Parkinson's Law: Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.
Gates' Law: Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.
Goodhart's Law: When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.
Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity (or, ...
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optimization
How to run self-experiments to improve your life
Written: March 24, 2018 | Released: May 28, 2021
I suggest running experiments every month or two to find new ways to improve your life. The basic procedure is simple:(1) Think of something important you'd like to try to improve (e.g., your fitness, sleep, anxiety, dating life, friendships, productivity, happiness at work, etc.).(2) Come up with a few ideas for something safe you could start doing (or start doing differently) that you think may have a reasonable chance of substantially impro...
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16 Potentially-Dystopian Utopias
Suppose that humans one day (whether 20 or 200 years from now) create far more advanced technology, with power sufficient to reshape what the world is like, and even to determine what humanity becomes.
If that comes to pass, we’re going to be in trouble unless we also reach a better understanding of our own values and resolve the inconsistencies in them. We don’t have sufficient clarity on our values to say what the ideal world looks like. So if we ever have the power to truly redesign the w...
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