Signal to noise (SNR) is actually a bad measure for intelligent systems. You’re not a simple amplifier or something. Noise should be weighted by how costly it is to tune out, and signal by how costly it is to tune in. Most noise is very cheap to cut out.
Conversation
If you have clarity around what you care about, 90% of noise is filtered out by your unconscious. It doesn’t even register. You have to learn meditation to even notice it.
Of the remaining 10%, 9% is classification errors caused by your own clarity issues. 1% is real noise.
3
4
93
Old thread on his to care more clearly
Quote Tweet
The older I get the more it sinks in that 90% of effectiveness is just taking a thing seriously enough. That translates to just wanting the thing itself rather than adjacent things that may or may not happen as a side effect. Most things sort themselves out if you’re serious. twitter.com/vgr/status/127…
Show this thread
1
36
All human signal/noise filter problems are generalizations of picking out your name being mentioned in a crowded room with lots of conversations. Salience = identity = interest = attention.
1
2
32
Know thyself = know your True Name better = be Very Online better
1
7
32
I think it was who said something like burnout is due to being underpurposed rather than overworked. Tracks for me. Similar thing here. It’s not a filter failure problem. It is desire imprecision problem.
1
12
95
Counterintuitive but… You don’t get to accurate and precise desiring via being accurate but imprecise and narrowing the focus gradually. You get there by being precise but inaccurate and retargeting iteratively.
5
7
54
Tired: “meaning crisis!” —> spiritual zoom-in quest —> ??? —> “my life purpose is pottery”
Twitter stressful all the way, and low success rate overall.
Wired: writing meh, drawing meh, coding meh, 3d printing hmm! Pottery… yay!
Twitter helpful all the way! High hit rate.
2
3
35
Replying to
For me the crisis->quest pipeline is what it felt like to apply CECO thinking for the first few years…. Now it feels like “meh, sure I’ll do this!”
Maybe this just happens with age and experience?
1
1
Replying to
More temparament I think. Natural to 30%, learnable for 40%, 30% doomed to permanent misery because they can’t give up attachment to impossible or paradoxical things.
1
2

