I’ve bit the bullet and decided to create this thing. I plan to use it to
Writing down your conclusions often makes you realize where your conclusions are wrong, or your techniques can be improved. Having to put all of your justifications into precise words, in a place others could read them, makes most bad reasoning obvious if you are paying attention.
I’ve bit the bullet and decided to create this thing. I plan to use it to
Writing down your conclusions often makes you realize where your conclusions are wrong, or your techniques can be improved. Having to put all of your justifications into precise words, in a place others could read them, makes most bad reasoning obvious if you are paying attention.
During my day job I frequently have to optimize software development tasks to leave only the most important, essential functionality and cut away all the bells and whistles.
This is sometimes abbreviated as MVP — Minimal Viable Product.
This blog is an example of a situation where I slipped into wanting to build a maximum viable product but steadied myself, albeit I little late.
OK, I need a new web-site
The worst mistake was that I started working on a solution right away… without defining a problem. I slipped into “ooh, shiny” techie-tinker mindset and was dead set on exploring new and fascinating frontiers of static site generators. The more I researched the more bells and whistles I gathered in my wish-list. It was like a trance.
Of course I need pagination! But not just any pagination, only the best kind: by categories, by tags, by months. Hm, maybe by music and mood too? To do that I just need to quickly read on about Jekyll collections and another couple of posts about how to do it all in a Github-preferred way.
That’s when my weekend ended and, still having nothing to show for it, I felt sad and disappointed. I gave up and decided that if I even were to get new site, I will hire a professional to do it. Some weeks later I even started making a tech spec to post on a freelance exchange. Including the fancy pagination et al, of course.
There was a slight problem though. I noticed a strange thing: it was really hard for me to describe in technical language what was required. Interesting. How come? Realization struck: I just really didn’t see the end product. And when I tried probing questions to elicit requirements from myself I understood that I was the proverbial perpetually-almost-satisfied client with an unlimited number of edits and improvements because he doesn’t know what he wants.
That’s when a stray thought of MVP came to me and I understood how wrong I’ve been. I don’t need fancy pagination or archived posts. I just need something to start pouring my thoughts into that also doesn’t look hideous. That’s when I installed Jekyll-now and slapped the Pixyll theme on it and here we are.
Before diving into a new sexy project
During my day job I frequently have to optimize software development tasks to leave only the most important, essential functionality and cut away all the bells and whistles.
This is sometimes abbreviated as MVP — Minimal Viable Product.
This blog is an example of a situation where I slipped into wanting to build a maximum viable product but steadied myself, albeit I little late.
OK, I need a new web-site
The worst mistake was that I started working on a solution right away… without defining a problem. I slipped into “ooh, shiny” techie-tinker mindset and was dead set on exploring new and fascinating frontiers of static site generators. The more I researched the more bells and whistles I gathered in my wish-list. It was like a trance.
Of course I need pagination! But not just any pagination, only the best kind: by categories, by tags, by months. Hm, maybe by music and mood too? To do that I just need to quickly read on about Jekyll collections and another couple of posts about how to do it all in a Github-preferred way.
That’s when my weekend ended and, still having nothing to show for it, I felt sad and disappointed. I gave up and decided that if I even were to get new site, I will hire a professional to do it. Some weeks later I even started making a tech spec to post on a freelance exchange. Including the fancy pagination et al, of course.
There was a slight problem though. I noticed a strange thing: it was really hard for me to describe in technical language what was required. Interesting. How come? Realization struck: I just really didn’t see the end product. And when I tried probing questions to elicit requirements from myself I understood that I was the proverbial perpetually-almost-satisfied client with an unlimited number of edits and improvements because he doesn’t know what he wants.
That’s when a stray thought of MVP came to me and I understood how wrong I’ve been. I don’t need fancy pagination or archived posts. I just need something to start pouring my thoughts into that also doesn’t look hideous. That’s when I installed Jekyll-now and slapped the Pixyll theme on it and here we are.
Before diving into a new sexy project
This feels extremely valuable. Adding this as a goal myself.
So I now have a double commitment: to act in each moment out of a sense of purposeful discipline, and also to not waste my energy fighting myself.
And, as Dogen recommends: “to practise the Way as though saving my head from fire.”
This means that if I notice myself feeling aimless, or I notice myself feeling stuck or oscillating, dealing with that immediately rather than acting from it. Focusing on addressing internal conflicts might yield less short-term output than if I were to stay focused on the object-level and push through with “willpower”, trying to win my internal conflict. Focusing on staying purpose-driven in each moment will almost certainly be less comfortable than a more calm spaciousness, but if I don’t then I can’t actually trust myself to resolve my conflicts in service of what I care about.
Conflict is inherently wasteful, as energy is spent by both sides but the effects cancel each other out. Tiago Forte points out in The Throughput of Learning that Toyota’s production line aims for zero waste. They don’t expect to reach literally zero, but having that as a target makes it clear to the whole system that they’re playing a totally different game than mere waste mitigation or waste reduction.
Malcolm Ocean
http://malcolmocean.com/2017/06/towards-being-purpose-driven-without-fighting-myself/
This feels extremely valuable. Adding this as a goal myself.
So I now have a double commitment: to act in each moment out of a sense of purposeful discipline, and also to not waste my energy fighting myself.
And, as Dogen recommends: “to practise the Way as though saving my head from fire.”
This means that if I notice myself feeling aimless, or I notice myself feeling stuck or oscillating, dealing with that immediately rather than acting from it. Focusing on addressing internal conflicts might yield less short-term output than if I were to stay focused on the object-level and push through with “willpower”, trying to win my internal conflict. Focusing on staying purpose-driven in each moment will almost certainly be less comfortable than a more calm spaciousness, but if I don’t then I can’t actually trust myself to resolve my conflicts in service of what I care about.
Conflict is inherently wasteful, as energy is spent by both sides but the effects cancel each other out. Tiago Forte points out in The Throughput of Learning that Toyota’s production line aims for zero waste. They don’t expect to reach literally zero, but having that as a target makes it clear to the whole system that they’re playing a totally different game than mere waste mitigation or waste reduction.
Malcolm Ocean
http://malcolmocean.com/2017/06/towards-being-purpose-driven-without-fighting-myself/
The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective by Puzhong Yao
Though I think the author overgeneralizes in his conclusion, this article provided a very interesting tidbit of information: admission ratio in China Universities is around 1500:1. That’s extremely competitive.
Quick google check found me this Quora question with answers like:
As rule of thumb - it’s 1 in 100 to 1 in 1000 (in some popular fields may be even 1 in 5000).
In most provinces, the admission rate ranges from nearly 0.04% to 0.1%
O_O Wow
Yao describes his rise from the bottom of his class in China to the top of his class in England, seemingly only because the top level in England corresponds to low one in his University.
I know there are a lot of assumptions embedded, nevertheless I have a newfound respect for those Chinese who make it though this sieve.
It will be really interesting to meet one of them.
The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective by Puzhong Yao
Though I think the author overgeneralizes in his conclusion, this article provided a very interesting tidbit of information: admission ratio in China Universities is around 1500:1. That’s extremely competitive.
Quick google check found me this Quora question with answers like:
As rule of thumb - it’s 1 in 100 to 1 in 1000 (in some popular fields may be even 1 in 5000).
In most provinces, the admission rate ranges from nearly 0.04% to 0.1%
O_O Wow
Yao describes his rise from the bottom of his class in China to the top of his class in England, seemingly only because the top level in England corresponds to low one in his University.
I know there are a lot of assumptions embedded, nevertheless I have a newfound respect for those Chinese who make it though this sieve.
It will be really interesting to meet one of them.
Choosing is an area of life that I plan to optimize by removing as much day-to-day choosing as possible (wakeup routine, outfit choice, meal choice, relaxation routine, etc)
In his two elegantly titled posts Zvi explains why: 1) Choices are Bad and 2) Choices Are Really Bad
A movie you would have enjoyed if it was just on makes you feel like a schmuck if you take twenty minutes choosing it from thousands at the video store.
Thus, giving me a choice between a Snickers bar that I value at $1 and M&Ms I value at 60 cents doesn’t only force me into choosing mode, lower my perceived value and help create decision fatigue (and potentially cost willpower). It also risks that if I’m not paying attention or thinking clearly, I will choose the M&Ms, and that would be a tragedy.
I try to remove choosing in other people’s lives too. In situations where I know they do not value ability to choose that much: like what cafe should be go to, what street to turn to next, snickers or m&ms, etc. Of course, I don’t force the choice on them - if they want to choose, it’s their right.
Also recommended read on somewhat similar topic:
The Zvi on why we should choose what we change very carefully. Every change has a cost. Sounds obvious but there were quite a few ‘aha’ moments while reading this. As usual with Zvi, this is delightfully all-encompassing.
Older people have had more time to optimize and have less time to optimize again, so it makes sense that they hate change even more than others. They should.
Choosing is an area of life that I plan to optimize by removing as much day-to-day choosing as possible (wakeup routine, outfit choice, meal choice, relaxation routine, etc)
In his two elegantly titled posts Zvi explains why: 1) Choices are Bad and 2) Choices Are Really Bad
A movie you would have enjoyed if it was just on makes you feel like a schmuck if you take twenty minutes choosing it from thousands at the video store.
Thus, giving me a choice between a Snickers bar that I value at $1 and M&Ms I value at 60 cents doesn’t only force me into choosing mode, lower my perceived value and help create decision fatigue (and potentially cost willpower). It also risks that if I’m not paying attention or thinking clearly, I will choose the M&Ms, and that would be a tragedy.
I try to remove choosing in other people’s lives too. In situations where I know they do not value ability to choose that much: like what cafe should be go to, what street to turn to next, snickers or m&ms, etc. Of course, I don’t force the choice on them - if they want to choose, it’s their right.
Also recommended read on somewhat similar topic:
The Zvi on why we should choose what we change very carefully. Every change has a cost. Sounds obvious but there were quite a few ‘aha’ moments while reading this. As usual with Zvi, this is delightfully all-encompassing.
Older people have had more time to optimize and have less time to optimize again, so it makes sense that they hate change even more than others. They should.
Researchers […] found a strong correlation between men’s flourishing lives and their relationships with family, friends, and community. Several studies found that people’s level of satisfaction with their relationships at age 50 was a better predictor of physical health than their cholesterol levels were.
Researchers […] found a strong correlation between men’s flourishing lives and their relationships with family, friends, and community. Several studies found that people’s level of satisfaction with their relationships at age 50 was a better predictor of physical health than their cholesterol levels were.
Paul Graham on acceleration of addictiveness:
And unless the rate at which social antibodies evolve can increase to match the accelerating rate at which technological progress throws off new addictions, we’ll be increasingly unable to rely on customs to protect us. [3] Unless we want to be canaries in the coal mine of each new addiction—the people whose sad example becomes a lesson to future generations—we’ll have to figure out for ourselves what to avoid and how. It will actually become a reasonable strategy (or a more reasonable strategy) to suspect everything new.
Paul Graham on acceleration of addictiveness:
And unless the rate at which social antibodies evolve can increase to match the accelerating rate at which technological progress throws off new addictions, we’ll be increasingly unable to rely on customs to protect us. [3] Unless we want to be canaries in the coal mine of each new addiction—the people whose sad example becomes a lesson to future generations—we’ll have to figure out for ourselves what to avoid and how. It will actually become a reasonable strategy (or a more reasonable strategy) to suspect everything new.
I plan to start my Comfort Zone Crusher course some time this year.
Here’s a few good citations about beliefs that hamper your social life:
You don’t need to make people like you. Learn to be okay with who you are, and you’re going to attract people who naturally like you.
The easier you are on yourself, the more likely you will say something that resonates with the people around you.
Your social skills are good enough. Instead, work on overcoming your fear.
Fear is NOT the problem. Our reaction to fear is. Instead of learning to get rid of fear, we need to learn to take action DESPITE feeling fear. This means saying “Hi” to a stranger, even though you have shaky knees, trembling hands, and a squeaky voice. Take action despite feeling fear. This is what courage is all about.
http://www.comfortzonecrusher.com/4-things-believe-mess-social-life/
I plan to start my Comfort Zone Crusher course some time this year.
Here’s a few good citations about beliefs that hamper your social life:
You don’t need to make people like you. Learn to be okay with who you are, and you’re going to attract people who naturally like you.
The easier you are on yourself, the more likely you will say something that resonates with the people around you.
Your social skills are good enough. Instead, work on overcoming your fear.
Fear is NOT the problem. Our reaction to fear is. Instead of learning to get rid of fear, we need to learn to take action DESPITE feeling fear. This means saying “Hi” to a stranger, even though you have shaky knees, trembling hands, and a squeaky voice. Take action despite feeling fear. This is what courage is all about.
http://www.comfortzonecrusher.com/4-things-believe-mess-social-life/
From time to time I Pocket articles that seem like they would help me when I’ll start working toward my own business.
As I see it now, that time wouldn’t come in 2018 2019, so I’ll make a handy stash of these articles here.
That’ll help to empty out my Pocket and somewhat placate my FOMO (it seems to think that all the cool people are entrepreneurs) without it costing too much:
— You see, Mr. I-wanna-be-a-successfull-entrepreneur-guy, I’m making progress, my article list is mighty long!
When I come reading, I’ll mark them off the list and maybe even leave comments about their utility.
Also, when I come, I will have to think of something that will prevent paralysis by analysis.
Last-updated: May 30, 2020
From time to time I Pocket articles that seem like they would help me when I’ll start working toward my own business.
As I see it now, that time wouldn’t come in 2018 2019, so I’ll make a handy stash of these articles here.
That’ll help to empty out my Pocket and somewhat placate my FOMO (it seems to think that all the cool people are entrepreneurs) without it costing too much:
— You see, Mr. I-wanna-be-a-successfull-entrepreneur-guy, I’m making progress, my article list is mighty long!
When I come reading, I’ll mark them off the list and maybe even leave comments about their utility.
Also, when I come, I will have to think of something that will prevent paralysis by analysis.
Last-updated: May 30, 2020
Basically, Facebook is bad - their goal is maximize the time you use the site (↑ad revenue). That means not allowing for efficient means of getting value out of the site’s main feature: a lot of people. Not allowing you control what and how you see (sort, search, The Zvi also wrote about it here)
So here The Zvi describes the alternatives to Facebook: https://thezvi.wordpress.com/2017/04/22/against-facebook-comparison-to-alternatives-and-call-to-action/
Basically, Facebook is bad - their goal is maximize the time you use the site (↑ad revenue). That means not allowing for efficient means of getting value out of the site’s main feature: a lot of people. Not allowing you control what and how you see (sort, search, The Zvi also wrote about it here)
So here The Zvi describes the alternatives to Facebook: https://thezvi.wordpress.com/2017/04/22/against-facebook-comparison-to-alternatives-and-call-to-action/
Avichal Garg on Why Education Startups Do Not Succeed — an interesting article from the guy who co-founded one in 2001.
You think of education as fundamentally a quality problem. The average person thinks of education as fundamentally a cost problem.
Educational companies that focus on delivering higher quality solutions to consumers will not scale to the mainstream. Educational companies built around driving down costs to the end consumer will scale.
His other posts also seem interesting if a bit rare (8 total).
If the Chinese person doesn’t get an education there’s a good chance they will not get a job. They will die poor, unable to adequately feed their children, and unable to take care of their parents […]
Hmm, I wonder if that has something to do with admission rates of thousands to one in China universities.
Avichal Garg on Why Education Startups Do Not Succeed — an interesting article from the guy who co-founded one in 2001.
You think of education as fundamentally a quality problem. The average person thinks of education as fundamentally a cost problem.
Educational companies that focus on delivering higher quality solutions to consumers will not scale to the mainstream. Educational companies built around driving down costs to the end consumer will scale.
His other posts also seem interesting if a bit rare (8 total).
If the Chinese person doesn’t get an education there’s a good chance they will not get a job. They will die poor, unable to adequately feed their children, and unable to take care of their parents […]
Hmm, I wonder if that has something to do with admission rates of thousands to one in China universities.
‘More Dakka’ by Zvi starts as a review on Eliezer Yudkowsky’s book Inadequate Eqilibria, and then turns to apply ideas of The Thing and the Symbolic Representation of The Thing by Zvi, and Scott Alexander’s Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice to expand on whys and hows of the problem that I can only vaguely name as “Why don’t we try really doing things”. I do recommend reading all three posts, it was a feel-good delta knowledge for me. Here I will focus on ‘More Dakka’ which expands on why we do not try seemingly obvious solutions, or attempt and never finish.
People express gratitude. We are told it improves subjective well-being in studies. Our subjective well-being improves a little. We could express more gratitude, with no real downsides. Almost all of us don’t.
If something is a good idea, you need a reason to not try doing more of it. No, seriously. You need a reason.
do more of what is already working and see if it works more
Doing the Thing instead of the Symbolic Representation of The Thing is harder because:
- You need to realize the thing might exist at all.
- You need to realize the symbolic representation of the thing isn’t the thing.
- You need to ignore the idea that you’ve done your job.
- You need to actually care about solving the problem.
- You need to think about the problem a little.
- You need to ignore the idea that no one could blame you for not trying.
[…]
And then he explains each one in more detail. It looks like a bunch of small inconveniences that together form a learned helplessness buffer that prevents any actual work getting done.
Something possibly being slightly socially awkward, or causing a likely nominal failure, acts as a veto. Rationalizations for this are created as needed.
Some such worries are real. […] But they’re mostly trying to halt thinking about the object level, to keep you from being the nail that sticks up and gets hammered down. When someone else raises them, mostly they’re the hammer. The fears are mirages we’ve been trained and built to see.
↑ This is one of my goals: Getting to the object level, asking ‘why?’ and ‘what can be done to overcome this obstacle?’ until the Thing is really done.
‘More Dakka’ by Zvi starts as a review on Eliezer Yudkowsky’s book Inadequate Eqilibria, and then turns to apply ideas of The Thing and the Symbolic Representation of The Thing by Zvi, and Scott Alexander’s Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice to expand on whys and hows of the problem that I can only vaguely name as “Why don’t we try really doing things”. I do recommend reading all three posts, it was a feel-good delta knowledge for me. Here I will focus on ‘More Dakka’ which expands on why we do not try seemingly obvious solutions, or attempt and never finish.
People express gratitude. We are told it improves subjective well-being in studies. Our subjective well-being improves a little. We could express more gratitude, with no real downsides. Almost all of us don’t.
If something is a good idea, you need a reason to not try doing more of it. No, seriously. You need a reason.
do more of what is already working and see if it works more
Doing the Thing instead of the Symbolic Representation of The Thing is harder because:
- You need to realize the thing might exist at all.
- You need to realize the symbolic representation of the thing isn’t the thing.
- You need to ignore the idea that you’ve done your job.
- You need to actually care about solving the problem.
- You need to think about the problem a little.
- You need to ignore the idea that no one could blame you for not trying.
[…]
And then he explains each one in more detail. It looks like a bunch of small inconveniences that together form a learned helplessness buffer that prevents any actual work getting done.
Something possibly being slightly socially awkward, or causing a likely nominal failure, acts as a veto. Rationalizations for this are created as needed.
Some such worries are real. […] But they’re mostly trying to halt thinking about the object level, to keep you from being the nail that sticks up and gets hammered down. When someone else raises them, mostly they’re the hammer. The fears are mirages we’ve been trained and built to see.
↑ This is one of my goals: Getting to the object level, asking ‘why?’ and ‘what can be done to overcome this obstacle?’ until the Thing is really done.
David Cain about things that he knows are good for him but he still only does them seldomly.
Number 8 will blow your mind! Just kidding. But seriously, I’ll quote the ones that apply to me the most:
2) I never regret working out. […]
10) The quickest and most reliable path to personal improvement is to do the things on my list that I resist most. […]
11) All you need to do to finish things is keep starting them until they’re done. […]
14) The most consistently joyful activities for me are visiting with other people and reading books.
After spending most of my life preferring various solitary entertainments to socializing, I’ve recently came to similar understanding about meeting other people. It seems to energize me and fill me with joy (self-reported mood data supports it). The trick is to find like-minded people. Maybe I’ll write a post about it sometime - it was a very big change in my life.
David Cain about things that he knows are good for him but he still only does them seldomly.
Number 8 will blow your mind! Just kidding. But seriously, I’ll quote the ones that apply to me the most:
2) I never regret working out. […]
10) The quickest and most reliable path to personal improvement is to do the things on my list that I resist most. […]
11) All you need to do to finish things is keep starting them until they’re done. […]
14) The most consistently joyful activities for me are visiting with other people and reading books.
After spending most of my life preferring various solitary entertainments to socializing, I’ve recently came to similar understanding about meeting other people. It seems to energize me and fill me with joy (self-reported mood data supports it). The trick is to find like-minded people. Maybe I’ll write a post about it sometime - it was a very big change in my life.
I describe my processes for writing here and the goals behind those processes. Previously: first post in the blog and why I did it.
I’ll just dive into different types of posts and describe the process and goals for each type.
Links to articles, posts, webcomics etc — are not included in the general blog roll in the root of this blog
— the default type of posts that you see in the root if this blog. General blog posts are almost the same as link-posts above but I feel a lot more strongly about sharing these: their perceived importance is high. Also they tend to contain more text written by yours truly.
Getting more writing experience for
Same as for link-posts, but more time-consuming. Also, sometimes I have original ideas whereas link-posts are usually just my interpretation of someone else’s ideas.
I will update this post if I change the process or the goals.
I describe my processes for writing here and the goals behind those processes. Previously: first post in the blog and why I did it.
I’ll just dive into different types of posts and describe the process and goals for each type.
Links to articles, posts, webcomics etc — are not included in the general blog roll in the root of this blog
— the default type of posts that you see in the root if this blog. General blog posts are almost the same as link-posts above but I feel a lot more strongly about sharing these: their perceived importance is high. Also they tend to contain more text written by yours truly.
Getting more writing experience for
Same as for link-posts, but more time-consuming. Also, sometimes I have original ideas whereas link-posts are usually just my interpretation of someone else’s ideas.
I will update this post if I change the process or the goals.
And what to do about it.
Here’s what’s happening when I’m not in a relationship for some time.
Acceptable partner attractiveness (APA) is everything I seek for in a partner: physical beauty, personal qualities, etc.
My primitive mind auto-applies dates’ courting easiness labels based on attractiveness. The less attractive the date, the easier it seems to court her.
I am programmed to do least possible amount work to achieve my goals so, if acting by default, I will court dates with lower perceived attractiveness because it seems like less work, and still gets acceptable result. Why try hard when easy’s good enough? My amygdala doesn’t care that the result is only acceptable right in that moment and will become unacceptable soon after that.
Maybe it’s just me, but when you’re fresh out of a relationship, you don’t seem too eager to jump start a new one. But as the loneliness goes on, desire for a relationship grows. So not only your requirements are lowered, you actually want being in a relationship more, exactly at the time when they are low.
As the acceptable standard lowers, the pool of available partners grows and it’s easier to start a new relationship. There would not be a problem if acceptable SO attractiveness didn’t rise to the max after that, but it does and the consequences are dire.
Being in a relationship that doesn’t satisfy you sucks. The internal conflict rises: should I stay or should I go? ♫
It’s not an easy choice, you have emotional attachment and a whole host of cognitive biases working against you:
Wanting to stay in a relationship is reinforced by many biases (status quo bias, ambiguity effect, choice supportive bias, loss aversion, mere-exposure effect, ostrich effect). For someone to break through all those biases and end things, they must be extremely unhappy.
The more this draws on the more stakes are in opportunity cost and the more it becomes harder to break things apart. Some stay in this state of conflict throughout their whole lives.
Worth mentioning: I am not an extreme idealist, I understand there can be compromises. Here I am speaking of cases when you can’t compromise after standards go up again.
I think that it’s a response to one of the basic needs not being met.
I’ll try a metaphor. Imagine you do not have a place to sleep. In the morning you do not need to sleep so your idea of a place to sleep is a 5-star hotel. In the afternoon you become a little sleepier and make vague attempts on finding a hotel, any hotel. In the evening you’re sleepy and really need a place to rest, and will agree on a capsule hotel or a hostel.
Or maybe it’s just evolution nudging: “Come on, stop thinking, procreate!”.
It looks like a natural thing to happen after a bare minimum of a need is met. In a place-to-sleep example above: after a night in a capsule hotel you do feel somewhat refreshed, but you also understand that you need silence to sleep really well.
Maybe it’s solvable by casual sex without serious relationships? Maybe if you fulfill your basic needs elsewhere, your standards do not lower?
What did I miss? How do you solve this problem? Please share.
If you are my partner and you’re wondering what if I secretly think of you as a subpar choice, I have good news. This post is a public commitment: I will only start relationships with those who meet my criteria for a partner. It still doesn’t make our relationship bulletproof and there are ways it can go awry, but at least I (and you) have one less thing to worry about.
And what to do about it.
Here’s what’s happening when I’m not in a relationship for some time.
Acceptable partner attractiveness (APA) is everything I seek for in a partner: physical beauty, personal qualities, etc.
My primitive mind auto-applies dates’ courting easiness labels based on attractiveness. The less attractive the date, the easier it seems to court her.
I am programmed to do least possible amount work to achieve my goals so, if acting by default, I will court dates with lower perceived attractiveness because it seems like less work, and still gets acceptable result. Why try hard when easy’s good enough? My amygdala doesn’t care that the result is only acceptable right in that moment and will become unacceptable soon after that.
Maybe it’s just me, but when you’re fresh out of a relationship, you don’t seem too eager to jump start a new one. But as the loneliness goes on, desire for a relationship grows. So not only your requirements are lowered, you actually want being in a relationship more, exactly at the time when they are low.
As the acceptable standard lowers, the pool of available partners grows and it’s easier to start a new relationship. There would not be a problem if acceptable SO attractiveness didn’t rise to the max after that, but it does and the consequences are dire.
Being in a relationship that doesn’t satisfy you sucks. The internal conflict rises: should I stay or should I go? ♫
It’s not an easy choice, you have emotional attachment and a whole host of cognitive biases working against you:
Wanting to stay in a relationship is reinforced by many biases (status quo bias, ambiguity effect, choice supportive bias, loss aversion, mere-exposure effect, ostrich effect). For someone to break through all those biases and end things, they must be extremely unhappy.
The more this draws on the more stakes are in opportunity cost and the more it becomes harder to break things apart. Some stay in this state of conflict throughout their whole lives.
Worth mentioning: I am not an extreme idealist, I understand there can be compromises. Here I am speaking of cases when you can’t compromise after standards go up again.
I think that it’s a response to one of the basic needs not being met.
I’ll try a metaphor. Imagine you do not have a place to sleep. In the morning you do not need to sleep so your idea of a place to sleep is a 5-star hotel. In the afternoon you become a little sleepier and make vague attempts on finding a hotel, any hotel. In the evening you’re sleepy and really need a place to rest, and will agree on a capsule hotel or a hostel.
Or maybe it’s just evolution nudging: “Come on, stop thinking, procreate!”.
It looks like a natural thing to happen after a bare minimum of a need is met. In a place-to-sleep example above: after a night in a capsule hotel you do feel somewhat refreshed, but you also understand that you need silence to sleep really well.
Maybe it’s solvable by casual sex without serious relationships? Maybe if you fulfill your basic needs elsewhere, your standards do not lower?
What did I miss? How do you solve this problem? Please share.
If you are my partner and you’re wondering what if I secretly think of you as a subpar choice, I have good news. This post is a public commitment: I will only start relationships with those who meet my criteria for a partner. It still doesn’t make our relationship bulletproof and there are ways it can go awry, but at least I (and you) have one less thing to worry about.
Elliot Temple about Taking Children Seriously
Taking Children Seriously (TCS) is a rational, non-coercive philosophy of parenting and learning which says:
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* The main goal of parenting is to help children learn.
+ Taking Children Seriously - philosophy of parenting | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Taking Children Seriously - philosophy of parenting
Elliot Temple about Taking Children Seriously
Taking Children Seriously (TCS) is a rational, non-coercive philosophy of parenting and learning which says:
* The main goal of parenting is to help children learn.
* Punishing doesn’t help with learning.
* Reason helps everyone win.
* Ignorance isn’t stupidity.
diff --git a/2018/03/25/Giving-up-too-hastily-on-hard-goals.html b/2018/03/25/Giving-up-too-hastily-on-hard-goals.html
index 673bfd15a7e56..1bf6e318f58be 100644
--- a/2018/03/25/Giving-up-too-hastily-on-hard-goals.html
+++ b/2018/03/25/Giving-up-too-hastily-on-hard-goals.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Giving up too hastily on hard goals | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Giving up too hastily on hard goals
Eliezer Yudkowsky’s Use the Try Harder, Luke — is a short funny story about how we’re conditioned for giving up fast, after (also hastily) labeling something as impossible.
This continues with a longer piece On Doing the Impossible
To do things that are very difficult or “impossible”,
First you have to not run away. That takes seconds.
Then you have to work. That takes hours.
Then you have to stick at it. That takes years.
+ Giving up too hastily on hard goals | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Giving up too hastily on hard goals
Eliezer Yudkowsky’s Use the Try Harder, Luke — is a short funny story about how we’re conditioned for giving up fast, after (also hastily) labeling something as impossible.
This continues with a longer piece On Doing the Impossible
To do things that are very difficult or “impossible”,
First you have to not run away. That takes seconds.
Then you have to work. That takes hours.
Then you have to stick at it. That takes years.
diff --git a/2018/03/25/Religion-growth-framework-and-enlightenment.html b/2018/03/25/Religion-growth-framework-and-enlightenment.html
index 2fd649208fde1..35df84a3b3460 100644
--- a/2018/03/25/Religion-growth-framework-and-enlightenment.html
+++ b/2018/03/25/Religion-growth-framework-and-enlightenment.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Religion, growth framework and enlightenment | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Religion, growth framework and enlightenment
Tim Urban about Religion for the Nonreligious
Like many of his great posts, this one is long. I’ve read it in 2015 when I was struggling to find my way around religion and it stroke a chord. For me, it’s about two things:
1. States of mind
(1) Engulfed in primitive, primal thoughts
(2) See things as they are, enlightenment
2. Creating a better belief system
…smelted with a growth framework.
Coincidentally, growth framework is something that I lacked in 2015. I now have a system in place, it’s still new and I’m not as religious about it as Tim. I will make a post about it after 1 year test-drive.
Short quote
Yes, I’m an atheist, but atheism isn’t a growth model any more than “I don’t like rollerblading” is a workout strategy.
+ Religion, growth framework and enlightenment | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Religion, growth framework and enlightenment
Tim Urban about Religion for the Nonreligious
Like many of his great posts, this one is long. I’ve read it in 2015 when I was struggling to find my way around religion and it stroke a chord. For me, it’s about two things:
1. States of mind
(1) Engulfed in primitive, primal thoughts
(2) See things as they are, enlightenment
2. Creating a better belief system
…smelted with a growth framework.
Coincidentally, growth framework is something that I lacked in 2015. I now have a system in place, it’s still new and I’m not as religious about it as Tim. I will make a post about it after 1 year test-drive.
Short quote
Yes, I’m an atheist, but atheism isn’t a growth model any more than “I don’t like rollerblading” is a workout strategy.
diff --git a/2018/03/31/Tony-Robbins-interview-with-Tim-Ferriss-my-takeaways.html b/2018/03/31/Tony-Robbins-interview-with-Tim-Ferriss-my-takeaways.html
index 31b3903e17f06..efd89409e44af 100644
--- a/2018/03/31/Tony-Robbins-interview-with-Tim-Ferriss-my-takeaways.html
+++ b/2018/03/31/Tony-Robbins-interview-with-Tim-Ferriss-my-takeaways.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Tony Robbins interview with Tim Ferriss - my takeaways | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Tony Robbins interview with Tim Ferriss - my takeaways
I’ve first heard Tony Robbins’ interviews sometime in 2016. I was fascinated: a great story-teller and he speaks about things that interest me — mood-states that affect behavior, and how to change your energy levels. Here are my takeaways from one of his interviews with Tim Ferriss. Each paragraph is a paraphrased quote from Tony followed by my comment in italics.
-
You have to give to prosper. Even if you think you don’t have enough.
That is something I struggle with as it’s not obvious to me why I should divert resources from myself. I’m going to speak with effective altruists (EA) and try and get convinced.
-
Number one quality to foster is staying hungry, this will bring others along. How to do it? Be among people who are successful. You are who you spend time with. To be happy you need to grow.
This is also something that is hard for me - by default I don’t value friendship that much. At least I understand the logic here and I’m making progress: meeting new people and starting (non-romantic) relationships with them.
-
Failure is a part of life. It doesn’t need to stop you. It’s a stepping stone to success, speed bump. I know I’m going to fail, but it’s not failure if you learn something. We don’t value what we don’t fight for. Like cheating in video games. There’s no such thing as effortless approach.
I did have a belief along the lines of “life should be easy”. And that was (and still is sometimes) a source of discontent for me.
-
Money doesn’t change you, it magnifies what you already are.
That is also why I think I should start donating now, and looks like that is what EA guys preach too (donate at least 1% to create a habit)
-
The most important decision in your life is deciding whether you’re truly committed to being happy no matter what. You will experience extreme stress, no matter what. Life’s too short to suffer. Decide to be in a beautiful state. This brain is not designed to make you happy, it’s designed to make you survive. You have to work to be happy.
See also Tim Urban’s Social Survival Mammoth
-
Highest experiences in life have this in common: there is some growth within ourselves (face a fear, overcome something, etc) and some contribution beyond ourselves. Worst experiences are about only you. When you are suffering it’s because you’re obsessing about yourself. Something happened and you have less of something, or you lost something (love, money, significance, attention). Loss, less, never are the sources of suffering. All suffering is obsession with self. Snap out of your suffering. Stop expecting and start appreciating things outside of yourself: people, nature. You learn and grow from that. If you love, if you give, if you’re grateful - suffering disappears instantly.
It’s a good a place to paste my favorite quote from a Haruki Murakami book cover: “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”
Later in 2016 I’ve decided to attend one of Tony’s seminars to get some of that energy from the man himself. I attended UPW London 2017 and it was like a giant dancing rave with applied psychology and lots of hugs. I loved it.
After I go through my notes, I’ll post my takeaways from there as well.
+ Tony Robbins interview with Tim Ferriss - my takeaways | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Tony Robbins interview with Tim Ferriss - my takeaways
I’ve first heard Tony Robbins’ interviews sometime in 2016. I was fascinated: a great story-teller and he speaks about things that interest me — mood-states that affect behavior, and how to change your energy levels. Here are my takeaways from one of his interviews with Tim Ferriss. Each paragraph is a paraphrased quote from Tony followed by my comment in italics.
-
You have to give to prosper. Even if you think you don’t have enough.
That is something I struggle with as it’s not obvious to me why I should divert resources from myself. I’m going to speak with effective altruists (EA) and try and get convinced.
-
Number one quality to foster is staying hungry, this will bring others along. How to do it? Be among people who are successful. You are who you spend time with. To be happy you need to grow.
This is also something that is hard for me - by default I don’t value friendship that much. At least I understand the logic here and I’m making progress: meeting new people and starting (non-romantic) relationships with them.
-
Failure is a part of life. It doesn’t need to stop you. It’s a stepping stone to success, speed bump. I know I’m going to fail, but it’s not failure if you learn something. We don’t value what we don’t fight for. Like cheating in video games. There’s no such thing as effortless approach.
I did have a belief along the lines of “life should be easy”. And that was (and still is sometimes) a source of discontent for me.
-
Money doesn’t change you, it magnifies what you already are.
That is also why I think I should start donating now, and looks like that is what EA guys preach too (donate at least 1% to create a habit)
-
The most important decision in your life is deciding whether you’re truly committed to being happy no matter what. You will experience extreme stress, no matter what. Life’s too short to suffer. Decide to be in a beautiful state. This brain is not designed to make you happy, it’s designed to make you survive. You have to work to be happy.
See also Tim Urban’s Social Survival Mammoth
-
Highest experiences in life have this in common: there is some growth within ourselves (face a fear, overcome something, etc) and some contribution beyond ourselves. Worst experiences are about only you. When you are suffering it’s because you’re obsessing about yourself. Something happened and you have less of something, or you lost something (love, money, significance, attention). Loss, less, never are the sources of suffering. All suffering is obsession with self. Snap out of your suffering. Stop expecting and start appreciating things outside of yourself: people, nature. You learn and grow from that. If you love, if you give, if you’re grateful - suffering disappears instantly.
It’s a good a place to paste my favorite quote from a Haruki Murakami book cover: “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”
Later in 2016 I’ve decided to attend one of Tony’s seminars to get some of that energy from the man himself. I attended UPW London 2017 and it was like a giant dancing rave with applied psychology and lots of hugs. I loved it.
After I go through my notes, I’ll post my takeaways from there as well.
diff --git a/2018/04/07/How-successful-people-work-less-and-get-more-done.html b/2018/04/07/How-successful-people-work-less-and-get-more-done.html
index 435ce345041bd..83821b69d3355 100644
--- a/2018/04/07/How-successful-people-work-less-and-get-more-done.html
+++ b/2018/04/07/How-successful-people-work-less-and-get-more-done.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- How successful people work less — and get more done | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin How successful people work less — and get more done
Travis Bradberry on How successful people work less—and get more done
Quite a diverse list of things, actually:
- They disconnect
- They minimize chores
- They reflect
- They exercise
- They pursue a passion
- They spend quality time with family
- They schedule micro-adventures
- They wake up at the same time
- They designate mornings as “me time”
- They prepare for the upcoming week
But most importantly, they attac
See the article for more details. This list is by no means scientific, I included it here as a goal-reminder: I already do more than half of it, probably should look into what’s left.
The study found that productivity per hour declines sharply when the workweek exceeds 50 hours, and productivity drops off so much after 55 hours that there’s no point in working any more. That’s right, people who work as much as 70 hours (or more) per week actually get the same amount done as people who work 55 hours.
Note that they studied people productivity in manufacturing, e.g. “Forty Women Milling a Screw Thread on Fuze Bodies”, I’m not sure how well it translates to creative work.
At first I grabbed this article and sent it to people who (I think) overwork. To which they countered that output of 55 hours is still bigger than that of 40 hours of work. Of course you have to pay the price, but still, if you’re willing and can do so sustainably, you really can get more done by working more than 8 hours a day (or without weekends).
+ How successful people work less — and get more done | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin How successful people work less — and get more done
Travis Bradberry on How successful people work less—and get more done
Quite a diverse list of things, actually:
- They disconnect
- They minimize chores
- They reflect
- They exercise
- They pursue a passion
- They spend quality time with family
- They schedule micro-adventures
- They wake up at the same time
- They designate mornings as “me time”
- They prepare for the upcoming week
But most importantly, they attac
See the article for more details. This list is by no means scientific, I included it here as a goal-reminder: I already do more than half of it, probably should look into what’s left.
The study found that productivity per hour declines sharply when the workweek exceeds 50 hours, and productivity drops off so much after 55 hours that there’s no point in working any more. That’s right, people who work as much as 70 hours (or more) per week actually get the same amount done as people who work 55 hours.
Note that they studied people productivity in manufacturing, e.g. “Forty Women Milling a Screw Thread on Fuze Bodies”, I’m not sure how well it translates to creative work.
At first I grabbed this article and sent it to people who (I think) overwork. To which they countered that output of 55 hours is still bigger than that of 40 hours of work. Of course you have to pay the price, but still, if you’re willing and can do so sustainably, you really can get more done by working more than 8 hours a day (or without weekends).
diff --git a/2018/04/07/On-demand-everything.html b/2018/04/07/On-demand-everything.html
index a30e42cb71398..e0a64232ac9c2 100644
--- a/2018/04/07/On-demand-everything.html
+++ b/2018/04/07/On-demand-everything.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- On-demand everything | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin On-demand everything
Lauren Smiley about The Shut-In Economy
“In the new world of on-demand everything, you’re either pampered, isolated royalty — or you’re a 21st century servant.”
Click-bait false dichotomy aside, this is an interesting area to think about. Is the future of work looks like a bunch of APIs for people?
I can image it being quite dystopian: install an app, answer some questions about your abilities, qualifications, schedule, etc. and poof your time is auto-magically assigned to be spent in the most efficient way (most cost-efficient way for the API-hubs companies, that is).
Extreme optimization also may look like little additions to your daily life: The App nudges you to buy extra ice-cream on your way home; when you are on a red light, another drone App user comes up to you and takes the ice-cream. She’s going home herself but is making a small detour to deliver that ice-cream to the one that ordered it. That order was placed automatically too, after analyzing customer’s biometric and social graph data (ML model says: though breakup) and coming to a conclusion that to maximize LTV, this purchase was needed. It also may lead to a need for a fitness programme purchase later, but again, that’s just LTV maximizing, nothing personal.
Ok, back to our totally different world and the article at hand.
The luxuries usually afforded to one-percenters now stretch to the urban upper-middle class, or so the technology industry cheers.
There’s a study saying
Around the world, increases in wealth have produced an unintended consequence: a rising sense of time scarcity. We provide evidence that using money to buy time can provide a buffer against this time famine, thereby promoting happiness.
There’s also the gender angle:
That’s the other side of this, the gender one. The errands being served up by the on-demand economy — cooking, cleaning, laundry, groceries, runs to the post office — all were all once, and in many places still are, the jobs of stay-at-home mothers. Even now, when women outnumber men in the formal workplace, they continue to bear the brunt of that invisible domestic work, often for many, many hours a week. So women — those who can afford it, at least — have the most to win from passing that load on to somebody else.
I usually pre-order food to work, and sometimes hire a cleaning service — it saves a lot of time indeed, and, as I start to have less free time, I increasingly value it. I’m thinking of outsourcing making my breakfast and dinner too.
+ On-demand everything | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin On-demand everything
Lauren Smiley about The Shut-In Economy
“In the new world of on-demand everything, you’re either pampered, isolated royalty — or you’re a 21st century servant.”
Click-bait false dichotomy aside, this is an interesting area to think about. Is the future of work looks like a bunch of APIs for people?
I can image it being quite dystopian: install an app, answer some questions about your abilities, qualifications, schedule, etc. and poof your time is auto-magically assigned to be spent in the most efficient way (most cost-efficient way for the API-hubs companies, that is).
Extreme optimization also may look like little additions to your daily life: The App nudges you to buy extra ice-cream on your way home; when you are on a red light, another drone App user comes up to you and takes the ice-cream. She’s going home herself but is making a small detour to deliver that ice-cream to the one that ordered it. That order was placed automatically too, after analyzing customer’s biometric and social graph data (ML model says: though breakup) and coming to a conclusion that to maximize LTV, this purchase was needed. It also may lead to a need for a fitness programme purchase later, but again, that’s just LTV maximizing, nothing personal.
Ok, back to our totally different world and the article at hand.
The luxuries usually afforded to one-percenters now stretch to the urban upper-middle class, or so the technology industry cheers.
There’s a study saying
Around the world, increases in wealth have produced an unintended consequence: a rising sense of time scarcity. We provide evidence that using money to buy time can provide a buffer against this time famine, thereby promoting happiness.
There’s also the gender angle:
That’s the other side of this, the gender one. The errands being served up by the on-demand economy — cooking, cleaning, laundry, groceries, runs to the post office — all were all once, and in many places still are, the jobs of stay-at-home mothers. Even now, when women outnumber men in the formal workplace, they continue to bear the brunt of that invisible domestic work, often for many, many hours a week. So women — those who can afford it, at least — have the most to win from passing that load on to somebody else.
I usually pre-order food to work, and sometimes hire a cleaning service — it saves a lot of time indeed, and, as I start to have less free time, I increasingly value it. I’m thinking of outsourcing making my breakfast and dinner too.
diff --git a/2018/04/14/Planning-fallacy.html b/2018/04/14/Planning-fallacy.html
index ad55bf0c70d24..a8c224ce247f4 100644
--- a/2018/04/14/Planning-fallacy.html
+++ b/2018/04/14/Planning-fallacy.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Planning fallacy | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Planning fallacy
Eliezer Yudkowsky about Planning Fallacy
The planning fallacy is that people think they can plan, ha ha.
While planning, and in need of realistic scenario, people instead think of best-case scenario. (See the article for related studies.)
Now on to how to fix it:
So there is a fairly reliable way to fix the planning fallacy, if you’re doing something broadly similar to a reference class of previous projects. Just ask how long similar projects have taken in the past, without considering any of the special properties of this project. Better yet, ask an experienced outsider how long similar projects have taken.
You’ll get back an answer that sounds hideously long, and clearly reflects no understanding of the special reasons why this particular task will take less time. This answer is true. Deal with it.
+ Planning fallacy | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Planning fallacy
Eliezer Yudkowsky about Planning Fallacy
The planning fallacy is that people think they can plan, ha ha.
While planning, and in need of realistic scenario, people instead think of best-case scenario. (See the article for related studies.)
Now on to how to fix it:
So there is a fairly reliable way to fix the planning fallacy, if you’re doing something broadly similar to a reference class of previous projects. Just ask how long similar projects have taken in the past, without considering any of the special properties of this project. Better yet, ask an experienced outsider how long similar projects have taken.
You’ll get back an answer that sounds hideously long, and clearly reflects no understanding of the special reasons why this particular task will take less time. This answer is true. Deal with it.
diff --git a/2018/04/21/Happiness-is-chore.html b/2018/04/21/Happiness-is-chore.html
index c0d1ba8af7532..fabb984d3b3ba 100644
--- a/2018/04/21/Happiness-is-chore.html
+++ b/2018/04/21/Happiness-is-chore.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Happiness Is a Chore | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Happiness Is a Chore
UPD This post rises some important questions, so I promote it to the index page for visibility.
The pursuit of happiness defines many parts of my life. Or should I say “happiness”?
SquirrelInHell writes about an unbelievable problem that Happiness Is a Chore
See, the human activity you describe as “pursuing happiness” […] seems to be in the same category as other common activities such as “acquiring education”, “helping people”, “talking to friends” (or should I say “talking” to “friends”) and so on. Which is to say, people do them in a way which is outwardly convincing enough to allow everyone to keep up the social pretenses. This is way different from what you’d see people do if they actually cared. The simple matter of fact is that the human brain is a kludge, and people are puppets dancing on the strings of a mad puppetmaster. Almost anything they claim to be doing isn’t for real. This is true even when they themselves know about this.
This is strongly related to The Thing and the Symbolic Representation of The Thing. (Next quote is still from SquirrelInHell)
[…] I enjoy and see great value in happiness when it happens, but when it doesn’t I only work on it grudgingly. It’s like with exercise, which is great but I’m rarely enthusiastic about starting it. The problem is not that I don’t value happiness enough. The problem is rather that there is no gut-level motivational gradient to get actual happiness. There are gradients for all sorts of things which are crappy, fake substitutes. […] But you still end up optimizing for them, because that’s what your brain does.
↑ This indeed, as one LW commenter points out, looks like akrasia. And will probably benefit from methods that are good against akrasia.
Related, SquirrelInHell’s site Be Well Tuned (“a very unusual guide to improving your brain and your life”). I’ve added it to my to-do list #goals
UPD
After rereading through everything linked above, I see that, at this moment, I’m focused on riding my hedonic treadmill, solving various optimization problems, and I’m not mindful about it; also not happy. This is a tendency I have. After talking about it with my psychotherapist, I will experiment with making more unsctrutured time and enjoying it; also spending less time on hardcore goal-oriented activities.
+ Happiness Is a Chore | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Happiness Is a Chore
UPD This post rises some important questions, so I promote it to the index page for visibility.
The pursuit of happiness defines many parts of my life. Or should I say “happiness”?
SquirrelInHell writes about an unbelievable problem that Happiness Is a Chore
See, the human activity you describe as “pursuing happiness” […] seems to be in the same category as other common activities such as “acquiring education”, “helping people”, “talking to friends” (or should I say “talking” to “friends”) and so on. Which is to say, people do them in a way which is outwardly convincing enough to allow everyone to keep up the social pretenses. This is way different from what you’d see people do if they actually cared. The simple matter of fact is that the human brain is a kludge, and people are puppets dancing on the strings of a mad puppetmaster. Almost anything they claim to be doing isn’t for real. This is true even when they themselves know about this.
This is strongly related to The Thing and the Symbolic Representation of The Thing. (Next quote is still from SquirrelInHell)
[…] I enjoy and see great value in happiness when it happens, but when it doesn’t I only work on it grudgingly. It’s like with exercise, which is great but I’m rarely enthusiastic about starting it. The problem is not that I don’t value happiness enough. The problem is rather that there is no gut-level motivational gradient to get actual happiness. There are gradients for all sorts of things which are crappy, fake substitutes. […] But you still end up optimizing for them, because that’s what your brain does.
↑ This indeed, as one LW commenter points out, looks like akrasia. And will probably benefit from methods that are good against akrasia.
Related, SquirrelInHell’s site Be Well Tuned (“a very unusual guide to improving your brain and your life”). I’ve added it to my to-do list #goals
UPD
After rereading through everything linked above, I see that, at this moment, I’m focused on riding my hedonic treadmill, solving various optimization problems, and I’m not mindful about it; also not happy. This is a tendency I have. After talking about it with my psychotherapist, I will experiment with making more unsctrutured time and enjoying it; also spending less time on hardcore goal-oriented activities.
diff --git a/2018/04/30/Why-am-i-so-lazy.html b/2018/04/30/Why-am-i-so-lazy.html
index edf93c90a0fb7..e6c5dcee549bc 100644
--- a/2018/04/30/Why-am-i-so-lazy.html
+++ b/2018/04/30/Why-am-i-so-lazy.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Why Am I So Lazy? | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Why Am I So Lazy?
Heather Havrilesky with her raw, passionate and poignant article about (re)defining your self. Why Am I So Lazy?
You know how they say “Scratch a cynic, find a romantic”? Well, scratch an underachiever and find a hard worker afraid of disappointing herself. Both the cynic and the underachiever are afraid of sticking their necks out and becoming who they deeply, passionately want to become, for fear of looking stupid or failing. […] I’ll bet you’re not even an introvert at heart. You’re someone who wants to live out loud, share herself with the world, and stop overthinking and delaying and avoiding the pesky little tasks that make up a life.
Sometimes I wonder if I’m that romantic in hiding. While, indeed, I can be skeptical about all this passion-speech, in the end Heather recommends much of the same approach that I currently support: experimentation.
Get a therapist. Experiment with schedules. Try on different behaviors for size. Get very organized (without piles of things on the floor). Try making new friends. Try vigorous exercise. Try leaving the house more. Try not leaving. Try writing your feelings down. Check in with your body when you do things that stress you out. Notice your feelings. Express your feelings. Be honest, be honest, be honest. Take notes.
+ Why Am I So Lazy? | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Why Am I So Lazy?
Heather Havrilesky with her raw, passionate and poignant article about (re)defining your self. Why Am I So Lazy?
You know how they say “Scratch a cynic, find a romantic”? Well, scratch an underachiever and find a hard worker afraid of disappointing herself. Both the cynic and the underachiever are afraid of sticking their necks out and becoming who they deeply, passionately want to become, for fear of looking stupid or failing. […] I’ll bet you’re not even an introvert at heart. You’re someone who wants to live out loud, share herself with the world, and stop overthinking and delaying and avoiding the pesky little tasks that make up a life.
Sometimes I wonder if I’m that romantic in hiding. While, indeed, I can be skeptical about all this passion-speech, in the end Heather recommends much of the same approach that I currently support: experimentation.
Get a therapist. Experiment with schedules. Try on different behaviors for size. Get very organized (without piles of things on the floor). Try making new friends. Try vigorous exercise. Try leaving the house more. Try not leaving. Try writing your feelings down. Check in with your body when you do things that stress you out. Notice your feelings. Express your feelings. Be honest, be honest, be honest. Take notes.
diff --git a/2018/05/01/Maybe-the-real-superintelligent-ai-is-extremely-smart-computers.html b/2018/05/01/Maybe-the-real-superintelligent-ai-is-extremely-smart-computers.html
index a2bf082a701d8..a08cd2f4088fd 100644
--- a/2018/05/01/Maybe-the-real-superintelligent-ai-is-extremely-smart-computers.html
+++ b/2018/05/01/Maybe-the-real-superintelligent-ai-is-extremely-smart-computers.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Maybe The Real Superintelligent AI Is Extremely Smart Computers | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Maybe The Real Superintelligent AI Is Extremely Smart Computers
I love Ted Chiang novels, especially ‘Understand’, but man-oh-man, that was a hilarious bashing to read. Scott Alexander is on the roll with his kabbalah metaphors.
+ Maybe The Real Superintelligent AI Is Extremely Smart Computers | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Maybe The Real Superintelligent AI Is Extremely Smart Computers
I love Ted Chiang novels, especially ‘Understand’, but man-oh-man, that was a hilarious bashing to read. Scott Alexander is on the roll with his kabbalah metaphors.
diff --git a/2018/05/05/Life-satisfaction-depending-on-number-of-children.html b/2018/05/05/Life-satisfaction-depending-on-number-of-children.html
index 420d715ba3247..877739a433713 100644
--- a/2018/05/05/Life-satisfaction-depending-on-number-of-children.html
+++ b/2018/05/05/Life-satisfaction-depending-on-number-of-children.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Life satisfaction depending on number of children | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Life satisfaction depending on number of children
My current position is against having children due to huge time commitment necessary to raise them. I do not factor in children’s happiness or their possible utility to the world into my decision. But then again, I am not an effective altruist (yet?) and do not have a pronounced moral stance as Scott does.
Here’s a post by Scott Alexander where he analyses his survey results in the context of life satisfaction of people having children. After reading this, I’m a tad more inclined to think about it.
+ Life satisfaction depending on number of children | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Life satisfaction depending on number of children
My current position is against having children due to huge time commitment necessary to raise them. I do not factor in children’s happiness or their possible utility to the world into my decision. But then again, I am not an effective altruist (yet?) and do not have a pronounced moral stance as Scott does.
Here’s a post by Scott Alexander where he analyses his survey results in the context of life satisfaction of people having children. After reading this, I’m a tad more inclined to think about it.
diff --git a/2018/05/12/Six-steps-to-a-daily-writing-habit.html b/2018/05/12/Six-steps-to-a-daily-writing-habit.html
index 88b9caecf1e82..ff9da17f94fb7 100644
--- a/2018/05/12/Six-steps-to-a-daily-writing-habit.html
+++ b/2018/05/12/Six-steps-to-a-daily-writing-habit.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Six Steps to a Daily Writing Habit | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Six Steps to a Daily Writing Habit
How to use Beeminder for a daily habit of X.
A great post by Zachary Jacobi
I recommend looking at Beeminder not as a tool to effectively guilt yourself into writing, but as a reminder of what writing is worth to you. You value consistently writing at $X. You know that every time you skip writing for a day or a week, there is a Y% chance that you might lose the habit. Multiply those two together and you get your ideal maximum Beeminder pledge.
Right now I use Beeminder to read up all of my pocketed articles.
Sometime in the past couple of years I’ve created a bad akrasia-like habit of pocketing articles that are too hard to read at that moment. “Imma read this funny small LJ post now and let future-Andrey handle that huge SSC post later”. I also used to add some neat posts that are useless to me (e.g. HN post about how to use ardruino and tensorflow to detect misoginy in Sillicon Valley). Thus I amassed hundreds of articles and tons of guilt.
Now, each time I add an article, a point is substracted; a point is added each time I finish one (automation through IFTTT snippets). In the last three months, I’ve ploughed through 150 articles, some 400 yet to go.
+ Six Steps to a Daily Writing Habit | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Six Steps to a Daily Writing Habit
How to use Beeminder for a daily habit of X.
A great post by Zachary Jacobi
I recommend looking at Beeminder not as a tool to effectively guilt yourself into writing, but as a reminder of what writing is worth to you. You value consistently writing at $X. You know that every time you skip writing for a day or a week, there is a Y% chance that you might lose the habit. Multiply those two together and you get your ideal maximum Beeminder pledge.
Right now I use Beeminder to read up all of my pocketed articles.
Sometime in the past couple of years I’ve created a bad akrasia-like habit of pocketing articles that are too hard to read at that moment. “Imma read this funny small LJ post now and let future-Andrey handle that huge SSC post later”. I also used to add some neat posts that are useless to me (e.g. HN post about how to use ardruino and tensorflow to detect misoginy in Sillicon Valley). Thus I amassed hundreds of articles and tons of guilt.
Now, each time I add an article, a point is substracted; a point is added each time I finish one (automation through IFTTT snippets). In the last three months, I’ve ploughed through 150 articles, some 400 yet to go.
diff --git a/2018/05/20/85-things-i-learned-being-a-ceo.html b/2018/05/20/85-things-i-learned-being-a-ceo.html
index 8fd6419cb8a67..a93bad07706aa 100644
--- a/2018/05/20/85-things-i-learned-being-a-ceo.html
+++ b/2018/05/20/85-things-i-learned-being-a-ceo.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- 85 Things I learned being a CEO | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin 85 Things I learned being a CEO
A Hackernoon post where Sachin Gupta details lessons from his CEO career in the areas of job’s key responsibilities, decision making, culture, leadership, self-management, people management, meetings, hiring, and fundraising.
Currently, the most relevant for me are these parts about meetings
Explicitly ask people if you are needed to be part of a meeting. Wherever you are needed, ask them for an agenda and also ask what is expected from you in the meeting. Else say no.
There are only 2 types of meetings that you should attend — a) where you have to take a decision b) where you get updates/information. The productivity of the first depends solely on you and the latter on how you have trained your team. Step out from any meeting where you are not going to take any decision and you are not getting information you already don’t have.
+ 85 Things I learned being a CEO | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin 85 Things I learned being a CEO
A Hackernoon post where Sachin Gupta details lessons from his CEO career in the areas of job’s key responsibilities, decision making, culture, leadership, self-management, people management, meetings, hiring, and fundraising.
Currently, the most relevant for me are these parts about meetings
Explicitly ask people if you are needed to be part of a meeting. Wherever you are needed, ask them for an agenda and also ask what is expected from you in the meeting. Else say no.
There are only 2 types of meetings that you should attend — a) where you have to take a decision b) where you get updates/information. The productivity of the first depends solely on you and the latter on how you have trained your team. Step out from any meeting where you are not going to take any decision and you are not getting information you already don’t have.
diff --git a/2018/06/02/Biohacking-and-me.html b/2018/06/02/Biohacking-and-me.html
index 5e9d5c5f51130..0a769fe81b196 100644
--- a/2018/06/02/Biohacking-and-me.html
+++ b/2018/06/02/Biohacking-and-me.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Biohacking and me | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Biohacking and me
Serge Faguet is an entrepreneur that has written three long controversial articles on Hackernoon and revamped the term ‘biohacking’ for me.
The articles were designed to get attention, so please look past misused memes and click-baity headings.
- I’m 32 and spent $200k on biohacking. Became calmer, thinner, extroverted, healthier & happier
- How to biohack your intelligence — with everything from sex to modafinil to MDMA
- How I set and execute 50-year goals + why I see cutting in lines as morally right
Serge was also a CEO of a company I used to work for. While still a CEO, he did several seminars where he described his reasoning and methods behind (then called) life-optimization. I am one of the people that that was sold on the less hardcore part.
What does it mean for me in practical terms?
- A quarterly blood panel of around 50 blood markers
- Implementation of strategies to change the markers that are not in the green (e.g. try supplements, change training routines, etc)
- Eat less sugar. Switching from a lifetime consumption of the family-recipe homemade jam was hard at first, but now I actually enjoy how food tastes without any added sweetness
- Intermittent fasting protocol where I eat during 6-8 hours of a day, leaving the rest to fasting
- Sleeping at the same times daily: going to bed before 22:00 and waking up at 06:30.
- Daily meditation
- Free weights exercise. I used to do HIIT, but paused as my main goal is gaining muscle at the moment
What I haven’t done yet but plan to
- Ketogenic diet for reported cognitive enhancements
- Prolonged fasting as a cancer prevention
- SSRIs and legal drugs
- More sleep experiments (total darkness, coolness, and optimal CO2) with help from devices like oura ring
The results
Updated after two years
- I’m more physically active and enjoy a better focus on the days that I’ve slept well, exercised and ate healthy. According to my self-testing.
- I benefit from my life being more structured, i.e. when I don’t have to decide when to get out of bed, or what to eat today.
- Blood panel has yet to lead to any actionable insights. Well, at least now I have a snapshot of how things were when I was 30 for reference in the future.
- If nothing else, I view it all as a healthy hobby that is also a handy conversation piece.
After two years I’ve learned to be less rigid about these habits and indulge in a late night with friends now and then, knowing that the fatigue price I will be paying the next day is worth it.
+ Biohacking and me | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Biohacking and me
Serge Faguet is an entrepreneur that has written three long controversial articles on Hackernoon and revamped the term ‘biohacking’ for me.
The articles were designed to get attention, so please look past misused memes and click-baity headings.
- I’m 32 and spent $200k on biohacking. Became calmer, thinner, extroverted, healthier & happier
- How to biohack your intelligence — with everything from sex to modafinil to MDMA
- How I set and execute 50-year goals + why I see cutting in lines as morally right
Serge was also a CEO of a company I used to work for. While still a CEO, he did several seminars where he described his reasoning and methods behind (then called) life-optimization. I am one of the people that that was sold on the less hardcore part.
What does it mean for me in practical terms?
- A quarterly blood panel of around 50 blood markers
- Implementation of strategies to change the markers that are not in the green (e.g. try supplements, change training routines, etc)
- Eat less sugar. Switching from a lifetime consumption of the family-recipe homemade jam was hard at first, but now I actually enjoy how food tastes without any added sweetness
- Intermittent fasting protocol where I eat during 6-8 hours of a day, leaving the rest to fasting
- Sleeping at the same times daily: going to bed before 22:00 and waking up at 06:30.
- Daily meditation
- Free weights exercise. I used to do HIIT, but paused as my main goal is gaining muscle at the moment
What I haven’t done yet but plan to
- Ketogenic diet for reported cognitive enhancements
- Prolonged fasting as a cancer prevention
- SSRIs and legal drugs
- More sleep experiments (total darkness, coolness, and optimal CO2) with help from devices like oura ring
The results
Updated after two years
- I’m more physically active and enjoy a better focus on the days that I’ve slept well, exercised and ate healthy. According to my self-testing.
- I benefit from my life being more structured, i.e. when I don’t have to decide when to get out of bed, or what to eat today.
- Blood panel has yet to lead to any actionable insights. Well, at least now I have a snapshot of how things were when I was 30 for reference in the future.
- If nothing else, I view it all as a healthy hobby that is also a handy conversation piece.
After two years I’ve learned to be less rigid about these habits and indulge in a late night with friends now and then, knowing that the fatigue price I will be paying the next day is worth it.
diff --git a/2018/06/08/List-of-self-improvement-related-links.html b/2018/06/08/List-of-self-improvement-related-links.html
index c4d88b83618f6..14fcc6a44b4e0 100644
--- a/2018/06/08/List-of-self-improvement-related-links.html
+++ b/2018/06/08/List-of-self-improvement-related-links.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- List of self-improvement-related links | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin List of self-improvement-related links
As with entrepreneurship-related articles list, I just want to offload this bunch of articles sitting in my Pocket.
When (if) I come reading through them, I will add descriptions and short versions.
Beware this is a work in progress, some articles may be more than just a little dubious. Though you can still use this list to judge what were my 28-year-old self’s problems and aspirations.
- Taming the Mammoth: Why You Should Stop Caring What Other People Think
- http://brennandunn.com/optimizing-your-life/
- How to Motivate Yourself: 3 Steps Backed By Science
- My Algorithm for Beating Procrastination
- The Ultimate Cheat Sheet To Becoming A Great Public Speaker
- Looking at Productivity as a State of Mind - NYTimes.com
- My Corporate Escape Story | From Overworked to World Travel
- How to Make the Most of a Mentor and Get Ahead in Your Career
- Update Yourself Incrementally - Less Wrong
- Ureshiku Naritai
- The physics of productivity: Newton’s laws for getting stuff done
- Eight weeks to a better brain | Harvard Gazette
- The Ultimate Cheat Sheet To Becoming A Great Public Speaker
- Три способа не выполнить цели на 2015 год / Хабрахабр
- 27 Simple Things to Start Doing for Your Happiness
- Your Life in Weeks | Wait But Why
- How to Overcome Your Own Laziness
- How to learn efficiently
- The 5-Second Level
- Optimal Exercise - Less Wrong Discussion
- Hacking Habits: How To Make New Behaviors Last For Good
- Break Out of Decision Paralysis
- BBC - Future - The hidden tricks of powerful persuasion
- 7 High-leverage life skills they should teach in grade school
- The Socratic Method
- The Willpower Instinct
- ППП: Пять правил переговорщика
- Think & Grow Rich – Actionable Books
- Who Moved My Cheese – Actionable Books
- The Ultimate Guide to Learning Anything Faster
- 20 Awesome Self Development Questions - A Daring Adventure
- Structured Procrastination: Do Less & Deceive Yourself
- Bayes's Theorem: What's the Big Deal? - Scientific American Blog Network
- How to Negotiate Your Salary
- The Depressive’s Guide to Getting Out of Bed
- Learn to Love Networking
- a simple mind hack that helps beat procrastination | shyal.com
- Personal Development for Smart People - by Steve Pavlina | Derek Sivers
- https://www.blinkist.com/en/reader/the-hard-thing-about-hard-things-en/
- Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease May Be Easier Than You Think
- My Life Extension Pilgrimage to Easter Island | The Blog of Author Tim Ferr
- Tim Ferriss on exercise to overcome fears - Business Insider
- How Do You Measure Leadership?
- On orgasm - The 4-Hour Body Tools | The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss
- Functional Decision Theory: A New Theory of Instrumental Rationality
- High Output Management
- Checklist of Rationality Habits
2019-11-10 update:
- Photography Composition: The Definitive Guide - Beautiful Pictures
- How to Become a Better Software Developer: A Handbook on Personal Performan
- Brienne Yudkowsky’s 5-minute focused grit process
- What in my life is opaque?
- So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport – Review & Summary
- Ask HN: How to shadow a CEO? | Hacker News
- Mental Models: The Best Way to Make Intelligent Decisions (109 Models Explained)
- How To Be Successful - Sam Altman
- Persuasion Tips For Product Managers - The Secret Product Manager Handbook
- Ian McAllister's answer to What distinguishes the Top 1% of product managers
- Deadlines Are Killing Us, And Almost Everything Else I Know About Leadershi
- Прямая обратная связь: как эффективнее ссориться с коллегами
- The Complete Guide to Deep Work (including a step-by-step checklist)
- How to do hard things | David R. MacIver
- You Procrastinate Because Of Emotions, Not Laziness. Regulate Them To Stop
- Self-Distancing: What It Is and How You Can Use It to Make Better Decisions
- Undervalued Software Engineering Skills: Writing Well
- How to Get Rich: Every Episode – Naval
- How to Be Great? Just be Good, Repeatably
- Find your Leadership Peer Group with Reboot Circles
- The Living Room event for building communities - Alisa Kuznetsova
- How a Decision Journal Changed the Way I make Decisions (Template Included)
- Stand out as a speaker | Science
- How to return to the flow faster | Code Jamming
- Ask HN: What things do you wish you discovered earlier? | Hacker News
- Elided Branches: How do managers* get stuck?
- Being ‘Indistractable’ Will Be the Skill of the Future
- What do executives do, anyway? - apenwarr
+ List of self-improvement-related links | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin List of self-improvement-related links
As with entrepreneurship-related articles list, I just want to offload this bunch of articles sitting in my Pocket.
When (if) I come reading through them, I will add descriptions and short versions.
Beware this is a work in progress, some articles may be more than just a little dubious. Though you can still use this list to judge what were my 28-year-old self’s problems and aspirations.
- Taming the Mammoth: Why You Should Stop Caring What Other People Think
- http://brennandunn.com/optimizing-your-life/
- How to Motivate Yourself: 3 Steps Backed By Science
- My Algorithm for Beating Procrastination
- The Ultimate Cheat Sheet To Becoming A Great Public Speaker
- Looking at Productivity as a State of Mind - NYTimes.com
- My Corporate Escape Story | From Overworked to World Travel
- How to Make the Most of a Mentor and Get Ahead in Your Career
- Update Yourself Incrementally - Less Wrong
- Ureshiku Naritai
- The physics of productivity: Newton’s laws for getting stuff done
- Eight weeks to a better brain | Harvard Gazette
- The Ultimate Cheat Sheet To Becoming A Great Public Speaker
- Три способа не выполнить цели на 2015 год / Хабрахабр
- 27 Simple Things to Start Doing for Your Happiness
- Your Life in Weeks | Wait But Why
- How to Overcome Your Own Laziness
- How to learn efficiently
- The 5-Second Level
- Optimal Exercise - Less Wrong Discussion
- Hacking Habits: How To Make New Behaviors Last For Good
- Break Out of Decision Paralysis
- BBC - Future - The hidden tricks of powerful persuasion
- 7 High-leverage life skills they should teach in grade school
- The Socratic Method
- The Willpower Instinct
- ППП: Пять правил переговорщика
- Think & Grow Rich – Actionable Books
- Who Moved My Cheese – Actionable Books
- The Ultimate Guide to Learning Anything Faster
- 20 Awesome Self Development Questions - A Daring Adventure
- Structured Procrastination: Do Less & Deceive Yourself
- Bayes's Theorem: What's the Big Deal? - Scientific American Blog Network
- How to Negotiate Your Salary
- The Depressive’s Guide to Getting Out of Bed
- Learn to Love Networking
- a simple mind hack that helps beat procrastination | shyal.com
- Personal Development for Smart People - by Steve Pavlina | Derek Sivers
- https://www.blinkist.com/en/reader/the-hard-thing-about-hard-things-en/
- Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease May Be Easier Than You Think
- My Life Extension Pilgrimage to Easter Island | The Blog of Author Tim Ferr
- Tim Ferriss on exercise to overcome fears - Business Insider
- How Do You Measure Leadership?
- On orgasm - The 4-Hour Body Tools | The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss
- Functional Decision Theory: A New Theory of Instrumental Rationality
- High Output Management
- Checklist of Rationality Habits
2019-11-10 update:
- Photography Composition: The Definitive Guide - Beautiful Pictures
- How to Become a Better Software Developer: A Handbook on Personal Performan
- Brienne Yudkowsky’s 5-minute focused grit process
- What in my life is opaque?
- So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport – Review & Summary
- Ask HN: How to shadow a CEO? | Hacker News
- Mental Models: The Best Way to Make Intelligent Decisions (109 Models Explained)
- How To Be Successful - Sam Altman
- Persuasion Tips For Product Managers - The Secret Product Manager Handbook
- Ian McAllister's answer to What distinguishes the Top 1% of product managers
- Deadlines Are Killing Us, And Almost Everything Else I Know About Leadershi
- Прямая обратная связь: как эффективнее ссориться с коллегами
- The Complete Guide to Deep Work (including a step-by-step checklist)
- How to do hard things | David R. MacIver
- You Procrastinate Because Of Emotions, Not Laziness. Regulate Them To Stop
- Self-Distancing: What It Is and How You Can Use It to Make Better Decisions
- Undervalued Software Engineering Skills: Writing Well
- How to Get Rich: Every Episode – Naval
- How to Be Great? Just be Good, Repeatably
- Find your Leadership Peer Group with Reboot Circles
- The Living Room event for building communities - Alisa Kuznetsova
- How a Decision Journal Changed the Way I make Decisions (Template Included)
- Stand out as a speaker | Science
- How to return to the flow faster | Code Jamming
- Ask HN: What things do you wish you discovered earlier? | Hacker News
- Elided Branches: How do managers* get stuck?
- Being ‘Indistractable’ Will Be the Skill of the Future
- What do executives do, anyway? - apenwarr
diff --git a/2018/06/23/Rationalist-group-houses.html b/2018/06/23/Rationalist-group-houses.html
index 35311c302d065..838dbddea9902 100644
--- a/2018/06/23/Rationalist-group-houses.html
+++ b/2018/06/23/Rationalist-group-houses.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Rationalist group houses | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Rationalist group houses
I’ve long dreamt of an outside construct that will make me my best self without my lazy part having a say. And a lot of my routines are just that - a construct to make me behave in a way that benefits me in the long term. I’ve even sometimes dreamt of teaming up and living with like-minded people: helping and pushing each other further.
Well, The Zvi has written a huge piece discussing the Dragon Army, and now I know that rationalist group houses exist and have been discussed in length.
What is Dragon Army [Barracks]? It’s a high-commitment, high-standards, high-investment group house model with centralized leadership and an up-or-out participation norm, designed to a) improve its members and b) actually accomplish medium-to-large scale tasks requiring long-term coordination. Tongue-in-cheek referred to as the “fascist/authoritarian take on rationalist housing,” which has no doubt contributed to my being vulnerable to strawmanning but was nevertheless the correct joke to be making, lest people misunderstand what they were signing up for.
Quote from the original post about Dragon Army by Duncan Sabien.
If you plan on doing something like that near Moscow, please call me up, I am better than average with discipline and no novice to levelling up in groups.
I particularly liked Zvi’s thought that self-improvement shouldn’t be a goal in itself, but should have some other, primary goal to which self-improvement is an auxiliary:
The problem is that in my experience, your real terminal goal can be self-improvement all you like, but unless you choose a different primary goal and work towards that, you won’t self-improve all that much. The way you get better is because you need to get better to do a thing. Otherwise it’s all, well, let’s let Duncan’s hero Tyler Durden explain:
[video]
This is importantly true (although in a literal sense it is obviously false), and seems like the most obvious point of failure. Another is choosing Tyler’s solution to this problem. Don’t do that either.
So yes, do all six of these things and have all three of these goals, but don’t think that down near the bottom of your list is doing a few concrete things every now and then. Everyone needs to have the thing, and have the thing be central and important to them, whatever the thing may be, and that person should then judge their success or failure on that basis, and the group also needs a big thing. Yes, we will also evaluate whether we hit the self-improvement marks, but on their own they simply do not cut it. Credit to my wife Laura Baur for making this point very clear and explicit to me, so that I realized its importance. Which is very high.
+ Rationalist group houses | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Rationalist group houses
I’ve long dreamt of an outside construct that will make me my best self without my lazy part having a say. And a lot of my routines are just that - a construct to make me behave in a way that benefits me in the long term. I’ve even sometimes dreamt of teaming up and living with like-minded people: helping and pushing each other further.
Well, The Zvi has written a huge piece discussing the Dragon Army, and now I know that rationalist group houses exist and have been discussed in length.
What is Dragon Army [Barracks]? It’s a high-commitment, high-standards, high-investment group house model with centralized leadership and an up-or-out participation norm, designed to a) improve its members and b) actually accomplish medium-to-large scale tasks requiring long-term coordination. Tongue-in-cheek referred to as the “fascist/authoritarian take on rationalist housing,” which has no doubt contributed to my being vulnerable to strawmanning but was nevertheless the correct joke to be making, lest people misunderstand what they were signing up for.
Quote from the original post about Dragon Army by Duncan Sabien.
If you plan on doing something like that near Moscow, please call me up, I am better than average with discipline and no novice to levelling up in groups.
I particularly liked Zvi’s thought that self-improvement shouldn’t be a goal in itself, but should have some other, primary goal to which self-improvement is an auxiliary:
The problem is that in my experience, your real terminal goal can be self-improvement all you like, but unless you choose a different primary goal and work towards that, you won’t self-improve all that much. The way you get better is because you need to get better to do a thing. Otherwise it’s all, well, let’s let Duncan’s hero Tyler Durden explain:
[video]
This is importantly true (although in a literal sense it is obviously false), and seems like the most obvious point of failure. Another is choosing Tyler’s solution to this problem. Don’t do that either.
So yes, do all six of these things and have all three of these goals, but don’t think that down near the bottom of your list is doing a few concrete things every now and then. Everyone needs to have the thing, and have the thing be central and important to them, whatever the thing may be, and that person should then judge their success or failure on that basis, and the group also needs a big thing. Yes, we will also evaluate whether we hit the self-improvement marks, but on their own they simply do not cut it. Credit to my wife Laura Baur for making this point very clear and explicit to me, so that I realized its importance. Which is very high.
diff --git a/2018/07/01/Living-in-the-now.html b/2018/07/01/Living-in-the-now.html
index 2873dcf0805da..36b236739a073 100644
--- a/2018/07/01/Living-in-the-now.html
+++ b/2018/07/01/Living-in-the-now.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Living in the now | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Living in the now
Focus on the process, not just the goals; live in the day-to-day and enjoy it — I did not internalize these concepts until recently.
Some other common ideas (e.g. “silence is golden”) were well understood by me during adolescence, but the “live in the now, it’s all you’ve got” mantra was as elusive as it is ubiquitous1.
Here are the quotes from two great articles that clarify this topic for me.
How Schopenhauer’s thought can illuminate a midlife crisis by Kieran Setiya:
Hence one common figure of the midlife crisis: the striving high-achiever, obsessed with getting things done, who is haunted by the hollowness of everyday life. When you are obsessed with projects, ceaselessly replacing old with new, satisfaction is always in the future. Or the past. It is mortgaged, then archived, but never possessed. In pursuing goals, you aim at outcomes that preclude the possibility of that pursuit, extinguishing the sparks of meaning in your life.
[…]
If the crisis diagnosed by Schopenhauer turns on excessive investment in projects, then the solution is to invest more fully in the process, giving meaning to your life through activities that have no terminal point: since they cannot be completed, your engagement with them is not exhaustive. It will not subvert itself. Nor does it invite the sense of frustration that Schopenhauer scorns in unsatisfied desire – the sense of being at a distance from one’s goal, so that fulfilment is always in the future or the past.
We should not give up on our worthwhile goals. Their achievement matters. But we should meditate, too, on the value of the process. It is no accident that the young and the old are generally more satisfied with life than those in middle age. Young adults have not embarked on life-defining projects; the aged have such accomplishments behind them. That makes it more natural for them to live in the present: to find value in atelic activities that are not exhausted by engagement or deferred to the future, but realised here and now. It is hard to resist the tyranny of projects in midlife, to find a balance between the telic and atelic. But if we hope to overcome the midlife crisis, to escape the gloom of emptiness and self-defeat, that is what we have to do.
Life is a Picture, But You Live in a Pixel by Tim Urban:
Jack’s difficulties also relate to The Pixel Theory, a phrase coined by Tim Urban during his famous “alone in his apartment in front of the mirror” TED Talk.
Jack sees his life as a rich picture depicting an epic story and assumes that the key to his happiness lies in the broad components of the image.
But this is a mistake, because Jack doesn’t live in the picture’s broad strokes, he lives at all times in a single pixel of the image—a single Today.
So while thousands of Jack’s Todays will, to an outsider from far away, begin to look like a complete picture, Jack spends each moment of his actual reality in one unremarkable Today pixel or another. Jack’s error is brushing off his mundane Wednesday and focusing entirely on the big picture, when in fact the mundane Wednesday is the experience of his actual life.
And his assumption that his future Todays would be as vibrant and rich as the broad picture of his life is misunderstanding the unremarkable nature of a pixel, no matter what one’s life looks like in broad strokes. This assumption leads Jack to feel like his uneventful Today must be an unsatisfactory temporary relationship, when in reality it’s an inevitable and permanent marriage that he must accept and embrace in order to be happy.
As far as what will actually make Jack happier as he lives in his mundane Wednesday, there are a number of scientifically proven things, including spending time with people you like, sleeping well and exercising, doing things you’re good at, and doing kind things for others.
But perhaps the first thing Jack needs to do is learn to feel more gratitude, another scientifically proven route to happiness and the area in which he falls the most woefully short. Jack spends so much of his time looking up at the great things that will come his way and planning his future happiness and not nearly enough time looking down and thinking about how badly he used to want so many of the things he currently has.
-
My guess it’s because it goes against basic evolutionary goals of staying alive long enough to reproduce: you just don’t enjoy the sunset while the woods are dark and full of terrors. ↩
+ Living in the now | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Living in the now
Focus on the process, not just the goals; live in the day-to-day and enjoy it — I did not internalize these concepts until recently.
Some other common ideas (e.g. “silence is golden”) were well understood by me during adolescence, but the “live in the now, it’s all you’ve got” mantra was as elusive as it is ubiquitous1.
Here are the quotes from two great articles that clarify this topic for me.
How Schopenhauer’s thought can illuminate a midlife crisis by Kieran Setiya:
Hence one common figure of the midlife crisis: the striving high-achiever, obsessed with getting things done, who is haunted by the hollowness of everyday life. When you are obsessed with projects, ceaselessly replacing old with new, satisfaction is always in the future. Or the past. It is mortgaged, then archived, but never possessed. In pursuing goals, you aim at outcomes that preclude the possibility of that pursuit, extinguishing the sparks of meaning in your life.
[…]
If the crisis diagnosed by Schopenhauer turns on excessive investment in projects, then the solution is to invest more fully in the process, giving meaning to your life through activities that have no terminal point: since they cannot be completed, your engagement with them is not exhaustive. It will not subvert itself. Nor does it invite the sense of frustration that Schopenhauer scorns in unsatisfied desire – the sense of being at a distance from one’s goal, so that fulfilment is always in the future or the past.
We should not give up on our worthwhile goals. Their achievement matters. But we should meditate, too, on the value of the process. It is no accident that the young and the old are generally more satisfied with life than those in middle age. Young adults have not embarked on life-defining projects; the aged have such accomplishments behind them. That makes it more natural for them to live in the present: to find value in atelic activities that are not exhausted by engagement or deferred to the future, but realised here and now. It is hard to resist the tyranny of projects in midlife, to find a balance between the telic and atelic. But if we hope to overcome the midlife crisis, to escape the gloom of emptiness and self-defeat, that is what we have to do.
Life is a Picture, But You Live in a Pixel by Tim Urban:
Jack’s difficulties also relate to The Pixel Theory, a phrase coined by Tim Urban during his famous “alone in his apartment in front of the mirror” TED Talk.
Jack sees his life as a rich picture depicting an epic story and assumes that the key to his happiness lies in the broad components of the image.
But this is a mistake, because Jack doesn’t live in the picture’s broad strokes, he lives at all times in a single pixel of the image—a single Today.
So while thousands of Jack’s Todays will, to an outsider from far away, begin to look like a complete picture, Jack spends each moment of his actual reality in one unremarkable Today pixel or another. Jack’s error is brushing off his mundane Wednesday and focusing entirely on the big picture, when in fact the mundane Wednesday is the experience of his actual life.
And his assumption that his future Todays would be as vibrant and rich as the broad picture of his life is misunderstanding the unremarkable nature of a pixel, no matter what one’s life looks like in broad strokes. This assumption leads Jack to feel like his uneventful Today must be an unsatisfactory temporary relationship, when in reality it’s an inevitable and permanent marriage that he must accept and embrace in order to be happy.
As far as what will actually make Jack happier as he lives in his mundane Wednesday, there are a number of scientifically proven things, including spending time with people you like, sleeping well and exercising, doing things you’re good at, and doing kind things for others.
But perhaps the first thing Jack needs to do is learn to feel more gratitude, another scientifically proven route to happiness and the area in which he falls the most woefully short. Jack spends so much of his time looking up at the great things that will come his way and planning his future happiness and not nearly enough time looking down and thinking about how badly he used to want so many of the things he currently has.
-
My guess it’s because it goes against basic evolutionary goals of staying alive long enough to reproduce: you just don’t enjoy the sunset while the woods are dark and full of terrors. ↩
diff --git a/2018/07/07/Do-you-update-your-model-with-your-actual-experiences.html b/2018/07/07/Do-you-update-your-model-with-your-actual-experiences.html
index 3d2cdd97d0c69..ee2fee65e1e82 100644
--- a/2018/07/07/Do-you-update-your-model-with-your-actual-experiences.html
+++ b/2018/07/07/Do-you-update-your-model-with-your-actual-experiences.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- How I began to befriend my feelings instead of trying to control them | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin How I began to befriend my feelings instead of trying to control them
I do a lot to control my internal state
- 8-hour sleep and daily routine ✔
- Meditation and various cognitive habits ✔
- Healthy food ✔
- Sport ✔
- No stimulants ✔
- Rigorous work-life balance ✔
- Therapy, friends, commitment devices, etc. ✔
Doing all this does indeed provide me with a higher baseline happiness1. Still, I’ve managed to fool myself into treating all living-in-the-moment advise as ‘a list of goals that undoubtedly will bring happiness when completed’. I was too dependent on ideas of what happiness should be and was ignoring what I really felt in the process.
There are times when, even after meticulous completion of todo-list items, I feel down for some reason. Maybe I wanted to accomplish more, maybe someone was a dick to me, maybe I was a dick to someone, maybe it’s just a mysterious hormone fluctuation.
Sometimes, all it takes to bring my mood up are compassion and a permission to feel bad.
There are also times when I did a lot of prep work, read articles by bestselling authors and listened to podcasts, made a model of myself and a plan how to improve my life; discussed and validated this plan with other people. But when I start executing, it feels like a grind, leaves me unmotivated with not much to show for my effort.
At that point, I usually concluded that my plan is flawed and I need to improve it. Or I’m not following the plan well enough because I’m a lazy asshole and I need to figure out how to motivate me first.
Recent therapy helped me to get out of my bubble a little and understand that I didn’t give enough credit to the direct experience and my actual (vs. best guess) feelings. It’s like I was learning to ride a bicycle only by reading some physics textbooks.
If you’re like me, the overanalysing type, it can take a while to understand. This doesn’t mean that planning and analysis are unnecessary, I will still do them. But I will err on the side of (validation through) action.
I can formulate the main thought as update your model with your actual experience; plan for raw experience inputs and corrections early and throughout the plan.
I’m applying this newly learned principle for my hobbies/vocations search: I’m searching for things to do besides my day job, and start with no idea of what I could be doing.
Before: elaborate planning, with weighted criteria list based on my best approximation of what I like; using said list as a scoring method for a vast list of hobbies2.
After: same plan scaffolding but the criteria list and their weights come from a direct experience of doing stuff. I.e. I try doing stuff that I sorta feel like doing, sometimes even (gah!) without a scoring behind that feeling.
If you’re familiar with software methodologies, I see this idea as applying the lean concept. It’s like iterating on an MVP instead of waiting for the waterfall to end.
This is all still very new, but it feels uncomfortable and right – the best kind of feeling, meaning I’m broadening my comfort zone. Anyway, I’ll see where this particular rabbit hole goes and will change the course if I don’t like it.
-
I’ve logged my mood and activity during random parts of the day for more than a year now. This allows me to see correlations between my activities and mood. Maybe someday I will make a more thorough proof that there is indeed causation, but right now I’m comfortable being sure that, e.g. dancing and lifting weights reliably make me happy, and playing computer games makes me sad. ↩
-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hobbies, http://www.notsoboringlife.com/list-of-hobbies/ ↩
+ How I began to befriend my feelings instead of trying to control them | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin How I began to befriend my feelings instead of trying to control them
I do a lot to control my internal state
- 8-hour sleep and daily routine ✔
- Meditation and various cognitive habits ✔
- Healthy food ✔
- Sport ✔
- No stimulants ✔
- Rigorous work-life balance ✔
- Therapy, friends, commitment devices, etc. ✔
Doing all this does indeed provide me with a higher baseline happiness1. Still, I’ve managed to fool myself into treating all living-in-the-moment advise as ‘a list of goals that undoubtedly will bring happiness when completed’. I was too dependent on ideas of what happiness should be and was ignoring what I really felt in the process.
There are times when, even after meticulous completion of todo-list items, I feel down for some reason. Maybe I wanted to accomplish more, maybe someone was a dick to me, maybe I was a dick to someone, maybe it’s just a mysterious hormone fluctuation.
Sometimes, all it takes to bring my mood up are compassion and a permission to feel bad.
There are also times when I did a lot of prep work, read articles by bestselling authors and listened to podcasts, made a model of myself and a plan how to improve my life; discussed and validated this plan with other people. But when I start executing, it feels like a grind, leaves me unmotivated with not much to show for my effort.
At that point, I usually concluded that my plan is flawed and I need to improve it. Or I’m not following the plan well enough because I’m a lazy asshole and I need to figure out how to motivate me first.
Recent therapy helped me to get out of my bubble a little and understand that I didn’t give enough credit to the direct experience and my actual (vs. best guess) feelings. It’s like I was learning to ride a bicycle only by reading some physics textbooks.
If you’re like me, the overanalysing type, it can take a while to understand. This doesn’t mean that planning and analysis are unnecessary, I will still do them. But I will err on the side of (validation through) action.
I can formulate the main thought as update your model with your actual experience; plan for raw experience inputs and corrections early and throughout the plan.
I’m applying this newly learned principle for my hobbies/vocations search: I’m searching for things to do besides my day job, and start with no idea of what I could be doing.
Before: elaborate planning, with weighted criteria list based on my best approximation of what I like; using said list as a scoring method for a vast list of hobbies2.
After: same plan scaffolding but the criteria list and their weights come from a direct experience of doing stuff. I.e. I try doing stuff that I sorta feel like doing, sometimes even (gah!) without a scoring behind that feeling.
If you’re familiar with software methodologies, I see this idea as applying the lean concept. It’s like iterating on an MVP instead of waiting for the waterfall to end.
This is all still very new, but it feels uncomfortable and right – the best kind of feeling, meaning I’m broadening my comfort zone. Anyway, I’ll see where this particular rabbit hole goes and will change the course if I don’t like it.
-
I’ve logged my mood and activity during random parts of the day for more than a year now. This allows me to see correlations between my activities and mood. Maybe someday I will make a more thorough proof that there is indeed causation, but right now I’m comfortable being sure that, e.g. dancing and lifting weights reliably make me happy, and playing computer games makes me sad. ↩
-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hobbies, http://www.notsoboringlife.com/list-of-hobbies/ ↩
diff --git a/2018/07/22/The-intricate-dance-of-eye-contact.html b/2018/07/22/The-intricate-dance-of-eye-contact.html
index fdba324d07bc0..e275c63f5578b 100644
--- a/2018/07/22/The-intricate-dance-of-eye-contact.html
+++ b/2018/07/22/The-intricate-dance-of-eye-contact.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- The intricate dance of eye contact | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin The intricate dance of eye contact
I’m amazed that I’ve only learned about this in my thirties. I’ve started seeing a new subcurrent of information that is communicated wordlessly (like body language). Now, it is so much more interesting to pay attention to and participate in this dance. What are they signaling? Did the interlocutor notice your move?
How to Make Eye Contact the Right Way in Life, Business, and Love by Brett & Kate McKay.
For some time, I’ve been mindful about my own eye contact during various forms of communication. But I never did the next step — treat and interpret the variety of possible eye contacts as the signals they are. We’re hardwired to interpret eye contact as a signal to answer questions like are you interested or not, are you submissive or dominant, are you trustworthy?
For example, in some contexts, I just took notice that “it’s uncomfortable to hold that gaze” and concluded “I’ll look at the table instead”. After reading this article, I started making the next step of assessing the situation: “…which could be interpreted as me signaling lower status”. After that I can choose whether that is something I want to happen right now.
Having predetermined etiquette for expressing interest in the opposite sex is also very handy. In the past, after meeting a woman’s gaze several times I usually started thinking “Does it mean anything, or is it a coincidence? Should I go say hi now or wait a couple of minutes to be sure?”. The article conveniently answers these questions and more.
The article is small and neatly divided with subheadings so you can take only what you need:
- General guidelines on how to do it. When to look, where to look, how long, how to avert your gaze and what does it signal
- Sales and pitching (job interviews included)
- When you need to intimidate/dominate or diffuse a conflict
- Meeting the eyes of a stranger in the street
- Making eye contact with the opposite sex
- When giving a speech
After I started paying attention and choosing my eye contact behavior rather than reacting, I’ve became more confident in almost all of those situations. And confidence feels great.
What else might I be missing? I’m sure there are more nuances to communication than I know of, after all Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice. Drop me a line if you have something in mind.
+ The intricate dance of eye contact | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin The intricate dance of eye contact
I’m amazed that I’ve only learned about this in my thirties. I’ve started seeing a new subcurrent of information that is communicated wordlessly (like body language). Now, it is so much more interesting to pay attention to and participate in this dance. What are they signaling? Did the interlocutor notice your move?
How to Make Eye Contact the Right Way in Life, Business, and Love by Brett & Kate McKay.
For some time, I’ve been mindful about my own eye contact during various forms of communication. But I never did the next step — treat and interpret the variety of possible eye contacts as the signals they are. We’re hardwired to interpret eye contact as a signal to answer questions like are you interested or not, are you submissive or dominant, are you trustworthy?
For example, in some contexts, I just took notice that “it’s uncomfortable to hold that gaze” and concluded “I’ll look at the table instead”. After reading this article, I started making the next step of assessing the situation: “…which could be interpreted as me signaling lower status”. After that I can choose whether that is something I want to happen right now.
Having predetermined etiquette for expressing interest in the opposite sex is also very handy. In the past, after meeting a woman’s gaze several times I usually started thinking “Does it mean anything, or is it a coincidence? Should I go say hi now or wait a couple of minutes to be sure?”. The article conveniently answers these questions and more.
The article is small and neatly divided with subheadings so you can take only what you need:
- General guidelines on how to do it. When to look, where to look, how long, how to avert your gaze and what does it signal
- Sales and pitching (job interviews included)
- When you need to intimidate/dominate or diffuse a conflict
- Meeting the eyes of a stranger in the street
- Making eye contact with the opposite sex
- When giving a speech
After I started paying attention and choosing my eye contact behavior rather than reacting, I’ve became more confident in almost all of those situations. And confidence feels great.
What else might I be missing? I’m sure there are more nuances to communication than I know of, after all Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice. Drop me a line if you have something in mind.
diff --git a/2018/07/29/Huge-productivity-gains.html b/2018/07/29/Huge-productivity-gains.html
index 2e92414b43fef..41998d799023b 100644
--- a/2018/07/29/Huge-productivity-gains.html
+++ b/2018/07/29/Huge-productivity-gains.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Huge productivity gains | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Huge productivity gains
This is how I got the biggest increase in productivity in the last 5 years.
The idea is from this article: How to start on the most important thing every day by Malcolm Ocean (thanks, man!).
I want to emphasize that this is the most valuable habit I have, by a large margin (and I’ve got some good ones!). Therefore if you’re reading this, I think that it’s at least worth trying to create a similar system in your own life.
I second Malcolm here, go read the article, I’ll wait.
It is the new norm now, but you wouldn’t believe how big this change was for me at the time. The difference was night and day, I wouldn’t stop telling my friends about it! Ok, if you’re sold, read on for details.
My impelentation
Evening, 2 hours before the sleep time
- Write down the plan for the next morning, including one most important goal, and optional hints like “start the going out routine by 8:00, leave home by 8:30”
Morning, immediately after waking up1
- At least one pomodoro doing the most important task
Before breaking for any less productive activities like eating, Reddit or email checking:
- Dance to at least one track2, immediately followed by
- Meditate for at least 10 minutes
What didn’t work
Planning right before bed
I started to plan the next morning before going to bed, but as I was very sleepy, plans that came out were poor. Now I plan 2 hours before bed time, when I’m more lucid.
Doing things that look like procrastinating
e.g. one time I was looking for a flat to rent and that was my main task for some weeks. Problem is, browsing listings, looking at a lot of pictures, is similar to my relaxation habit of browsing Reddit. After I finished looking through new listings, I noticed that it is super easy to slip into Reddit. I started scheduling my flat search later in the day.
Planning my day as the first task
After initial success, I drifted toward “plan my whole day and then start that important task”. Didn’t work so well. While planning a day, I usually encountered a small task: “Aha, easy 3-minute win! GTD prepared me for this! I just have to start this Slack conversation to update this status”. Then inevitably I’m replaying to other messages, it’s 15 minutes later and the productive mood is gone. Ok, it’s Slack rant time! I’ve moved it to a separate post.
-
Some mornings I am groggier than on others, that’s where having a clear todo list from the evening before shines – I don’t need to deliberate about what to do, no decision necessary. In case you forgot - choices are bad. ↩
-
Why? According to two years of correlating my activities and mood, dancing consistently makes me happy. Sometimes it’s 3 minutes, sometimes it will be 20. ↩
+ Huge productivity gains | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Huge productivity gains
This is how I got the biggest increase in productivity in the last 5 years.
The idea is from this article: How to start on the most important thing every day by Malcolm Ocean (thanks, man!).
I want to emphasize that this is the most valuable habit I have, by a large margin (and I’ve got some good ones!). Therefore if you’re reading this, I think that it’s at least worth trying to create a similar system in your own life.
I second Malcolm here, go read the article, I’ll wait.
It is the new norm now, but you wouldn’t believe how big this change was for me at the time. The difference was night and day, I wouldn’t stop telling my friends about it! Ok, if you’re sold, read on for details.
My impelentation
Evening, 2 hours before the sleep time
- Write down the plan for the next morning, including one most important goal, and optional hints like “start the going out routine by 8:00, leave home by 8:30”
Morning, immediately after waking up1
- At least one pomodoro doing the most important task
Before breaking for any less productive activities like eating, Reddit or email checking:
- Dance to at least one track2, immediately followed by
- Meditate for at least 10 minutes
What didn’t work
Planning right before bed
I started to plan the next morning before going to bed, but as I was very sleepy, plans that came out were poor. Now I plan 2 hours before bed time, when I’m more lucid.
Doing things that look like procrastinating
e.g. one time I was looking for a flat to rent and that was my main task for some weeks. Problem is, browsing listings, looking at a lot of pictures, is similar to my relaxation habit of browsing Reddit. After I finished looking through new listings, I noticed that it is super easy to slip into Reddit. I started scheduling my flat search later in the day.
Planning my day as the first task
After initial success, I drifted toward “plan my whole day and then start that important task”. Didn’t work so well. While planning a day, I usually encountered a small task: “Aha, easy 3-minute win! GTD prepared me for this! I just have to start this Slack conversation to update this status”. Then inevitably I’m replaying to other messages, it’s 15 minutes later and the productive mood is gone. Ok, it’s Slack rant time! I’ve moved it to a separate post.
-
Some mornings I am groggier than on others, that’s where having a clear todo list from the evening before shines – I don’t need to deliberate about what to do, no decision necessary. In case you forgot - choices are bad. ↩
-
Why? According to two years of correlating my activities and mood, dancing consistently makes me happy. Sometimes it’s 3 minutes, sometimes it will be 20. ↩
diff --git a/2018/07/30/Slack-rant.html b/2018/07/30/Slack-rant.html
index 18a4c9e6a868b..b3a564a59ae02 100644
--- a/2018/07/30/Slack-rant.html
+++ b/2018/07/30/Slack-rant.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Slack rant | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Slack rant
Replying to Slack messages feels productive, but it is a very, very addictive way to procrastinate. It’s hard to say no to it. Others are replying fast. Instant messaging creates expectation of a fast answer. It’s not your grandpa’s email after all. It is gratifying, it is a quick fix, it’s easy. Get your dopamine hit now.
Oh, it feels good having answered all unread messages. No anxiety. Bliss. Yet the faster you reply, the faster you get another message.
There’s no real multitasking for humans. You have to decide whether you want to have a state of flow or allow constant interruptions1.
Not plunging into this infinite pseudo-productive sea of quick-fixes is something that is still hard for me. I don’t have new message notifications of course, but I know that red unread messages counter exists and it beckons.
Counter-measures
- I lobby for not-expecting-an-immediate-answer culture when I can
- Slack is hidden in the tray or turned off by default
- I try to answer messages in bulk at scheduled unproductive times of the day.
- I try not to mark messages as unread. This is still hard. Otherwise, I read a message, decide I don’t want to answer now, mark it unread… and one hour later the cycle repeats, eating away my time and attention.
- I start working at home, with no distractions, no phone, no Slack, no email.
- There is one thing that really helps me with slackrastination (that is a word now), or any procrastination for that matter: instead of automatically changing what you do, you make the process as conscious as possible. For me the good example are weeks when I track my time. Each time I change what I do, I write the new activity down and start corresponding activity timer2. When I am in a state of flow and start writing “Slack” to change timers, I usually catch myself and go back to doing the important stuff.
- My wallpaper at work
</rant>
+ Slack rant | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Slack rant
Replying to Slack messages feels productive, but it is a very, very addictive way to procrastinate. It’s hard to say no to it. Others are replying fast. Instant messaging creates expectation of a fast answer. It’s not your grandpa’s email after all. It is gratifying, it is a quick fix, it’s easy. Get your dopamine hit now.
Oh, it feels good having answered all unread messages. No anxiety. Bliss. Yet the faster you reply, the faster you get another message.
There’s no real multitasking for humans. You have to decide whether you want to have a state of flow or allow constant interruptions1.
Not plunging into this infinite pseudo-productive sea of quick-fixes is something that is still hard for me. I don’t have new message notifications of course, but I know that red unread messages counter exists and it beckons.
Counter-measures
- I lobby for not-expecting-an-immediate-answer culture when I can
- Slack is hidden in the tray or turned off by default
- I try to answer messages in bulk at scheduled unproductive times of the day.
- I try not to mark messages as unread. This is still hard. Otherwise, I read a message, decide I don’t want to answer now, mark it unread… and one hour later the cycle repeats, eating away my time and attention.
- I start working at home, with no distractions, no phone, no Slack, no email.
- There is one thing that really helps me with slackrastination (that is a word now), or any procrastination for that matter: instead of automatically changing what you do, you make the process as conscious as possible. For me the good example are weeks when I track my time. Each time I change what I do, I write the new activity down and start corresponding activity timer2. When I am in a state of flow and start writing “Slack” to change timers, I usually catch myself and go back to doing the important stuff.
- My wallpaper at work
</rant>
diff --git a/2019/02/26/OpenAI-language-model-is-about-to-change-how-we-parse-meaningless-text.html b/2019/02/26/OpenAI-language-model-is-about-to-change-how-we-parse-meaningless-text.html
index d81618debbfdc..62b79500edc36 100644
--- a/2019/02/26/OpenAI-language-model-is-about-to-change-how-we-parse-meaningless-text.html
+++ b/2019/02/26/OpenAI-language-model-is-about-to-change-how-we-parse-meaningless-text.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- OpenAI language model is about to change how we parse meaningless text | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin OpenAI language model is about to change how we parse meaningless text
Humans Who Are Not Concentrating Are Not General Intelligences in which srconstantin describes one of many possible consequences of OpenAI’s new language model.
The mental motion of “I didn’t really parse that paragraph, but sure, whatever, I’ll take the author’s word for it” is, in my introspective experience, absolutely identical to “I didn’t really parse that paragraph because it was bot-generated and didn’t make any sense so I couldn’t possibly have parsed it”, except that in the first case, I assume that the error lies with me rather than the text. This is not a safe assumption in a post-GPT2 world. Instead of “default to humility” (assume that when you don’t understand a passage, the passage is true and you’re just missing something) the ideal mental action in a world full of bots is “default to null” (if you don’t understand a passage, assume you’re in the same epistemic state as if you’d never read it at all.)
While we’re on this topic, I’ll add two possible applications for GPT-2 successors that I see emerging in the next couple of years: 1) ‘Get-a-date Tinder chatbot’ and 2) ‘Witty chat messages suggestions’ in major chat apps.
+ OpenAI language model is about to change how we parse meaningless text | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin OpenAI language model is about to change how we parse meaningless text
Humans Who Are Not Concentrating Are Not General Intelligences in which srconstantin describes one of many possible consequences of OpenAI’s new language model.
The mental motion of “I didn’t really parse that paragraph, but sure, whatever, I’ll take the author’s word for it” is, in my introspective experience, absolutely identical to “I didn’t really parse that paragraph because it was bot-generated and didn’t make any sense so I couldn’t possibly have parsed it”, except that in the first case, I assume that the error lies with me rather than the text. This is not a safe assumption in a post-GPT2 world. Instead of “default to humility” (assume that when you don’t understand a passage, the passage is true and you’re just missing something) the ideal mental action in a world full of bots is “default to null” (if you don’t understand a passage, assume you’re in the same epistemic state as if you’d never read it at all.)
While we’re on this topic, I’ll add two possible applications for GPT-2 successors that I see emerging in the next couple of years: 1) ‘Get-a-date Tinder chatbot’ and 2) ‘Witty chat messages suggestions’ in major chat apps.
diff --git a/2019/11/09/Sometimes-its-really-hard-to-measure-the-effects-of-online-ads.html b/2019/11/09/Sometimes-its-really-hard-to-measure-the-effects-of-online-ads.html
index 2ab56b7b6cec3..c98fc26264602 100644
--- a/2019/11/09/Sometimes-its-really-hard-to-measure-the-effects-of-online-ads.html
+++ b/2019/11/09/Sometimes-its-really-hard-to-measure-the-effects-of-online-ads.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Sometimes it’s really hard to measure the effects of online ads | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Sometimes it's really hard to measure the effects of online ads
Or as Jesse Frederik and Maurits Martijn named it The new dot com bubble is here: it’s called online advertising .
It goes in length describing the case where eBay stopped paying $20mln annually for buying brand-name search ads from Google and did not see any visitors decrease. Then finishes with 13 studies of Facebook ad campaigns, in 10 of which the vast majority of sales increases were attributed to selection effect (e.g. customers were already looking for Nike shoes but went to nike.com through a Google ad).
Advertising rationally, the way it’s described in economic textbooks, is unattainable. Then how do advertisers know what they ought to pay for ads?
“Yeah, basically they don’t know,” Lewis said in one of those throw-away clauses that kept running through my head for days after.
The article stops there, but I’ll have to argue that most of the examples apply to big brand companies. While a startup with a proven niche and known unit economics can and should still benefit from ads. Just not the brand-name ones, but the ones that help a user to discover their service (e.g. ‘cooked meals delivery’).
+ Sometimes it’s really hard to measure the effects of online ads | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Sometimes it's really hard to measure the effects of online ads
Or as Jesse Frederik and Maurits Martijn named it The new dot com bubble is here: it’s called online advertising .
It goes in length describing the case where eBay stopped paying $20mln annually for buying brand-name search ads from Google and did not see any visitors decrease. Then finishes with 13 studies of Facebook ad campaigns, in 10 of which the vast majority of sales increases were attributed to selection effect (e.g. customers were already looking for Nike shoes but went to nike.com through a Google ad).
Advertising rationally, the way it’s described in economic textbooks, is unattainable. Then how do advertisers know what they ought to pay for ads?
“Yeah, basically they don’t know,” Lewis said in one of those throw-away clauses that kept running through my head for days after.
The article stops there, but I’ll have to argue that most of the examples apply to big brand companies. While a startup with a proven niche and known unit economics can and should still benefit from ads. Just not the brand-name ones, but the ones that help a user to discover their service (e.g. ‘cooked meals delivery’).
diff --git a/2019/11/10/Intricacies-of-day-night-and-season-cycles.html b/2019/11/10/Intricacies-of-day-night-and-season-cycles.html
index deb230be03b86..1264e9eb1abdc 100644
--- a/2019/11/10/Intricacies-of-day-night-and-season-cycles.html
+++ b/2019/11/10/Intricacies-of-day-night-and-season-cycles.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Intricacies of day-night and season cycles | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Intricacies of day-night and season cycles
Much more than you wanted to know about day-night and season cycles.
Check out this beautifully implemented interactive page Earth and Sun by Bartosz Ciechanowski.
+ Intricacies of day-night and season cycles | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Intricacies of day-night and season cycles
Much more than you wanted to know about day-night and season cycles.
Check out this beautifully implemented interactive page Earth and Sun by Bartosz Ciechanowski.
diff --git a/2019/11/26/Rent-downtown-to-reduce-your-commute-time-conquering-a-frugal-mindset.html b/2019/11/26/Rent-downtown-to-reduce-your-commute-time-conquering-a-frugal-mindset.html
index 18df6637938ec..3fc2dbf458287 100644
--- a/2019/11/26/Rent-downtown-to-reduce-your-commute-time-conquering-a-frugal-mindset.html
+++ b/2019/11/26/Rent-downtown-to-reduce-your-commute-time-conquering-a-frugal-mindset.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset
Daily living and commuting conditions have an immense impact on your wellbeing. This post is for people who live in a metropolitan area, have enough income to rent a place for themselves (with flatmates if needed), don’t have commitments that prohibit them from moving and, most importantly, are not satisfied with their commute time.
I want to describe why I came to a decision to rent a pricey apartment downtown. This is part of a series where I share my tools and thinking processes towards renting: from changing your mindset to apartment research to communication with your landlord.
Rationale
Every extra minute of commute time reduces job satisfaction, reduces leisure time satisfaction, increases strain and reduces mental health.
[…]
An additional 10 minutes (each way) of commuting time is associated with the equivalent effect on job satisfaction as a 19% reduction in gross personal income.
I used to think of my 1h 10m (each way) commute as a needed tribute to adult values, something most of my college friends did (sometimes with much longer travel times), something inescapable. But studies similar to the one cited above and my own happiness being affected due to the mediocre use of these precious hours brought me to a realization: I want to live closer to the office.
Being thrifty can be an issue
There was one problem though — it was prohibitively expensive. Technically, I could afford it, but habituated with cheap living while spending less than half of my income, I just could not justify such an expense. The thought of the yearly cost of rent in the city filled my frugal self with outrage. That’s an unfair price! — I thought.
Could I be wrong? What if those hours spent commuting really are more valuable than even such a sizeable chunk of money?
In a 2017 article published in Harvard Business Review, researchers discussed the results of a study they conducted where they asked subjects to choose between two jobs:
● Job #1 had a 50-minute round-trip commute and paid $67,000 a year.
● Job #2 had a 20-minute round-trip commute and paid $64,000 a year.
84% of the participants in the study selected job #1, as researchers wrote, “expressing a willingness to forfeit one hour each workday to their commute—250 hours per year—in exchange for just $3,000. That’s $12 an hour of commuting time—less than half their hourly rate at work!”
They concluded that people were unable to “fully appreciate the psychological, emotional, and physical costs of longer travel times.”
So, how to overcome this bias and
Measure an adequate cost of time spent commuting
My first approach was to answer a hypothetical like: “After 9 hours at work, Mr. Burns wants me to do some menial work for another hour. How much does he have to pay for me to be satisfied with this hour?”
That provided an amount of 12 000 ₽1 as a result. I had to revise the question immediately as the real situation was not so one-sided:
I enjoy reading on the tube, and I don’t mind a brisk walk of up to 20 minutes. So, the question had to change.
Turns out I was already asking myself a useful question before every Uber drive: “Am I willing to pay this amount for speed and comfort instead of using public transport?”
With that, I realized a better question to ask before commuting is: “How much am I willing to pay right now to be home/at work in 20 minutes?” I answered this question every day for two weeks and got a variety of results:
Some days I dreaded the tube, and some days it was more… acceptable.
The median price I was willing to pay per 50 commute-free minutes was nine times lower than the sum that my initial question provided. That’s 1350*60/50 = 1620 ₽ per hour of commute time saved. That applies to work days only, so to compare apples with apples, I’ll smear that number throughout an average month = 1620*22/30 = 1188 ₽. Let’s see what it will get me:
The price of renting is higher the closer you are to downtown, which is filled with offices and historic places.
I’ve made a table to calculate the daily cost of time saved on commuting and the daily cost of rent in the corresponding neighborhoods2.
The positive numbers in the last column mean that the price I’m willing to pay for a lesser commute is higher than the rent cost in the area that will provide said commute. What do you know, my frugal self can afford to live closer to the office! 
…And that’s not even counting the opportunity costs of a long commute!
With that, making a decision is easy, I’m going to rent downtown!3 The next post is about how to approach selecting a neighborhood within an acceptable distance from your office.
-
That’s around $200. Hereafter, prices will be in Rubles since I’m in Moscow, but it shouldn’t matter. ↩
-
There are two important assumptions made for simplification here: 1) These two weeks are not outliers 2) Each minute of commute costs exactly the same. That’s somehow irrelevant as the equilibrium between daily rent and the cost of saved time was achieved exactly at the 20-minute mark - the time I asked about in the previous question. Happy coincidence. ↩
-
Something that has also helped my paradigm shift and start this whole process was an honest acceptance of the fact that yes, rent is expensive, it may not seem fair, but it’s a seller’s market and my outrage will not change this one bit. ↩
+ Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset
Daily living and commuting conditions have an immense impact on your wellbeing. This post is for people who live in a metropolitan area, have enough income to rent a place for themselves (with flatmates if needed), don’t have commitments that prohibit them from moving and, most importantly, are not satisfied with their commute time.
I want to describe why I came to a decision to rent a pricey apartment downtown. This is part of a series where I share my tools and thinking processes towards renting: from changing your mindset to apartment research to communication with your landlord.
Rationale
Every extra minute of commute time reduces job satisfaction, reduces leisure time satisfaction, increases strain and reduces mental health.
[…]
An additional 10 minutes (each way) of commuting time is associated with the equivalent effect on job satisfaction as a 19% reduction in gross personal income.
I used to think of my 1h 10m (each way) commute as a needed tribute to adult values, something most of my college friends did (sometimes with much longer travel times), something inescapable. But studies similar to the one cited above and my own happiness being affected due to the mediocre use of these precious hours brought me to a realization: I want to live closer to the office.
Being thrifty can be an issue
There was one problem though — it was prohibitively expensive. Technically, I could afford it, but habituated with cheap living while spending less than half of my income, I just could not justify such an expense. The thought of the yearly cost of rent in the city filled my frugal self with outrage. That’s an unfair price! — I thought.
Could I be wrong? What if those hours spent commuting really are more valuable than even such a sizeable chunk of money?
In a 2017 article published in Harvard Business Review, researchers discussed the results of a study they conducted where they asked subjects to choose between two jobs:
● Job #1 had a 50-minute round-trip commute and paid $67,000 a year.
● Job #2 had a 20-minute round-trip commute and paid $64,000 a year.
84% of the participants in the study selected job #1, as researchers wrote, “expressing a willingness to forfeit one hour each workday to their commute—250 hours per year—in exchange for just $3,000. That’s $12 an hour of commuting time—less than half their hourly rate at work!”
They concluded that people were unable to “fully appreciate the psychological, emotional, and physical costs of longer travel times.”
So, how to overcome this bias and
Measure an adequate cost of time spent commuting
My first approach was to answer a hypothetical like: “After 9 hours at work, Mr. Burns wants me to do some menial work for another hour. How much does he have to pay for me to be satisfied with this hour?”
That provided an amount of 12 000 ₽1 as a result. I had to revise the question immediately as the real situation was not so one-sided:
I enjoy reading on the tube, and I don’t mind a brisk walk of up to 20 minutes. So, the question had to change.
Turns out I was already asking myself a useful question before every Uber drive: “Am I willing to pay this amount for speed and comfort instead of using public transport?”
With that, I realized a better question to ask before commuting is: “How much am I willing to pay right now to be home/at work in 20 minutes?” I answered this question every day for two weeks and got a variety of results:
Some days I dreaded the tube, and some days it was more… acceptable.
The median price I was willing to pay per 50 commute-free minutes was nine times lower than the sum that my initial question provided. That’s 1350*60/50 = 1620 ₽ per hour of commute time saved. That applies to work days only, so to compare apples with apples, I’ll smear that number throughout an average month = 1620*22/30 = 1188 ₽. Let’s see what it will get me:
The price of renting is higher the closer you are to downtown, which is filled with offices and historic places.
I’ve made a table to calculate the daily cost of time saved on commuting and the daily cost of rent in the corresponding neighborhoods2.
The positive numbers in the last column mean that the price I’m willing to pay for a lesser commute is higher than the rent cost in the area that will provide said commute. What do you know, my frugal self can afford to live closer to the office!
…And that’s not even counting the opportunity costs of a long commute!
With that, making a decision is easy, I’m going to rent downtown!3 The next post is about how to approach selecting a neighborhood within an acceptable distance from your office.
-
That’s around $200. Hereafter, prices will be in Rubles since I’m in Moscow, but it shouldn’t matter. ↩
-
There are two important assumptions made for simplification here: 1) These two weeks are not outliers 2) Each minute of commute costs exactly the same. That’s somehow irrelevant as the equilibrium between daily rent and the cost of saved time was achieved exactly at the 20-minute mark - the time I asked about in the previous question. Happy coincidence. ↩
-
Something that has also helped my paradigm shift and start this whole process was an honest acceptance of the fact that yes, rent is expensive, it may not seem fair, but it’s a seller’s market and my outrage will not change this one bit. ↩
diff --git a/2020/02/23/Pitfalls-of-our-simplistic-moral-evaluation-system.html b/2020/02/23/Pitfalls-of-our-simplistic-moral-evaluation-system.html
index 843357b965b65..49ad477bda478 100644
--- a/2020/02/23/Pitfalls-of-our-simplistic-moral-evaluation-system.html
+++ b/2020/02/23/Pitfalls-of-our-simplistic-moral-evaluation-system.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Pitfalls of our simplistic moral evaluation system | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Pitfalls of our simplistic moral evaluation system
In The Trouble With “Good” Scott Alexander describes some problems that stem from our evolutionary-induced simplistic good-bad evaluation system (emotivism), that meshes moral beliefs with facts and personal preferences.
I’ll only paste one quote as the post itself has just the right composition to be clear enough while not being too long.
So this is one problem: the inputs to our mental karma system aren’t always closely related to the real merit of a person/thing/idea.
Another problem: our interpretation of whether to upvote or downvote something depends on how many upvotes or downvotes it already has. […]
Another problem: we are tempted to assign everything about a concept the same score. Eliezer Yudkowsky currently has 2486 karma. How good is Eliezer at philosophy? Apparently somewhere around the level it would take to get 2486 karma. How much does he know about economics? Somewhere around level 2486 would be my guess. How well does he write? Probably well enough to get 2486 karma. Translated into mental terms, this looks like the Halo Effect. Yes, we can pick apart our analyses in greater detail; having read Eliezer’s posts, I know he’s better at some things than others. But that 2486 number is going to cause anchoring-and-adjustment issues even so.
But the big problem, the world-breaking problem, is that sticking everything good and bad about something into one big bin and making decisions based on whether it’s a net positive or a net negative is an unsubtle, leaky heuristic completely unsuitable for complicated problems.
+ Pitfalls of our simplistic moral evaluation system | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Pitfalls of our simplistic moral evaluation system
In The Trouble With “Good” Scott Alexander describes some problems that stem from our evolutionary-induced simplistic good-bad evaluation system (emotivism), that meshes moral beliefs with facts and personal preferences.
I’ll only paste one quote as the post itself has just the right composition to be clear enough while not being too long.
So this is one problem: the inputs to our mental karma system aren’t always closely related to the real merit of a person/thing/idea.
Another problem: our interpretation of whether to upvote or downvote something depends on how many upvotes or downvotes it already has. […]
Another problem: we are tempted to assign everything about a concept the same score. Eliezer Yudkowsky currently has 2486 karma. How good is Eliezer at philosophy? Apparently somewhere around the level it would take to get 2486 karma. How much does he know about economics? Somewhere around level 2486 would be my guess. How well does he write? Probably well enough to get 2486 karma. Translated into mental terms, this looks like the Halo Effect. Yes, we can pick apart our analyses in greater detail; having read Eliezer’s posts, I know he’s better at some things than others. But that 2486 number is going to cause anchoring-and-adjustment issues even so.
But the big problem, the world-breaking problem, is that sticking everything good and bad about something into one big bin and making decisions based on whether it’s a net positive or a net negative is an unsubtle, leaky heuristic completely unsuitable for complicated problems.
diff --git a/2020/02/23/Simple-status-games.html b/2020/02/23/Simple-status-games.html
index 209452ee9dbba..7a30a5b935601 100644
--- a/2020/02/23/Simple-status-games.html
+++ b/2020/02/23/Simple-status-games.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Simple status games | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Simple status games
Who Wants to Play the Status Game? by Agnes Callard
I like to think that I see a hidden meaning, a secret game being played behind the curtains of everyday interactions. Naturally, I like articles about signalling and social games.
A player of the Importance Game tries to ascend high enough to reach for something that will set her above her interlocutor, a player of the Leveling Game reaches down low enough to hit common ground. The former needs to signal enough power to establish a hierarchy; the latter enough powerlessness to establish equality.
In an academic context, I’ve noticed that complaining about how busy one is hits a sweet spot of oppression—I cannot manage my life!—and importance—because I am so in demand! When you’re playing with a master, it can be hard to tell which game you’re in.
The ending of the article is too unclear for my taste, but then I’m no philosopher.
+ Simple status games | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Simple status games
Who Wants to Play the Status Game? by Agnes Callard
I like to think that I see a hidden meaning, a secret game being played behind the curtains of everyday interactions. Naturally, I like articles about signalling and social games.
A player of the Importance Game tries to ascend high enough to reach for something that will set her above her interlocutor, a player of the Leveling Game reaches down low enough to hit common ground. The former needs to signal enough power to establish a hierarchy; the latter enough powerlessness to establish equality.
In an academic context, I’ve noticed that complaining about how busy one is hits a sweet spot of oppression—I cannot manage my life!—and importance—because I am so in demand! When you’re playing with a master, it can be hard to tell which game you’re in.
The ending of the article is too unclear for my taste, but then I’m no philosopher.
diff --git a/2020/02/23/Some-programming-idioms-explained.html b/2020/02/23/Some-programming-idioms-explained.html
index 6ab539c0eb2aa..c2a108dfa7641 100644
--- a/2020/02/23/Some-programming-idioms-explained.html
+++ b/2020/02/23/Some-programming-idioms-explained.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Some programming idioms explained | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Some programming idioms explained
As a perpetually novice programmer, it was nice to see the reasons behind some popular idioms explained. Like why “Maintainability counts” or “Avoid package level state”. Also this way of seeing developer work as preparation for inevitable change:
Change is the name of the game we’re in. What we do as programmers is manage change. When we do that well we call it design, or architecture. When we do it badly we call it technical debt, or legacy code.
If you are writing a program that works perfectly, one time, for one fixed set of inputs then nobody cares if the code is good or bad because ultimately the output of the program is all the business cares about.
But this is never true. Software has bugs, requirements change, inputs change, and very few programs are written solely to be executed once, thus your program will change over time. Maybe it’s you who’ll be tasked with this, more likely it will be someone else, but someone has to change that code. Someone has to maintain that code.
The Zen of Go by Dave Cheney
+ Some programming idioms explained | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Some programming idioms explained
As a perpetually novice programmer, it was nice to see the reasons behind some popular idioms explained. Like why “Maintainability counts” or “Avoid package level state”. Also this way of seeing developer work as preparation for inevitable change:
Change is the name of the game we’re in. What we do as programmers is manage change. When we do that well we call it design, or architecture. When we do it badly we call it technical debt, or legacy code.
If you are writing a program that works perfectly, one time, for one fixed set of inputs then nobody cares if the code is good or bad because ultimately the output of the program is all the business cares about.
But this is never true. Software has bugs, requirements change, inputs change, and very few programs are written solely to be executed once, thus your program will change over time. Maybe it’s you who’ll be tasked with this, more likely it will be someone else, but someone has to change that code. Someone has to maintain that code.
The Zen of Go by Dave Cheney
diff --git a/2020/02/24/3-links-future-present-and-uncomfortable.html b/2020/02/24/3-links-future-present-and-uncomfortable.html
index 97b6bfff76df1..7609850d31618 100644
--- a/2020/02/24/3-links-future-present-and-uncomfortable.html
+++ b/2020/02/24/3-links-future-present-and-uncomfortable.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- 3 links: future, present and uncomfortable | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin 3 links: future, present and uncomfortable
A short post with 10 thought-provoking predictions for this decade (e.g. decentralized internet and the world run by Millennials) What Will Happen In The 2020s by Fred Wilson
China leading the way with more ways to use QR codes than you can shake a stick at (e.g. meet and flirt online at bars): Remember QR Codes? They’re More Powerful Than You Think by Avery Segal.
I love awkward questions, they make one vulnerable and create a possibility for closeness and/or satisfaction of one’s needs. Here is a paper that helps stop avoiding sensitive questions. I Didn’t Want to Offend You: The Cost of Avoiding Sensitive Questions by Einav Hart, Eric VanEpps, and Maurice E. Schweitzer A quote from the abstract:
Across three pilot studies and four experimental studies, we demonstrate that individuals avoid asking sensitive questions, because they fear making others uncomfortable and because of impression management concerns. We demonstrate that this aversion to asking sensitive questions is both costly and misguided.
+ 3 links: future, present and uncomfortable | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin 3 links: future, present and uncomfortable
A short post with 10 thought-provoking predictions for this decade (e.g. decentralized internet and the world run by Millennials) What Will Happen In The 2020s by Fred Wilson
China leading the way with more ways to use QR codes than you can shake a stick at (e.g. meet and flirt online at bars): Remember QR Codes? They’re More Powerful Than You Think by Avery Segal.
I love awkward questions, they make one vulnerable and create a possibility for closeness and/or satisfaction of one’s needs. Here is a paper that helps stop avoiding sensitive questions. I Didn’t Want to Offend You: The Cost of Avoiding Sensitive Questions by Einav Hart, Eric VanEpps, and Maurice E. Schweitzer A quote from the abstract:
Across three pilot studies and four experimental studies, we demonstrate that individuals avoid asking sensitive questions, because they fear making others uncomfortable and because of impression management concerns. We demonstrate that this aversion to asking sensitive questions is both costly and misguided.
diff --git a/2022/02/06/Dark-mode-implementation-for-this-blog.html b/2022/02/06/Dark-mode-implementation-for-this-blog.html
index 93afc12dc4ff9..f4ccbbdd4cd58 100644
--- a/2022/02/06/Dark-mode-implementation-for-this-blog.html
+++ b/2022/02/06/Dark-mode-implementation-for-this-blog.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Dark mode implementation for this blog | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Dark mode implementation for this blog
I’ve implemented the dark theme for this blog. An endeavour for 2-3 hours that has visible results. A satisfying project, I invite everyone with a light-theme-only blog to try.
CSS Tricks, of course, has this topic thoroughly covered in their Complete Guide to Dark Mode on the Web. I’ll describe what I’ve done in this particular blog and why.
I’m using @media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) { ... } CSS media query which lets me use OS-level user preferences. I chose not to support manual toggling between modes because of two reasons:
- Implementation involves JavaScript swapping CSS classes and storing state in Local Storage–a harder effort than I wanted for this quick-win project
- If a user has strong preferences about the dark mode, I imagine such a user already has a way of controlling the interface. Such as a browser plugin that changes the theme, e.g. Dark Reader.
As dark mode gains momentum, I think major browsers will display a toggle between modes (not only in Dev Tools) making the effort of creating this toggle myself moot.
Implementation
This blog uses a modified Pixyll theme that has 32 SASS files that get compiled into one big CSS file.
This otherwise reasonable divide-and-conquer approach bites me in the ass here, as I needed to insert the media-query block 17 times. For each style, I wanted to look different when dark. Here’s the actual commit.
I could instead place all dark mode styles in one such file, but then I’ll lose the handy separation these files provide. Also, in the future, if I change a light mode style, the proximity of the corresponding dark mode style will remind me to change it as well. Something I might otherwise forget to do and test for. If there is a better way, please tell me about it.
So, that’s basically it: adding media-query styles and selecting particular colors that look good on dark background.
Oh, while we’re on a technical topic, I want to boast a little. This site got a 100/100 performance score at Google’s PageSpeed Insights for desktop and 97 for mobile. I can mostly attribute it to Jekyll itself and a little bit to my tweaks using locally hosted fonts instead of Google Fonts’ CDN. I host this blog on GitHub Pages for free, you can use the same GitHub Pages-friendly process I’m using.
+ Dark mode implementation for this blog | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Dark mode implementation for this blog
I’ve implemented the dark theme for this blog. An endeavour for 2-3 hours that has visible results. A satisfying project, I invite everyone with a light-theme-only blog to try.
CSS Tricks, of course, has this topic thoroughly covered in their Complete Guide to Dark Mode on the Web. I’ll describe what I’ve done in this particular blog and why.
I’m using @media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) { ... } CSS media query which lets me use OS-level user preferences. I chose not to support manual toggling between modes because of two reasons:
- Implementation involves JavaScript swapping CSS classes and storing state in Local Storage–a harder effort than I wanted for this quick-win project
- If a user has strong preferences about the dark mode, I imagine such a user already has a way of controlling the interface. Such as a browser plugin that changes the theme, e.g. Dark Reader.
As dark mode gains momentum, I think major browsers will display a toggle between modes (not only in Dev Tools) making the effort of creating this toggle myself moot.
Implementation
This blog uses a modified Pixyll theme that has 32 SASS files that get compiled into one big CSS file.
This otherwise reasonable divide-and-conquer approach bites me in the ass here, as I needed to insert the media-query block 17 times. For each style, I wanted to look different when dark. Here’s the actual commit.
I could instead place all dark mode styles in one such file, but then I’ll lose the handy separation these files provide. Also, in the future, if I change a light mode style, the proximity of the corresponding dark mode style will remind me to change it as well. Something I might otherwise forget to do and test for. If there is a better way, please tell me about it.
So, that’s basically it: adding media-query styles and selecting particular colors that look good on dark background.
Oh, while we’re on a technical topic, I want to boast a little. This site got a 100/100 performance score at Google’s PageSpeed Insights for desktop and 97 for mobile. I can mostly attribute it to Jekyll itself and a little bit to my tweaks using locally hosted fonts instead of Google Fonts’ CDN. I host this blog on GitHub Pages for free, you can use the same GitHub Pages-friendly process I’m using.
diff --git a/2022/07/09/My-favorite-fiction-books.html b/2022/07/09/My-favorite-fiction-books.html
index 9b65d1f3876df..55db24afe44da 100644
--- a/2022/07/09/My-favorite-fiction-books.html
+++ b/2022/07/09/My-favorite-fiction-books.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- My favorite fiction books | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin My favorite fiction books
I wanted to write something without too much virtue signaling. When I look at earlier posts, I see something like a trophy board to show everyone how smart and likable I am. Although everything I wrote about back then was and is really interesting to me, it still seems dishonest somehow. I guess my current mood is different from the one I used to have.
So I want to try something different. I’m going to write about the books I absolutely love. Not about philosophy or the role of technology in today’s world. Just 3 books that have made the last seven years much more pleasant for me.
This kind of writing is harder to do because it makes me more vulnerable, it’s not only about the books but about me and my history with them. It’s something dear to my heart: what if you don’t like it? What if you criticize me and my haphazard way of gushing about these books?
Well, for the joy of writing this, I’m still willing to take the risk :-)
I’ve been reading fantasy and science fiction for more than 25 years. I started with Wells, Stanislaw Lem, the Strugatsky brothers, Ray Bradbury, and Philip K. Dick. After reading through the classics, I discovered the Hugo and Nebula Awards for SF and went through all the finalists. After that, I gradually moved on to lesser and lesser known books and authors. After scraping the bottom of the barrel for some time, I lucked into web series, books written one chapter at a time and posted on forums or blogs. And how glad I am that I found them, because all the books on this list below are representatives of this category.
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
By Eliezer Yudkowsky [link to the (free) book]
I’m sorry, this is the one book I won’t stop raving about. The following text is just my fanboy noises aimed to get you to read this book.
I was sure that fanfics are nothing more than erotic fantasies of teenagers turned into text. In special forums and with lots of grammatical errors. Or they are not very funny parody books that want to exploit the fame of the original to cash in.
The tacky title of this fanfic didn’t help it stand out from that crowd. It was the author’s name that helped.
Eliezer was known to me as the champion of the rationality movement and author of many articles on lesswrong.com. Just the fact that such a person wrote a fanfic began to change my image of what a fanfic is.
It also helped that the author suggests in the preface to stop reading the book after the fifth chapter if you weren’t hooked. That’s a good heuristic to use with other books as well — it allows you to start a long book without fear of committing to finish it. And this is a book of considerable length. Fortunately this is one of those cases where the length of a book seems intimidating at first, but then becomes a joy when you realize that many more pages of this fascinating entertainment await you.
To enjoy this book, you don’t have to like or even have read the original Harry Potter books. It’s my top 1 recommendation even for people who don’t read much fiction at all (and they love it too).
~
I once tried to write my own novel. I researched how to structure it, how to edit it. I used my project management skills to break it down into small chunks and wrote them out. I edited them in iterations.
It sucked and the result was crap. I didn’t have the motivation to practice and get better. But since then, when I re-read HPMOR, I notice all the things the author did that are just. so. good. How it hooks me in emotionally and intellectually. How it changes the cadence without ever being too slow.
~
I was sad at the end of the first read, knowing for a fact that such excitingly captivating books are very few and hard to find. But there’s hope! Significant Digits by Alexander Davis is “the best HPMOR continuation fic” (quote from Elizer). The other books in this post are also similar.
Elizer is mainly working on AI alignment. I don’t want our world to end as much as the next guy, but it’s a pity Eliezer isn’t writing SF books for a living.
Worm
By John C. McCrae [link to the (free) book]
A grimdark world where superheroes aren’t so good and villains aren’t so evil is a popular theme these days, just think of the recent popularity of The Boys TV series. But Worm was the first book of this genre for me, and boy, did it take me away for a ride.
Endless cliffhangers and conflict escalation led to many nights where I couldn’t stop reading until sleep finally took me at 4am. Usually when a book is this interesting I finish it quickly, but not this one. This book is 4 Wars and Peaces long. So it was a lot of sleepless nights.
After I finally finished it, I wanted more. And the fanfic world didn’t disappoint. I’ve been reading Worm fanfics for years. I’m not exaggerating, here’s an (incomplete) list of them.
~
Over dozens of fanfics, the characters and setting have become familiar to me, all the key situations have been lived through from different angles with different consequences.
At first I liked Worm because it fit my depressed mood at the time, but after years of fanfics, this world has become the ultimate cozy feel-good read, where I return to old friends and places and relieve fond memories.
(This transition to warm and fuzzy was influenced by some of ack1308’s wholesome Worm fanfics, where each and every conflict is resolved in the best possible way.)
Worth The Candle
By Alexander Wales [link to the (free) book]
The LitRPG to rule them all. Interesting mechanics, but not too much of it. So meta and trope-riding, -bending, -exploiting that it’s at least three levels deep. The author is the king of nuanced worldbuilding. My god! He’s made a variety of worlds with details down history and politics.
Other fiction: a horde of ugly goblins invade with mindless fury, killing innocents and destroying millennia-old elven forests. They force the main character to wipe them out. He moves on to the next challenge.
This book: a horde of ugly goblins invades. But their ugliness doesn’t dehumanize them, they’re still people. People who have a long history with elves, with war crimes on both sides. The new political regime of Goblinland forced this goblin contingent to flee their lands or be persecuted as a minority. There are also women and children behind the soldiers. The main character understands all this and when the negotiations fail, it’s not an easy moral decision to kill the goblins. Some of the horde warriors are defeated, but that still leaves the surrendering goblins and their families to deal with. You’ll need logistics to organize it all.
Humanitarian crisis, supply chains, politics, ethics — this book has it all, and that rare depth pleasantly tickles my brain.
The author seems so much smarter than I’m that he can conjure up all these worlds and unite them in a story with just the right… everything for me. It’s like reading Slate Star Codex: someone intelligent has thought through a lot of details and made them accessible to me.
Also, and this is a recurring feature of all the books on this list, this book is lusciously long.
Honorable mention
Mother of Learning
By Domagoj Kurmaic [link to the (free) book]
A progression fantasy in which the protagonist grows not only in skills, but also in wisdom.
The first chapter felt a bit awkward in terms of dialogue, but then the story really picked up, the complex situation unravelling with lots of action, and that hooked me in till the satisfying end.
+ My favorite fiction books | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin My favorite fiction books
I wanted to write something without too much virtue signaling. When I look at earlier posts, I see something like a trophy board to show everyone how smart and likable I am. Although everything I wrote about back then was and is really interesting to me, it still seems dishonest somehow. I guess my current mood is different from the one I used to have.
So I want to try something different. I’m going to write about the books I absolutely love. Not about philosophy or the role of technology in today’s world. Just 3 books that have made the last seven years much more pleasant for me.
This kind of writing is harder to do because it makes me more vulnerable, it’s not only about the books but about me and my history with them. It’s something dear to my heart: what if you don’t like it? What if you criticize me and my haphazard way of gushing about these books?
Well, for the joy of writing this, I’m still willing to take the risk :-)
I’ve been reading fantasy and science fiction for more than 25 years. I started with Wells, Stanislaw Lem, the Strugatsky brothers, Ray Bradbury, and Philip K. Dick. After reading through the classics, I discovered the Hugo and Nebula Awards for SF and went through all the finalists. After that, I gradually moved on to lesser and lesser known books and authors. After scraping the bottom of the barrel for some time, I lucked into web series, books written one chapter at a time and posted on forums or blogs. And how glad I am that I found them, because all the books on this list below are representatives of this category.
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
By Eliezer Yudkowsky [link to the (free) book]
I’m sorry, this is the one book I won’t stop raving about. The following text is just my fanboy noises aimed to get you to read this book.
I was sure that fanfics are nothing more than erotic fantasies of teenagers turned into text. In special forums and with lots of grammatical errors. Or they are not very funny parody books that want to exploit the fame of the original to cash in.
The tacky title of this fanfic didn’t help it stand out from that crowd. It was the author’s name that helped.
Eliezer was known to me as the champion of the rationality movement and author of many articles on lesswrong.com. Just the fact that such a person wrote a fanfic began to change my image of what a fanfic is.
It also helped that the author suggests in the preface to stop reading the book after the fifth chapter if you weren’t hooked. That’s a good heuristic to use with other books as well — it allows you to start a long book without fear of committing to finish it. And this is a book of considerable length. Fortunately this is one of those cases where the length of a book seems intimidating at first, but then becomes a joy when you realize that many more pages of this fascinating entertainment await you.
To enjoy this book, you don’t have to like or even have read the original Harry Potter books. It’s my top 1 recommendation even for people who don’t read much fiction at all (and they love it too).
~
I once tried to write my own novel. I researched how to structure it, how to edit it. I used my project management skills to break it down into small chunks and wrote them out. I edited them in iterations.
It sucked and the result was crap. I didn’t have the motivation to practice and get better. But since then, when I re-read HPMOR, I notice all the things the author did that are just. so. good. How it hooks me in emotionally and intellectually. How it changes the cadence without ever being too slow.
~
I was sad at the end of the first read, knowing for a fact that such excitingly captivating books are very few and hard to find. But there’s hope! Significant Digits by Alexander Davis is “the best HPMOR continuation fic” (quote from Elizer). The other books in this post are also similar.
Elizer is mainly working on AI alignment. I don’t want our world to end as much as the next guy, but it’s a pity Eliezer isn’t writing SF books for a living.
Worm
By John C. McCrae [link to the (free) book]
A grimdark world where superheroes aren’t so good and villains aren’t so evil is a popular theme these days, just think of the recent popularity of The Boys TV series. But Worm was the first book of this genre for me, and boy, did it take me away for a ride.
Endless cliffhangers and conflict escalation led to many nights where I couldn’t stop reading until sleep finally took me at 4am. Usually when a book is this interesting I finish it quickly, but not this one. This book is 4 Wars and Peaces long. So it was a lot of sleepless nights.
After I finally finished it, I wanted more. And the fanfic world didn’t disappoint. I’ve been reading Worm fanfics for years. I’m not exaggerating, here’s an (incomplete) list of them.
~
Over dozens of fanfics, the characters and setting have become familiar to me, all the key situations have been lived through from different angles with different consequences.
At first I liked Worm because it fit my depressed mood at the time, but after years of fanfics, this world has become the ultimate cozy feel-good read, where I return to old friends and places and relieve fond memories.
(This transition to warm and fuzzy was influenced by some of ack1308’s wholesome Worm fanfics, where each and every conflict is resolved in the best possible way.)
Worth The Candle
By Alexander Wales [link to the (free) book]
The LitRPG to rule them all. Interesting mechanics, but not too much of it. So meta and trope-riding, -bending, -exploiting that it’s at least three levels deep. The author is the king of nuanced worldbuilding. My god! He’s made a variety of worlds with details down history and politics.
Other fiction: a horde of ugly goblins invade with mindless fury, killing innocents and destroying millennia-old elven forests. They force the main character to wipe them out. He moves on to the next challenge.
This book: a horde of ugly goblins invades. But their ugliness doesn’t dehumanize them, they’re still people. People who have a long history with elves, with war crimes on both sides. The new political regime of Goblinland forced this goblin contingent to flee their lands or be persecuted as a minority. There are also women and children behind the soldiers. The main character understands all this and when the negotiations fail, it’s not an easy moral decision to kill the goblins. Some of the horde warriors are defeated, but that still leaves the surrendering goblins and their families to deal with. You’ll need logistics to organize it all.
Humanitarian crisis, supply chains, politics, ethics — this book has it all, and that rare depth pleasantly tickles my brain.
The author seems so much smarter than I’m that he can conjure up all these worlds and unite them in a story with just the right… everything for me. It’s like reading Slate Star Codex: someone intelligent has thought through a lot of details and made them accessible to me.
Also, and this is a recurring feature of all the books on this list, this book is lusciously long.
Honorable mention
Mother of Learning
By Domagoj Kurmaic [link to the (free) book]
A progression fantasy in which the protagonist grows not only in skills, but also in wisdom.
The first chapter felt a bit awkward in terms of dialogue, but then the story really picked up, the complex situation unravelling with lots of action, and that hooked me in till the satisfying end.
diff --git a/2099/01/01/Web-comics-category.html b/2099/01/01/Web-comics-category.html
index 8bdab36b18e90..eb622066d4350 100644
--- a/2099/01/01/Web-comics-category.html
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- Web comics category | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Web comics category
Beware, comics posted here tend to be profane and some are even NSFW.
Have fun! and ignore the ‘continue reading’ link (there’s nothing inside).
+ Web comics category | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Web comics category
Beware, comics posted here tend to be profane and some are even NSFW.
Have fun! and ignore the ‘continue reading’ link (there’s nothing inside).
diff --git a/404.html b/404.html
index d73deacab23b5..67928141a8970 100644
--- a/404.html
+++ b/404.html
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
-
+
diff --git a/about.html b/about.html
index 4db3736118583..84de13a5dfd51 100644
--- a/about.html
+++ b/about.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- About me | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin About me
Hey there!
My name is Andrey Lepekhin (Lee-pyo-khin).
I’m on a journey to lead a fulfilled and contented life. I try out different strategies, diving into applied psychology, mindfulness and more esoteric practices. This is my blog, where I spill my thoughts, share my learnings, and talk about anything that interests me.
Here’s a little more about me.
-
I enjoy meaningful conversations that bring people closer. Over the years, I’ve facilitated many such dialogues, and I find them deeply rewarding. I love conversing with others, whether one-on-one or in a group setting. I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to connect with people on a deeper level, so if you’re interested, let’s talk!
-
I’m fascinated with information technology. In the last 11 years, I’ve worked in various roles in this field, from startups to big corporations like Yandex. I’ve handled business analysis, quality assurance, project management, and software development, and I’ve also led teams of developers.
-
I’m a huge fan of science fiction. This genre has been my trusted companion for the past 25 years. Take a look at my top three favorite books. I’d be more than happy to suggest your next sci-fi book or receive any recommendations from you. Besides, I also read thought-provoking blogs like Slate Star Codex and Zvi, along with tech-related content such as Hacker News.
-
As a mentor, I assist individuals with time-management and achieving their goals. My method is to help my mentees understand the root of their challenges, rather than just battling symptoms like procrastination. We experiment together to find effective ways to reach their goals, without resorting to self-blame as motivation.
-
I love to dance, especially free movement styles like freedom dance, ecstatic dance, and authentic movement. If you’re hosting an event with these, count me in!
Now residing in MoscowBishkek, I’m always eager to connect with people who share similar interests for engaging offline chats. So, if you’re nearby, feel free to reach out!
I appreciate constructive feedback, since one of the main goals of this blog is to help me grow. If you think something could be improved, I’d be thankful for your insights and value your effort to share them with me.
Contact me
Andrey @ this domain
Links
+ About me | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin About me
Hey there!
My name is Andrey Lepekhin (Lee-pyo-khin).
I’m on a journey to lead a fulfilled and contented life. I try out different strategies, diving into applied psychology, mindfulness and more esoteric practices. This is my blog, where I spill my thoughts, share my learnings, and talk about anything that interests me.
Here’s a little more about me.
-
I enjoy meaningful conversations that bring people closer. Over the years, I’ve facilitated many such dialogues, and I find them deeply rewarding. I love talking with others, whether one-on-one or in a group setting. I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to connect with people on a deeper level, so if you’re interested, let’s talk!
-
I’m fascinated with information technology. In the last 11 years, I’ve worked in various roles in this field, from startups to big corporations like Yandex. I’ve handled business analysis, quality assurance, project management, and software development, and I’ve also led teams of developers.
-
I’m a huge fan of science fiction. This genre has been my trusted companion for the past 25 years. Take a look at my top three favorite books. I’d be more than happy to suggest your next sci-fi book or receive any recommendations from you. Besides, I also read thought-provoking blogs like Slate Star Codex and Zvi, along with tech-related content from Hacker News.
-
As a mentor, I help my mentees understand the root cause of their challenges, rather than just battling symptoms like procrastination. We experiment together to find effective ways to reach their goals, without resorting to self-blame as motivation.
-
I love to dance, especially free movement styles like freedom dance, ecstatic dance, and authentic movement. If you’re hosting an event with these, count me in!
Currently in Moscow Bishkek Helsinki, I’m eager to connect with people who share similar interests for engaging chats. So, if something about what you see caught your fancy, feel free to reach out!
Criticism
I appreciate constructive feedback, since one of the main goals of this blog is to help me grow. If you think something could be improved, I’d be thankful for your insights and value your effort to share them with me.
Contact me
Andrey @ this dоmain
Links
diff --git a/category/blog/index.html b/category/blog/index.html
index 6ccdee47ed2e4..fabc5f0b14ad8 100644
--- a/category/blog/index.html
+++ b/category/blog/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts in category blog | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: blog
My favorite fiction books
I wanted to write something without too much virtue signaling. When I look at earlier posts, I see something like a trophy board to show everyone how smart and likable I am. So I want to try something different. Continue reading
Dark mode implementation for this blog
I’ve implemented the dark theme for this blog. An endeavour for 2-3 hours that has visible results. A satisfying project, I invite everyone with a light-theme-only blog to try. Continue reading
Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset
Daily living and commuting conditions have an immense impact on your wellbeing. This post is for people who live in a metropolitan area, have enough income to rent a place for themselves (with flatmates if needed), don’t have commitments that prohibit them from moving and, most importantly, are not satisfied with their commute time. Continue reading
Slack rant
Replying to Slack messages feels productive, but it is a very, very addictive way to procrastinate. It’s hard to say no to it. Others are replying fast. Instant messaging creates expectation of a fast answer. It’s not your grandpa’s email after all. It is gratifying, it is a quick fix, it’s easy. Get your dopamine hit now. Continue reading
+ Posts in category blog | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: blog
My favorite fiction books
I wanted to write something without too much virtue signaling. When I look at earlier posts, I see something like a trophy board to show everyone how smart and likable I am. So I want to try something different. Continue reading
Dark mode implementation for this blog
I’ve implemented the dark theme for this blog. An endeavour for 2-3 hours that has visible results. A satisfying project, I invite everyone with a light-theme-only blog to try. Continue reading
Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset
Daily living and commuting conditions have an immense impact on your wellbeing. This post is for people who live in a metropolitan area, have enough income to rent a place for themselves (with flatmates if needed), don’t have commitments that prohibit them from moving and, most importantly, are not satisfied with their commute time. Continue reading
Slack rant
Replying to Slack messages feels productive, but it is a very, very addictive way to procrastinate. It’s hard to say no to it. Others are replying fast. Instant messaging creates expectation of a fast answer. It’s not your grandpa’s email after all. It is gratifying, it is a quick fix, it’s easy. Get your dopamine hit now. Continue reading
diff --git a/category/blog/page/2/index.html b/category/blog/page/2/index.html
index 8c9fe99601ca5..9abeac2026cd3 100644
--- a/category/blog/page/2/index.html
+++ b/category/blog/page/2/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 2 of 5 for page 2 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: blog
Huge productivity gains
This is how I got the biggest increase in productivity in the last 5 years. Continue reading
The intricate dance of eye contact
I’m amazed that I’ve only learned about this in my thirties. I’ve started seeing a new subcurrent of information that is communicated wordlessly (like body language). Now, it is so much more interesting to pay attention to and participate in this dance. What are they signaling? Did the interlocutor notice your move? Continue reading
How I began to befriend my feelings instead of trying to control them
I do a lot to control my internal state, but I was too dependent on ideas of what happiness should be and was ignoring what I really felt in the process. Continue reading
Living in the now
Focus on the process, not just the goals; live in the day-to-day and enjoy it — I did not internalize these concepts until recently.
Some other common ideas (e.g. “silence is golden”) were well understood by me during adolescence, but the “live in the now, it’s all you’ve got” mantra was as elusive as it is ubiquitous.
Here are the quotes from two great articles that clarify this topic. Continue reading
+ Page 2 of 5 for page 2 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: blog
Huge productivity gains
This is how I got the biggest increase in productivity in the last 5 years. Continue reading
The intricate dance of eye contact
I’m amazed that I’ve only learned about this in my thirties. I’ve started seeing a new subcurrent of information that is communicated wordlessly (like body language). Now, it is so much more interesting to pay attention to and participate in this dance. What are they signaling? Did the interlocutor notice your move? Continue reading
How I began to befriend my feelings instead of trying to control them
I do a lot to control my internal state, but I was too dependent on ideas of what happiness should be and was ignoring what I really felt in the process. Continue reading
Living in the now
Focus on the process, not just the goals; live in the day-to-day and enjoy it — I did not internalize these concepts until recently.
Some other common ideas (e.g. “silence is golden”) were well understood by me during adolescence, but the “live in the now, it’s all you’ve got” mantra was as elusive as it is ubiquitous.
Here are the quotes from two great articles that clarify this topic. Continue reading
diff --git a/category/blog/page/3/index.html b/category/blog/page/3/index.html
index d214aef274abb..63d176b4acd1b 100644
--- a/category/blog/page/3/index.html
+++ b/category/blog/page/3/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 3 of 5 for page 3 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: blog
Biohacking and me
Serge Faguet is an entrepreneur that has written three long controversial articles on Hackernoon and revamped the term ‘biohacking’ for me. Continue reading
Happiness Is a Chore
UPD This post rises some important questions, so I promote it to the index page for visibility.
The pursuit of happiness defines many parts of my life. Or should I say “happiness”? Continue reading
Tony Robbins interview with Tim Ferriss - my takeaways
I’ve first heard Tony Robbins’ interviews sometime in 2016. I was fascinated: a great story-teller and he speaks about things that interest me — mood-states that affect behavior, and how to change your energy levels. Here are my takeaways from one of his interviews with Tim Ferriss. Each paragraph is a paraphrased quote from Tony followed by my comment in italics. Continue reading
Why it's easy to start a subpar relationship
And what to do about it. Continue reading
+ Page 3 of 5 for page 3 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: blog
Biohacking and me
Serge Faguet is an entrepreneur that has written three long controversial articles on Hackernoon and revamped the term ‘biohacking’ for me. Continue reading
Happiness Is a Chore
UPD This post rises some important questions, so I promote it to the index page for visibility.
The pursuit of happiness defines many parts of my life. Or should I say “happiness”? Continue reading
Tony Robbins interview with Tim Ferriss - my takeaways
I’ve first heard Tony Robbins’ interviews sometime in 2016. I was fascinated: a great story-teller and he speaks about things that interest me — mood-states that affect behavior, and how to change your energy levels. Here are my takeaways from one of his interviews with Tim Ferriss. Each paragraph is a paraphrased quote from Tony followed by my comment in italics. Continue reading
Why it's easy to start a subpar relationship
And what to do about it. Continue reading
diff --git a/category/blog/page/4/index.html b/category/blog/page/4/index.html
index bd3d1dcd8520d..41c40a446ec82 100644
--- a/category/blog/page/4/index.html
+++ b/category/blog/page/4/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 4 of 5 for page 4 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: blog
My process and goals for writing in this blog
I describe my processes for writing here and the goals behind those processes. Previously: first post in the blog and why I did it. Continue reading
Why don't we try really doing things
‘More Dakka’ by Zvi starts as a review on Eliezer Yudkowsky’s book Inadequate Eqilibria, and then turns to apply ideas of The Thing and the Symbolic Representation of The Thing by Zvi, and Scott Alexander’s Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice to expand on whys and hows of the problem that I can only vaguely name as “Why don’t we try really doing things”. I do recommend reading all three posts, it was a feel-good delta knowledge for me. Here I will focus on ‘More Dakka’ which expands on why we do not try seemingly obvious solutions, or attempt and never finish. Continue reading
Why choices are bad
Choosing is an area of life that I plan to optimize by removing as much day-to-day choosing as possible (wakeup routine, outfit choice, meal choice, relaxation routine, etc) Continue reading
Vigilant MVPing: the case of this blog
During my day job I frequently have to optimize software development tasks to leave only the most important, essential functionality and cut away all the bells and whistles.
This is sometimes abbreviated as MVP — Minimal Viable Product. Continue reading
+ Page 4 of 5 for page 4 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: blog
My process and goals for writing in this blog
I describe my processes for writing here and the goals behind those processes. Previously: first post in the blog and why I did it. Continue reading
Why don't we try really doing things
‘More Dakka’ by Zvi starts as a review on Eliezer Yudkowsky’s book Inadequate Eqilibria, and then turns to apply ideas of The Thing and the Symbolic Representation of The Thing by Zvi, and Scott Alexander’s Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice to expand on whys and hows of the problem that I can only vaguely name as “Why don’t we try really doing things”. I do recommend reading all three posts, it was a feel-good delta knowledge for me. Here I will focus on ‘More Dakka’ which expands on why we do not try seemingly obvious solutions, or attempt and never finish. Continue reading
Why choices are bad
Choosing is an area of life that I plan to optimize by removing as much day-to-day choosing as possible (wakeup routine, outfit choice, meal choice, relaxation routine, etc) Continue reading
Vigilant MVPing: the case of this blog
During my day job I frequently have to optimize software development tasks to leave only the most important, essential functionality and cut away all the bells and whistles.
This is sometimes abbreviated as MVP — Minimal Viable Product. Continue reading
diff --git a/category/blog/page/5/index.html b/category/blog/page/5/index.html
index 9eee2efd9080b..368c86f313d95 100644
--- a/category/blog/page/5/index.html
+++ b/category/blog/page/5/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 5 of 5 for page 5 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: blog
Hello, World!
I’ve bit the bullet and decided to create this thing. I plan to use it to Continue reading
+ Page 5 of 5 for page 5 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: blog
Hello, World!
I’ve bit the bullet and decided to create this thing. I plan to use it to Continue reading
diff --git a/category/comics/index.html b/category/comics/index.html
index e236b4d9db827..7c8d639baad1b 100644
--- a/category/comics/index.html
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- Posts in category comics | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: comics
Web comics category
Beware, comics posted here tend to be profane and some are even NSFW.
Have fun! and ignore the ‘continue reading’ link (there’s nothing inside).
+ Posts in category comics | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: comics
Web comics category
Beware, comics posted here tend to be profane and some are even NSFW.
Have fun! and ignore the ‘continue reading’ link (there’s nothing inside).
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- Page 2 of 5 for page 2 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin
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- Page 3 of 5 for page 3 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin
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- Page 4 of 5 for page 4 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin
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- Page 5 of 5 for page 5 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin
+ Page 5 of 5 for page 5 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin
diff --git a/category/learning/index.html b/category/learning/index.html
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- Posts in category learning | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: learning
Vigilant MVPing: the case of this blog
During my day job I frequently have to optimize software development tasks to leave only the most important, essential functionality and cut away all the bells and whistles.
This is sometimes abbreviated as MVP — Minimal Viable Product. Continue reading
+ Posts in category learning | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: learning
Vigilant MVPing: the case of this blog
During my day job I frequently have to optimize software development tasks to leave only the most important, essential functionality and cut away all the bells and whistles.
This is sometimes abbreviated as MVP — Minimal Viable Product. Continue reading
diff --git a/category/links/index.html b/category/links/index.html
index 4a89d65569005..c7f9d35a3892f 100644
--- a/category/links/index.html
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- Posts in category links | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: links
3 links: future, present and uncomfortable
A short post with 10 thought-provoking predictions for this decade (e.g. decentralized internet and the world run by Millennials) What Will Happen In The 2020s by Fred Wilson Continue reading
Some programming idioms explained
As a perpetually novice programmer, it was nice to see the reasons behind some popular idioms explained. Continue reading
Simple status games
Who Wants to Play the Status Game? by Agnes Callard Continue reading
Pitfalls of our simplistic moral evaluation system
In The Trouble With “Good” Scott Alexander describes some problems that stem from our evolutionary-induced simplistic good-bad evaluation system (emotivism), that meshes moral beliefs with facts and personal preferences.
I’ll only paste one quote as the post itself has just the right composition to be clear enough while not being too long. Continue reading
+ Posts in category links | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: links
3 links: future, present and uncomfortable
A short post with 10 thought-provoking predictions for this decade (e.g. decentralized internet and the world run by Millennials) What Will Happen In The 2020s by Fred Wilson Continue reading
Some programming idioms explained
As a perpetually novice programmer, it was nice to see the reasons behind some popular idioms explained. Continue reading
Simple status games
Who Wants to Play the Status Game? by Agnes Callard Continue reading
Pitfalls of our simplistic moral evaluation system
In The Trouble With “Good” Scott Alexander describes some problems that stem from our evolutionary-induced simplistic good-bad evaluation system (emotivism), that meshes moral beliefs with facts and personal preferences.
I’ll only paste one quote as the post itself has just the right composition to be clear enough while not being too long. Continue reading
diff --git a/category/links/page/2/index.html b/category/links/page/2/index.html
index 5757c83f188d1..72b0b8b7664a2 100644
--- a/category/links/page/2/index.html
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- Page 2 of 8 for page 2 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: links
Intricacies of day-night and season cycles
Much more than you wanted to know about day-night and season cycles.
Check out this beautifully implemented interactive page Earth and Sun by Bartosz Ciechanowski.
Sometimes it's really hard to measure the effects of online ads
Or as Jesse Frederik and Maurits Martijn named it The new dot com bubble is here: it’s called online advertising . Continue reading
OpenAI language model is about to change how we parse meaningless text
Humans Who Are Not Concentrating Are Not General Intelligences in which srconstantin describes one of many possible consequences of OpenAI’s new language model. Continue reading
Rationalist group houses
I’ve long dreamt of an outside construct that will make me my best self without my lazy part having a say. And a lot of my routines are just that - a construct to make me behave in a way that benefits me in the long term. I’ve even sometimes dreamt of teaming up and living with like-minded people: helping and pushing each other further. Continue reading
+ Page 2 of 8 for page 2 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: links
Intricacies of day-night and season cycles
Much more than you wanted to know about day-night and season cycles.
Check out this beautifully implemented interactive page Earth and Sun by Bartosz Ciechanowski.
Sometimes it's really hard to measure the effects of online ads
Or as Jesse Frederik and Maurits Martijn named it The new dot com bubble is here: it’s called online advertising . Continue reading
OpenAI language model is about to change how we parse meaningless text
Humans Who Are Not Concentrating Are Not General Intelligences in which srconstantin describes one of many possible consequences of OpenAI’s new language model. Continue reading
Rationalist group houses
I’ve long dreamt of an outside construct that will make me my best self without my lazy part having a say. And a lot of my routines are just that - a construct to make me behave in a way that benefits me in the long term. I’ve even sometimes dreamt of teaming up and living with like-minded people: helping and pushing each other further. Continue reading
diff --git a/category/links/page/3/index.html b/category/links/page/3/index.html
index 72fb8fb05ddf9..1ccf1eef934d9 100644
--- a/category/links/page/3/index.html
+++ b/category/links/page/3/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 3 of 8 for page 3 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: links
List of self-improvement-related links
As with entrepreneurship-related articles list, I just want to offload this bunch of articles sitting in my Pocket.
When (if) I come reading through them, I will add descriptions and short versions.
Beware this is a work in progress, some articles may be more than just a little dubious. Though you can still use this list to judge what were my 28-year-old self’s problems and aspirations. Continue reading
85 Things I learned being a CEO
A Hackernoon post where Sachin Gupta details lessons from his CEO career in the areas of job’s key responsibilities, decision making, culture, leadership, self-management, people management, meetings, hiring, and fundraising. Continue reading
Six Steps to a Daily Writing Habit
How to use Beeminder for a daily habit of X.
A great post by Zachary Jacobi Continue reading
Life satisfaction depending on number of children
My current position is against having children due to huge time commitment necessary to raise them. I do not factor in children’s happiness or their possible utility to the world into my decision. But then again, I am not an effective altruist (yet?) and do not have a pronounced moral stance as Scott does. Continue reading
+ Page 3 of 8 for page 3 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: links
List of self-improvement-related links
As with entrepreneurship-related articles list, I just want to offload this bunch of articles sitting in my Pocket.
When (if) I come reading through them, I will add descriptions and short versions.
Beware this is a work in progress, some articles may be more than just a little dubious. Though you can still use this list to judge what were my 28-year-old self’s problems and aspirations. Continue reading
85 Things I learned being a CEO
A Hackernoon post where Sachin Gupta details lessons from his CEO career in the areas of job’s key responsibilities, decision making, culture, leadership, self-management, people management, meetings, hiring, and fundraising. Continue reading
Six Steps to a Daily Writing Habit
How to use Beeminder for a daily habit of X.
A great post by Zachary Jacobi Continue reading
Life satisfaction depending on number of children
My current position is against having children due to huge time commitment necessary to raise them. I do not factor in children’s happiness or their possible utility to the world into my decision. But then again, I am not an effective altruist (yet?) and do not have a pronounced moral stance as Scott does. Continue reading
diff --git a/category/links/page/4/index.html b/category/links/page/4/index.html
index 41901011d0583..ea060de7c1327 100644
--- a/category/links/page/4/index.html
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@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 4 of 8 for page 4 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: links
Maybe The Real Superintelligent AI Is Extremely Smart Computers
I love Ted Chiang novels, especially ‘Understand’, but man-oh-man, that was a hilarious bashing to read. Scott Alexander is on the roll with his kabbalah metaphors.
Why Am I So Lazy?
Heather Havrilesky with her raw, passionate and poignant article about (re)defining your self. Why Am I So Lazy? Continue reading
Happiness Is a Chore
UPD This post rises some important questions, so I promote it to the index page for visibility.
The pursuit of happiness defines many parts of my life. Or should I say “happiness”? Continue reading
Planning fallacy
Eliezer Yudkowsky about Planning Fallacy
The planning fallacy is that people think they can plan, ha ha.
Continue reading
+ Page 4 of 8 for page 4 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: links
Maybe The Real Superintelligent AI Is Extremely Smart Computers
I love Ted Chiang novels, especially ‘Understand’, but man-oh-man, that was a hilarious bashing to read. Scott Alexander is on the roll with his kabbalah metaphors.
Why Am I So Lazy?
Heather Havrilesky with her raw, passionate and poignant article about (re)defining your self. Why Am I So Lazy? Continue reading
Happiness Is a Chore
UPD This post rises some important questions, so I promote it to the index page for visibility.
The pursuit of happiness defines many parts of my life. Or should I say “happiness”? Continue reading
Planning fallacy
Eliezer Yudkowsky about Planning Fallacy
The planning fallacy is that people think they can plan, ha ha.
Continue reading
diff --git a/category/links/page/5/index.html b/category/links/page/5/index.html
index 13eb4466f7e87..25a686192ca69 100644
--- a/category/links/page/5/index.html
+++ b/category/links/page/5/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 5 of 8 for page 5 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: links
On-demand everything
Lauren Smiley about The Shut-In Economy
“In the new world of on-demand everything, you’re either pampered, isolated royalty — or you’re a 21st century servant.” Continue reading
How successful people work less — and get more done
Travis Bradberry on How successful people work less—and get more done
Quite a diverse list of things, actually: Continue reading
Religion, growth framework and enlightenment
Tim Urban about Religion for the Nonreligious
Like many of his great posts, this one is long. I’ve read it in 2015 when I was struggling to find my way around religion and it stroke a chord. For me, it’s about two things: Continue reading
Giving up too hastily on hard goals
Eliezer Yudkowsky’s Use the Try Harder, Luke — is a short funny story about how we’re conditioned for giving up fast, after (also hastily) labeling something as impossible. Continue reading
+ Page 5 of 8 for page 5 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: links
On-demand everything
Lauren Smiley about The Shut-In Economy
“In the new world of on-demand everything, you’re either pampered, isolated royalty — or you’re a 21st century servant.” Continue reading
How successful people work less — and get more done
Travis Bradberry on How successful people work less—and get more done
Quite a diverse list of things, actually: Continue reading
Religion, growth framework and enlightenment
Tim Urban about Religion for the Nonreligious
Like many of his great posts, this one is long. I’ve read it in 2015 when I was struggling to find my way around religion and it stroke a chord. For me, it’s about two things: Continue reading
Giving up too hastily on hard goals
Eliezer Yudkowsky’s Use the Try Harder, Luke — is a short funny story about how we’re conditioned for giving up fast, after (also hastily) labeling something as impossible. Continue reading
diff --git a/category/links/page/6/index.html b/category/links/page/6/index.html
index 4647d5f285dad..70e5048185649 100644
--- a/category/links/page/6/index.html
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@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 6 of 8 for page 6 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: links
Taking Children Seriously - philosophy of parenting
Elliot Temple about Taking Children Seriously Continue reading
16 things I know are true but haven’t quite learned yet
David Cain about things that he knows are good for him but he still only does them seldomly. Continue reading
Why don't we try really doing things
‘More Dakka’ by Zvi starts as a review on Eliezer Yudkowsky’s book Inadequate Eqilibria, and then turns to apply ideas of The Thing and the Symbolic Representation of The Thing by Zvi, and Scott Alexander’s Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice to expand on whys and hows of the problem that I can only vaguely name as “Why don’t we try really doing things”. I do recommend reading all three posts, it was a feel-good delta knowledge for me. Here I will focus on ‘More Dakka’ which expands on why we do not try seemingly obvious solutions, or attempt and never finish. Continue reading
Why Education Startups Do Not Succeed
Avichal Garg on Why Education Startups Do Not Succeed — an interesting article from the guy who co-founded one in 2001. Continue reading
+ Page 6 of 8 for page 6 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: links
Taking Children Seriously - philosophy of parenting
Elliot Temple about Taking Children Seriously Continue reading
16 things I know are true but haven’t quite learned yet
David Cain about things that he knows are good for him but he still only does them seldomly. Continue reading
Why don't we try really doing things
‘More Dakka’ by Zvi starts as a review on Eliezer Yudkowsky’s book Inadequate Eqilibria, and then turns to apply ideas of The Thing and the Symbolic Representation of The Thing by Zvi, and Scott Alexander’s Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice to expand on whys and hows of the problem that I can only vaguely name as “Why don’t we try really doing things”. I do recommend reading all three posts, it was a feel-good delta knowledge for me. Here I will focus on ‘More Dakka’ which expands on why we do not try seemingly obvious solutions, or attempt and never finish. Continue reading
Why Education Startups Do Not Succeed
Avichal Garg on Why Education Startups Do Not Succeed — an interesting article from the guy who co-founded one in 2001. Continue reading
diff --git a/category/links/page/7/index.html b/category/links/page/7/index.html
index dff8f3682c29f..466b483e37f0d 100644
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- Page 7 of 8 for page 7 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: links
Against Facebook: Comparison to Alternatives and Call to Action
Basically, Facebook is bad - their goal is maximize the time you use the site (↑ad revenue). That means not allowing for efficient means of getting value out of the site’s main feature: a lot of people. Not allowing you control what and how you see (sort, search, The Zvi also wrote about it here) Continue reading
List of entrepreneur-related links
From time to time I Pocket articles that seem like they would help me when I’ll start working toward my own business.
As I see it now, that time wouldn’t come in 2018 2019, so I’ll make a handy stash of these articles here. Continue reading
4 Things You Believe That Mess Up Your Social Life
I plan to start my Comfort Zone Crusher course some time this year.
Here’s a few good citations about beliefs that hamper your social life: Continue reading
The Acceleration of Addictiveness
Paul Graham on acceleration of addictiveness: Continue reading
+ Page 7 of 8 for page 7 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: links
Against Facebook: Comparison to Alternatives and Call to Action
Basically, Facebook is bad - their goal is maximize the time you use the site (↑ad revenue). That means not allowing for efficient means of getting value out of the site’s main feature: a lot of people. Not allowing you control what and how you see (sort, search, The Zvi also wrote about it here) Continue reading
List of entrepreneur-related links
From time to time I Pocket articles that seem like they would help me when I’ll start working toward my own business.
As I see it now, that time wouldn’t come in 2018 2019, so I’ll make a handy stash of these articles here. Continue reading
4 Things You Believe That Mess Up Your Social Life
I plan to start my Comfort Zone Crusher course some time this year.
Here’s a few good citations about beliefs that hamper your social life: Continue reading
The Acceleration of Addictiveness
Paul Graham on acceleration of addictiveness: Continue reading
diff --git a/category/links/page/8/index.html b/category/links/page/8/index.html
index 4fc5924ccd7a4..71a989e5af47c 100644
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- Page 8 of 8 for page 8 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: links
Good genes are nice, but joy is better
Researchers […] found a strong correlation between men’s flourishing lives and their relationships with family, friends, and community. Several studies found that people’s level of satisfaction with their relationships at age 50 was a better predictor of physical health than their cholesterol levels were.
Continue reading The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective
The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective by Puzhong Yao Continue reading
Why choices are bad
Choosing is an area of life that I plan to optimize by removing as much day-to-day choosing as possible (wakeup routine, outfit choice, meal choice, relaxation routine, etc) Continue reading
Dealing with internal conflict immediately
This feels extremely valuable. Adding this as a goal myself. Continue reading
+ Page 8 of 8 for page 8 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: links
Good genes are nice, but joy is better
Researchers […] found a strong correlation between men’s flourishing lives and their relationships with family, friends, and community. Several studies found that people’s level of satisfaction with their relationships at age 50 was a better predictor of physical health than their cholesterol levels were.
Continue reading The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective
The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective by Puzhong Yao Continue reading
Why choices are bad
Choosing is an area of life that I plan to optimize by removing as much day-to-day choosing as possible (wakeup routine, outfit choice, meal choice, relaxation routine, etc) Continue reading
Dealing with internal conflict immediately
This feels extremely valuable. Adding this as a goal myself. Continue reading
diff --git a/category/philosophy/index.html b/category/philosophy/index.html
index 2995a0feb514a..3e1528280f7ce 100644
--- a/category/philosophy/index.html
+++ b/category/philosophy/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts in category philosophy | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: philosophy
Simple status games
Who Wants to Play the Status Game? by Agnes Callard Continue reading
Pitfalls of our simplistic moral evaluation system
In The Trouble With “Good” Scott Alexander describes some problems that stem from our evolutionary-induced simplistic good-bad evaluation system (emotivism), that meshes moral beliefs with facts and personal preferences.
I’ll only paste one quote as the post itself has just the right composition to be clear enough while not being too long. Continue reading
+ Posts in category philosophy | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts in category: philosophy
Simple status games
Who Wants to Play the Status Game? by Agnes Callard Continue reading
Pitfalls of our simplistic moral evaluation system
In The Trouble With “Good” Scott Alexander describes some problems that stem from our evolutionary-induced simplistic good-bad evaluation system (emotivism), that meshes moral beliefs with facts and personal preferences.
I’ll only paste one quote as the post itself has just the right composition to be clear enough while not being too long. Continue reading
diff --git a/collection/posts/index.html b/collection/posts/index.html
index 6e025ab15311d..73885551bf755 100644
--- a/collection/posts/index.html
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@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts in collection posts | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 1 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Web comics category
-
My favorite fiction books
-
Dark mode implementation for this blog
-
3 links: future, present and uncomfortable
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+ Posts in collection posts | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 1 of 16
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Web comics category
-
My favorite fiction books
-
Dark mode implementation for this blog
-
3 links: future, present and uncomfortable
subscribe via RSS
diff --git a/collection/posts/page/10/index.html b/collection/posts/page/10/index.html
index ade93ce1dbfde..b763357edc82d 100644
--- a/collection/posts/page/10/index.html
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- Page 10 of 16 for page 10 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 10 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Why don't we try really doing things
-
Why Education Startups Do Not Succeed
-
Against Facebook: Comparison to Alternatives and Call to Action
-
List of entrepreneur-related links
subscribe via RSS
+ Page 10 of 16 for page 10 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 10 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Why don't we try really doing things
-
Why Education Startups Do Not Succeed
-
Against Facebook: Comparison to Alternatives and Call to Action
-
List of entrepreneur-related links
subscribe via RSS
diff --git a/collection/posts/page/11/index.html b/collection/posts/page/11/index.html
index ed17fff27a6b8..a1d88590d9b94 100644
--- a/collection/posts/page/11/index.html
+++ b/collection/posts/page/11/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 11 of 16 for page 11 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 11 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
4 Things You Believe That Mess Up Your Social Life
-
The Acceleration of Addictiveness
-
Good genes are nice, but joy is better
-
The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective
subscribe via RSS
+ Page 11 of 16 for page 11 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 11 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
4 Things You Believe That Mess Up Your Social Life
-
The Acceleration of Addictiveness
-
Good genes are nice, but joy is better
-
The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective
subscribe via RSS
diff --git a/collection/posts/page/12/index.html b/collection/posts/page/12/index.html
index abfb79df2b9de..aea6a45bfad4e 100644
--- a/collection/posts/page/12/index.html
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@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 12 of 16 for page 12 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 12 of 16
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Why choices are bad
-
Dealing with internal conflict immediately
-
Vigilant MVPing: the case of this blog
-
Hello, World!
subscribe via RSS
+ Page 12 of 16 for page 12 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 12 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Why choices are bad
-
Dealing with internal conflict immediately
-
Vigilant MVPing: the case of this blog
-
Hello, World!
subscribe via RSS
diff --git a/collection/posts/page/13/index.html b/collection/posts/page/13/index.html
index 02179f9874be7..20b0dfe756946 100644
--- a/collection/posts/page/13/index.html
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@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 13 of 16 for page 13 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 13 of 16
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diff --git a/collection/posts/page/14/index.html b/collection/posts/page/14/index.html
index cfb66c4282777..d19ef362e72ac 100644
--- a/collection/posts/page/14/index.html
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@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 14 of 16 for page 14 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 14 of 16
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index d515458a061c2..c071463aa13ac 100644
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diff --git a/collection/posts/page/16/index.html b/collection/posts/page/16/index.html
index 80e419bcfa7be..2cb25591c78a0 100644
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- Page 16 of 16 for page 16 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin
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diff --git a/collection/posts/page/2/index.html b/collection/posts/page/2/index.html
index 6c63e0a2d6576..42f0b4079d70b 100644
--- a/collection/posts/page/2/index.html
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- Page 2 of 16 for page 2 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 2 of 16
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Some programming idioms explained
-
Simple status games
-
Pitfalls of our simplistic moral evaluation system
-
Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset
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+ Page 2 of 16 for page 2 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 2 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Some programming idioms explained
-
Simple status games
-
Pitfalls of our simplistic moral evaluation system
-
Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset
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diff --git a/collection/posts/page/3/index.html b/collection/posts/page/3/index.html
index 362a584c242b8..4d7f4d388e50c 100644
--- a/collection/posts/page/3/index.html
+++ b/collection/posts/page/3/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 3 of 16 for page 3 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 3 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Intricacies of day-night and season cycles
-
Sometimes it's really hard to measure the effects of online ads
-
OpenAI language model is about to change how we parse meaningless text
-
Slack rant
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+ Page 3 of 16 for page 3 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 3 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Intricacies of day-night and season cycles
-
Sometimes it's really hard to measure the effects of online ads
-
OpenAI language model is about to change how we parse meaningless text
-
Slack rant
subscribe via RSS
diff --git a/collection/posts/page/4/index.html b/collection/posts/page/4/index.html
index f53115d34c060..43d217fc00aa0 100644
--- a/collection/posts/page/4/index.html
+++ b/collection/posts/page/4/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 4 of 16 for page 4 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 4 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Huge productivity gains
-
The intricate dance of eye contact
-
How I began to befriend my feelings instead of trying to control them
-
Living in the now
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+ Page 4 of 16 for page 4 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 4 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Huge productivity gains
-
The intricate dance of eye contact
-
How I began to befriend my feelings instead of trying to control them
-
Living in the now
subscribe via RSS
diff --git a/collection/posts/page/5/index.html b/collection/posts/page/5/index.html
index 50d909497b46f..819ec1271109c 100644
--- a/collection/posts/page/5/index.html
+++ b/collection/posts/page/5/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 5 of 16 for page 5 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 5 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Rationalist group houses
-
List of self-improvement-related links
-
Biohacking and me
-
85 Things I learned being a CEO
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+ Page 5 of 16 for page 5 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 5 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Rationalist group houses
-
List of self-improvement-related links
-
Biohacking and me
-
85 Things I learned being a CEO
subscribe via RSS
diff --git a/collection/posts/page/6/index.html b/collection/posts/page/6/index.html
index 38ce06a821000..b6a8eb7296864 100644
--- a/collection/posts/page/6/index.html
+++ b/collection/posts/page/6/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 6 of 16 for page 6 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 6 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Six Steps to a Daily Writing Habit
-
Life satisfaction depending on number of children
-
Maybe The Real Superintelligent AI Is Extremely Smart Computers
-
Why Am I So Lazy?
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+ Page 6 of 16 for page 6 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 6 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Six Steps to a Daily Writing Habit
-
Life satisfaction depending on number of children
-
Maybe The Real Superintelligent AI Is Extremely Smart Computers
-
Why Am I So Lazy?
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diff --git a/collection/posts/page/7/index.html b/collection/posts/page/7/index.html
index 1ba120b12969a..af8b5b5cb77e0 100644
--- a/collection/posts/page/7/index.html
+++ b/collection/posts/page/7/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 7 of 16 for page 7 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 7 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Happiness Is a Chore
-
Planning fallacy
-
On-demand everything
-
How successful people work less — and get more done
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+ Page 7 of 16 for page 7 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 7 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Happiness Is a Chore
-
Planning fallacy
-
On-demand everything
-
How successful people work less — and get more done
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diff --git a/collection/posts/page/8/index.html b/collection/posts/page/8/index.html
index 986800e90228c..530dd5681a286 100644
--- a/collection/posts/page/8/index.html
+++ b/collection/posts/page/8/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 8 of 16 for page 8 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 8 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Tony Robbins interview with Tim Ferriss - my takeaways
-
Religion, growth framework and enlightenment
-
Giving up too hastily on hard goals
-
Taking Children Seriously - philosophy of parenting
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+ Page 8 of 16 for page 8 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 8 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Tony Robbins interview with Tim Ferriss - my takeaways
-
Religion, growth framework and enlightenment
-
Giving up too hastily on hard goals
-
Taking Children Seriously - philosophy of parenting
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diff --git a/collection/posts/page/9/index.html b/collection/posts/page/9/index.html
index 5f4ab7aff19cc..bfc291680849f 100644
--- a/collection/posts/page/9/index.html
+++ b/collection/posts/page/9/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 9 of 16 for page 9 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 9 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Why it's easy to start a subpar relationship
-
16 things I know are true but haven’t quite learned yet
-
Web comic
-
My process and goals for writing in this blog
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+ Page 9 of 16 for page 9 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin AutoPage Collection posts Page 9 of 16
AUTO CREATED FOR ALL COLLECTIONS IN THE SITE -
Why it's easy to start a subpar relationship
-
16 things I know are true but haven’t quite learned yet
-
Web comic
-
My process and goals for writing in this blog
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diff --git a/fb-instant-articles.xml b/fb-instant-articles.xml
index 60b62f7d1d8f1..42f2100efc787 100644
--- a/fb-instant-articles.xml
+++ b/fb-instant-articles.xml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ Have fun! and ignore the ‘continue reading’ link (there’s nothing inside).
- Thu, 01 Jan 2099 00:00:00 +0600
+ Thu, 01 Jan 2099 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ The author is the king of nuanced worldbuilding. My god! He’s made a variety o
- Sat, 09 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 09 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ If there is a better way, please tell me about it.
- Sun, 06 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sun, 06 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ A quote from the abstract:
- Mon, 24 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0600
+ Mon, 24 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ Also this way of seeing developer work as preparation for inevitable change:
- Sun, 23 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sun, 23 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ Also this way of seeing developer work as preparation for inevitable change:
- Sun, 23 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sun, 23 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ I’ll only paste one quote as the post itself has just the right composition to
- Sun, 23 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sun, 23 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ The price of renting is higher the closer you are to downtown, which is filled w
- Tue, 26 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0600
+ Tue, 26 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ Check out this beautifully implemented interactive page
- Sat, 09 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 09 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -477,7 +477,7 @@ Check out this beautifully implemented interactive page
- Mon, 30 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Mon, 30 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@ Check out this beautifully implemented interactive page
- Sun, 22 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sun, 22 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -711,7 +711,7 @@ Sometimes, all it takes to bring my mood up are compassion and a permission<
I do a lot to control my internal state, but I was too dependent on <i>ideas</i> of what happiness <i>should be</i> and was ignoring what I really felt in the process.
- Sat, 07 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 07 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -772,7 +772,7 @@ And his assumption that his future Todays would be as vibrant and rich as the br
- Sun, 01 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sun, 01 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -812,7 +812,7 @@ If you plan on doing something like that near Moscow, please call me up, I am be
- Sat, 23 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 23 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -912,7 +912,7 @@ When (if) I come reading through them, I will add descriptions and short version
- Fri, 08 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Fri, 08 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -974,7 +974,7 @@ When (if) I come reading through them, I will add descriptions and short version
- Sat, 02 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 02 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1003,7 +1003,7 @@ When (if) I come reading through them, I will add descriptions and short version
- Sun, 20 May 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sun, 20 May 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1032,7 +1032,7 @@ Now, each time I add an article, a point is substracted; a point is added each t
- Sat, 12 May 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 12 May 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1053,7 +1053,7 @@ Now, each time I add an article, a point is substracted; a point is added each t
- Sat, 05 May 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 05 May 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1073,7 +1073,7 @@ Now, each time I add an article, a point is substracted; a point is added each t
- Tue, 01 May 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Tue, 01 May 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1103,7 +1103,7 @@ Now, each time I add an article, a point is substracted; a point is added each t
- Mon, 30 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Mon, 30 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1144,7 +1144,7 @@ After rereading through everything linked above, I see that, at this moment, I
- Sat, 21 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 21 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1174,7 +1174,7 @@ You’ll get back an answer that sounds hideously long, and clearly reflects no
- Sat, 14 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 14 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1218,7 +1218,7 @@ You’ll get back an answer that sounds hideously long, and clearly reflects no
- Sat, 07 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 07 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1264,7 +1264,7 @@ Quite a diverse list of things, actually:
- Sat, 07 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 07 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1320,7 +1320,7 @@ After I go through my notes, I’ll post my takeaways from there as well.
- Sat, 31 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 31 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0300
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1354,7 +1354,7 @@ Coincidentally, growth framework is something that I lacked in 2015. I now have
- Sun, 25 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sun, 25 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1383,7 +1383,7 @@ Then you have to stick at it. That takes years.
- Sun, 25 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sun, 25 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1426,7 +1426,7 @@ Anecdotal it's worth it
- Sat, 24 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 24 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1530,7 +1530,7 @@ This post is a public commitment: I will only start relationships with those who
- Sat, 17 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 17 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1569,7 +1569,7 @@ This post is a public commitment: I will only start relationships with those who
- Sat, 10 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 10 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1589,7 +1589,7 @@ This post is a public commitment: I will only start relationships with those who
- Sat, 10 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 10 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1647,7 +1647,7 @@ General blog posts are almost the same as link-posts above but I feel a lot more
- Sat, 10 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 10 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1704,7 +1704,7 @@ General blog posts are almost the same as link-posts above but I feel a lot more
- Fri, 09 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Fri, 09 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1739,7 +1739,7 @@ General blog posts are almost the same as link-posts above but I feel a lot more
- Thu, 08 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Thu, 08 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1762,7 +1762,7 @@ General blog posts are almost the same as link-posts above but I feel a lot more
- Tue, 06 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Tue, 06 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -1993,7 +1993,7 @@ Also, when I come, I will have to think of something that will prevent paralysis
- Mon, 05 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Mon, 05 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2034,7 +2034,7 @@ Take action despite feeling fear. This is what courage is all about.
- Sun, 04 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sun, 04 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2059,7 +2059,7 @@ Take action despite feeling fear. This is what courage is all about.
- Sat, 03 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 03 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2083,7 +2083,7 @@ Take action despite feeling fear. This is what courage is all about.
- Fri, 02 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Fri, 02 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2121,7 +2121,7 @@ I know there are a lot of assumptions embedded, nevertheless I have a newfound r
- Thu, 01 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Thu, 01 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2166,7 +2166,7 @@ Sounds obvious but there were quite a few ‘aha’ moments while reading this.
- Thu, 01 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Thu, 01 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2198,7 +2198,7 @@ Sounds obvious but there were quite a few ‘aha’ moments while reading this.
- Wed, 28 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Wed, 28 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2257,7 +2257,7 @@ That’s when I installed Jek
- Sun, 25 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sun, 25 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2287,7 +2287,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Sat, 24 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 24 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2307,7 +2307,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Sat, 17 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 17 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2327,7 +2327,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Fri, 16 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Fri, 16 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2347,7 +2347,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Thu, 15 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Thu, 15 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2367,7 +2367,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Wed, 14 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Wed, 14 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2387,7 +2387,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Tue, 13 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Tue, 13 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2407,7 +2407,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Mon, 12 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Mon, 12 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2427,7 +2427,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Sun, 11 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sun, 11 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2447,7 +2447,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Fri, 09 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Fri, 09 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2467,7 +2467,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Thu, 08 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Thu, 08 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2487,7 +2487,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Wed, 07 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Wed, 07 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2507,7 +2507,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Tue, 06 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Tue, 06 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2527,7 +2527,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Mon, 05 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Mon, 05 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2547,7 +2547,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Sun, 04 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sun, 04 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2567,7 +2567,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Sat, 03 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Sat, 03 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2587,7 +2587,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Fri, 02 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Fri, 02 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
@@ -2607,7 +2607,7 @@ I plan to use it to
- Thu, 01 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0600
+ Thu, 01 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0200
Andrey Lepekhin
diff --git a/feed.xml b/feed.xml
index 082a8c8bb2498..74fbea6b65785 100644
--- a/feed.xml
+++ b/feed.xml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-Jekyll 2023-07-02T14:52:41+06:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/feed.xml The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Thoughts on life improvement Andrey Lepekhin Web comics category 2099-01-01T00:00:00+06:00 2099-01-01T00:00:00+06:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2099/01/01/Web-comics-category <p>Beware, comics posted here tend to be profane and some are even NSFW.<br />
-Have fun! and ignore the ‘continue reading’ link (there’s nothing inside).</p> Andrey Lepekhin Beware, comics posted here tend to be profane and some are even NSFW. Have fun! and ignore the ‘continue reading’ link (there’s nothing inside). My favorite fiction books 2022-07-09T00:00:00+06:00 2022-07-09T00:00:00+06:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2022/07/09/My-favorite-fiction-books <p>I wanted to write something without too much virtue signaling. When I look at earlier posts, I see something like a trophy board to show everyone how smart and likable I am.<!--excerpt_separator-->
+Jekyll 2024-01-31T21:55:17+02:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/feed.xml The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Thoughts on life improvement Andrey Lepekhin Web comics category 2099-01-01T00:00:00+02:00 2099-01-01T00:00:00+02:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2099/01/01/Web-comics-category <p>Beware, comics posted here tend to be profane and some are even NSFW.<br />
+Have fun! and ignore the ‘continue reading’ link (there’s nothing inside).</p> Andrey Lepekhin Beware, comics posted here tend to be profane and some are even NSFW. Have fun! and ignore the ‘continue reading’ link (there’s nothing inside). My favorite fiction books 2022-07-09T00:00:00+03:00 2022-07-09T00:00:00+03:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2022/07/09/My-favorite-fiction-books <p>I wanted to write something without too much virtue signaling. When I look at earlier posts, I see something like a trophy board to show everyone how smart and likable I am.<!--excerpt_separator-->
Although everything I wrote about back then was and is really interesting to me, it still seems dishonest somehow. I guess my current mood is different from the one I used to have.</p>
<p>So I want to try something different. I’m going to write about the books I absolutely love. Not about philosophy or the role of technology in today’s world. Just 3 books that have made the last seven years much more pleasant for me.</p>
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ The author is the king of nuanced worldbuilding. My god! He’s made a variety o
<p>A progression fantasy in which the protagonist grows not only in skills, but also in wisdom.</p>
-<p>The first chapter felt a bit awkward in terms of dialogue, but then the story really picked up, the complex situation unravelling with lots of action, and that hooked me in till the satisfying end.</p> Andrey Lepekhin I wanted to write something without too much virtue signaling. When I look at earlier posts, I see something like a trophy board to show everyone how smart and likable I am. So I want to try something different. Dark mode implementation for this blog 2022-02-06T00:00:00+06:00 2022-02-06T00:00:00+06:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2022/02/06/Dark-mode-implementation-for-this-blog <p>I’ve implemented the dark theme for this blog. An endeavour for 2-3 hours that has visible results. A satisfying project, I invite everyone with a light-theme-only blog to try.
+<p>The first chapter felt a bit awkward in terms of dialogue, but then the story really picked up, the complex situation unravelling with lots of action, and that hooked me in till the satisfying end.</p> Andrey Lepekhin I wanted to write something without too much virtue signaling. When I look at earlier posts, I see something like a trophy board to show everyone how smart and likable I am. So I want to try something different. Dark mode implementation for this blog 2022-02-06T00:00:00+02:00 2022-02-06T00:00:00+02:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2022/02/06/Dark-mode-implementation-for-this-blog <p>I’ve implemented the dark theme for this blog. An endeavour for 2-3 hours that has visible results. A satisfying project, I invite everyone with a light-theme-only blog to try.
<!--excerpt_separator--></p>
<p><img src="https://www.lepekhin.com/images/2022-02-06-Dark-mode-implementation-for-this-blog--dark-mode-example-picture.jpg" alt="An article screenshot, one half of which is in light mode and the other half is in dark mode" /></p>
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ If there is a better way, please tell me about it.</p>
<hr />
-<p>Oh, while we’re on a technical topic, I want to boast a little. This site got a 100/100 performance score at Google’s <a href="https://pagespeed.web.dev">PageSpeed Insights</a> for desktop and 97 for mobile. I can mostly attribute it to Jekyll itself and a little bit to my tweaks using locally hosted fonts instead of Google Fonts’ CDN. I host this blog on <a href="https://pages.github.com/">GitHub Pages</a> for free, you can use the <a href="https://github.com/barryclark/jekyll-now">same GitHub Pages-friendly process</a> I’m using.</p> Andrey Lepekhin I’ve implemented the dark theme for this blog. An endeavour for 2-3 hours that has visible results. A satisfying project, I invite everyone with a light-theme-only blog to try. 3 links: future, present and uncomfortable 2020-02-24T00:00:00+06:00 2020-02-24T00:00:00+06:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2020/02/24/3-links-future-present-and-uncomfortable <p>A short post with 10 thought-provoking predictions for this decade (e.g. decentralized internet and the world run by Millennials)
+<p>Oh, while we’re on a technical topic, I want to boast a little. This site got a 100/100 performance score at Google’s <a href="https://pagespeed.web.dev">PageSpeed Insights</a> for desktop and 97 for mobile. I can mostly attribute it to Jekyll itself and a little bit to my tweaks using locally hosted fonts instead of Google Fonts’ CDN. I host this blog on <a href="https://pages.github.com/">GitHub Pages</a> for free, you can use the <a href="https://github.com/barryclark/jekyll-now">same GitHub Pages-friendly process</a> I’m using.</p> Andrey Lepekhin I’ve implemented the dark theme for this blog. An endeavour for 2-3 hours that has visible results. A satisfying project, I invite everyone with a light-theme-only blog to try. 3 links: future, present and uncomfortable 2020-02-24T00:00:00+02:00 2020-02-24T00:00:00+02:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2020/02/24/3-links-future-present-and-uncomfortable <p>A short post with 10 thought-provoking predictions for this decade (e.g. decentralized internet and the world run by Millennials)
<a href="https://avc.com/2020/01/what-will-happen-in-the-2020s/">What Will Happen In The 2020s</a> by <em>Fred Wilson</em></p>
<hr />
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ If there is a better way, please tell me about it.</p>
A quote from the abstract:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Across three pilot studies and four experimental studies, we demonstrate that individuals avoid asking sensitive questions, because they fear making others uncomfortable and because of impression management concerns. We demonstrate that this aversion to asking sensitive questions is both costly and misguided.</p>
-</blockquote> Andrey Lepekhin A short post with 10 thought-provoking predictions for this decade (e.g. decentralized internet and the world run by Millennials) What Will Happen In The 2020s by Fred Wilson Pitfalls of our simplistic moral evaluation system 2020-02-23T00:00:00+06:00 2020-02-23T00:00:00+06:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2020/02/23/Pitfalls-of-our-simplistic-moral-evaluation-system <p>In <a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/M2LWXsJxKS626QNEA/the-trouble-with-good">The Trouble With “Good”</a> <em>Scott Alexander</em> describes some problems that stem from our evolutionary-induced simplistic good-bad evaluation system (emotivism), that meshes moral beliefs with facts and personal preferences.<br />
+</blockquote> Andrey Lepekhin A short post with 10 thought-provoking predictions for this decade (e.g. decentralized internet and the world run by Millennials) What Will Happen In The 2020s by Fred Wilson Pitfalls of our simplistic moral evaluation system 2020-02-23T00:00:00+02:00 2020-02-23T00:00:00+02:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2020/02/23/Pitfalls-of-our-simplistic-moral-evaluation-system <p>In <a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/M2LWXsJxKS626QNEA/the-trouble-with-good">The Trouble With “Good”</a> <em>Scott Alexander</em> describes some problems that stem from our evolutionary-induced simplistic good-bad evaluation system (emotivism), that meshes moral beliefs with facts and personal preferences.<br />
I’ll only paste one quote as the post itself has just the right composition to be clear enough while not being too long.</p>
<blockquote>
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ I’ll only paste one quote as the post itself has just the right composition to
<p>Another problem: we are tempted to assign everything about a concept the same score. Eliezer Yudkowsky currently has 2486 karma. How good is Eliezer at philosophy? Apparently somewhere around the level it would take to get 2486 karma. How much does he know about economics? Somewhere around level 2486 would be my guess. How well does he write? Probably well enough to get 2486 karma. Translated into mental terms, this looks like the Halo Effect. Yes, we can pick apart our analyses in greater detail; having read Eliezer’s posts, I know he’s better at some things than others. But that 2486 number is going to cause anchoring-and-adjustment issues even so.</p>
<p>But the big problem, the world-breaking problem, is that sticking everything good and bad about something into one big bin and making decisions based on whether it’s a net positive or a net negative is an unsubtle, leaky heuristic completely unsuitable for complicated problems.</p>
-</blockquote> Andrey Lepekhin In The Trouble With “Good” Scott Alexander describes some problems that stem from our evolutionary-induced simplistic good-bad evaluation system (emotivism), that meshes moral beliefs with facts and personal preferences. I’ll only paste one quote as the post itself has just the right composition to be clear enough while not being too long. Simple status games 2020-02-23T00:00:00+06:00 2020-02-23T00:00:00+06:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2020/02/23/Simple-status-games <p><a href="https://thepointmag.com/examined-life/who-wants-to-play-the-status-game-agnes-callard/">Who Wants to Play the Status Game?</a> by <em>Agnes Callard</em></p>
+</blockquote> Andrey Lepekhin In The Trouble With “Good” Scott Alexander describes some problems that stem from our evolutionary-induced simplistic good-bad evaluation system (emotivism), that meshes moral beliefs with facts and personal preferences. I’ll only paste one quote as the post itself has just the right composition to be clear enough while not being too long. Simple status games 2020-02-23T00:00:00+02:00 2020-02-23T00:00:00+02:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2020/02/23/Simple-status-games <p><a href="https://thepointmag.com/examined-life/who-wants-to-play-the-status-game-agnes-callard/">Who Wants to Play the Status Game?</a> by <em>Agnes Callard</em></p>
<p>I like to think that I see a hidden meaning, a secret game being played behind the curtains of everyday interactions. Naturally, I like articles about signalling and social games.</p>
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ I’ll only paste one quote as the post itself has just the right composition to
<p>In an academic context, I’ve noticed that complaining about how busy one is hits a sweet spot of oppression—I cannot manage my life!—and importance—because I am so in demand! When you’re playing with a master, it can be hard to tell which game you’re in.</p>
</blockquote>
-<p>The ending of the article is too unclear for my taste, but then I’m no philosopher.</p> Andrey Lepekhin Who Wants to Play the Status Game? by Agnes Callard Some programming idioms explained 2020-02-23T00:00:00+06:00 2020-02-23T00:00:00+06:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2020/02/23/Some-programming-idioms-explained <p>As a perpetually novice programmer, it was nice to see the reasons behind some popular idioms explained. <!--excerpt_separator-->Like why “Maintainability counts” or “Avoid package level state”.
+<p>The ending of the article is too unclear for my taste, but then I’m no philosopher.</p> Andrey Lepekhin Who Wants to Play the Status Game? by Agnes Callard Some programming idioms explained 2020-02-23T00:00:00+02:00 2020-02-23T00:00:00+02:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2020/02/23/Some-programming-idioms-explained <p>As a perpetually novice programmer, it was nice to see the reasons behind some popular idioms explained. <!--excerpt_separator-->Like why “Maintainability counts” or “Avoid package level state”.
Also this way of seeing developer work as preparation for inevitable change:</p>
<blockquote>
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ Also this way of seeing developer work as preparation for inevitable change:<
<p>But this is never true. Software has bugs, requirements change, inputs change, and very few programs are written solely to be executed once, thus your program will change over time. Maybe it’s you who’ll be tasked with this, more likely it will be someone else, but someone has to change that code. Someone has to maintain that code.</p>
</blockquote>
-<p><a href="https://dave.cheney.net/2020/02/23/the-zen-of-go">The Zen of Go</a> by <em>Dave Cheney</em></p> Andrey Lepekhin As a perpetually novice programmer, it was nice to see the reasons behind some popular idioms explained. Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset 2019-11-26T00:00:00+06:00 2019-11-26T00:00:00+06:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2019/11/26/Rent-downtown-to-reduce-your-commute-time-conquering-a-frugal-mindset <p>Daily living and commuting conditions have an immense impact on your wellbeing. This post is for people who live in a metropolitan area, have enough income to rent a place for themselves (with flatmates if needed), don’t have commitments that prohibit them from moving and, most importantly, are <strong>not satisfied with their commute time</strong>.</p>
+<p><a href="https://dave.cheney.net/2020/02/23/the-zen-of-go">The Zen of Go</a> by <em>Dave Cheney</em></p> Andrey Lepekhin As a perpetually novice programmer, it was nice to see the reasons behind some popular idioms explained. Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset 2019-11-26T00:00:00+02:00 2019-11-26T00:00:00+02:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2019/11/26/Rent-downtown-to-reduce-your-commute-time-conquering-a-frugal-mindset <p>Daily living and commuting conditions have an immense impact on your wellbeing. This post is for people who live in a metropolitan area, have enough income to rent a place for themselves (with flatmates if needed), don’t have commitments that prohibit them from moving and, most importantly, are <strong>not satisfied with their commute time</strong>.</p>
<p>I want to describe why I came to a decision to rent a pricey apartment downtown. This is part of a <a href="https://www.lepekhin.com/tag/renting/">series</a> where I share my tools and thinking processes towards renting: from changing your mindset to apartment research to communication with your landlord.</p>
@@ -244,8 +244,8 @@ The price of renting is higher the closer you are to downtown, which is filled w
<p>Something that has also helped my paradigm shift and start this whole process was an honest acceptance of the fact that yes, rent is expensive, it may not seem fair, but it’s a seller’s market and my outrage will not change this one bit. <a href="#fnref:3" class="reversefootnote" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
-</div> Andrey Lepekhin Daily living and commuting conditions have an immense impact on your wellbeing. This post is for people who live in a metropolitan area, have enough income to rent a place for themselves (with flatmates if needed), don’t have commitments that prohibit them from moving and, most importantly, are not satisfied with their commute time. Intricacies of day-night and season cycles 2019-11-10T00:00:00+06:00 2019-11-10T00:00:00+06:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2019/11/10/Intricacies-of-day-night-and-season-cycles <p>Much more than you wanted to know about day-night and season cycles.<br />
-Check out this beautifully implemented interactive page <a href="https://ciechanow.ski/earth-and-sun/">Earth and Sun</a> by <em>Bartosz Ciechanowski</em>.</p> Andrey Lepekhin Much more than you wanted to know about day-night and season cycles. Check out this beautifully implemented interactive page Earth and Sun by Bartosz Ciechanowski. Sometimes it’s really hard to measure the effects of online ads 2019-11-09T00:00:00+06:00 2019-11-09T00:00:00+06:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2019/11/09/Sometimes-its-really-hard-to-measure-the-effects-of-online-ads <p>Or as <em>Jesse Frederik</em> and <em>Maurits Martijn</em> named it <a href="https://thecorrespondent.com/100/the-new-dot-com-bubble-is-here-its-called-online-advertising/13228924500-22d5fd24">The new dot com bubble is here: it’s called online advertising </a>.</p>
+</div> Andrey Lepekhin Daily living and commuting conditions have an immense impact on your wellbeing. This post is for people who live in a metropolitan area, have enough income to rent a place for themselves (with flatmates if needed), don’t have commitments that prohibit them from moving and, most importantly, are not satisfied with their commute time. Intricacies of day-night and season cycles 2019-11-10T00:00:00+02:00 2019-11-10T00:00:00+02:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2019/11/10/Intricacies-of-day-night-and-season-cycles <p>Much more than you wanted to know about day-night and season cycles.<br />
+Check out this beautifully implemented interactive page <a href="https://ciechanow.ski/earth-and-sun/">Earth and Sun</a> by <em>Bartosz Ciechanowski</em>.</p> Andrey Lepekhin Much more than you wanted to know about day-night and season cycles. Check out this beautifully implemented interactive page Earth and Sun by Bartosz Ciechanowski. Sometimes it’s really hard to measure the effects of online ads 2019-11-09T00:00:00+02:00 2019-11-09T00:00:00+02:00 https://www.lepekhin.com/2019/11/09/Sometimes-its-really-hard-to-measure-the-effects-of-online-ads <p>Or as <em>Jesse Frederik</em> and <em>Maurits Martijn</em> named it <a href="https://thecorrespondent.com/100/the-new-dot-com-bubble-is-here-its-called-online-advertising/13228924500-22d5fd24">The new dot com bubble is here: it’s called online advertising </a>.</p>
<p>It goes in length describing the case where eBay stopped paying $20mln annually for buying brand-name search ads from Google and did not see any visitors decrease. Then finishes with 13 studies of Facebook ad campaigns, in 10 of which the vast majority of sales increases were attributed to selection effect (e.g. customers were already looking for Nike shoes but went to nike.com through a Google ad).</p>
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- The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin | Thoughts on life improvement My favorite fiction books
I wanted to write something without too much virtue signaling. When I look at earlier posts, I see something like a trophy board to show everyone how smart and likable I am. So I want to try something different.
Continue reading
Dark mode implementation for this blog
I’ve implemented the dark theme for this blog. An endeavour for 2-3 hours that has visible results. A satisfying project, I invite everyone with a light-theme-only blog to try.
Continue reading
3 links: future, present and uncomfortable
A short post with 10 thought-provoking predictions for this decade (e.g. decentralized internet and the world run by Millennials) What Will Happen In The 2020s by Fred Wilson
Continue reading
+ The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin | Thoughts on life improvement My favorite fiction books
I wanted to write something without too much virtue signaling. When I look at earlier posts, I see something like a trophy board to show everyone how smart and likable I am. So I want to try something different.
Continue reading
Dark mode implementation for this blog
I’ve implemented the dark theme for this blog. An endeavour for 2-3 hours that has visible results. A satisfying project, I invite everyone with a light-theme-only blog to try.
Continue reading
3 links: future, present and uncomfortable
A short post with 10 thought-provoking predictions for this decade (e.g. decentralized internet and the world run by Millennials) What Will Happen In The 2020s by Fred Wilson
Continue reading
diff --git a/links.html b/links.html
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- The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin | Thoughts on life improvement Coming soon...
+ The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin | Thoughts on life improvement Coming soon...
diff --git a/page/10/index.html b/page/10/index.html
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- Page 10 of 16 for page 10 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Why don't we try really doing things
‘More Dakka’ by Zvi starts as a review on Eliezer Yudkowsky’s book Inadequate Eqilibria, and then turns to apply ideas of The Thing and the Symbolic Representation of The Thing by Zvi, and Scott Alexander’s Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice to expand on whys and hows of the problem that I can only vaguely name as “Why don’t we try really doing things”. I do recommend reading all three posts, it was a feel-good delta knowledge for me. Here I will focus on ‘More Dakka’ which expands on why we do not try seemingly obvious solutions, or attempt and never finish.
Continue reading
Why Education Startups Do Not Succeed
Avichal Garg on Why Education Startups Do Not Succeed — an interesting article from the guy who co-founded one in 2001.
Continue reading
Against Facebook: Comparison to Alternatives and Call to Action
Basically, Facebook is bad - their goal is maximize the time you use the site (↑ad revenue). That means not allowing for efficient means of getting value out of the site’s main feature: a lot of people. Not allowing you control what and how you see (sort, search, The Zvi also wrote about it here)
Continue reading
List of entrepreneur-related links
From time to time I Pocket articles that seem like they would help me when I’ll start working toward my own business.
As I see it now, that time wouldn’t come in 2018 2019, so I’ll make a handy stash of these articles here.
Continue reading
+ Page 10 of 16 for page 10 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Why don't we try really doing things
‘More Dakka’ by Zvi starts as a review on Eliezer Yudkowsky’s book Inadequate Eqilibria, and then turns to apply ideas of The Thing and the Symbolic Representation of The Thing by Zvi, and Scott Alexander’s Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice to expand on whys and hows of the problem that I can only vaguely name as “Why don’t we try really doing things”. I do recommend reading all three posts, it was a feel-good delta knowledge for me. Here I will focus on ‘More Dakka’ which expands on why we do not try seemingly obvious solutions, or attempt and never finish.
Continue reading
Why Education Startups Do Not Succeed
Avichal Garg on Why Education Startups Do Not Succeed — an interesting article from the guy who co-founded one in 2001.
Continue reading
Against Facebook: Comparison to Alternatives and Call to Action
Basically, Facebook is bad - their goal is maximize the time you use the site (↑ad revenue). That means not allowing for efficient means of getting value out of the site’s main feature: a lot of people. Not allowing you control what and how you see (sort, search, The Zvi also wrote about it here)
Continue reading
List of entrepreneur-related links
From time to time I Pocket articles that seem like they would help me when I’ll start working toward my own business.
As I see it now, that time wouldn’t come in 2018 2019, so I’ll make a handy stash of these articles here.
Continue reading
diff --git a/page/11/index.html b/page/11/index.html
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- Page 11 of 16 for page 11 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin 4 Things You Believe That Mess Up Your Social Life
I plan to start my Comfort Zone Crusher course some time this year.
Here’s a few good citations about beliefs that hamper your social life:
Continue reading
The Acceleration of Addictiveness
Paul Graham on acceleration of addictiveness:
Continue reading
Good genes are nice, but joy is better
Researchers […] found a strong correlation between men’s flourishing lives and their relationships with family, friends, and community. Several studies found that people’s level of satisfaction with their relationships at age 50 was a better predictor of physical health than their cholesterol levels were.
Continue reading
+ Page 11 of 16 for page 11 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin 4 Things You Believe That Mess Up Your Social Life
I plan to start my Comfort Zone Crusher course some time this year.
Here’s a few good citations about beliefs that hamper your social life:
Continue reading
The Acceleration of Addictiveness
Paul Graham on acceleration of addictiveness:
Continue reading
Good genes are nice, but joy is better
Researchers […] found a strong correlation between men’s flourishing lives and their relationships with family, friends, and community. Several studies found that people’s level of satisfaction with their relationships at age 50 was a better predictor of physical health than their cholesterol levels were.
Continue reading
diff --git a/page/12/index.html b/page/12/index.html
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- Page 12 of 16 for page 12 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Why choices are bad
Choosing is an area of life that I plan to optimize by removing as much day-to-day choosing as possible (wakeup routine, outfit choice, meal choice, relaxation routine, etc)
Continue reading
Dealing with internal conflict immediately
This feels extremely valuable. Adding this as a goal myself.
Continue reading
Vigilant MVPing: the case of this blog
During my day job I frequently have to optimize software development tasks to leave only the most important, essential functionality and cut away all the bells and whistles.
This is sometimes abbreviated as MVP — Minimal Viable Product.
Continue reading
Hello, World!
I’ve bit the bullet and decided to create this thing. I plan to use it to
Continue reading
+ Page 12 of 16 for page 12 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Why choices are bad
Choosing is an area of life that I plan to optimize by removing as much day-to-day choosing as possible (wakeup routine, outfit choice, meal choice, relaxation routine, etc)
Continue reading
Dealing with internal conflict immediately
This feels extremely valuable. Adding this as a goal myself.
Continue reading
Vigilant MVPing: the case of this blog
During my day job I frequently have to optimize software development tasks to leave only the most important, essential functionality and cut away all the bells and whistles.
This is sometimes abbreviated as MVP — Minimal Viable Product.
Continue reading
Hello, World!
I’ve bit the bullet and decided to create this thing. I plan to use it to
Continue reading
diff --git a/page/13/index.html b/page/13/index.html
index e10b11737c3fd..ef0b279f1cd65 100644
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- Page 13 of 16 for page 13 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin
+ Page 13 of 16 for page 13 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin
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- Page 14 of 16 for page 14 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin
+ Page 14 of 16 for page 14 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin
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+ Page 15 of 16 for page 15 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin
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- Page 16 of 16 for page 16 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin
+ Page 16 of 16 for page 16 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin
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- Page 2 of 16 for page 2 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Some programming idioms explained
As a perpetually novice programmer, it was nice to see the reasons behind some popular idioms explained.
Continue reading
Simple status games
Who Wants to Play the Status Game? by Agnes Callard
Continue reading
Pitfalls of our simplistic moral evaluation system
In The Trouble With “Good” Scott Alexander describes some problems that stem from our evolutionary-induced simplistic good-bad evaluation system (emotivism), that meshes moral beliefs with facts and personal preferences.
I’ll only paste one quote as the post itself has just the right composition to be clear enough while not being too long.
Continue reading
Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset
Daily living and commuting conditions have an immense impact on your wellbeing. This post is for people who live in a metropolitan area, have enough income to rent a place for themselves (with flatmates if needed), don’t have commitments that prohibit them from moving and, most importantly, are not satisfied with their commute time.
Continue reading
+ Page 2 of 16 for page 2 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Some programming idioms explained
As a perpetually novice programmer, it was nice to see the reasons behind some popular idioms explained.
Continue reading
Simple status games
Who Wants to Play the Status Game? by Agnes Callard
Continue reading
Pitfalls of our simplistic moral evaluation system
In The Trouble With “Good” Scott Alexander describes some problems that stem from our evolutionary-induced simplistic good-bad evaluation system (emotivism), that meshes moral beliefs with facts and personal preferences.
I’ll only paste one quote as the post itself has just the right composition to be clear enough while not being too long.
Continue reading
Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset
Daily living and commuting conditions have an immense impact on your wellbeing. This post is for people who live in a metropolitan area, have enough income to rent a place for themselves (with flatmates if needed), don’t have commitments that prohibit them from moving and, most importantly, are not satisfied with their commute time.
Continue reading
diff --git a/page/3/index.html b/page/3/index.html
index 68f5f14beaa66..ca3a2aab435f2 100644
--- a/page/3/index.html
+++ b/page/3/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 3 of 16 for page 3 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Intricacies of day-night and season cycles
Much more than you wanted to know about day-night and season cycles.
Check out this beautifully implemented interactive page Earth and Sun by Bartosz Ciechanowski.
Continue reading
Sometimes it's really hard to measure the effects of online ads
Or as Jesse Frederik and Maurits Martijn named it The new dot com bubble is here: it’s called online advertising .
Continue reading
OpenAI language model is about to change how we parse meaningless text
Humans Who Are Not Concentrating Are Not General Intelligences in which srconstantin describes one of many possible consequences of OpenAI’s new language model.
Continue reading
Slack rant
Replying to Slack messages feels productive, but it is a very, very addictive way to procrastinate. It’s hard to say no to it. Others are replying fast. Instant messaging creates expectation of a fast answer. It’s not your grandpa’s email after all. It is gratifying, it is a quick fix, it’s easy. Get your dopamine hit now.
Continue reading
+ Page 3 of 16 for page 3 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Intricacies of day-night and season cycles
Much more than you wanted to know about day-night and season cycles.
Check out this beautifully implemented interactive page Earth and Sun by Bartosz Ciechanowski.
Continue reading
Sometimes it's really hard to measure the effects of online ads
Or as Jesse Frederik and Maurits Martijn named it The new dot com bubble is here: it’s called online advertising .
Continue reading
OpenAI language model is about to change how we parse meaningless text
Humans Who Are Not Concentrating Are Not General Intelligences in which srconstantin describes one of many possible consequences of OpenAI’s new language model.
Continue reading
Slack rant
Replying to Slack messages feels productive, but it is a very, very addictive way to procrastinate. It’s hard to say no to it. Others are replying fast. Instant messaging creates expectation of a fast answer. It’s not your grandpa’s email after all. It is gratifying, it is a quick fix, it’s easy. Get your dopamine hit now.
Continue reading
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index 9621667346f13..012c1157d1214 100644
--- a/page/4/index.html
+++ b/page/4/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 4 of 16 for page 4 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Huge productivity gains
This is how I got the biggest increase in productivity in the last 5 years.
Continue reading
The intricate dance of eye contact
I’m amazed that I’ve only learned about this in my thirties. I’ve started seeing a new subcurrent of information that is communicated wordlessly (like body language). Now, it is so much more interesting to pay attention to and participate in this dance. What are they signaling? Did the interlocutor notice your move?
Continue reading
How I began to befriend my feelings instead of trying to control them
I do a lot to control my internal state, but I was too dependent on ideas of what happiness should be and was ignoring what I really felt in the process.
Continue reading
Living in the now
Focus on the process, not just the goals; live in the day-to-day and enjoy it — I did not internalize these concepts until recently.
Some other common ideas (e.g. “silence is golden”) were well understood by me during adolescence, but the “live in the now, it’s all you’ve got” mantra was as elusive as it is ubiquitous.
Here are the quotes from two great articles that clarify this topic.
Continue reading
+ Page 4 of 16 for page 4 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Huge productivity gains
This is how I got the biggest increase in productivity in the last 5 years.
Continue reading
The intricate dance of eye contact
I’m amazed that I’ve only learned about this in my thirties. I’ve started seeing a new subcurrent of information that is communicated wordlessly (like body language). Now, it is so much more interesting to pay attention to and participate in this dance. What are they signaling? Did the interlocutor notice your move?
Continue reading
How I began to befriend my feelings instead of trying to control them
I do a lot to control my internal state, but I was too dependent on ideas of what happiness should be and was ignoring what I really felt in the process.
Continue reading
Living in the now
Focus on the process, not just the goals; live in the day-to-day and enjoy it — I did not internalize these concepts until recently.
Some other common ideas (e.g. “silence is golden”) were well understood by me during adolescence, but the “live in the now, it’s all you’ve got” mantra was as elusive as it is ubiquitous.
Here are the quotes from two great articles that clarify this topic.
Continue reading
diff --git a/page/5/index.html b/page/5/index.html
index 72babb41c6971..3133af9bf959a 100644
--- a/page/5/index.html
+++ b/page/5/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 5 of 16 for page 5 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Rationalist group houses
I’ve long dreamt of an outside construct that will make me my best self without my lazy part having a say. And a lot of my routines are just that - a construct to make me behave in a way that benefits me in the long term. I’ve even sometimes dreamt of teaming up and living with like-minded people: helping and pushing each other further.
Continue reading
List of self-improvement-related links
As with entrepreneurship-related articles list, I just want to offload this bunch of articles sitting in my Pocket.
When (if) I come reading through them, I will add descriptions and short versions.
Beware this is a work in progress, some articles may be more than just a little dubious. Though you can still use this list to judge what were my 28-year-old self’s problems and aspirations.
Continue reading
Biohacking and me
Serge Faguet is an entrepreneur that has written three long controversial articles on Hackernoon and revamped the term ‘biohacking’ for me.
Continue reading
85 Things I learned being a CEO
A Hackernoon post where Sachin Gupta details lessons from his CEO career in the areas of job’s key responsibilities, decision making, culture, leadership, self-management, people management, meetings, hiring, and fundraising.
Continue reading
+ Page 5 of 16 for page 5 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Rationalist group houses
I’ve long dreamt of an outside construct that will make me my best self without my lazy part having a say. And a lot of my routines are just that - a construct to make me behave in a way that benefits me in the long term. I’ve even sometimes dreamt of teaming up and living with like-minded people: helping and pushing each other further.
Continue reading
List of self-improvement-related links
As with entrepreneurship-related articles list, I just want to offload this bunch of articles sitting in my Pocket.
When (if) I come reading through them, I will add descriptions and short versions.
Beware this is a work in progress, some articles may be more than just a little dubious. Though you can still use this list to judge what were my 28-year-old self’s problems and aspirations.
Continue reading
Biohacking and me
Serge Faguet is an entrepreneur that has written three long controversial articles on Hackernoon and revamped the term ‘biohacking’ for me.
Continue reading
85 Things I learned being a CEO
A Hackernoon post where Sachin Gupta details lessons from his CEO career in the areas of job’s key responsibilities, decision making, culture, leadership, self-management, people management, meetings, hiring, and fundraising.
Continue reading
diff --git a/page/6/index.html b/page/6/index.html
index a75383ce549e1..c292997d4d3d6 100644
--- a/page/6/index.html
+++ b/page/6/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 6 of 16 for page 6 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Six Steps to a Daily Writing Habit
How to use Beeminder for a daily habit of X.
A great post by Zachary Jacobi
Continue reading
Life satisfaction depending on number of children
My current position is against having children due to huge time commitment necessary to raise them. I do not factor in children’s happiness or their possible utility to the world into my decision. But then again, I am not an effective altruist (yet?) and do not have a pronounced moral stance as Scott does.
Continue reading
Maybe The Real Superintelligent AI Is Extremely Smart Computers
I love Ted Chiang novels, especially ‘Understand’, but man-oh-man, that was a hilarious bashing to read. Scott Alexander is on the roll with his kabbalah metaphors.
Continue reading
Why Am I So Lazy?
Heather Havrilesky with her raw, passionate and poignant article about (re)defining your self. Why Am I So Lazy?
Continue reading
+ Page 6 of 16 for page 6 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Six Steps to a Daily Writing Habit
How to use Beeminder for a daily habit of X.
A great post by Zachary Jacobi
Continue reading
Life satisfaction depending on number of children
My current position is against having children due to huge time commitment necessary to raise them. I do not factor in children’s happiness or their possible utility to the world into my decision. But then again, I am not an effective altruist (yet?) and do not have a pronounced moral stance as Scott does.
Continue reading
Maybe The Real Superintelligent AI Is Extremely Smart Computers
I love Ted Chiang novels, especially ‘Understand’, but man-oh-man, that was a hilarious bashing to read. Scott Alexander is on the roll with his kabbalah metaphors.
Continue reading
Why Am I So Lazy?
Heather Havrilesky with her raw, passionate and poignant article about (re)defining your self. Why Am I So Lazy?
Continue reading
diff --git a/page/7/index.html b/page/7/index.html
index 47925d5fdcff9..379a7e5f2f4e4 100644
--- a/page/7/index.html
+++ b/page/7/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 7 of 16 for page 7 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Happiness Is a Chore
UPD This post rises some important questions, so I promote it to the index page for visibility.
The pursuit of happiness defines many parts of my life. Or should I say “happiness”?
Continue reading
Planning fallacy
Eliezer Yudkowsky about Planning Fallacy
The planning fallacy is that people think they can plan, ha ha.
Continue reading On-demand everything
Lauren Smiley about The Shut-In Economy
“In the new world of on-demand everything, you’re either pampered, isolated royalty — or you’re a 21st century servant.”
Continue reading
How successful people work less — and get more done
Travis Bradberry on How successful people work less—and get more done
Quite a diverse list of things, actually:
Continue reading
+ Page 7 of 16 for page 7 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Happiness Is a Chore
UPD This post rises some important questions, so I promote it to the index page for visibility.
The pursuit of happiness defines many parts of my life. Or should I say “happiness”?
Continue reading
Planning fallacy
Eliezer Yudkowsky about Planning Fallacy
The planning fallacy is that people think they can plan, ha ha.
Continue reading On-demand everything
Lauren Smiley about The Shut-In Economy
“In the new world of on-demand everything, you’re either pampered, isolated royalty — or you’re a 21st century servant.”
Continue reading
How successful people work less — and get more done
Travis Bradberry on How successful people work less—and get more done
Quite a diverse list of things, actually:
Continue reading
diff --git a/page/8/index.html b/page/8/index.html
index 7d720db62e061..c5edb33be29c5 100644
--- a/page/8/index.html
+++ b/page/8/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 8 of 16 for page 8 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Tony Robbins interview with Tim Ferriss - my takeaways
I’ve first heard Tony Robbins’ interviews sometime in 2016. I was fascinated: a great story-teller and he speaks about things that interest me — mood-states that affect behavior, and how to change your energy levels. Here are my takeaways from one of his interviews with Tim Ferriss. Each paragraph is a paraphrased quote from Tony followed by my comment in italics.
Continue reading
Religion, growth framework and enlightenment
Tim Urban about Religion for the Nonreligious
Like many of his great posts, this one is long. I’ve read it in 2015 when I was struggling to find my way around religion and it stroke a chord. For me, it’s about two things:
Continue reading
Giving up too hastily on hard goals
Eliezer Yudkowsky’s Use the Try Harder, Luke — is a short funny story about how we’re conditioned for giving up fast, after (also hastily) labeling something as impossible.
Continue reading
+ Page 8 of 16 for page 8 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Tony Robbins interview with Tim Ferriss - my takeaways
I’ve first heard Tony Robbins’ interviews sometime in 2016. I was fascinated: a great story-teller and he speaks about things that interest me — mood-states that affect behavior, and how to change your energy levels. Here are my takeaways from one of his interviews with Tim Ferriss. Each paragraph is a paraphrased quote from Tony followed by my comment in italics.
Continue reading
Religion, growth framework and enlightenment
Tim Urban about Religion for the Nonreligious
Like many of his great posts, this one is long. I’ve read it in 2015 when I was struggling to find my way around religion and it stroke a chord. For me, it’s about two things:
Continue reading
Giving up too hastily on hard goals
Eliezer Yudkowsky’s Use the Try Harder, Luke — is a short funny story about how we’re conditioned for giving up fast, after (also hastily) labeling something as impossible.
Continue reading
diff --git a/page/9/index.html b/page/9/index.html
index 0550f3c958087..ad250902cbf27 100644
--- a/page/9/index.html
+++ b/page/9/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 9 of 16 for page 9 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Why it's easy to start a subpar relationship
And what to do about it.
Continue reading
16 things I know are true but haven’t quite learned yet
David Cain about things that he knows are good for him but he still only does them seldomly.
Continue reading
My process and goals for writing in this blog
I describe my processes for writing here and the goals behind those processes. Previously: first post in the blog and why I did it.
Continue reading
+ Page 9 of 16 for page 9 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Why it's easy to start a subpar relationship
And what to do about it.
Continue reading
16 things I know are true but haven’t quite learned yet
David Cain about things that he knows are good for him but he still only does them seldomly.
Continue reading
My process and goals for writing in this blog
I describe my processes for writing here and the goals behind those processes. Previously: first post in the blog and why I did it.
Continue reading
diff --git a/sitemap.xml b/sitemap.xml
index 91ada8758fb26..5cbe3b20e0a62 100644
--- a/sitemap.xml
+++ b/sitemap.xml
@@ -2,259 +2,259 @@
https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/02/01/Web-comic
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/02/03/Web-comic
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/02/06/Web-comic
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/02/09/Web-comic
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/02/11/Web-comic
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/02/12/Web-comic
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/02/13/Web-comic
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/02/14/Web-comic
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/02/15/Web-comic
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/02/16/Web-comic
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/02/17/Web-comic
-2018-02-17T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/02/24/Hello-world
-2018-02-24T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/02/25/Vigilant-MVP-case-of-this-blog
-2018-02-25T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/02/28/Dealing-with-internal-conflict-immediately
-2018-02-28T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/01/Why-choices-are-bad
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/01/Western-elite-from-Chinese-perspective
-2018-03-01T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/02/Good-genes-are-nice-but-joy-is-better
-2018-03-02T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/03/Acceleration-of-Addictiveness
-2018-03-03T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/04/4-things-you-believe-that-mess-up-your-social-life
-2018-03-04T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/05/List-of-entrepreneur-related-links
-2018-03-05T00:00:00+06:00
+2018-03-05T00:00:00+02:00
https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/06/Against-facebook-comparison-to-alternatives-and-call-to-action
-2018-03-06T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/08/Why-education-startups-do-not-succeed
-2018-03-08T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/09/Why-dont-we-try-really-doing-things
-2018-03-09T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/10/My-process-and-goals-for-writing-in-this-blog
-2018-03-10T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/10/Web-comic
-2018-03-10T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/10/16-things-i-know-are-true-but-havent-quite-learned-yet
-2018-03-10T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/17/Why-its-easy-to-start-a-subpar-relationship
-2018-03-17T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/24/Taking-children-seriously-philosophy-of-parenting
-2018-03-24T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/25/Giving-up-too-hastily-on-hard-goals
-2018-03-25T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/25/Religion-growth-framework-and-enlightenment
-2018-03-25T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/03/31/Tony-Robbins-interview-with-Tim-Ferriss-my-takeaways
-2018-03-31T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/04/07/How-successful-people-work-less-and-get-more-done
-2018-04-07T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/04/07/On-demand-everything
-2018-04-07T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/04/14/Planning-fallacy
-2018-04-14T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/04/21/Happiness-is-chore
-2018-04-21T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/04/30/Why-am-i-so-lazy
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/05/01/Maybe-the-real-superintelligent-ai-is-extremely-smart-computers
-2018-05-01T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/05/05/Life-satisfaction-depending-on-number-of-children
-2018-05-05T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/05/12/Six-steps-to-a-daily-writing-habit
-2018-05-12T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/05/20/85-things-i-learned-being-a-ceo
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/06/02/Biohacking-and-me
-2018-06-02T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/06/08/List-of-self-improvement-related-links
-2018-06-08T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/06/23/Rationalist-group-houses
-2018-06-23T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/07/01/Living-in-the-now
-2018-07-01T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/07/07/Do-you-update-your-model-with-your-actual-experiences
-2018-07-07T00:00:00+06:00
+2018-07-07T00:00:00+03:00
https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/07/22/The-intricate-dance-of-eye-contact
-2018-07-22T00:00:00+06:00
+2018-07-22T00:00:00+03:00
https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/07/29/Huge-productivity-gains
-2018-07-29T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2018/07/30/Slack-rant
-2018-07-30T00:00:00+06:00
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https://www.lepekhin.com/2019/02/26/OpenAI-language-model-is-about-to-change-how-we-parse-meaningless-text
-2019-02-26T00:00:00+06:00
+2019-02-26T00:00:00+02:00
https://www.lepekhin.com/2019/11/09/Sometimes-its-really-hard-to-measure-the-effects-of-online-ads
-2019-11-09T00:00:00+06:00
+2019-11-09T00:00:00+02:00
https://www.lepekhin.com/2019/11/10/Intricacies-of-day-night-and-season-cycles
-2019-11-10T00:00:00+06:00
+2019-11-10T00:00:00+02:00
https://www.lepekhin.com/2019/11/26/Rent-downtown-to-reduce-your-commute-time-conquering-a-frugal-mindset
-2019-11-26T00:00:00+06:00
+2019-11-26T00:00:00+02:00
https://www.lepekhin.com/2020/02/23/Pitfalls-of-our-simplistic-moral-evaluation-system
-2020-02-23T00:00:00+06:00
+2020-02-23T00:00:00+02:00
https://www.lepekhin.com/2020/02/23/Simple-status-games
-2020-02-23T00:00:00+06:00
+2020-02-23T00:00:00+02:00
https://www.lepekhin.com/2020/02/23/Some-programming-idioms-explained
-2020-02-23T00:00:00+06:00
+2020-02-23T00:00:00+02:00
https://www.lepekhin.com/2020/02/24/3-links-future-present-and-uncomfortable
-2020-02-24T00:00:00+06:00
+2020-02-24T00:00:00+02:00
https://www.lepekhin.com/2022/02/06/Dark-mode-implementation-for-this-blog
-2022-02-06T00:00:00+06:00
+2022-02-06T00:00:00+02:00
https://www.lepekhin.com/2022/07/09/My-favorite-fiction-books
-2022-07-09T00:00:00+06:00
+2022-07-09T00:00:00+03:00
https://www.lepekhin.com/2099/01/01/Web-comics-category
-2099-01-01T00:00:00+06:00
+2099-01-01T00:00:00+02:00
https://www.lepekhin.com/about
@@ -468,6 +468,6 @@
https://www.lepekhin.com/google41eaff8457980de8.html
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+2023-06-19T12:09:45+03:00
diff --git a/tag/ai/index.html b/tag/ai/index.html
index 9750d4c1425e6..7df721288dc85 100644
--- a/tag/ai/index.html
+++ b/tag/ai/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with ai | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: ai
OpenAI language model is about to change how we parse meaningless text
Humans Who Are Not Concentrating Are Not General Intelligences in which srconstantin describes one of many possible consequences of OpenAI’s new language model. Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with ai | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: ai
OpenAI language model is about to change how we parse meaningless text
Humans Who Are Not Concentrating Are Not General Intelligences in which srconstantin describes one of many possible consequences of OpenAI’s new language model. Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/beeminder/index.html b/tag/beeminder/index.html
index a0f5d8964c7da..8a1ff7f9135d5 100644
--- a/tag/beeminder/index.html
+++ b/tag/beeminder/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with beeminder | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: beeminder
Six Steps to a Daily Writing Habit
How to use Beeminder for a daily habit of X.
A great post by Zachary Jacobi Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with beeminder | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: beeminder
Six Steps to a Daily Writing Habit
How to use Beeminder for a daily habit of X.
A great post by Zachary Jacobi Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/biohacking/index.html b/tag/biohacking/index.html
index b0d503ca55872..b2992236f11df 100644
--- a/tag/biohacking/index.html
+++ b/tag/biohacking/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with biohacking | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: biohacking
Biohacking and me
Serge Faguet is an entrepreneur that has written three long controversial articles on Hackernoon and revamped the term ‘biohacking’ for me. Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with biohacking | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: biohacking
Biohacking and me
Serge Faguet is an entrepreneur that has written three long controversial articles on Hackernoon and revamped the term ‘biohacking’ for me. Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/book/index.html b/tag/book/index.html
index ecd5b3e6118a2..6b5b6d235ac6f 100644
--- a/tag/book/index.html
+++ b/tag/book/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with book | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: book
My favorite fiction books
I wanted to write something without too much virtue signaling. When I look at earlier posts, I see something like a trophy board to show everyone how smart and likable I am. So I want to try something different. Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with book | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: book
My favorite fiction books
I wanted to write something without too much virtue signaling. When I look at earlier posts, I see something like a trophy board to show everyone how smart and likable I am. So I want to try something different. Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/comfort-zone-crusher/index.html b/tag/comfort-zone-crusher/index.html
index e6f759b662b69..4584384e336fb 100644
--- a/tag/comfort-zone-crusher/index.html
+++ b/tag/comfort-zone-crusher/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with comfort-zone-crusher | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: comfort-zone-crusher
4 Things You Believe That Mess Up Your Social Life
I plan to start my Comfort Zone Crusher course some time this year.
Here’s a few good citations about beliefs that hamper your social life: Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with comfort-zone-crusher | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: comfort-zone-crusher
4 Things You Believe That Mess Up Your Social Life
I plan to start my Comfort Zone Crusher course some time this year.
Here’s a few good citations about beliefs that hamper your social life: Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/delta/index.html b/tag/delta/index.html
index 1ef52f07b44e0..d534c2c8f649d 100644
--- a/tag/delta/index.html
+++ b/tag/delta/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with delta | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: delta
Why don't we try really doing things
‘More Dakka’ by Zvi starts as a review on Eliezer Yudkowsky’s book Inadequate Eqilibria, and then turns to apply ideas of The Thing and the Symbolic Representation of The Thing by Zvi, and Scott Alexander’s Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice to expand on whys and hows of the problem that I can only vaguely name as “Why don’t we try really doing things”. I do recommend reading all three posts, it was a feel-good delta knowledge for me. Here I will focus on ‘More Dakka’ which expands on why we do not try seemingly obvious solutions, or attempt and never finish. Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with delta | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: delta
Why don't we try really doing things
‘More Dakka’ by Zvi starts as a review on Eliezer Yudkowsky’s book Inadequate Eqilibria, and then turns to apply ideas of The Thing and the Symbolic Representation of The Thing by Zvi, and Scott Alexander’s Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice to expand on whys and hows of the problem that I can only vaguely name as “Why don’t we try really doing things”. I do recommend reading all three posts, it was a feel-good delta knowledge for me. Here I will focus on ‘More Dakka’ which expands on why we do not try seemingly obvious solutions, or attempt and never finish. Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/entrepreneurship/index.html b/tag/entrepreneurship/index.html
index b58e3873aeeef..d4e613cb60e6b 100644
--- a/tag/entrepreneurship/index.html
+++ b/tag/entrepreneurship/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with entrepreneurship | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: entrepreneurship
85 Things I learned being a CEO
A Hackernoon post where Sachin Gupta details lessons from his CEO career in the areas of job’s key responsibilities, decision making, culture, leadership, self-management, people management, meetings, hiring, and fundraising. Continue reading
List of entrepreneur-related links
From time to time I Pocket articles that seem like they would help me when I’ll start working toward my own business.
As I see it now, that time wouldn’t come in 2018 2019, so I’ll make a handy stash of these articles here. Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with entrepreneurship | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: entrepreneurship
85 Things I learned being a CEO
A Hackernoon post where Sachin Gupta details lessons from his CEO career in the areas of job’s key responsibilities, decision making, culture, leadership, self-management, people management, meetings, hiring, and fundraising. Continue reading
List of entrepreneur-related links
From time to time I Pocket articles that seem like they would help me when I’ll start working toward my own business.
As I see it now, that time wouldn’t come in 2018 2019, so I’ll make a handy stash of these articles here. Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/extrafabulouscomics/index.html b/tag/extrafabulouscomics/index.html
index 8dc57f0adbb39..179045834cd71 100644
--- a/tag/extrafabulouscomics/index.html
+++ b/tag/extrafabulouscomics/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with extrafabulouscomics | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: extrafabulouscomics
+ Posts tagged with extrafabulouscomics | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: extrafabulouscomics
diff --git a/tag/facebook/index.html b/tag/facebook/index.html
index 7a08eb50fb271..29368d501cdcf 100644
--- a/tag/facebook/index.html
+++ b/tag/facebook/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with facebook | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: facebook
Against Facebook: Comparison to Alternatives and Call to Action
Basically, Facebook is bad - their goal is maximize the time you use the site (↑ad revenue). That means not allowing for efficient means of getting value out of the site’s main feature: a lot of people. Not allowing you control what and how you see (sort, search, The Zvi also wrote about it here) Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with facebook | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: facebook
Against Facebook: Comparison to Alternatives and Call to Action
Basically, Facebook is bad - their goal is maximize the time you use the site (↑ad revenue). That means not allowing for efficient means of getting value out of the site’s main feature: a lot of people. Not allowing you control what and how you see (sort, search, The Zvi also wrote about it here) Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/goal/index.html b/tag/goal/index.html
index af38a27073d36..f8fa2a982d824 100644
--- a/tag/goal/index.html
+++ b/tag/goal/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with goal | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: goal
Slack rant
Replying to Slack messages feels productive, but it is a very, very addictive way to procrastinate. It’s hard to say no to it. Others are replying fast. Instant messaging creates expectation of a fast answer. It’s not your grandpa’s email after all. It is gratifying, it is a quick fix, it’s easy. Get your dopamine hit now. Continue reading
Huge productivity gains
This is how I got the biggest increase in productivity in the last 5 years. Continue reading
The intricate dance of eye contact
I’m amazed that I’ve only learned about this in my thirties. I’ve started seeing a new subcurrent of information that is communicated wordlessly (like body language). Now, it is so much more interesting to pay attention to and participate in this dance. What are they signaling? Did the interlocutor notice your move? Continue reading
How I began to befriend my feelings instead of trying to control them
I do a lot to control my internal state, but I was too dependent on ideas of what happiness should be and was ignoring what I really felt in the process. Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with goal | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: goal
Slack rant
Replying to Slack messages feels productive, but it is a very, very addictive way to procrastinate. It’s hard to say no to it. Others are replying fast. Instant messaging creates expectation of a fast answer. It’s not your grandpa’s email after all. It is gratifying, it is a quick fix, it’s easy. Get your dopamine hit now. Continue reading
Huge productivity gains
This is how I got the biggest increase in productivity in the last 5 years. Continue reading
The intricate dance of eye contact
I’m amazed that I’ve only learned about this in my thirties. I’ve started seeing a new subcurrent of information that is communicated wordlessly (like body language). Now, it is so much more interesting to pay attention to and participate in this dance. What are they signaling? Did the interlocutor notice your move? Continue reading
How I began to befriend my feelings instead of trying to control them
I do a lot to control my internal state, but I was too dependent on ideas of what happiness should be and was ignoring what I really felt in the process. Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/goal/page/2/index.html b/tag/goal/page/2/index.html
index 7899862489fde..280cf1a54d148 100644
--- a/tag/goal/page/2/index.html
+++ b/tag/goal/page/2/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 2 of 5 for page 2 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: goal
Living in the now
Focus on the process, not just the goals; live in the day-to-day and enjoy it — I did not internalize these concepts until recently.
Some other common ideas (e.g. “silence is golden”) were well understood by me during adolescence, but the “live in the now, it’s all you’ve got” mantra was as elusive as it is ubiquitous.
Here are the quotes from two great articles that clarify this topic. Continue reading
Rationalist group houses
I’ve long dreamt of an outside construct that will make me my best self without my lazy part having a say. And a lot of my routines are just that - a construct to make me behave in a way that benefits me in the long term. I’ve even sometimes dreamt of teaming up and living with like-minded people: helping and pushing each other further. Continue reading
List of self-improvement-related links
As with entrepreneurship-related articles list, I just want to offload this bunch of articles sitting in my Pocket.
When (if) I come reading through them, I will add descriptions and short versions.
Beware this is a work in progress, some articles may be more than just a little dubious. Though you can still use this list to judge what were my 28-year-old self’s problems and aspirations. Continue reading
Biohacking and me
Serge Faguet is an entrepreneur that has written three long controversial articles on Hackernoon and revamped the term ‘biohacking’ for me. Continue reading
+ Page 2 of 5 for page 2 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: goal
Living in the now
Focus on the process, not just the goals; live in the day-to-day and enjoy it — I did not internalize these concepts until recently.
Some other common ideas (e.g. “silence is golden”) were well understood by me during adolescence, but the “live in the now, it’s all you’ve got” mantra was as elusive as it is ubiquitous.
Here are the quotes from two great articles that clarify this topic. Continue reading
Rationalist group houses
I’ve long dreamt of an outside construct that will make me my best self without my lazy part having a say. And a lot of my routines are just that - a construct to make me behave in a way that benefits me in the long term. I’ve even sometimes dreamt of teaming up and living with like-minded people: helping and pushing each other further. Continue reading
List of self-improvement-related links
As with entrepreneurship-related articles list, I just want to offload this bunch of articles sitting in my Pocket.
When (if) I come reading through them, I will add descriptions and short versions.
Beware this is a work in progress, some articles may be more than just a little dubious. Though you can still use this list to judge what were my 28-year-old self’s problems and aspirations. Continue reading
Biohacking and me
Serge Faguet is an entrepreneur that has written three long controversial articles on Hackernoon and revamped the term ‘biohacking’ for me. Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/goal/page/3/index.html b/tag/goal/page/3/index.html
index c60f213839c5c..35274f0a39861 100644
--- a/tag/goal/page/3/index.html
+++ b/tag/goal/page/3/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 3 of 5 for page 3 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: goal
Six Steps to a Daily Writing Habit
How to use Beeminder for a daily habit of X.
A great post by Zachary Jacobi Continue reading
Why Am I So Lazy?
Heather Havrilesky with her raw, passionate and poignant article about (re)defining your self. Why Am I So Lazy? Continue reading
Happiness Is a Chore
UPD This post rises some important questions, so I promote it to the index page for visibility.
The pursuit of happiness defines many parts of my life. Or should I say “happiness”? Continue reading
How successful people work less — and get more done
Travis Bradberry on How successful people work less—and get more done
Quite a diverse list of things, actually: Continue reading
+ Page 3 of 5 for page 3 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: goal
Six Steps to a Daily Writing Habit
How to use Beeminder for a daily habit of X.
A great post by Zachary Jacobi Continue reading
Why Am I So Lazy?
Heather Havrilesky with her raw, passionate and poignant article about (re)defining your self. Why Am I So Lazy? Continue reading
Happiness Is a Chore
UPD This post rises some important questions, so I promote it to the index page for visibility.
The pursuit of happiness defines many parts of my life. Or should I say “happiness”? Continue reading
How successful people work less — and get more done
Travis Bradberry on How successful people work less—and get more done
Quite a diverse list of things, actually: Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/goal/page/4/index.html b/tag/goal/page/4/index.html
index 7a82ce51e5028..dffc2552ed649 100644
--- a/tag/goal/page/4/index.html
+++ b/tag/goal/page/4/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 4 of 5 for page 4 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: goal
Tony Robbins interview with Tim Ferriss - my takeaways
I’ve first heard Tony Robbins’ interviews sometime in 2016. I was fascinated: a great story-teller and he speaks about things that interest me — mood-states that affect behavior, and how to change your energy levels. Here are my takeaways from one of his interviews with Tim Ferriss. Each paragraph is a paraphrased quote from Tony followed by my comment in italics. Continue reading
Why it's easy to start a subpar relationship
And what to do about it. Continue reading
My process and goals for writing in this blog
I describe my processes for writing here and the goals behind those processes. Previously: first post in the blog and why I did it. Continue reading
Why don't we try really doing things
‘More Dakka’ by Zvi starts as a review on Eliezer Yudkowsky’s book Inadequate Eqilibria, and then turns to apply ideas of The Thing and the Symbolic Representation of The Thing by Zvi, and Scott Alexander’s Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice to expand on whys and hows of the problem that I can only vaguely name as “Why don’t we try really doing things”. I do recommend reading all three posts, it was a feel-good delta knowledge for me. Here I will focus on ‘More Dakka’ which expands on why we do not try seemingly obvious solutions, or attempt and never finish. Continue reading
+ Page 4 of 5 for page 4 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: goal
Tony Robbins interview with Tim Ferriss - my takeaways
I’ve first heard Tony Robbins’ interviews sometime in 2016. I was fascinated: a great story-teller and he speaks about things that interest me — mood-states that affect behavior, and how to change your energy levels. Here are my takeaways from one of his interviews with Tim Ferriss. Each paragraph is a paraphrased quote from Tony followed by my comment in italics. Continue reading
Why it's easy to start a subpar relationship
And what to do about it. Continue reading
My process and goals for writing in this blog
I describe my processes for writing here and the goals behind those processes. Previously: first post in the blog and why I did it. Continue reading
Why don't we try really doing things
‘More Dakka’ by Zvi starts as a review on Eliezer Yudkowsky’s book Inadequate Eqilibria, and then turns to apply ideas of The Thing and the Symbolic Representation of The Thing by Zvi, and Scott Alexander’s Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice to expand on whys and hows of the problem that I can only vaguely name as “Why don’t we try really doing things”. I do recommend reading all three posts, it was a feel-good delta knowledge for me. Here I will focus on ‘More Dakka’ which expands on why we do not try seemingly obvious solutions, or attempt and never finish. Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/goal/page/5/index.html b/tag/goal/page/5/index.html
index ec0d4549c84ed..e8aa639bb0949 100644
--- a/tag/goal/page/5/index.html
+++ b/tag/goal/page/5/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Page 5 of 5 for page 5 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: goal
List of entrepreneur-related links
From time to time I Pocket articles that seem like they would help me when I’ll start working toward my own business.
As I see it now, that time wouldn’t come in 2018 2019, so I’ll make a handy stash of these articles here. Continue reading
4 Things You Believe That Mess Up Your Social Life
I plan to start my Comfort Zone Crusher course some time this year.
Here’s a few good citations about beliefs that hamper your social life: Continue reading
Why choices are bad
Choosing is an area of life that I plan to optimize by removing as much day-to-day choosing as possible (wakeup routine, outfit choice, meal choice, relaxation routine, etc) Continue reading
Dealing with internal conflict immediately
This feels extremely valuable. Adding this as a goal myself. Continue reading
+ Page 5 of 5 for page 5 | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: goal
List of entrepreneur-related links
From time to time I Pocket articles that seem like they would help me when I’ll start working toward my own business.
As I see it now, that time wouldn’t come in 2018 2019, so I’ll make a handy stash of these articles here. Continue reading
4 Things You Believe That Mess Up Your Social Life
I plan to start my Comfort Zone Crusher course some time this year.
Here’s a few good citations about beliefs that hamper your social life: Continue reading
Why choices are bad
Choosing is an area of life that I plan to optimize by removing as much day-to-day choosing as possible (wakeup routine, outfit choice, meal choice, relaxation routine, etc) Continue reading
Dealing with internal conflict immediately
This feels extremely valuable. Adding this as a goal myself. Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/happiness/index.html b/tag/happiness/index.html
index fe38f7052fa74..e8d63f8e20325 100644
--- a/tag/happiness/index.html
+++ b/tag/happiness/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with happiness | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: happiness
Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset
Daily living and commuting conditions have an immense impact on your wellbeing. This post is for people who live in a metropolitan area, have enough income to rent a place for themselves (with flatmates if needed), don’t have commitments that prohibit them from moving and, most importantly, are not satisfied with their commute time. Continue reading
How I began to befriend my feelings instead of trying to control them
I do a lot to control my internal state, but I was too dependent on ideas of what happiness should be and was ignoring what I really felt in the process. Continue reading
Living in the now
Focus on the process, not just the goals; live in the day-to-day and enjoy it — I did not internalize these concepts until recently.
Some other common ideas (e.g. “silence is golden”) were well understood by me during adolescence, but the “live in the now, it’s all you’ve got” mantra was as elusive as it is ubiquitous.
Here are the quotes from two great articles that clarify this topic. Continue reading
Good genes are nice, but joy is better
Researchers […] found a strong correlation between men’s flourishing lives and their relationships with family, friends, and community. Several studies found that people’s level of satisfaction with their relationships at age 50 was a better predictor of physical health than their cholesterol levels were.
Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with happiness | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: happiness
Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset
Daily living and commuting conditions have an immense impact on your wellbeing. This post is for people who live in a metropolitan area, have enough income to rent a place for themselves (with flatmates if needed), don’t have commitments that prohibit them from moving and, most importantly, are not satisfied with their commute time. Continue reading
How I began to befriend my feelings instead of trying to control them
I do a lot to control my internal state, but I was too dependent on ideas of what happiness should be and was ignoring what I really felt in the process. Continue reading
Living in the now
Focus on the process, not just the goals; live in the day-to-day and enjoy it — I did not internalize these concepts until recently.
Some other common ideas (e.g. “silence is golden”) were well understood by me during adolescence, but the “live in the now, it’s all you’ve got” mantra was as elusive as it is ubiquitous.
Here are the quotes from two great articles that clarify this topic. Continue reading
Good genes are nice, but joy is better
Researchers […] found a strong correlation between men’s flourishing lives and their relationships with family, friends, and community. Several studies found that people’s level of satisfaction with their relationships at age 50 was a better predictor of physical health than their cholesterol levels were.
Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/openai/index.html b/tag/openai/index.html
index 060b4a1f9216f..c557a9c26d986 100644
--- a/tag/openai/index.html
+++ b/tag/openai/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with openai | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: openai
OpenAI language model is about to change how we parse meaningless text
Humans Who Are Not Concentrating Are Not General Intelligences in which srconstantin describes one of many possible consequences of OpenAI’s new language model. Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with openai | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: openai
OpenAI language model is about to change how we parse meaningless text
Humans Who Are Not Concentrating Are Not General Intelligences in which srconstantin describes one of many possible consequences of OpenAI’s new language model. Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/parenting/index.html b/tag/parenting/index.html
index 781ecb9fb6efe..4a0ab242c41c2 100644
--- a/tag/parenting/index.html
+++ b/tag/parenting/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with parenting | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: parenting
+ Posts tagged with parenting | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: parenting
diff --git a/tag/paul-graham/index.html b/tag/paul-graham/index.html
index 343980fe96ec2..41a279d0473d6 100644
--- a/tag/paul-graham/index.html
+++ b/tag/paul-graham/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with paul-graham | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: paul-graham
The Acceleration of Addictiveness
Paul Graham on acceleration of addictiveness: Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with paul-graham | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: paul-graham
The Acceleration of Addictiveness
Paul Graham on acceleration of addictiveness: Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/process/index.html b/tag/process/index.html
index b291198d2f289..b1ac67887b7dd 100644
--- a/tag/process/index.html
+++ b/tag/process/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with process | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: process
Dark mode implementation for this blog
I’ve implemented the dark theme for this blog. An endeavour for 2-3 hours that has visible results. A satisfying project, I invite everyone with a light-theme-only blog to try. Continue reading
Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset
Daily living and commuting conditions have an immense impact on your wellbeing. This post is for people who live in a metropolitan area, have enough income to rent a place for themselves (with flatmates if needed), don’t have commitments that prohibit them from moving and, most importantly, are not satisfied with their commute time. Continue reading
Why it's easy to start a subpar relationship
And what to do about it. Continue reading
My process and goals for writing in this blog
I describe my processes for writing here and the goals behind those processes. Previously: first post in the blog and why I did it. Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with process | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: process
Dark mode implementation for this blog
I’ve implemented the dark theme for this blog. An endeavour for 2-3 hours that has visible results. A satisfying project, I invite everyone with a light-theme-only blog to try. Continue reading
Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset
Daily living and commuting conditions have an immense impact on your wellbeing. This post is for people who live in a metropolitan area, have enough income to rent a place for themselves (with flatmates if needed), don’t have commitments that prohibit them from moving and, most importantly, are not satisfied with their commute time. Continue reading
Why it's easy to start a subpar relationship
And what to do about it. Continue reading
My process and goals for writing in this blog
I describe my processes for writing here and the goals behind those processes. Previously: first post in the blog and why I did it. Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/productivity/index.html b/tag/productivity/index.html
index e2bdb9a6f6338..bdbcd38a0d637 100644
--- a/tag/productivity/index.html
+++ b/tag/productivity/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with productivity | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: productivity
Slack rant
Replying to Slack messages feels productive, but it is a very, very addictive way to procrastinate. It’s hard to say no to it. Others are replying fast. Instant messaging creates expectation of a fast answer. It’s not your grandpa’s email after all. It is gratifying, it is a quick fix, it’s easy. Get your dopamine hit now. Continue reading
Huge productivity gains
This is how I got the biggest increase in productivity in the last 5 years. Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with productivity | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: productivity
Slack rant
Replying to Slack messages feels productive, but it is a very, very addictive way to procrastinate. It’s hard to say no to it. Others are replying fast. Instant messaging creates expectation of a fast answer. It’s not your grandpa’s email after all. It is gratifying, it is a quick fix, it’s easy. Get your dopamine hit now. Continue reading
Huge productivity gains
This is how I got the biggest increase in productivity in the last 5 years. Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/relationships/index.html b/tag/relationships/index.html
index 6697ee07d649c..ccd9e8eab7c84 100644
--- a/tag/relationships/index.html
+++ b/tag/relationships/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with relationships | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: relationships
Why it's easy to start a subpar relationship
And what to do about it. Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with relationships | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: relationships
Why it's easy to start a subpar relationship
And what to do about it. Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/renting/index.html b/tag/renting/index.html
index 316f1ba06f96a..aa59a794dd57e 100644
--- a/tag/renting/index.html
+++ b/tag/renting/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with renting | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: renting
Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset
Daily living and commuting conditions have an immense impact on your wellbeing. This post is for people who live in a metropolitan area, have enough income to rent a place for themselves (with flatmates if needed), don’t have commitments that prohibit them from moving and, most importantly, are not satisfied with their commute time. Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with renting | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: renting
Rent downtown to reduce your commute time — conquering a frugal mindset
Daily living and commuting conditions have an immense impact on your wellbeing. This post is for people who live in a metropolitan area, have enough income to rent a place for themselves (with flatmates if needed), don’t have commitments that prohibit them from moving and, most importantly, are not satisfied with their commute time. Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/smbc/index.html b/tag/smbc/index.html
index dec87ec97cfc5..c0245f2563cdd 100644
--- a/tag/smbc/index.html
+++ b/tag/smbc/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
- Posts tagged with smbc | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin
+ Posts tagged with smbc | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin
diff --git a/tag/smbc/page/2/index.html b/tag/smbc/page/2/index.html
index b125eff0fe87c..64ffd3621c8d1 100644
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- Posts tagged with squirrelinhell | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: squirrelinhell
Happiness Is a Chore
UPD This post rises some important questions, so I promote it to the index page for visibility.
The pursuit of happiness defines many parts of my life. Or should I say “happiness”? Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with squirrelinhell | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: squirrelinhell
Happiness Is a Chore
UPD This post rises some important questions, so I promote it to the index page for visibility.
The pursuit of happiness defines many parts of my life. Or should I say “happiness”? Continue reading
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- Posts tagged with the-zvi | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: the-zvi
Rationalist group houses
I’ve long dreamt of an outside construct that will make me my best self without my lazy part having a say. And a lot of my routines are just that - a construct to make me behave in a way that benefits me in the long term. I’ve even sometimes dreamt of teaming up and living with like-minded people: helping and pushing each other further. Continue reading
Why don't we try really doing things
‘More Dakka’ by Zvi starts as a review on Eliezer Yudkowsky’s book Inadequate Eqilibria, and then turns to apply ideas of The Thing and the Symbolic Representation of The Thing by Zvi, and Scott Alexander’s Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice to expand on whys and hows of the problem that I can only vaguely name as “Why don’t we try really doing things”. I do recommend reading all three posts, it was a feel-good delta knowledge for me. Here I will focus on ‘More Dakka’ which expands on why we do not try seemingly obvious solutions, or attempt and never finish. Continue reading
Against Facebook: Comparison to Alternatives and Call to Action
Basically, Facebook is bad - their goal is maximize the time you use the site (↑ad revenue). That means not allowing for efficient means of getting value out of the site’s main feature: a lot of people. Not allowing you control what and how you see (sort, search, The Zvi also wrote about it here) Continue reading
Why choices are bad
Choosing is an area of life that I plan to optimize by removing as much day-to-day choosing as possible (wakeup routine, outfit choice, meal choice, relaxation routine, etc) Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with the-zvi | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: the-zvi
Rationalist group houses
I’ve long dreamt of an outside construct that will make me my best self without my lazy part having a say. And a lot of my routines are just that - a construct to make me behave in a way that benefits me in the long term. I’ve even sometimes dreamt of teaming up and living with like-minded people: helping and pushing each other further. Continue reading
Why don't we try really doing things
‘More Dakka’ by Zvi starts as a review on Eliezer Yudkowsky’s book Inadequate Eqilibria, and then turns to apply ideas of The Thing and the Symbolic Representation of The Thing by Zvi, and Scott Alexander’s Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice to expand on whys and hows of the problem that I can only vaguely name as “Why don’t we try really doing things”. I do recommend reading all three posts, it was a feel-good delta knowledge for me. Here I will focus on ‘More Dakka’ which expands on why we do not try seemingly obvious solutions, or attempt and never finish. Continue reading
Against Facebook: Comparison to Alternatives and Call to Action
Basically, Facebook is bad - their goal is maximize the time you use the site (↑ad revenue). That means not allowing for efficient means of getting value out of the site’s main feature: a lot of people. Not allowing you control what and how you see (sort, search, The Zvi also wrote about it here) Continue reading
Why choices are bad
Choosing is an area of life that I plan to optimize by removing as much day-to-day choosing as possible (wakeup routine, outfit choice, meal choice, relaxation routine, etc) Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/todo/index.html b/tag/todo/index.html
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- Posts tagged with todo | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: todo
Religion, growth framework and enlightenment
Tim Urban about Religion for the Nonreligious
Like many of his great posts, this one is long. I’ve read it in 2015 when I was struggling to find my way around religion and it stroke a chord. For me, it’s about two things: Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with todo | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: todo
Religion, growth framework and enlightenment
Tim Urban about Religion for the Nonreligious
Like many of his great posts, this one is long. I’ve read it in 2015 when I was struggling to find my way around religion and it stroke a chord. For me, it’s about two things: Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/tony-robbins/index.html b/tag/tony-robbins/index.html
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- Posts tagged with tony-robbins | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: tony-robbins
Tony Robbins interview with Tim Ferriss - my takeaways
I’ve first heard Tony Robbins’ interviews sometime in 2016. I was fascinated: a great story-teller and he speaks about things that interest me — mood-states that affect behavior, and how to change your energy levels. Here are my takeaways from one of his interviews with Tim Ferriss. Each paragraph is a paraphrased quote from Tony followed by my comment in italics. Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with tony-robbins | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: tony-robbins
Tony Robbins interview with Tim Ferriss - my takeaways
I’ve first heard Tony Robbins’ interviews sometime in 2016. I was fascinated: a great story-teller and he speaks about things that interest me — mood-states that affect behavior, and how to change your energy levels. Here are my takeaways from one of his interviews with Tim Ferriss. Each paragraph is a paraphrased quote from Tony followed by my comment in italics. Continue reading
diff --git a/tag/yudkowsky/index.html b/tag/yudkowsky/index.html
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- Posts tagged with yudkowsky | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: yudkowsky
Planning fallacy
Eliezer Yudkowsky about Planning Fallacy
The planning fallacy is that people think they can plan, ha ha.
Continue reading Giving up too hastily on hard goals
Eliezer Yudkowsky’s Use the Try Harder, Luke — is a short funny story about how we’re conditioned for giving up fast, after (also hastily) labeling something as impossible. Continue reading
+ Posts tagged with yudkowsky | The Blog of Andrey Lepekhin Posts with tag: yudkowsky
Planning fallacy
Eliezer Yudkowsky about Planning Fallacy
The planning fallacy is that people think they can plan, ha ha.
Continue reading Giving up too hastily on hard goals
Eliezer Yudkowsky’s Use the Try Harder, Luke — is a short funny story about how we’re conditioned for giving up fast, after (also hastily) labeling something as impossible. Continue reading