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Robin Hanson
@robinhanson
Let’s skip witty repartee & discuss fundamental questions. Views are mine, not GMU’s or Virginia’s. Books: ageofem.com, elephantinthebrain.com
Fairfax, VAhanson.gmu.eduJoined July 2007

Robin Hanson’s Tweets

I think the main effect of breaks, evenings, weekends, holidays, vacations, etc. is just to do something engrossingly different for a while, so that you will temporarily forget the stress states from the last thing you were doing. So they can be other productive activities.
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I like this as entertainment. We can imagine the satisfaction of getting to say what we know would be rude to actually say, and so don't actually say.
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Can't stand stuff like this. Sanctimoniously mocking other people for the harmless status markers within their social milieu - driven by the absurd assumption that the mocker's own accent and self-presentation weren't shaped by exactly the same kinds of forces. twitter.com/TansuYegen/sta…
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🚨NYC ppl🚨 ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY ALERT Tues 6/20 & I will be philosophizing inside a Karlheinz Stockhausen SONIC SPHERE in the Shed (other events in sphere cost $$ but this one is FREE, open to all) Please retweet for publicity
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You can think about contrarian or standard topics, using contrarian or standard methods. Which is your fav combo?
  • Both contrarian
    14.1%
  • Both standard
    7.5%
  • topic cont., method stan.
    45%
  • topic stan., method cont.
    33.4%
347 votesFinal results
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I'm impressed so far with #vibecamp; it really has successfully cultivated a nice vibe. Its not a public park, party, or amusement park. And its not a conference. It is somewhere nicely chill between.
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A slight plurality doesn't think their "extinct" ancestors would have wanted to prevent the changes that caused this status change.
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For whatever is that X, do you think that, from their point of view, those ancestors would have wanted to prevent themselves from going "extinct", by preventing the changes that happened after them that caused this status change?
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Seems most respondents say group is "extinct" if "descendants could no longer interbreed with them". Is that what AI-doomers mean re their warning of "extinction"? (Could they really be focused on having sex with their descendants?)
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Consider your ancestors from X years ago. What is the smallest X where you'd say those ancestors are now "extinct"?
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Too many want too much credit for merely talking about taboo topics. Use the occasion to find some insight into them, and THEN I will praise you to the mood.
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When someone says of a claim, "this really resonates with me", does that make you think it more or less likely to be true?
  • More
    30.6%
  • Less
    18%
  • About the same
    51.4%
444 votesFinal results
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What is the main way you expect to influence the distant future?
  • Having kids
    49.1%
  • Innovation
    22.1%
  • Changing culture
    19.9%
  • Growing economy
    9%
780 votesFinal results
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For whatever is that X, do you think that, from their point of view, those ancestors would have wanted to prevent themselves from going "extinct", by preventing the changes that happened after them that caused this status change?
  • Yes
    39%
  • No
    43%
  • I/they on the fence
    18%
272 votesFinal results
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I think most everyone knows they could be a lot more healthier if they exercised more. They just don't want to pay that price.
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“[Exercise] is one of the few things that the scientific literature is just unequivocal about.” wsj.com/articles/fight via @WSJ
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"most people who 'want to succeed' barely lift a finger most of the time. Saying ten times as many kind words to your friends is easy in a world whether most people only say two or three such sentences weekly. Cold emailing ten times as many successful people in your field for…Show more
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"on this one planet, life is beginning to organize, knowledge is beginning to be created, the universe is beginning to wake up. We have found no other life, so we might be the only ones who can begin to awaken the rest of this universe. We have a gift to give. And exactly because… Show more
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Seems ESG ratings aren't good indicators of social value.
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S&P Global gives @elonmusk’s car company an ESG score of 37 out of 100. It gives Philip Morris, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, an ESG score of 84. Sustainalytics, another ESG rating, gives Tesla a worse score than Altria, one of the largest tobacco producers in the world.
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As males have higher variance, above the median males are favored but below the median males are disfavored. Above median females see sexism near them, but don't see reverse sexism elsewhere.
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The Trivers-Willard hypothesis gains support again, this time in Africa: Sons from high-status families receive greater educational investment than daughters, while daughters from low-status families receive more investment than sons. psyarxiv.com/n6k4u/
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"Europe MEPs endorsed new … rules for AI systems. … strictly prohibited … exploit people’s vulnerabilities or are used for social scoring (classifying people based on their social behaviour, socio-economic status, personal characteristics)"
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"But what about all the rationalists, scientists, and philosophers? Don’t those people care about useful truth?” Nah, I doubt it. They mostly just want to make everyone else look stupid and gullible, so they can look smart and cool by comparison."
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Why are you reading this tweet? Why do you read anything? What makes these words, or any set of words, “interesting” to you? Find out in my latest: everythingisbullshit.substack.com/p/you-will-fin
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"our depiction of invention on the screen has shifted from populist obligation to the exclusive right of a technocratic priestly caste."
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“The fault lies in a subtle yet violent shift in our imagination away from our own responsibility to invent. Pop culture’s vision of invention creates a place where inventions are not only possible but expected.” thenewatlantis.com/publications/t
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