Tag: psychology
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Re: My Hobby Is Learning
Like me, Kev Quirk's hobby is learning... to the point at which he, like me, picks up hobbies like they're fistfuls of popcorn. I've got some thoughts on what this lifestyle means for me, too.
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![Scan of book pages with highlighted section reading "Children [who] treat very roughly young birds, butterlies, and other poor animals... with a seeming kind of pleasure... will by degrees harden their minds even towards men and... will not be apt to be very compassionate or benign to those of their own kind.](https://bcdn.danq.me/_q26u/2026/10/locke-john-some-thoughts-concerning-education-1693-1889-edition-pp100-101-978x480.jpg#30378)
Do not build the LLM torture factory
Sean Goedecke puts forward a few arguments why people shouldn't play at 'torturing' LLMs. I disagree with many of his arguments, but I agree with his conclusion because of a different argument: one made by animal rights activists for hundreds of years now: that people who 'practice' abuse are more-likely to go on to commit (further) abuse.
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The first glimmer
Zach of The One and I wrote earlier this year about 'glimmers', which he describes as the opposite of 'triggers'. I love both the word and its concept, and I'm going to try to cultivate a better personal awareness of the glimmers in my life.
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Chicory Keys
There's a special spot in my wallet where my "front door key" lives, but - despite the practical reasons to do so - I've resisted adding the Chicory House key in that spot. Instead, I've found myself keeping it in the "secondary key" spot, as a tiny reminder that the current state of affairs is a temporary one.
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Fake Herons
This morning, I saw a real heron and a fake heron, and it made me think of a police officer I photographed myself while geocaching with a few years ago. Let's talk theoretical psychology!
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Integration contemplation
What fragments you?
What defragments you?
How are you balancing both? -
Work Slippers
Last month, the dog ate my slippers, and in the week it took me to replace them my work productivity took a dip. Coincidence? Nope! They were my 'work slippers', and it turns out I needed them!
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[Bloganuary] Clutter
Where could I reduce clutter in my life? Oh, basically everywhere! But perhaps most-especially within my head, where the mental clutter can be an unwelcome distraction.
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[Bloganuary] Attachment
Many children have a comfort toy, blanket or similar that they're incredibly attached to. But I never had anything like that: I wonder why?
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Wonder Syndrome
Ruth writes about "Wonder Syndrome" as a counterpoint to "imposter syndrome", an Dan reflects on how and why he's adopting the term too.
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That Discomfort You're Feeling Is Grief
Scott Berinato writes that the feeling of un-normalcy you're experiencing during this crisis is actually grief.
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Why your brain never runs out of problems to find
David Levari (The Conversation) It's a psychological quirk that when something becomes rarer, people may spot it in more places than ever. What is the 'concept creep' that lets context change how we categorize the world around us?
Why do many problems in life seem to stubbornly stick around, no matter how hard people … -
C&H 4608
Cyanide & Happiness -
Pen testing
When testing a pen, some people write their name, some people scribble, and some write something. Dan looks at the history of testing pens, and shares his thoughts on what we can learn from the way that people go about testing a pen.
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Edinburgh 2012 - Day Five
Day five at the Edinburgh Fringe sees Ruth, JTA and Dan meet up with Matt's new girlfriend, Hannah-Mae, watch more comedy shows, drink gin, and point foam guns at one another.