner you won't leave them (or break their heart, or pull the rug out from under them the way past situations have) until you're married (or at least engaged). if you do, it may incline you towards rationalizing why you should get married
May 3rd, 2024
- have you taken your meds* today?
*meditation
May 1st, 2024
- #2tweet "that we can get more of what we want by collaborating than by destroying" is one of the names of God
- "that we can get more of what we want by collaborating than by destroying" is one of the names of God
- (but I don't feel like this is phrased quite right)
- "that collaboration is possible and can satisfy most of our desires better than coercion" is one of the names of God
April 30th, 2024
- #2tweet the biggest error people make in courtship: getting married to someone who doesn't actually feel like their life partner
- the biggest error people make in courtship: getting married to someone who doesn't actually feel like their life partner
April 27th, 2024
- #2tweet when it is making a point of exporting entropy across the outer system boundary
twitter.com/DavidSHolz/status/1728984159874633851- when it is making a point of exporting entropy across the outer system boundary
twitter.com/DavidSHolz/status/1728984159874633851
April 26th, 2024
- #2tweet meta-thread of tweet-sized meditation insights/hints/guides
twitter.com/danielbrottman/status/1764659346988748854- meta-thread of tweet-sized meditation insights/hints/guides
twitter.com/danielbrottman/status/1764659346988748854 - (see also: twitter.com/hormeze/status/1613980756761776128 )
April 11th, 2024
- #2tweet > We tell ourselves we must punish people so they will feel “bad”, but the truth is that underneath the dissociation and repression, they already feel bad.
— @c__morrigan- > We tell ourselves we must punish people so they will feel “bad”, but the truth is that underneath the dissociation and repression, they already feel bad.
— @c__morrigan - [QT slushy tweet]
- this is, of course, not true for the most extreme psychopaths or sociopaths
but for them, punishment also doesn't work AT ALL- quote one of these
- #2tweet great article on how cancellation punishes abuse victims (not how I'd phrase it but eh) and fucks with the learning of those who are cancelled
clementinemorrigan.com/p/you-can-love-your-cancelled-boyfriend- great article on how cancellation punishes abuse victims (not how I'd phrase it but eh) and fucks with the learning of those who are cancelled
clementinemorrigan.com/p/you-can-love-your-cancelled-boyfriend
- #2tweet "This file can't be opened because you're offline"
...so you're telling me your fancy-ass web-app is less functional than a simple webpage with hyperlinks? I don't care if it can't be loaded! let me acquire the link and put it in a new tab- "This file can't be opened because you're offline"
...so you're telling me your fancy-ass web-app is less functional than a simple webpage with hyperlinks? I don't care if it can't be loaded! let me acquire the link and put it in a new tab - <screenshot saved 2024-04-11 @ 22:55 >
March 23rd, 2024
- #2tweet a man cannot eat the same piece of chocolate twice, because he is not the same man, and bro wake up that's a new piece of chocolate were you just on autopilot when you ate the last three
- a man cannot eat the same piece of chocolate twice, because he is not the same man, and bro wake up that's a new piece of chocolate were you just on autopilot when you ate the last three
March 20th, 2024
- #2tweet poll: are you bothered more by people trusting something you don't trust or by them distrusting something you don't distrust?
<maybe pairs of options that include whether this changed for you at some point in your life, maybe solicit stories of when/why/how it changed>- poll: are you bothered more by people trusting something you don't trust or by them distrusting something you don't distrust?
<maybe pairs of options that include whether this changed for you at some point in your life, maybe solicit stories of when/why/how it changed>
March 6th, 2024
- #2tweet friend: "...and it's... I'm trying not to say 'I don't buy it' because that's not trustworthy..."
+ commentary- friend: "...and it's... I'm trying not to say 'I don't buy it' because that's not trustworthy..."
+ commentary
March 4th, 2024
- one puzzle of memetic science: what does it mean to say a meme is the same as another meme?
- from the outside, one can make a judgement call, but it feels sort of arbitrary. but from the inside, given that memes are made in part of intelligence, you can say:
memes are the same meme if they self-recognize in each other - there's also ofc a weird case where one meme thinks it's the same as the other meme but the other meme thinks they're meaningfully different. this shows up with schisms etc.
- and then rational/anti-rational memes respond differently to this recognition (or lack thereof) which in the limit can be described by these two blog posts of mine:
- The meta-protocol for human trust-building
- thread summarizing LWCW keynote
February 29th, 2024
- #2tweet if you've never had a crisis of faith that involved disagreeing with Eliezer you aren't a real rationalist
- if you've never had a crisis of faith that involved disagreeing with Eliezer you aren't a real rationalist
February 17th, 2024
- #2tweet you don't have to apologize
you don't have to apologize for apologizing
you don't have to apologize for apologizing for apologizing
but it's okay if you do- you don't have to apologize
you don't have to apologize for apologizing
you don't have to apologize for apologizing for apologizing
but it's okay if you do
- something with this
I don't think i've actually considered I would prefer it to be like very much before anyway
Well I was not sure how i was going to spend this time. I thought I might do more of the exercises but I think I've got way more out of talking. I've really appreciated being able to separate "Me" from "cultural influences and forces".
And as I do that, I am starting to become aware of the "me" bit in a lot more depth. And for the first time, I can probably say that I actually kind of think that person is a bit awesome.
- #2tweet one key for me has been distinguishing between first-order pain and 2nd-order stuff (which is where guilt/shame tends to show up
so here the first order pain might be "oh man, I can't do that thing because I need to rest" or "aww, this friend is disappointed with me" or it might simply BE the physical pain of being sick or whatever
and then this guilt and shame shows up is like "right, and in order to learn, you can't just listen to THAT pain, you've gotta give yourself EXTRA pain instead"
and it's like uhh what? who invited you?- > i've been meaning to ask you if you have any tips for managing feelings of guilt/shame and giving self permission to rest and recover when you need to?
I'm not sure if that's been an issue for you but I thought i'd ask :) - one key for me has been distinguishing between first-order pain and 2nd-order stuff (which is where guilt/shame tends to show up
so here the first order pain might be "oh man, I can't do that thing because I need to rest" or "aww, this friend is disappointed with me" or it might simply BE the physical pain of being sick or whatever
and then this guilt and shame shows up is like "right, and in order to learn, you can't just listen to THAT pain, you've gotta give yourself EXTRA pain instead"
and it's like uhh what? who invited you?
February 2nd, 2024
- #2tweet “people not knowing how to navigate their needs in relation to the culture, within the culture that we have”
^ the problem of the meta-protocol- “people not knowing how to navigate their needs in relation to the culture, within the culture that we have”
^ the problem of the meta-protocol
- #2tweet Expecting Better is another example of a book title that takes a common phrase and gives it a different meaning
- Expecting Better is another example of a book title that takes a common phrase and gives it a different meaning
February 1st, 2024
- #2tweet in everybody's life, you have to putting up with some bullshit & obligations when you're born & growing up. then there's a question of how much more life manages to trick you into putting up with, before you throw them off. some, ofc, never escape
- in everybody's life, you have to putting up with some bullshit & obligations when you're born & growing up. then there's a question of how much more life manages to trick you into putting up with, before you throw them off. some, ofc, never escape
- I haven't found the right generalization there but there's a juicy thought. this is related to how rationalism, LRC, etc, got hooked into me
- NO!!! It's not about the ideas, it's about the RELATIONSHIPS
- "putting up with" is a key phrase here
- Jess says this relates a bunch to what Schnarch says about hugging til relaxed
- where people realize that there was tension they'd been taking for granted
- relates to something Jess said about... how you have to learn a bunch of skills for climbing out of downward spirals, but then once you're out you can just do upward spirals and it's obvious
- (not well-phrased. I have a recording of this convo)
- insurance policy on the relationship, that hopefully you don't need much because you get in a thing that's like default-good
- #2tweet "succeeding at asking" is when you have communicated to someone (eg a partner) that there is something you want, and they have recognized the existence of that something, and communicated to you a degree of knowing what it is that you can trust (even if that degree is zero)
- "succeeding at asking" is when you have communicated to someone (eg a partner) that there is something you want, and they have recognized the existence of that something, and communicated to you a degree of knowing what it is that you can trust (even if that degree is zero)
- if you are in a relationship (romantic, business, spiritual, roommate, whatever) and there's something important that you want, that you are having trouble even succeeding at ASKING for, you're in for porbelms unless you can sort it out
- I recommend elephant template
- #2tweet in romance (but also everywhere)
all of your preferences are relevant, no matter how inconvenient
there is no "don't have your preferences"
there's only pretending
(and "sometimes my feelings/preferences evolve")
(and "sometimes my feelings/preferences aren't what I thought they were")
but this comes as an amusing insight (even if again also inconvenient) not a horrifying doomy thing
if it feels doomy then the opposite is happening (you're overriding your preferences with what you think your preference should be)- in romance (but also everywhere)
all of your preferences are relevant, no matter how inconvenient
there is no "don't have your preferences"
there's only pretending
(and "sometimes my feelings/preferences evolve")
(and "sometimes my feelings/preferences aren't what I thought they were")
but this comes as an amusing insight (even if again also inconvenient) not a horrifying doomy thing
if it feels doomy then the opposite is happening (you're overriding your preferences with what you think your preference should be)
January 15th, 2024
- drake meme w "superorganism" / "morganism"
January 14th, 2024
- #2tweet open offer: if you make an image to illustrate one of the posts in this thread, and I use it, I'll send you $20
(you can use DALL·E or MidJourney or photoshop or like hand-draw it or whatever)
you can try contacting me to clarify the prompt/desiderata, tho I don't promise to respond on any particular timescale
(if the post already has an image, I may have updated it since posting this)- open offer: if you make an image to illustrate one of the posts in this thread, and I use it, I'll send you $20
(you can use DALL·E or MidJourney or photoshop or like hand-draw it or whatever)
you can try contacting me to clarify the prompt/desiderata, tho I don't promise to respond on any particular timescale
(if the post already has an image, I may have updated it since posting this) - QT this maybe?
January 11th, 2024
- #2tweet "Canny" would be a pretty good name for a startup making AI voice customer support that feels and sounds totally realistic
- "Canny" would be a pretty good name for a startup making AI voice customer support that feels and sounds totally realistic
- I'm literally this guy sometimes but for social interactions.

January 10th, 2024
- #2tweet 2 years ago I thought I'd untangled all remaining commitments that were sitting in a weird place in me because I made them before I learned how to listen to myself
ha, nope. there were 2 more. terrifying. but I know now that this feeling comes before liberation & clarity- 2 years ago I thought I'd untangled all remaining commitments that were sitting in a weird place in me because I made them before I learned how to listen to myself
ha, nope. there were 2 more. terrifying. but I know now that this feeling comes before liberation & clarity
January 9th, 2024
- #2tweet - (HUH. "getting" someone to do thing is about drumming up motivation where it doesn't already exist)
- but for yourself, you already have some motivation
- so it's as stupid as trying to pay yourself from your wallet to your bank account
- even if it works, it's not for the reason it works when it does for someone else- - (HUH. "getting" someone to do thing is about drumming up motivation where it doesn't already exist)
- but for yourself, you already have some motivation
- so it's as stupid as trying to pay yourself from your wallet to your bank account
- even if it works, it's not for the reason it works when it does for someone else
January 4th, 2024
- my guesses are something like:
- shoulds
- panic
January 3rd, 2024
- #2tweet satisfyingly snarky post with a principled take on Israel, which is to say a take that generalizes outside of Israel. not saying I agree, but I would like to see more takes on this level of abstraction
<IMAGE>
freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/i-assure-you-i-am-permitted-to-oppose- satisfyingly snarky post with a principled take on Israel, which is to say a take that generalizes outside of Israel. not saying I agree, but I would like to see more takes on this level of abstraction
<IMAGE>
freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/i-assure-you-i-am-permitted-to-oppose
December 30th, 2023
- #2tweet various things from BGI
- get perm, but this could be a cool example of coaching channel magic at work
December 20th, 2023
- Suggested to @EthanReeder last night that our imminent workshop might be helpful for him figuring out career plans for next year, and he said he was kinda turned off by "chat-based coaching"
But then I explained that it's good, and he was like "ahh, like... synchronously interactive high-touch text-based coaching
- Basically how it would suck if you had to DM the coaches, but instead we have the coaching channel, where you can think out loud a ton or you can just periodically ask questions
- And you don't need to know who to ask, because to some extent the coaches self-organize to
- even just thinking out loud can be really clarifying, as folks on twitter know
- "synchronously interactive high-touch text-based coaching"
- < include some testimonials >
November 28th, 2023
- #2tweet having ads in replies fucks with relevance SO BAD. it's offensive
like the timeline is already a chaotic mess, inserting an ad in there isn't so bad. but in replies, argh.- having ads in replies fucks with relevance SO BAD. it's offensive
like the timeline is already a chaotic mess, inserting an ad in there isn't so bad. but in replies, argh. - maybe reply-based ads should have to be targeted, like the advertiser specifies a keyword that must appear in the original post/thread, so it can at least be slightly relevant
- #2tweet why did ads get so much more obnoxious after Elon bought this thing?
wrong answers welcome but right answers also welcome- why did ads get so much more obnoxious after Elon bought this thing?
wrong answers welcome but right answers also welcome
- thread of ways you can give me money
<list them all in first tweet, links in next tweets> - maleidoscope.bandcamp.com
- intend.do
- intend.do/event/gci
- coaching
- hwgt
November 27th, 2023
- #2tweet Perspectival. Procedural. Propositional. Participatory. Long ago, the four ways of knowing lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when propositional knowing attacked.
- Perspectival. Procedural. Propositional. Participatory. Long ago, the four ways of knowing lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when propositional knowing attacked.
- "Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world."
- #2tweet some people think that if you think you're a bodhisattva you're pretentious...
and... with the recognition that this may sound even more pretentious, as far as I can tell that's because they don't understand what a bodhisattva is- some people think that if you think you're a bodhisattva you're pretentious...
and... with the recognition that this may sound even more pretentious, as far as I can tell that's because they don't understand what a bodhisattva is - I will note that *calling yourself* a bodhisattva (different from seeing yourself as one) is gonna end up being mostly a status bid in many contexts, but I don't think that's what my friend was pointing at in the convo where this came up
November 23rd, 2023
- #2tweet thinking about metaphor design reading an update from @ArcInternet. the first thought I had was "if spaces are rooms, why not literally call them rooms" but then the second one I had was "holy shit, browser-as-Home rather than browser-as-surfboard is a HUGE shift in metaphor"
- thinking about metaphor design reading an update from @ArcInternet. the first thought I had was "if spaces are rooms, why not literally call them rooms" but then the second one I had was "holy shit, browser-as-Home rather than browser-as-surfboard is a HUGE shift in metaphor"

November 22nd, 2023
- when you clean your room, you generally don't use a checklist—you do it by looking around and seeing the difference between what is and how you'd like it to be. when taking care of some sort of project, especially digitally, it can be hard to see the state of things, and to keep the vision in mind. with a piece of writing or a small coding task, you can sometimes look at it as a whole, but in many other cases we end up looking not at the situation itself but at a representation of it.
- this has a few issues:
1. the representation is kind of disconnected from the actual situation—is our representation apt?
2. we can end up focusing on improving the representation, which may make it more attractive to use but is in some sense - and then we tweak the representation to look better, by cleaning it up
- ---
- likewise if you have to pack everything (eg when leaving a hotel room). but if you're packing to travel, you may use a checklist to synthesize a bunch of future possibilities into a current plan of what to pack
- representations
- #2tweet new linguistics theory:
one reason escher sentences (eg "more people have been to Russia than I have") are parsed as grammatical: comparative deletion is mandatory in English (eg one doesn't say "Doris looks more satisfied than Doreen looks satisfied."—the last two words are omitted) and so people doesn't expect to feel a senseful clunk when adding back the implied "been to Russia" at the end of the sentence.- new linguistics theory:
one reason escher sentences (eg "more people have been to Russia than I have") are parsed as grammatical: comparative deletion is mandatory in English (eg one doesn't say "Doris looks more satisfied than Doreen looks satisfied."—the last two words are omitted) and so people doesn't expect to feel a senseful clunk when adding back the implied "been to Russia" at the end of the sentence.
- how much would it cost to make the moon have rings like saturn? uhhhh asking for a friend
- #2tweet the climate activists who protested burning man this year might want to take note of the fact that festivals like these have been shown to propagate increased empathy out into culture at large
news.yale.edu/2022/05/27/transformative-effects-mass-gatherings-burnin…- the climate activists who protested burning man this year might want to take note of the fact that festivals like these have been shown to propagate increased empathy out into culture at large
news.yale.edu/2022/05/27/transformative-effects-mass-gatherings-burnin…
November 15th, 2023
- #2tweet a huge chunk of my work could be described as de-rhetoricalizing the question "why can't we all just get along?" to take it seriously and give a thorough answer
- a huge chunk of my work could be described as de-rhetoricalizing the question "why can't we all just get along?" to take it seriously and give a thorough answer
- and no it's not because there isn't enough along to go around. there's plenty and we can make more. the issue is organizing it.
November 4th, 2023
- #2tweet if you're worried you don't have time to do it right, you DEFINITELY don't have time to do it wrong
- if you're worried you don't have time to do it right, you DEFINITELY don't have time to do it wrong
- (in particular, I'm finding with sewing that I waste much more time proceeding down a wrong path then having to spend time reversing course, vs to just step back the moment I realize I might be on a wrong course, and cut a new piece or whatever)
November 3rd, 2023
- #2tweet idea: someone pays me $1000 for me to spend a day directing my attention towards them realizing what matters to them—a mix of coaching on emotional or strategic levels to figure out what to work on, plus live-untangling whatever blocks arise as you go to work on it
- idea: someone pays me $1000 for me to spend a day directing my attention towards them realizing what matters to them—a mix of coaching on emotional or strategic levels to figure out what to work on, plus live-untangling whatever blocks arise as you go to work on it
- may all beings get their shit together
November 1st, 2023
- #2tweet this could be like the process that allowed prokaryotes to evolve into eukaroytes (period of low selection pressure that allowed building up a bunch of random extra DNA that turned out to be eventually able to be remixed into something way more awesome than prokaryotes)
- this could be like the process that allowed prokaryotes to evolve into eukaroytes (period of low selection pressure that allowed building up a bunch of random extra DNA that turned out to be eventually able to be remixed into something way more awesome than prokaryotes)
- #2tweet > Visa said that he considers a friend to be a person that you have a shared understanding or context with—that when you’ve talked to someone extensively, and met them, you have shared understanding and context and trust.
- > Visa said that he considers a friend to be a person that you have a shared understanding or context with—that when you’ve talked to someone extensively, and met them, you have shared understanding and context and trust.
- (connects to the quote from Aristotle in the recent post I QT'd, talking about the paradox of tolerance)
- an incredible take on the importance of tantrums. probably most adults are walking around with a bunch of frustration that hasn't been able to dissipate because we don't allow ourselves our tantrums (tantra?)
- + last two images from here
- jawdropping rainbow from the sun through the prism'd edge of a mirror this morning

- #2tweet realized while ~meditating this morning that the 5 components of secure attachment are a great description of how I, my awareness, want to treat me, my mind
- realized while ~meditating this morning that the 5 components of secure attachment are a great description of how I, my awareness, want to treat me, my mind
October 18th, 2023
- #2tweet "the propositional depends on the procedural, which then depends on the perspectival, which is then grounded in the participatory"
— John Vervaeke (ep30 of AFTMC)- "the propositional depends on the procedural, which then depends on the perspectival, which is then grounded in the participatory"
— John Vervaeke (ep30 of AFTMC)- quote my articulation of these four
- #2tweet Perilously, we can satisfy what the world demands of us without satisfying our own hearts’ yearnings.
- Perilously, we can satisfy what the world demands of us without satisfying our own hearts’ yearnings.
- (maybe QT "do you yearn?")
- Interestingly, it's much harder to do the reverse: if we focus on satisfying our own hearts’ yearnings, we will soon discover that this is only possible to the degree that we interface with the world in a way that is at least tolerable to the world, and ideally collaborative.
- Society does not know and cannot know what we yearn for. It cannot incorporate that into its designs except through us enacting what inspires us
- (the St Antoine d'Exupery quote about doing what makes your heart sing)
- #2tweet it's the parts' responsibility to do what they feel like
it's the whole's responsibility to arrange the environment such that the parts' natural desires will result in the whole getting cared for
(which involves a lot of making the parts aware of the needs that the whole has)- it's the parts' responsibility to do what they feel like
it's the whole's responsibility to arrange the environment such that the parts' natural desires will result in the whole getting cared for
(which involves a lot of making the parts aware of the needs that the whole has)
- #2tweet if your awareness is fully expanded then what you feel like doing is the best thing to do send tweet
- if your awareness is fully expanded then what you feel like doing is the best thing to do send tweet
- (I don't even actually believe this but there's something there)
- #2tweet right now, in this moment of your life, how can you increase the vividness of what you're doing? (even if what you're doing continues to just be scrolling twitter or retweeting)
can you scroll mindfully instead of mindlessly, indulging in the richness of each word you see?- right now, in this moment of your life, how can you increase the vividness of what you're doing? (even if what you're doing continues to just be scrolling twitter or retweeting)
can you scroll mindfully instead of mindlessly, indulging in the richness of each word you see?
- ICYMI: "incuriating" means "to make curious"
(just as "infuriating" means "to make furious")
October 13th, 2023
- <something> from IntendApp, inspired by
- these
- What opinion about Productivity will have you like this?
October 9th, 2023
- fear isn't the mindkiller, shame is
October 8th, 2023
- #2tweet it's a hallmark of a clear mind to be capable of changing course dramatically based on a tiny perceptual shift
and it's a hallmark of a compartmentalized mind to in fact do so often, as it means that <missing clarity/context>- it's a hallmark of a clear mind to be capable of changing course dramatically based on a tiny perceptual shift
and it's a hallmark of a compartmentalized mind to in fact do so often, as it means that <missing clarity/context>
October 7th, 2023
- #2tweet @algekalipso new qualia basis vector just dropped phys.org/news/2023-10-scientists-secrets-sixth-basic-flavor.amp
- @algekalipso new qualia basis vector just dropped phys.org/news/2023-10-scientists-secrets-sixth-basic-flavor.amp
October 5th, 2023
- #2tweet fascinating piece about organ transplants changing mood, music & food preferences, and personalities midwesterndoctor.com/p/do-organs-have-a-mind-of-their-own
- fascinating piece about organ transplants changing mood, music & food preferences, and personalities midwesterndoctor.com/p/do-organs-have-a-mind-of-their-own
September 21st, 2023
- this on Dewey's Inquiry article, tagging @m_ashcroft
September 20th, 2023
- #2tweet huh
a sibling is someone who shares all of your ancestors
a spouse is someone who shares all of your descendants*
*(modulo 2nd spouses, poly, kids out of wedlock, etc)- huh
a sibling is someone who shares all of your ancestors
a spouse is someone who shares all of your descendants*
*(modulo 2nd spouses, poly, kids out of wedlock, etc)
September 19th, 2023
- #2tweet all these background tools for macos that are asking me to pay them 2mo after I installed them really need to explain which of their features I'm using. like rectangle needs to be like "you used ctrl+alt+left 847 times". because I installed like 5 and I'm not sure they're all active
- all these background tools for macos that are asking me to pay them 2mo after I installed them really need to explain which of their features I'm using. like rectangle needs to be like "you used ctrl+alt+left 847 times". because I installed like 5 and I'm not sure they're all active
September 18th, 2023
- #2tweet I want to make a little thing where someone can pay me $X and I'll record a lil song for them. what's a good platform for payments for bespoke online products?
- I want to make a little thing where someone can pay me $X and I'll record a lil song for them. what's a good platform for payments for bespoke online products?

- this business expertise triad can map onto FAN if I squint
- (public essay)
- #2tweet I have a strong suspicion that what's going on here is that people have a mating dance order, and going out of order will fuck you up
- I have a strong suspicion that what's going on here is that people have a mating dance order, and going out of order will fuck you up
- and for many (but not all) people, their mating dance wants to read physicality as one of the very first steps
- and in person, this just HAPPENS
- and the guy doesn't need 6' of physical stature, but he needs enough presence etc
- and if she builds up a sense of who he is, and then he turns out to be shorter than she anticipated, this feeling of disappointment is hard to recover from, hence trying to solve that in advance
- but fixating on height is a mediocre proxy for what she actually cares about, leading to guys being frustrated
- I think the solution to this specific thing would be:
- some decent algos do initial sorting of people based on interests etc
- a friend of the dating-woman vets the guy for conversational vibe, non-creepiness, etc
- and then literally their first interaction IS meeting in person for date 1
- that would let the mating dance proceed in roughly the right order
September 17th, 2023
- schelling point is better understood as a "simulated negotiation attractor"
- QT the virtual bargaining thread
September 6th, 2023
- #2tweet "ooptionality" is my word for when I oopsidentally overpack my suitcase because I'm trying to plan for way too many possibilities and underappreciating the cost of having an overweight suitcase
- "ooptionality" is my word for when I oopsidentally overpack my suitcase because I'm trying to plan for way too many possibilities and underappreciating the cost of having an overweight suitcase
September 5th, 2023
- do this poll again
September 4th, 2023
- #2tweet one of the reasons feeds hijack your attention
is that most of what you see, you'll never see again
and your mind rates rare opportunities as more important
so
each.
tweet.
you see...
generates a tiny but sticky sense of needing to engage- one of the reasons feeds hijack your attention
is that most of what you see, you'll never see again
and your mind rates rare opportunities as more important
so
each.
tweet.
you see...
generates a tiny but sticky sense of needing to engage - generates a tiny panic
- generates a meeseeks
- generates a tiny high-priority task
- feels like a chance to make an unfixable mistake
- solution
- something like asking each lil urge "who's your boss?" and asking the boss if it needs more opportunities or whatever
- like, this random lil thing might be unique, but the overall situation probably isn't
- #2tweet action
- huh.
action
activation
actuation
actualization
all act + ion, but with different stuff in the middle
August 22nd, 2023
- #2tweet weird idea: a social network where all posts must start with "I seem to think" or "I feel" or "I noticed" or "I wonder" or something like that. cultivate a vibe of I-statements. not actually ideal but interesting to think about.
- weird idea: a social network where all posts must start with "I seem to think" or "I feel" or "I noticed" or "I wonder" or something like that. cultivate a vibe of I-statements. not actually ideal but interesting to think about.
- interesting how "I think" is sort of an assertion but "I seem to think" is an observation
- #2tweet phenomenologically, please describe what felt-senses you experience when you consider this:
28+32=50- phenomenologically, please describe what felt-senses you experience when you consider this:
28+32=50
- for me the first sensation is that the left side doesn't fit. it's bursting, it's overflowing, there's an extra 10 that wants to fall out or pop out or get split in two so it can send 5 to the other side.
very visceral experience of imbalanced quantity
- if I focus on the "=", it wants to become a ">".
if I focus on 50, it feels too small. maybe it want to become a 60, which I feel like could be done by stretching it or sticking 10 more on
- let's try another one. how does it feel to look at this:
7×7=50
- for me there's a kind of gaping hole, a missing 1 on the left... or a weird extra 1 on the right that wants to fall off
and also a kind of ticklish sense of wrongness factor-wise... the 7-ness of the left side is such a non-fit for the 5&10-ness of the right
August 21st, 2023
- what things could part of you do that would be a dealbreaker for another part of you?
- (sorta cursed the way I had originally phrased it, but I made it better)
- (the joke is ofc: wtf would that even mean??)
August 18th, 2023
- #2tweet - thread about the phrase "I trust you"
- "I trust you" isn't meaningless, though it is weird to say
it basically means "I can have an unquestioning attitude around you in this situation because I trust that either things will go well or if not we'll be able to navigate it together"
or "I have no relevant distrusts"
QT: twitter.com/nat_sharpe_/status/1692015111081533915 - < well, no, it could also be naive trust or forced trust or whatever, not non-naive as the above implies >
- QT the tweet about that or make a better one
- you can't name all of the things you trust, because there are too many! implicitly, when we're interacting, we're trusting each other in many ways
even in relatively hostile interactions, we sense the bounds of how bad things will get - oh shit wait. also, naming all of the things would actually be paradoxical because it would call them into question!
imagine you visit someone and they say "I trust you not to try to steal my cat" like bruh that was not even on my radar until you mentioned it - but @nat_sharpe_ is right about "I trust you"—it *is* a weird phrase. in some sense, it NEEDS to go without saying. like "I am very wise"
- thus "I trust you" is a statement that is in relation to the situation you're in with this person, in general and overall
much higher bar in some situations than others.
twitter.com/Malcolm_Ocean/status/1689112232385294336 - "I trust you" is thus always in response to some sense of possible distrust present, otherwise it would paradox
shared sense of possible can be
- explicit ("don't bother asking him" "ok I trust you")
- implicit (*hands keys to friend* *a look* "I trust you") - but "I trust you" is still sort of unnecessary to say
much more useful is to let it go without saying, and say "I don't trust you in this way" when THAT needs saying. and there, be as specific as you can - < it can be hard to be very specific sometimes, since things are weird >
- sometimes saying "I trust you" is actually saying "I am preparing to be betrayed here" with an anticipation of blame. that is basically a loan of trust, and perhaps it benefits from being vague
August 11th, 2023
- #2tweet you don't have to take my word for it
you don't have to take my word that you don't have to take my word for it
you don't have to take my word for it that you don't have to take my word that you don't have to take my word for it
but << something >>- you don't have to take my word for it
you don't have to take my word that you don't have to take my word for it
you don't have to take my word for it that you don't have to take my word that you don't have to take my word for it
but << something >>
- #2tweet you don't have to beat yourself up
you don't have to beat yourself up for beating yourself up sometimes
you don't have to beat yourself up for beating yourself up for not knowing by now how to not beat yourself up
but it's okay if you do- you don't have to beat yourself up
you don't have to beat yourself up for beating yourself up sometimes
you don't have to beat yourself up for beating yourself up for not knowing by now how to not beat yourself up
but it's okay if you do
- #2tweet — a thread of my but it's okay if — un-double-binders
July 24th, 2023
- #2tweet huh, I think we tend towards regret more in close personal relationships because it's like... even if the other person can somehow repay the cost of some harm... eg if it's costly to my family to repay something, I bear that cost too. so more likely to wish it'd never happened
- huh, I think we tend towards regret more in close personal relationships because it's like... even if the other person can somehow repay the cost of some harm... eg if it's costly to my family to repay something, I bear that cost too. so more likely to wish it'd never happened
July 18th, 2023
- #2tweet I like this question:
> What can you take responsibility for?
Not like you have to, but it's an option.
linkedin.com/pulse/radical-ownership-why-taking-responsibility-can-you…- I like this question:
> What can you take responsibility for?
Not like you have to, but it's an option.
linkedin.com/pulse/radical-ownership-why-taking-responsibility-can-you…
June 15th, 2023
- #2tweet from @IntendApp it's tempting to fantasize about "oh if only I'd done it last week"
but... you didn't. you did what you did. and everything that will be possible in your future will build on top of WHAT HAPPENED, not on the fake foundation of the world of wishes- maybe as a reply to this
- it's tempting to fantasize about "oh if only I'd done it last week"
but... you didn't. you did what you did. and everything that will be possible in your future will build on top of WHAT HAPPENED, not on the fake foundation of the world of wishes - to be clear, if you're ruminating on it, that's a sign there's something part of you thinks you haven't learned from the experience yet. may be worth considering
although usually "feeling bad about it" is somewhat in the way of that learning
twitter.com/abhayance/status/1668933413569536000 - and the learning might not even be what you think
eg thinking you regretted being rude but the actual learning was about other peoples' values about concrete stuff like food
twitter.com/Malcolm_Ocean/status/1669437208456056844 - so yeah, if you're sitting with a thing you've been putting off for awhile, you #unfinished
June 9th, 2023
- #2tweet getting on a flight, I loaded up my intend.do review and pre-cached all the past reviews to look at. opened my laptop in the air, and... my computer was frozen. rebooted and it was so fucking satisfying to experience my own hard work resulting in a seamless offline review experience
- getting on a flight, I loaded up my intend.do review and pre-cached all the past reviews to look at. opened my laptop in the air, and... my computer was frozen. rebooted and it was so fucking satisfying to experience my own hard work resulting in a seamless offline review experience
June 5th, 2023
- #2tweet you don't have to hate yourself
you don't have to hate yourself for hating yourself
you don't have to hate yourself for hating yourself for hating yourself
but it's okay if you do- you don't have to hate yourself
you don't have to hate yourself for hating yourself
you don't have to hate yourself for hating yourself for hating yourself
but it's okay if you do
- #2tweet you don't have to trust me
you don't have to trust me when I say "you don't have to trust me"
you don't have to trust me when I say "you don't have to trust me when I say 'you don't have to trust me'"
if I seem full of shit... maybe I am!- you don't have to trust me
you don't have to trust me when I say "you don't have to trust me"
you don't have to trust me when I say "you don't have to trust me when I say 'you don't have to trust me'"
if I seem full of shit... maybe I am! - alternate last lines
- if I seem full of shit... don't fall for it
- if I seem to be trying to trick you, don't fall for it
- if you can't tell if I'm serious, maybe I'm not
- I can't make you trust me if you don't
- < something about feeling at ease >
- there's a thing it would feel like if you did, and if you don't, you don't
- but it's too easy for these sentences to either
- create a double bind
- (whereas the whole point of the final line in this structure is that it's supposed to release the double-bind energy created by the start)
- totally accept myself as inherently untrustworthy, rather than from their perspective
- which "maybe I'm full of shit" kinda does
May 2nd, 2023
- "attest" means "speak truthfully"
(twm testify for where to slot it in)
April 9th, 2023
- #2tweet whoa, fascinating! there's a podcast series where JK Rowling is interviewed by Megan Phelps-Roper (former westboro baptist church member who iirc got de-radicalized by sincere convos on twitter)
open.spotify.com/show/2K186zrvRgeE2w0wQjbaw7- whoa, fascinating! there's a podcast series where JK Rowling is interviewed by Megan Phelps-Roper (former westboro baptist church member who iirc got de-radicalized by sincere convos on twitter)
open.spotify.com/show/2K186zrvRgeE2w0wQjbaw7
April 7th, 2023
- #2tweet 1. consider unfollowing whatever makes your horrible social media feed horrible
2. consider starting your day with intention-setting, eg intend.do
(from webcomicname / @dorrismccomics )
webcomicname.com/post/675809200717381632- 1. consider unfollowing whatever makes your horrible social media feed horrible
2. consider starting your day with intention-setting, eg intend.do
(from webcomicname / @dorrismccomics )
webcomicname.com/post/675809200717381632
- #2tweet cool that the person is using the ai therapist to do LESS taking-sides in their internal struggle. some people will probably use it to do MORE taking-sides, as well
twitter.com/Kat__Woods/status/1644021980948201473- cool that the person is using the ai therapist to do LESS taking-sides in their internal struggle. some people will probably use it to do MORE taking-sides, as well
twitter.com/Kat__Woods/status/1644021980948201473
March 30th, 2023
buddha sangha convo w Brother Spirit aka Phap Linh › buddhist teaching › distinction › historical/conventional/relative › logos › law of excluded middle
- I would say the law of the excluded middle is... kinda true, sometimes.
March 25th, 2023
- #2tweet I'm getting into healing my myopia, and I'd love a mobile app that lets me instantly measure my blur distance with the camera (by saying "blurry" / "clear" at different distances)
first would need to calibrate camera↔distance somehow but that's doable
#ThingsIWantToExist- I'm getting into healing my myopia, and I'd love a mobile app that lets me instantly measure my blur distance with the camera (by saying "blurry" / "clear" at different distances)
first would need to calibrate camera↔distance somehow but that's doable
#ThingsIWantToExist
list of TLDs I wish existed
- #2tweet list of TLDs I wish existed (and in many cases am surprised don't at this point)
.now
.scene
.tweet
.stuff
.this
.- list of TLDs I wish existed (and in many cases am surprised don't at this point)
.now
.scene
.tweet
.stuff
.this
.
March 3rd, 2023
- #2tweet getting AI to not say offensive things obviously should be called "AI politeness" not "AI ethics"
- getting AI to not say offensive things obviously should be called "AI politeness" not "AI ethics"
February 16th, 2023
- we're going to do a grounding exercise...
...you're grounded.
February 7th, 2023
- #2tweet vaguely musing about how "collaboration" and "synergy" both translate as "working together" (the first from French/Latin, the second from Greek) and wondering what an Anglish work would be. first thought was withwork, but I just noted "together" is English too. togetherwork?
- vaguely musing about how "collaboration" and "synergy" both translate as "working together" (the first from French/Latin, the second from Greek) and wondering what an Anglish work would be. first thought was withwork, but I just noted "together" is English too. togetherwork?
- of course, checking out German is a good place to start:
seems like the most common translation of "collaborate" is "zusammenarbeitin" = together-work, but English doesn't have zusammen or arbeiten...
...but lo! mitwirken! 
January 30th, 2023
- you don't have to beat yourself up
January 21st, 2023
- #2tweet me, unplugging my headphones: I am gonna let the music out
@utotranslucence: yes. YES. The music is out.- me, unplugging my headphones: I am gonna let the music out
@utotranslucence: yes. YES. The music is out.
January 17th, 2023
- #2tweet levels of awareness in a convo:
1. total autopilot confabulation
2. sincere figuring things out but in some sense not aware of being in a conversation
3. aware of conversational dynamics but taking certain assumptions for granted (~circling)
4. aware of- levels of awareness in a convo:
1. total autopilot confabulation
2. sincere figuring things out but in some sense not aware of being in a conversation
3. aware of conversational dynamics but taking certain assumptions for granted (~circling)
4. aware of
January 11th, 2023
- #2tweet me: I got a Ginger Beer + Passionfruit pulp
friends: was that on the menu?
me: no, but they had cocktails w passionfruit so I just asked. you can just do stuff.
later, walking, one friend was like "inspired by M, I'm exploring this alley" and it led to really cool pseudoruins- me: I got a Ginger Beer + Passionfruit pulp
friends: was that on the menu?
me: no, but they had cocktails w passionfruit so I just asked. you can just do stuff.
later, walking, one friend was like "inspired by M, I'm exploring this alley" and it led to really cool pseudoruins
- #2tweet I've been writing for 2 years about something I call the Non-Naive Trust Dance. I'd like to know what sense people here have gotten of it so far. Can you reply with a tweet like:
Based on [blog posts, tweets, podcasts, your vibe], the basic gist of NNTD sounds like ...- I've been writing for 2 years about something I call the Non-Naive Trust Dance. I'd like to know what sense people here have gotten of it so far. Can you reply with a tweet like:
Based on [blog posts, tweets, podcasts, your vibe], the basic gist of NNTD sounds like ...
- context from 2021 review
- There's still something more here that I want, but I'm having trouble putting my finger on it. One piece is like, wanting to survey my tweeps and get them to reply with a tweet that's eg
- > Based on reading a few blog posts and tweets, I'd summarize the NNTD a framework for debugging communication protocols when they break down.
- or
- > Based on listening to multiple of your podcasts, I'd summarize the NNTD as <etc>
- or
- > Based on literally just the name of it (and the context of you I guess) I think the NNTD is a way of doing trust-building but good tho. but idk really know more than that.
- #2tweet what's something you'd like to be different in a year?
what does it look like now?
what do you want it to look like at the start of 2024?
meditate on the difference until you feel like doing something about it- what's something you'd like to be different in a year?
what does it look like now?
what do you want it to look like at the start of 2024?
meditate on the difference until you feel like doing something about it
January 4th, 2023
- #2tweet "preconquest" is a word
"liminal" is a word
"nonduality" is a word
"outcompeted" is a word
"outcompetes" is a word- "preconquest" is a word
"liminal" is a word
"nonduality" is a word
"outcompeted" is a word
"outcompetes" is a word
- tiny thread on vibe article
- very cool article by @cube_flipper, connecting preconquest consciousness, liminal awareness, and nonduality
smoothbrains.net/posts/2022-08-24-planetary-scale-vibe-collapse.html - duality was a meme that outcompeted preconquest nonduality
we can make a new nonduality meme that outcompetes duality
twitter.com/cube_flipper/status/1562656795859886080
January 2nd, 2023
- according to peter limberg, I'd be in the running
- as a reply to this, with a video clip from the stoa session
January 1st, 2023
- #2tweet one of the weirdest things I've started noticing the last few years is some different qualities of sweat that I get. I haven't tracked them all down but one is a very runny foul-smelling one that afaict shows up when I'm writing something that disagrees with an authority
- one of the weirdest things I've started noticing the last few years is some different qualities of sweat that I get. I haven't tracked them all down but one is a very runny foul-smelling one that afaict shows up when I'm writing something that disagrees with an authority
December 21st, 2022
- #2tweet fjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfj
can we just take a moment and appreciate how this looks like a zipper?- fjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfj
can we just take a moment and appreciate how this looks like a zipper?
December 10th, 2022
- #2tweet since the beginning of the universe, not a single mistake has ever occurred
also, sometimes we fuck up- since the beginning of the universe, not a single mistake has ever occurred
also, sometimes we fuck up
December 4th, 2022
- 9th COMPLICE THREAD
twitter.com/CompliceGoals/status/1599540414239105024
November 21st, 2022
- #2tweet parallel between ACX Samsara story and the quote "to a buddha, everyone is enlightened, to an unenlightened person, nobody is"
- parallel between ACX Samsara story and the quote "to a buddha, everyone is enlightened, to an unenlightened person, nobody is"
November 18th, 2022
- types of distractions (see stuff on page)
November 8th, 2022
- productivity is linked to legibility
twitter.com/CompliceGoals/status/1590127821892251648
November 7th, 2022
- #2tweet someone who appears to not be engaging in good faith probably does not trust the process to
< context: something about republican party not compromising in good faith >- someone who appears to not be engaging in good faith probably does not trust the process to
< context: something about republican party not compromising in good faith >
November 4th, 2022
- #2tweet fascinating article about how the basic racial classifications used in American forms are completely incoherent, and were explicitly stated never to be used in science/medicine or program eligibility, two of the main things they're now used for 🤦♀️
discoursemagazine.com/ideas/2022/09/01/racial-classification-in-americ…- fascinating article about how the basic racial classifications used in American forms are completely incoherent, and were explicitly stated never to be used in science/medicine or program eligibility, two of the main things they're now used for 🤦♀️
discoursemagazine.com/ideas/2022/09/01/racial-classification-in-americ…
- #2tweet > The crops used for oil are terrible when it comes to using land efficiently. An area of land used to grow 1kg of vegetable oil from soybean, canola, or sunflower could instead produce 30-50 kilograms of actual vegetables, like spinach, sweet potatoes!
fiftyyears.substack.com/p/zero-acre-farms- > The crops used for oil are terrible when it comes to using land efficiently. An area of land used to grow 1kg of vegetable oil from soybean, canola, or sunflower could instead produce 30-50 kilograms of actual vegetables, like spinach, sweet potatoes!
fiftyyears.substack.com/p/zero-acre-farms- ^ this may be relevant to JimmyRis too
November 1st, 2022
- #2tweet some communication difficulties are because we don't know how to <skills>
others are because if we communicated clearly we'd discover we don't want to be together, and we're not emotionally ready to discover that
few understand this- some communication difficulties are because we don't know how to <skills>
others are because if we communicated clearly we'd discover we don't want to be together, and we're not emotionally ready to discover that
few understand this
- #2tweet Oh!!! Yeah, that urge had no known purpose. Like unlike if I'm like "oh lemme message Nathan about Jakob's contact", where I know if I've completed it for now and can then readily die again, the impulse to check twitter was open-ended! now ofc sometimes one gets distracted while executing a closed-ended impulse as well, or whatever, or sometimes a closed-ended impulse ends up taking 100× as long as you expected and you need to recognize that and abort...
it's not that open-ended impulses are bad, but I want to understand them. what are they in PCT terms? what error is being addressed? like I just want to listen more closely to them. I guess in this case the error was something like "I don't know if Friend has tweeted/DM'd in the last 1-2h, I want to go check" which in principle is totally closed but in practice the way I execute such impulses almost always results in scrolling twitter or whatever.- Oh!!! Yeah, that urge had no known purpose. Like unlike if I'm like "oh lemme message Nathan about Jakob's contact", where I know if I've completed it for now and can then readily die again, the impulse to check twitter was open-ended! now ofc sometimes one gets distracted while executing a closed-ended impulse as well, or whatever, or sometimes a closed-ended impulse ends up taking 100× as long as you expected and you need to recognize that and abort...
it's not that open-ended impulses are bad, but I want to understand them. what are they in PCT terms? what error is being addressed? like I just want to listen more closely to them. I guess in this case the error was something like "I don't know if Friend has tweeted/DM'd in the last 1-2h, I want to go check" which in principle is totally closed but in practice the way I execute such impulses almost always results in scrolling twitter or whatever.
October 27th, 2022
- > conservativism, properly held, has a very humble tone:
"we actually don't quite know why what's working is working, so let's be careful as we change it. it's very precious and our wisdom may not be deep enough"
- progressivism & liberalism hot takes
- progressivism, properly held, has a very curious tone
"we think things can work better, but how do we move towards something we've never seen before? do you know? how do we find a viable path?" - liberalism, properly held, has a
"" - I could imagine both progressivism & liberalism having "curious" tones, or it could also be "humble" but I think it's actually best to leave that with conservativism
- related thoughts
- problems with radicals
- problems with reactionaries
- #2tweet to achieve dialogue, it's not enough to not try to colonize someone else's perspective with your own. people are so accustomed to having their perspectives overwritten that in my experience it's necessary to *actively make space* for the other person's
- to achieve dialogue, it's not enough to not try to colonize someone else's perspective with your own. people are so accustomed to having their perspectives overwritten that in my experience it's necessary to *actively make space* for the other person's
October 18th, 2022
- #2tweet are you and your partner bad at communicating or just unprepared for what would happen if you did communicate?
- are you and your partner bad at communicating or just unprepared for what would happen if you did communicate?
October 16th, 2022
- how to not have your intentionality obliterated while on twitter
August 21st, 2022
- God sees everything you do, but "watching" is misleading, since it implies God sees it from the outside. God sees it in first person, out of your eyes.
What makes it like watching though is that God isn't steering, you are. That's what it means for there to be a you! - God is taking all the paths. God IS taking-all-the-paths.
And You take all the paths of your life, but you takes only one.- Choosing is Being
- Choice is not about which story plays out. In some sense, they all play out. Choice is about which story you want to see play out. Which story you want to live in.
- Sometimes I've started to think "fuck I made a mistake here" but some part of me senses that there's more of the story I need to watch before I try to undo the mistake.
- Like, "maybe this part of my story is a tragedy, but worse than watching Romeo & Juliet die is if the play gets called off in act 3 due to rain and you never see the ending at all"
August 18th, 2022
- < something about enjoying closing out my whole twitter window when pomo bell goes off >
August 11th, 2022
- #2tweet <something like>
who wants to make a groupchat for twitter friends where we ping each other and say "hey come cowork with me?"- <something like>
who wants to make a groupchat for twitter friends where we ping each other and say "hey come cowork with me?" - and maybe quote this
August 7th, 2022
- #2tweet part of the whole point of my meta-team concept is that there are lots of skilled people (eg @BlackForestBoi's collaborator Vincent) whose most important negative-effort skills aren't needed full-time by most companies, and it would be cool to have a better scaffold to share them between companies
- part of the whole point of my meta-team concept is that there are lots of skilled people (eg @BlackForestBoi's collaborator Vincent) whose most important negative-effort skills aren't needed full-time by most companies, and it would be cool to have a better scaffold to share them between companies
- #2tweet had an important realization this weekend that I've been conflating
- a sense of we-ness
- group synergy
but obviously you can have lots of I-ness as an individual and fail to have much internal synergy, so presumably the same is true of groups- had an important realization this weekend that I've been conflating
- a sense of we-ness
- group synergy
but obviously you can have lots of I-ness as an individual and fail to have much internal synergy, so presumably the same is true of groups
July 28th, 2022
- cookie-style, lets talk about what happens when you remove each of these ingredients
- everything
- relevant
- to everyone's satisfaction
- EVERYTHING that's relevant: if certain key pieces systematically can't be surfaced, then
- everything THAT'S RELEVANT
June 4th, 2022
- #2tweet would I know if something needed my attention right now?
+ if I would, and it doesn't, then I can rest / do whatever I feel like
+ if I would, and it does, let me attend to that
+ if I wouldn't, then I probably want to do something about that- would I know if something needed my attention right now?
+ if I would, and it doesn't, then I can rest / do whatever I feel like
+ if I would, and it does, let me attend to that
+ if I wouldn't, then I probably want to do something about that- "wouldn't" could be because inadequate alarm or because crying-wolf alarm
May 19th, 2022
- money is confusing
it's so useful yet so useless
so meaningful yet so meaningless
May 16th, 2022
- #2tweet incentives aren't what they seem because people don't know what they want / people take for granted that numbers going up are an incentive
- incentives aren't what they seem because people don't know what they want / people take for granted that numbers going up are an incentive
- part of what makes twitter twitter is there's no comments section
- talking with visa: "how to quit smoking - write a book on how to have a good life"
- the vow that can be spoken is not the true vow
May 10th, 2022
- #2tweet [missing block]
- there's now a video of me dancing to this track!
twitter.com/Malcolm_Ocean/status/1524290145050013696
April 8th, 2022
- < replace "fallacy" with "joke" >
- #2tweet just looked at my youtube stats, and the world has spent 25 hours watching me rant about why microwaves need knobs. that's... kinda wild.
- just looked at my youtube stats, and the world has spent 25 hours watching me rant about why microwaves need knobs. that's... kinda wild.
March 24th, 2022
- #2tweet if the thing feels wrong, slow the fuck down
if people tell you not to slow the fuck down, tell them to shut the fuck up
if they won't shut the fuck up, get the fuck out- if the thing feels wrong, slow the fuck down
if people tell you not to slow the fuck down, tell them to shut the fuck up
if they won't shut the fuck up, get the fuck out- (sorta. maybe more like "how to not layer" pith instructions)
- tweeted it:
- #2tweet -
- = pith instructions for something like "how not to layer"
they won't always be possible, for many reasons
but as a default there's something really powerful to respecting your own process and not rushing
twitter.com/Malcolm_Ocean/status/1508285206171566086
February 26th, 2022
- #2tweet judgment/contempt is one way that distrust shows up when it hasn't been able to be welcomed as just distrust
- judgment/contempt is one way that distrust shows up when it hasn't been able to be welcomed as just distrust
February 10th, 2022
- #2tweet < 1:23:45 - just before this in Jim Rutt + Vervaeke pt3 - good stuff about society-scale therapy & propositional tyranny >
- < 1:23:45 - just before this in Jim Rutt + Vervaeke pt3 - good stuff about society-scale therapy & propositional tyranny >
February 7th, 2022
- #2tweet in animal thread
February 3rd, 2022
- #2tweet complice meme:
Neo: are you saying that when I use Complice, I'll finally be on top of all my to-dos and clear out my backlog?
Morpheus: no Neo, I'm saying that when you use Complice, you won't have to- complice meme:
Neo: are you saying that when I use Complice, I'll finally be on top of all my to-dos and clear out my backlog?
Morpheus: no Neo, I'm saying that when you use Complice, you won't have to
January 30th, 2022
- #2tweet Guessing @visakanv will want to watch this series on the creativity of the Beatles ianleslie.substack.com/p/the-banality-of-genius-notes-on-peter
January 14th, 2022
- #2tweet hell hath no fury like me when customer support people transfer me in a chain that leads back to the first customer support person
- hell hath no fury like me when customer support people transfer me in a chain that leads back to the first customer support person
December 17th, 2021
- #2tweet "How's your abyss research going?"
"Great! I think this year we'll finally get to the bottom of it."- "How's your abyss research going?"
"Great! I think this year we'll finally get to the bottom of it."
- #2tweet You can tell automated voices from live people on support calls, because the former use vocal dynamics, rather than a kind of bored monotone-ish.
- You can tell automated voices from live people on support calls, because the former use vocal dynamics, rather than a kind of bored monotone-ish.
- #2tweet what are some products that are not disposable or consumable but you've bought them more than once, either because you lost or damaged the old one, or because they were so good you wanted more
- what are some products that are not disposable or consumable but you've bought them more than once, either because you lost or damaged the old one, or because they were so good you wanted more
- #2tweet Looking for a word that means "period of at least a day spent focused on a particular area or purpose, without outside distraction."
"retreat" is what I've been using, but it has.... backwards connotations
"maniac week(end)" sometimes applies, but it has other connotations- Looking for a word that means "period of at least a day spent focused on a particular area or purpose, without outside distraction."
"retreat" is what I've been using, but it has.... backwards connotations
"maniac week(end)" sometimes applies, but it has other connotations
December 14th, 2021
- faulty o-rings everywhere
December 3rd, 2021
- #2tweet for the 2nd time in my life, a series of random events has made one of my bank account balances exactly $3000.00 ...five zeros is a 1/100,000 event that has now happened to me twice (my balance changes a few times a month but I don't check it that often)
improbable things happen- for the 2nd time in my life, a series of random events has made one of my bank account balances exactly $3000.00 ...five zeros is a 1/100,000 event that has now happened to me twice (my balance changes a few times a month but I don't check it that often)
improbable things happen
- Oh good, looks like maybe we've finally reached peak bonkers.

December 2nd, 2021
- #2tweet But you don't wanna be high like Gaston
Never really knowing why like Gaston
You don't ever wanna step off that roller coaster
And be all alone
You don't wanna ride the bus like Gaston
Never knowing who to trust like Gaston- But you don't wanna be high like Gaston
Never really knowing why like Gaston
You don't ever wanna step off that roller coaster
And be all alone
You don't wanna ride the bus like Gaston
Never knowing who to trust like Gaston
November 17th, 2021
- #2tweet , once the original has settled
- what I was actually trying to get at here, which this tweet doesn't say quiiiiite clearly enough, is that school itself wasted me
November 14th, 2021
- #2tweet when you've truly chosen what to do
the action is obvious
at which point it no longer feels like a choice
—Dao de Jing
jokes! not actually from the dao, this was an utterance of mine 🙃
inspired by the dao though, no doubt
other people I thought of playfully attributing this to:
- Heraclitus
- Victor Wooten
- Wayne Gretsky
- Marcus Aurelius
- Alfred Korzybski
twitter.com/Malcolm_Ocean/status/1313685320412598275- when you've truly chosen what to do
the action is obvious
at which point it no longer feels like a choice
—Dao de Jing
jokes! not actually from the dao, this was an utterance of mine 🙃
inspired by the dao though, no doubt
other people I thought of playfully attributing this to:
- Heraclitus
- Victor Wooten
- Wayne Gretsky
- Marcus Aurelius
- Alfred Korzybski
twitter.com/Malcolm_Ocean/status/1313685320412598275
- a good orienting question:
- what wealth/beauty do I want to create right now?
- the point fingering the moon
October 28th, 2021
- #2tweet TIL if you go to a new page on Roam and you want to focus the text to type, press ctrl+enter!
- TIL if you go to a new page on Roam and you want to focus the text to type, press ctrl+enter!
- #2tweet @KeyCombiner can I add complice.co's hotkeys as a public collection? I've been looking for something exactly like your system for visualizing the many hotkeys in Complice
- @KeyCombiner can I add complice.co's hotkeys as a public collection? I've been looking for something exactly like your system for visualizing the many hotkeys in Complice
October 24th, 2021
- something about PCT & pica (iron/ice)
October 12th, 2021
- > what was asked of me in order to maintain my funding was
that quote alone, plus knowing this is a purpose-driven group doing deep psychological work, is afaict enough to basically guarantee a shitshow
it's the *opposite* of what you need for that to go safely
- in a visioning doc I wrote a few months ago about what I'm trying to create, I wrote:
- > The projects in the meta-team are sufficiently profitable that we're generating enough revenue for everyone in the core of the meta-team to get a guaranteed minimum income that they know they'll have for at least a decade - probably indefinitely. This guarantee is secured via blockchain so that even when people leave they're still financially supported, preventing people from feeling trapped if the relationship or specific culture isn't a good fit.
- This safety net allows people to have total space to go at their own pace. Now, not all circumstances will have the abundance to do this, but it's not like Leverage wasn't paying their people in the first place. They had a bunch of money, they were just using it coercively.
October 11th, 2021
- #2tweet Been thinking of starting a blog? Start it.
You don't know what to call it? "NAME's blog" for now. The "my blog doesn't have a name" problem doesn't matter if you don't have a blog.
You haven't written anything? Of course you haven't. You haven't graduated to the "my blog is empty" problem yet... because you don't have a blog.- Been thinking of starting a blog? Start it.
You don't know what to call it? "NAME's blog" for now. The "my blog doesn't have a name" problem doesn't matter if you don't have a blog.
You haven't written anything? Of course you haven't. You haven't graduated to the "my blog is empty" problem yet... because you don't have a blog. - You don't have an audience? You probably see where I'm going at this point... Of *course* you don't have an audience for your blog—you don't have a blog yet! You have to solve the "start a blog" problem first.
Your blog is ugly or doesn't match your aesthetic? Of course it doesn't. But that doesn't matter if nobody's seeing it yet. - Make a blog. Write a post. Write two. THEN you can worry about any of those other problems.
September 30th, 2021
- sometimes tweet as if people have read all of your previous tweets
September 26th, 2021
- < something about serendipity engine, as what social media should be >
"the hope is that the serendipity engine becomes the heart ♥ of the economy"
youtube.com/watch?v=_5Mxqy_JGhk - this video feels like such a beautiful articulation of so much - it's gonna be relevant to my Open Letter to Twitter re Conversational Design

- #2tweet brb imagining what the view of my 6th grade classroom must have been to my teacher, including what I looked like both when I was in "bright pupil" mode and in smart-aleck mode
- brb imagining what the view of my 6th grade classroom must have been to my teacher, including what I looked like both when I was in "bright pupil" mode and in smart-aleck mode
- My dharma is cybernetics textbooks

- #2tweet if books were gods, in the pantheonic sense, which gods have you made the most offerings to?
offerings might include:
- re-reading
- buying more copies
- seeking out despite inconveniences
- ensuring that digital copies exist
- tweeting screenshots or quotes
- writing a summary- if books were gods, in the pantheonic sense, which gods have you made the most offerings to?
offerings might include:
- re-reading
- buying more copies
- seeking out despite inconveniences
- ensuring that digital copies exist
- tweeting screenshots or quotes
- writing a summary
- oooooh and this should quote tweet a tweet that talks about how how copies of the bible existed in the first place is that monks duplicated them by hand
- #2tweet @visakanv you're gonna LOVE the Word In Progress song in the first few minutes of this show. exactly *how* much you're gonna love it might depend on how many of the references you can get—as a longtime Mraz fan I caught a LOT
youtube.com/watch?v=kpyGv4ujiAY- @visakanv you're gonna LOVE the Word In Progress song in the first few minutes of this show. exactly *how* much you're gonna love it might depend on how many of the references you can get—as a longtime Mraz fan I caught a LOT
youtube.com/watch?v=kpyGv4ujiAY
September 23rd, 2021
- Huge day for @CompliceGoals—team page now tells our story in more detail, the primary impetus being that @joyurge is now fully on the team! He's essentially my cofounder in the next phase of Complice, as we prototype non-coercive teamwork principles & practices.
complice.co/about-the-team
September 7th, 2021
convo w Riccardo Volpato › open questions › What's the role of Self in partswork? › M > maybe parts are all LH, and Self is RH?
- could do a whole thread speculating on it #2tweet
September 4th, 2021
- #2tweet WGS
- This "World's Greatest Stretch" lives up to its name. I usually don't feel much difference from doing stretches but this one I noticed an immediate asymmetry after I'd done it on only one side.
Source: youtube.com/watch?v=BGrw5z1SjtA
video: /tmp/wgs.mp4
August 30th, 2021
- I'll give you a peace of my mind! #2tweet
- #2tweet yo @visakanv, if you haven't already seen it, check out this article by @Meaningness on how cargo culting can be a stepping stone towards growing intellectual sceniuses, if legitimate peripheral participation is well-organized
metarationality.com/upgrade-your-cargo-cult
August 26th, 2021
- #2tweet tfw you search your streaming app for a favorite artist intending to listen to their album from a few months ago and they have a new collaboration with ANOTHER favorite artist (lookin at you cory wong & dirty loops)
August 12th, 2021
- 28:21 in contrapoints envy vid - extract for QC laughter tweet - where he tweets about laughing like a kid
- the only person who gets to say person X was wrong is future X
- and unless they say it undefensively, they're probably one part of X judging another part, which they don't get to do (in this lens)
- getting a company off the ground is arguably more counterintuitive than it is hard
August 9th, 2021
- #2tweet - make a new thread that explains the towardsness/awayness thing, rather than having to wander around Cosimia's - I created a thread by replying to Cosimia, and it prioritized all of her replies, meaning that my chain of 1,2,3,4,5 gets broken up by hers and then my replies to her are shown first
August 5th, 2021
- speculating that part of the reason actors manage to bulk up or otherwise dramatically change body shape for their roles, in addition to having personal trainers etc, is that they're doing so to get in character, whereas most people who are trying to get fit in their own lives have some identity conflict with it
August 1st, 2021
- #2tweet I now have custom roam favicons!
July 29th, 2021
- #2tweet QT this and comment on ways in which the hemispheres gif is good & bad
July 22nd, 2021
- "I think there's a problem with our connection"
"I don't think you're really able to hear me"
"are you saying I'm breaking up?"
"no, it's not you, it's me"
"well I guess this is goodbye"
#BadInternetRuinsRelationships
July 17th, 2021
- attribution art idea on this Krishnamurti quote: “It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” #2tweet
- who to attribute to?
- Freud would have a whole thing
- Hitler would have another whole thing
- ...I think I can do better though
July 8th, 2021
- #2tweet vaguely curious what it would be like to do something like Goal Factoring or Aversion Factoring with my newfound emotional introspection tools and coherence empathy and so on
- #2tweet just you wait bf isn't this enough gf
June 27th, 2021
- tweet something about 3rd person perspectives @ 1h25:40ish
- Check out this conversation between two friends of mine, introducing a project that @LordChisholm and I are
- 1/ "Now, you're not [Malcolm] obviously, but you do work closely with him, and you're his friend and so on, and that relationship is sort of the genesis for this project you're embarking on that finds us having this conversation.
- 2/ (quote continued) "If you had to guess / go out on a limb and *try* and speak for him, what would you guess he sees in you that he wants to bring out through this project?"
- #2tweet aww see ddr fft
there is but one duality - between everything and nothing
- #2tweet and when you finally have fully measured the size of evil, you will have measured everything and you will have discovered that evil makes up precisely none of it
- and when you finally have fully measured the size of evil, you will have measured everything and you will have discovered that evil makes up precisely none of it
June 17th, 2021
- #2tweet bit about thinking that rejects other thinking (though framing ideo vs "X" kinda defeats the point)
- the difference between ideological thinking and X thinking is that ideological thinking sees everyone and everything and classes as {me, not-me} and distrusts all not-me
whereas X thinking asks "how can I integrate this?"- (not just "distrusts" but "is guarded towards" - defensiveness = protectiveness)
- In principle, GameB, metamodernism, Integral Yellow/Teal, etc, are non-ideological.
But it's entirely possible, and in fact the default in our current era, to get ideological about being non-ideological. - This is both an interpersonal phenomenon as well as an internal psychological one. One's apparent inner ideologues get sent to the gulag—err, shadow.
- It's natural to want to know what common ground there is for trusting each other. The issue is the binary classification into {self, other}.
- To be clear, I'm not talking about people here, but about the meme of the ideology itself. An ideological meme recognizes itself in other people and attempts to colonize them if not already there.
- Also to be clear, there are memes that will fuck you up, and you're wise to do things to avoid that.
- QT the paradox
June 7th, 2021
- Which of these best describes you?
N = not a sociopath
S = a sociopath
T = has thought a fair amount about this question
W = haven't much thought about it
June 1st, 2021
- #2tweet maybe lol
- Poll: do you think you'd be into having sex with me?
- am into men → yes
- am into men → no
- not into men
- not into men... although..!?
May 25th, 2021
- I came here to chop wood & carry water, and I'm all out of water.
- how is tooth pain evolutionarily adaptive?
Sequence on NNTD
topics — I want an auto-generated N/M progress bar here › trust-building frameworks must simultaneously be trustwor…
May 18th, 2021
- I continue to find it baffling that banks/gov agencies will ask you for specific info about your account to verify your identity, when all of that info is easily accessible if logged into website. Might as well just display 2FA-ish code on website & tell phone agent that instead.
- twete
- gut response, go. <poll>
- I am both cool & hot
- I am cool
- I am not
- I am neither cool nor hot
- think of a recent dream, then type "I had a dream where" but instead of describing the events, describe the mashup itself that made the events make any sense at all. eg instead of "I was having sex with X (who is not my wife)" say "X was my wife"
- twete
- what are your favorite weird things to do when the beat drops? mine include double-kicks and handstands
- huh, what if a font that's so thick when printed in black on white the surface is actually >80% black? (without fakery like 🆃🅷🅸🆂)
- > Law of No Evidence: Any claim that there is “no evidence” of something is evidence of bullshit.
- someone wrote this too but it's kinda missing the point
- > No evidence should be fully up there with “government denial” or “I didn’t do it, no one saw me do it, there’s no way they can prove anything.” If there was indeed no evidence, there’d be no need to claim there was no evidence, and this is usually a move to categorize the evidence as illegitimate and irrelevant because it doesn’t fit today’s preferred form of scientism.
April 23rd, 2021
- this blog post of mine has done really beautiful stuff for multiple people: malcolmocean.com/2017/11/transcending-regret/
- at the time I wrote it, I hadn't gotten the insight as deep into my bones as I now have, and I now have recognized there's many more layers of deep to go
- but the insight is still legit and the articulation is good and your integration will be yours anyway no matter how well I had done it or not when I wrote that
April 8th, 2021
- 🌊 me: 🐂 a bull
🌌 the universe: 🫖 a china shop
🌊: 😬 oops
🌌: 🤔 you kinda fucked up there
🌊: 🙄 I'm a bull! this is a china shop! what am I doing here?
🌌: 🤷 it's a long story, can you try to be more gentle?
🌊: 🤬 wtf, I am trying, don't blame me
🌌: 👍 it's not your fault - 🌊: 👉 well then whose fault is it?
🌌: 🕳️ nobody's
🌊: 🖕 fuck you nobody! ...wait, who's nobody? could I be nobody?
🌌: 😉 nope. nobody's nobody. but you knew that
🌊: 🥺 sort of but I'm still scared I could be nobody
🌌: 🫂 that's okay
🌊: 🧐 how do I know it's okay?
🌌: - <something about still getting to be a bull in the loud sense, something else about like, have I done enough to be worthy of being stuck in the thing>
- 🌌:
- 🌊: do I still get to be a bull?
🌌: well kind of. you seem to want to be a bull who doesn't want to smash china. that seems pretty good
🌊: but what if I do smash the china?
🌌: would that be bad?
🌊: seems like it could be! it's been bad sometimes
🌌: how did you know it was bad? - 🌌: 🤷 it's a long story
🌊: 🥺 I'm sorry
🌌: 🫂 it's okay
🌊:
March 5th, 2021
- #2tweet - taking a nap year
March 2nd, 2021
- #2tweet The swans sure are getting darker these days, eh?
February 23rd, 2021
- found myself idly thinking of a good magic act, that would involve a reference to the psych studies showing that when kids are young, they can't handle conservation of volume of liquids, and (separately but relatedly) they think you have more liquid if you pour it from a short stout glass to a tall skinny one
- and using some various physical trickeries
- whether
- geometric (weirdly shaped glasses that have nonobvious thicknesses)
- optical (lens shit)
- hiding liquid somewhere (a la infinite soup bowl)
- chemical (maybe there's a little powder that could react with a liquid to make something either have more volume or just change in color in a way that seems to affect size)
- one could get grownups to have similar confusions as little kids
- and with the right framing this could be a very funny act
- fascinating to see which basic concepts don't have a common iconography associated with them
- eg willpower, why, desire
February 11th, 2021
call with Michael "Valentine" Smith, talking about memes › thinking about David Deutsch's anti-rational vs rational …
- re DD's "anti-rational vs rational memes" concept…
I think internet memes are a 3rd type
anti-rational = unintentionally evolve to spread
arational = intentionally optimized for being ideal replicators
rational = intentionally evolve towards being meaningfully worth spreading- re DD's "anti-rational vs rational memes"…
internet memes are *nonrational*…?
🦠👿🤬anti-rational: hacks host to spread despite harm to host
😂📈🙃nonrational: host optimizes for viral spread
💡🤯🛠️rational: host shares because beneficial (& maybe improves before sharing) - Thinking out loud about this, to check my initial insight:
1. how are nonrational memes different from anti-rational?
contrast
🧿 old unquestioned dogmas ("Bible tells me so" to "because I said so, that's why!")
💩 creativity & irreverence of internet meme culture - 1b. The important thing is that with anti-rational—aka STATIC—memes, the host is functionally *attempting* to propagate the exact same meme they received, without any changes
And any evolution happens *in spite of* that attempt, because more sticky or spready memes win. - 1c. By contrast, internet memes are *intentionally* changed, & creators hope they'll be picked up and changed *MORE*🚀
The infinite-game-ness of meme-remixing certainly has a fun-theory quality to it, but underlying substrate favors just *change*, not improvement in rationality. - 2. how are nonrational memes different from rational?
contrast
🧪 science needs rationality & vv, democracy needs liberalism & vv
😮 people falling deep into youtube conspiracy holes- is youtube conspiracy the best comparison?
- 2b.
- 2c.
February 2nd, 2021
- things #2tweet
January 31st, 2021
- scene: Janet frantically searches LastPass for her safeword
January 29th, 2021
- things maybe #2tweet from this #TwitterDayOff
- Among Us memes are affecting my programming. I was like "wait, this line sus"
- random thought: I wonder if there's a safe or safe-ish way to build a male to male "suicide cord", if you somehow make it so that the middle circuit isn't actually completed unless some condition is fulfilled like "there's x amount of pressure at 3 points on the surface that the plugs stick out of"

- oh wait, no, there's not!
- because if you plug the female end of xmas lights into this hypothetical thing, no matter how safe "it" is, there is now an exposed hot male end of the suicide cord, as illustrated here:
- my original idea is still good though, which is something that looks like a suicide cord (though explains on the packaging that it's not) but actually there is no connection between the respective ends and when you plug it in it just plays xmas carols
January 26th, 2021
- Thoughts I didn't tweet during #TwitterDayOff #2tweet
- the experience of interacting with my cousin's dog is very different now that I've learned a lot more about attachment and limbic regulation & the emotional brain. I feel like I basically get him and his needs, and he's just very down to be comforted when he gets spooked.
- Something here about nonverbal consent and "I pet myself". He can't say "yes" or "no", or ask for things to be different, but I can pay attention to whether he's vibing with what I'm doing, and what his control systems seem to want.
- <append to #TwitterDayOff thread a tweet saying>
- also have a place to put tweet ideas!
- also decide in advance if checking twitter messages is okay (I recommend at least trying not that) and if you do intend to do that I recommend <these notification-dulling styles/scripts>
- sometimes I practice Inadvertent Fasting
- > we are but babes suckling the milky way
- > idk who needs to hear this but:
it's not all in your head
literally, not even figments of your imagination are all in your head. reality is way too intertwingled for that. - > "One marshmallow now is *infinitely* better than two marshmallows in 10 minutes," Tommy said hyperbolically.
- How many of your ancestors can you name off the top of your head? (Uncles & cousins don't count)
How many could you name with access to your own files? (Literally check, or guess)
How many do you think you could enumerate if you got to ask all of your living relatives? - > Can you imagine not having the word "fun" and having to say the word "amusement" instead? This is the tragic reality french speakers are living with EVERY. DAY.
(Sure, it has different connotations than in English, but let's face it: the word amusement is way less fun.) - Every time I send an emoji in gmail, it turns into a godawful ugly blob... and every time, I submit a bug report to the gmail team. Embarrassing that their bureaucracy can't get those removed even though their own guidelines no longer approve of them.
- You've seen @visakanv at army bootcamp, but have you seen.... preteen Malcolm as an air cadet?
- I'm impressed on my #TwitterDayOff by how many of these tweets I'm writing in Roam to send later are between 250 and 280 characters. I guess I know the medium pretty precisely at this point!





