Ben Mann Monthly December 2019: Peru, donation, reflection, Harry Potter
Purpose
An index for my memory
A menu of topics for my next conversation with you
A faster way to share what I’m excited about without writing a complete blog post
A skimmable way to spread content I found valuable
Experiments and experiences
Surfing in Lima
I'd never taken lessons before, but having an instructor made it really easy! After rehearsing the basic steps with us on land, Milton showed us where to wait for the waves, acting as a sea anchor by sitting on his board and holding our ankles. When a good one was coming, he'd shout, "paddle paddle paddle!" and as the wave broke behind us he'd give a big push. I was able to stand up almost every time. The next day was harder without him, but I had enough of the feel that I was able to catch a few waves before I tired out.Colca Canyon trek
Colca Canyon is twice as deep as the Grand Cayon and the second deepest canyon in the world. We did 8000 ft of elevation gain over 3 days of hiking, with hosteling at the bottom of the canyon for 2 nights. I found it pretty easy as multi-day treks go and quite enjoyed it. We met tons of French people and a chef who's planning to start a restaurant in SF in a year.Central Restaurante
The most expensive meal I've ever had, and by far not the most delicious! It took us 3 hours to get through 16 courses that sampled fare from all over Peru. While it was enjoyable, I don't plan to ever spend that much again. Most courses came with a set piece that we were to look at to inspire our eating. There were complex instructions to follow: "eat this first with this spoon, then eat this with your hands, then sprinkle this powder on this and that powder on that."2 weeks in Peru
I had no plans except to detach from work and spend time with a friend. I had an incredible time! I didn't get food poisoning, the people were welcoming, Spanish is the easiest language I've ever tried to learn, the weather was perfect, and the sights were gorgeous. The cities are all walkable: well laid out around central squares. Food was excellent, especially the fruits like cherimoya, mango, and papaya. The biggest downside was getting eaten by mosquitos, but it was a small price to pay. For some reason they're obsessed with panettone.Giving what we can
This year per my new identity, I donated 5% of my gross income to the Effective Altruism Donor Lottery. My second choice was a spread across the various EA funds, third choice GiveWell, fourth choice Let's Fund.
Life updates
Glad to get back to work
Started a pact with a housemate to write one blog post per month
Yearly reflection, now in markdown
Ran 15 miles with Armand then did a 24h fast for fun
Content
5 point Likert ratings for “I would recommend this content to a friend”, sorted
Marriage Story 5/5
A brilliantly acted, beautiful, heart breaking exploration of how two people who love each other nevertheless fall apart, each consumed by their own unsatisfied needs.
Felt like a modern rendition of Revolutionary Road
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality 5/5
Harry is an arch-rationalist/scientist who demonstrates constant competence porn as he attempts to save the world from Voldermort by applying his skills to the wizarding world
If you can't figure something out, sit down and think hard about it for at least 5 minutes
Feminist Hermione is an interesting exploration of being thought of as a sidekick to someone else vs a hero in your own right
Covered lots of rationality concepts and techniques like the Planning Fallacy and the Litany of Tarsky
If you thought outside the box, how would you use the various spells for maximum effect? What experiments would you run to develop new ones? What determines magic/spell potency?
Quidditch is lame! Ron is dumb!
I didn't like the original Harry Potter series much, but this full cast audiobook of the most popular fanfic ever was incredibly binge-worthy
Permutation City 4/5
If we could upload our minds to a simulation, what would the world be like? A fun plot involving good characters with complex motivations
Made me think about where I draw the line on "human-ness" and what I'd want to change if I had control over the parameters of my own mind.
Reel Rock 14 4/5
3 short films about climbing, my favorite by far about Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell setting a sub-2h speed record climbing The Nose, 2900 vertical feet. This is roughly the rock climbing equivalent of a sub-2h marathon. The cinematography was excellent, with plenty of teasing between Honnold and Gobright, and some serious looks about how what we'll risk to achieve our goals.
Donating effectively is usually better than Impact Investing 4/5
I had hoped that it'd be possible to invest money and have impact at the same time rather than giving it away with no expectation of return, but this white paper convinced me that if impact is what you want, donation is much more effective
It's hard for companies to capture the value they create
The marginal impact of investment for companies is small relative to donation
The fraction of the world's population in extreme poverty (≤$1.90/day) has dropped from 36% in 1990 to 10% in 2015.
If the developed world donated only 1% of their net income, we could eliminate extreme poverty easily
NGO-based foreign aid is effective
A life is a life, so spending money in far away places can make more impact. Some lives can be saved for $1000.
So Good They Can't Ignore You 3/5
Don't follow your passion, dive in
Gain rare and valuable skills
Find your purple cow
Seek autonomy, competence, and relatedness
Make time for deliberate practice, which you know you're doing because it's uncomfortable
Trade skills for control
Control trap 1: you must have value to trade for control
Control trap 2: once you're valuable, employers will want to keep you from gaining more control
Distinguish between traps by whether someone will pay you
Make lots of little bets, get to the cutting edge to find your mission
Will MacAskill 80,000 hours podcast 3/5
If we assign some probability to the correctness of different theories of ethics, what's the best way to combine them into one "expected ethic" in the sense of expected value? It gets very complicated very fast! This is relevant to me given my uncertainty on the value of animal suffering. My update is to care a little about it but much less than human suffering.
Utilitarianism has a solid philosophical justification despite falling out of favor for a few decades. We can look at the predictions different philosophical theories made to judge how well they do just like science. Bentham was way ahead.
Interesting look at the most important applications of philosophy and the kinds of problems academic philosophers are interested in. Will recommends get an economics degree instead if you want to apply your knowledge.
An insider's story painting the medical establishment as a catch-22 of horrors, but told with humor and depth
Bought the book! Excited to read
A winding diatribe against what modern American culture has become: an unthinking pursuit of wealth and numbness without substance
The alternative: "a sense of mission, the casual service of others, the solace of little delights, and finally, love for its own sake."