Oversimplifiers vs. Difference Deniers: a dynamic regarding group differences that leads to rage and confusion

Here's a misery-filled dynamic that I believe commonly plays out regarding small observed differences between groups: (1) Two groups have a small (but meaningful) difference in their average value of some trait, with heavily overlapping distributions. (2) Some people ("Oversimplifiers") observe this difference (in their everyday life or media reports) and turn this small average difference into a (sometimes very harmful) oversimplification: "A's are like this, B's are like that." (3) O...
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Valuism and X: how Valuism sheds light on other domains – Part 5 of the sequence on Valuism

By Spencer Greenberg and Amber Dawn Ace  Image created using the A.I. DALL•E 2 This is the fifth and final part in my sequence of essays about my life philosophy, Valuism - here are the first, second, third, and fourth parts. In previous posts, I've described Valuism - my life philosophy. I've also discussed how it could serve as a life philosophy for others. In this post, I discuss how a Valuist lens can help shed light on various fields and areas of inquiry. Valuism and ...
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What would a robot value? An analogy for human values – part 4 of the Valuism sequence

By Spencer Greenberg and Amber Dawn Ace  This post is part of a sequence about Valuism - my life philosophy. This post is the most technical of the sequence. Here are the first, second, third, and fifth parts of the sequence. Image created using the A.I. DALL•E 2 This is the fourth of five posts in my sequence of essays about my life philosophy, Valuism - here are the first, second, third, and fifth parts (though the last link won’t work until that essay is released). I...
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13 metaphors to give the flavor of why sufficiently advanced A.I. could be extremely dangerous

Generated with the A.I. Midjourney
1. Suppose a new species evolves on earth with the same intellectual, planning, and coordination abilities relative to us that we have relative to chimps. Chimps are faster and stronger than most humans - why don't they run the show? 2. Suppose aliens show up on earth that are far smarter than the smartest among us at all cognitive tasks. They have specific goals that aren't fully aligned with ours, are completely unconstrained by human morality, and don't value our survival. What happens ne...
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Should Effective Altruists be Valuists instead of utilitarians? – part 3 in the Valuism sequence

By Spencer Greenberg and Amber Dawn Ace  Image created using the A.I. DALL•E 2 This is the third of five posts in my sequence of essays about my life philosophy, Valuism - here are the first, second, fourth, and fifth parts (though the links won’t work until those other essays are released). Sometimes, people take an important value - maybe their most important value - and decide to prioritize it above all other things. They neglect or ignore their other values in the process. In ...
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What to do when your values conflict? – part 2 in the Valuism sequence

By Spencer Greenberg and Amber Dawn Ace  Image created using the A.I. DALL•E 2 This is the second of five posts in my sequence of essays about my life philosophy, Valuism - here are the first, third, fourth, and fifth parts. Pretty much all of us have multiple intrinsic values (things we value for their own sake, not merely as a means to an end). This means that sometimes our intrinsic values come into conflict. For example, you might value: Both achieving ambitious goals and...
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Doing what you value as a life philosophy – an introduction to Valuism – part 1 in the Valuism sequence

By Spencer Greenberg and Amber Dawn Ace  Image created using the A.I. DALL•E 2 This is the first of five posts in my sequence of essays about my life philosophy, Valuism - here are the second, third, fourth, and fifth parts. Many of us struggle at times to know what to do. We are surrounded by conflicting advice about how to live our lives - from our parents, peers, and communities, from ancient philosophers, and from modern gurus and intellectuals. Faced with these confl...
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Tricks for Getting Started on a Project When You’re Stuck

If you ever have trouble starting on something that's important or find yourself procrastinating on a project, you may find it useful to notice what you feel at that moment and design your approach based on it. Here is a list of "feeling-based" strategies that may help you get started on what you have trouble getting yourself to do: If you are feeling: 1. unsure of where to start-> think of three really small, simple, actionable steps that would constitute a small amount of progress...
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The Reciprocation Problem

Sarah Parrott
The "reciprocation problem": a mathematical tragedy in relationships regarding how often people should ask each other to hang out The Setup Person X and person Y are friends (or lovers or close work colleagues or whatever). Person X and Person Y happen to both feel the same way about each other (i.e., equal amounts of interest, affection, lust, respect, etc.)Person X's ideal is to make plans with person Y every two weeks, whereas person Y (who has a lower amount of free time, or less need...
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Principles of Prioritization

By: Spencer Greenberg and Uri Bram For a new project, how do you decide WHAT to do WHEN? We propose that there are two main types of projects: 'Jigsaw Puzzles' and 'Quests'. Let's explore each type and how to best prioritize the tasks that they involve. Type 1: Jigsaw Puzzles A 'Jigsaw Puzzle' has a finite scope; you know what the steps are, more or less. Each piece of the puzzle has to be included in the project, so the question is just what order to do them in. A good example of ...
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