-
Preference utilitarians should care about the preferences of past people
| 245 wordsPreference utilitarians care about satisfying the preferences of other agents. There are agents in the past that have died, and agents in the future that have not yet been born. It seems weird (although consistent) to say that “being alive” is the condition that makes an agents preferences the kind...
-
Commitments are not "real"
| 421 wordsThere are two agents, Alice and Bob. There is an action a that Alice currently cannot take, (perhaps because it can only taken at a future point in time). Alice wants Bob to predict that Alice will take that action, perhaps so Bob doesn’t have to spend as much time...
-
How to do theoretical research, a personal perspective
| 4454 words“Where do new [algorithms] come from? I keep reading about someone who invented [an algorithm] to do something-or-other but there’s no mention of how.” A shrug of robed shoulders. “Where do new books come from, Mr. Potter? Those who read many books sometimes become able to write them in turn....
-
Facts from ECB CH5: DNA and Chromosomes
| 217 wordsThe Structure of Eukaryotic Chromosomes human cells contain 2 meters of DNA the human cell nucleus is only 5–8 μm in diameter packaging of DNA is accomplished with specialized proteins that bind and fold. This generates a series of coils and loops that provide high levels of organization bacteria have...
-
On London
| 591 wordsI recently had the occasion to wander around London with no particular goal. As I was walking, I found myself composing a profile of the town, as one might see in a travel guide. I enjoyed the act of composition, so I continued. Here it is, written down. The first...
-
Four Perspectives on Small Donors in EA
| 393 wordsVarious grantmakers in effective altruism possess billions of dollars and have dozens of full-time staff for evaluating grants. In such an ecosystem, donors with tens of thousands of dollars to donate each year seem like they don’t have much to contribute. Here are four plausible donation strategies: Funge with large...
-
Comparing Utilitarianism to Deontology is a Type Error
| 383 wordsThe colloquial interpretation of deontology and virtue ethics are instructions for being a good person. Deontology says: don’t do anything on this list of bad things, and you’ll be a good person. Virtue ethics says: don’t do anything that violates your heart’s sense of what is right and just, and...
-
When Learning a Skill Has Costs
| 306 wordsStatus: shortform There’s an argument that people sometimes make that goes: “learning how to lie is bad because then people can’t really trust your word anymore.” I think this is at least somewhat true, but I think it’s interesting why it’s true The key question is going to be “once...
-
Facts from ECB CH4: Protein Structure and Function
| 1486 wordsNote: one of the main things I understood better from reading this chapter is how much faster smaller things are than big things. Water molecules at room temperature are moving at roughtly 590 m/s. Enzymes are catalyzing roughly 1000 reactions a second. A cell uses millions of ATP per second....
-
Removing My Bets Page
| 364 wordsI am removing my bets page because making bets isn’t a central enough part of my life to display it so prominantly. This is a copy of the state when I took it down. I strive to take beliefs seriously. One way of doing this is betting on your beliefs....