whaack

Daniel Krawisz had a great video explaining on how to think independently. Here are two tips to get out of a cult:

Assume you're in a cult and you have to figure out what it is. Cult members are unaware they are in a cult, so if you are stuck in one to get out you must begin with the assumption that you are in one.

Embrace "evil." Cults paint the escape path from them as "evil" to keep their members locked in (i.e. the forbidden fruit) So you should at least entertain ideas that are forbidden within your circles, for they may be painted as evil to prevent you from seeing the way out.

A lot of people ask me why I don't have an NSAbook or an Instaspam account, so I figured I'd answer it here. (Remember that NSABook bought Instaspam so

It's not because they expose an incredible amount of your personal data.

It's not because they work closely with failing corrupt governments.

It's not because Instaspam DOESNT EVEN PROVIDE A WEBAPP, forcing you to download the Instaspam app, which defaults to all privileges on the play store including your location.

It's not because I don't agree with most of the politics of the institutions.

It's not because there are more bots than humans on their platforms.

It's not because of the psychological damage it causes to adolescents.

It's not because they've killed the individuality given by having your own website, creating an uninteresting homogenous internet.

No, it really isn't because of all of those reasons. I don't have an Instaspam account or an NSABook because they are a huge waste of time, and I have respect for the strength of their algorithms that are used to keep me on the site.

Let's say you have time t to complete some task g. So for an example we'll say your task is digging a hole that is a cylinder 10m deep with a 1m radius. Given values t and g, what can we say about how much time you should spend learning (i.e. reading a book on how to dig a hole well with a shovel) or applying what you know (grabbing the shovel and digging.)

This is a complex question because often one is not so sure how much can be gained by learning about the subject, if your intuition on how to use a shovel is correct then the book may be a waste of time. However there are a few conclusions and thoughts I've had regarding this problem:

1. As t->0 we want to apply more than we want to learn.

2. As t->infinity it is better to learn than to apply.

3. There is another process one can choose to dedicate time to, merely the one you and i are dedicating time to right now, which is the process of deciding how much time to spend between learning and applying, or in some sense the learning-how-to-learn process. Being stuck in this process could itself be a waste of time, ahh!

In closing, my guesstimate is you should spend 90% of the time learning and 10% applying, all else constant. But you're this question deals with incomplete information, so luck will play a large factor in which decision is correct.

One process that I want to automate is the process of grabbing an sexpr and turning it into a function. Here is what I do currently manually.

1. I decide that I want to take a block of code inside of a function, and abstract it into a separate function with one or more of the variables inside the sexpr turning into parameters of the new function.

2. I delete the sexpr in emacs (with ctrl-k) and then yank it outside of the original function (ctrl-y).

3. I give the function a name and define it by wrapping the extracted sexpr with

(defun my-new-func-name (param1) (..old sexpr..))

4. I replace the sexpr in the original function with a function call to my-new-func-name with the parameter passed in.

I will try to write this in emacs-lisp and post the code later. I would like to be able to possibly put the cursor on the variable that i want to become a parameter and then have the ability to keep pressing a button going further and further up the sexpr tree until i've reached the root node that i want to be the form that is put into the new function. Ideally with the parens highlighting each time i go up the tree.

I decided to switch my personal programming language from python -> Common Lisp. This took quite a bit of work, since CL is quite an old school language it uses a lot of conventions not found in modern programming languages. When you search for a solution to a problem in CL you have to really dig or solve it yourself, since it is not a mainstream language that will pop up with hundreds of stack overflow responses after a quick google search. So why did I choose this language?

1. I had been programming in python 2.7 for quite some time and all of the sudden the hype was to switch to python3. This caused many backwards compatibility issues and i saw no reason for the "upgrade". Thus i decided to stick with python2.7, but then I thought to myself, "if a young programmer starts in python3, then someday he will be in my position, except the switch to python2->python3 will now be python3->python4." Thus maybe i am the young programmer whom i am speaking of, and python2.7 is already the unnecessary upgrade of an even older program So i rewinded the clock all the way back till I found Common Lisp.

2. Python does not allow for multiline lambda expressions.

3. Lisp allows for creating code templates with macros. It lets you program in a way not really possible in non lispy languages.

4. Lisp has been around for a while, and it has picked up a few well written libraries over the time. When I look for a solution to a problem I need just one working solution, not 100 working solutions.

5. Lisp programs are easy to send over text communication channels because they can be autoformatted (unlike python).

6. And finally, Common Lisp is used by smart people that I respect.

Call me the konspiracy theorist, but I am very dubious about the publications of Google regarding AlphaGo and AlphaZero. AlphaGo famously beat Lee Sedol in a large heavily publicized show-match. However, as someone who does know Go past the basic rules, I cannot make judgements about the gameplay played at that level. And I wouldn't put it past Google to create a grand sham to dupe its search engine cattle.

Stockfish is impressive because you can download the code, and be amazed yourself on a rudimentary laptop. AlphaN seems to be behind a closed curtain, and we are required to trust an untrustworthy company about the authenticity of their accomplishments.

Before computers the cultural tradition was to count in base ten and teach it in schools because we had to choose some base and we have ten fingers so let's go with ten.

However now it is time to switch to base two, or maybe some other power of 10, because of the way that computers work. Whether or not schools teach base 10 before base ten will likely be a cultural divide. Back to our question, imagine that someone who keeps forgetting what number they're reached while they're counting decides to use his hands as a reference. He can count to 1111111111 if he treats each finger as a bit and marks the bit (1) if the finger is extended and marks it (0) if it is retracted. He can say one hundred thirty-two to anyone who tells him that reading from left to right or right to left is better than the other way, but I would go with letting your right pinky being extended while all others are retracted symbolize the number one.

Yesterday I renewed my 90 day travel visa to Costa Rica by entering and leaving Nicaragua. I drove about 2.5 hours to the border. While there, there were tons of people spreading disinfo to tourists saying they have to stay in Nicaragua for a few hours or even possible for a few days in order to be able to get a new visa. They try to offer safety in exchange for money.

I offered a tour guide $20 to walk me through the process on the stipulation I pay him once my visa was renewed.

There are four main steps:

1 Leave Costa Rica

Pay $7 to get an exit tax ticket, then go to official looking place to get a stamp.

2 Enter Nicaragua

Pay $1-3 for some small ticket. Then talk to an official, and TELL THEM THE TRUTH that you are only there to renew your visa when they ask the purpose of your visit. Then pay them $12.

3 Leave Nicaragua

Pay $2 fee.

4 Enter Costa Rica

Free, just show either a bus or plane ticket (picture on phone is okay) that leaves from Costa Rica within 90 days.

Kind of a pain in the ass.