Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Fund me please - I Work so Hard that my Feet start Bleeding and I Need to Infiltrate University, published by Johannes C. Mayer on May 18, 2024 on LessWrong.
Bleeding Feet and Dedication
During AI Safety Camp (AISC) 2024, I was working with somebody on how to use binary search to approximate a hull that would contain a set of points, only to knock a glass off of my table. It splintered into a thousand pieces all over my floor.
A normal person might stop and remove all the glass splinters. I just spent 10 seconds picking up some of the largest pieces and then decided that it would be better to push on the train of thought without interruption.
Some time later, I forgot about the glass splinters and ended up stepping on one long enough to penetrate the callus. I prioritized working too much. A pretty nice problem to have, in my book.
Collaboration as Intelligence Enhancer
It was really easy for me to put in over 50 hours per week during AISC[1] (where I was a research lead). For me, AISC mainly consisted of meeting somebody 1-on-1 and solving some technical problem together. Methylphenidate helps me with not getting distracted when I am on my own, though Methylphenidate is only the number 2 productivity enhancer. For me, the actual ADHD cure seems to be to take methylphenidate while working 1-on-1 with somebody.
But this productivity enhancement is not just about the number of hours I can put in. There is a qualitative difference. I get better at everything. Seriously. Usually, I am bad at prioritization, but when I work with somebody, it usually feels, in retrospect, like over 75% of the time was spent working on the optimal thing (given our state of knowledge at the time). I've noticed similar benefits for my abilities in writing, formalizing things, and general reasoning.
Hardcore Gamedev University Infiltration
I don't quite understand why this effect is so strong. But empirically, there is no doubt it's real. In the past, I spent 3 years making video games. This was always done in teams of 2-4 people. We would spend 8-10 hours per day, 5-6 days a week in the same room. During that time, I worked on this VR "game" where you fly through a 4D fractal (check out the video by scrolling down or on YouTube).
For that project, the university provided a powerful tower computer. In the last week of the project, my brain had the brilliant idea to just sleep in the university to save the commute. This also allowed me to access my workstation on Sunday when the entire university was closed down. On Monday the cleaning personnel of the University almost called the cops on me. But in the end, we simply agreed that I would put on a sign on the door so that I wouldn't scare them to death.
Also, I later learned that the University security personnel did patrols with K-9s, but somehow I got lucky and they never found me.
I did have a bag with food and a toothbrush, which earned me laughs from friends. As there were no showers, on the last day of the project you could literally smell all the hard work I had put in. Worth it.
Over 9000% Mean Increase
I was always impressed by how good John Wentworth is at working. During SERI MATS, he would eat with us at Lightcone. As soon as all the high-utility conversation topics were finished, he got up - back to work.
And yet, John said that working with David Lorell 1-on-1 makes him 3-5x more productive (iirc). I think for me working with somebody is more like a 15-50x increase.
Without collaborators, I am struggling hard with my addiction to learning random technical stuff. In contrast to playing video games and the like, there are usually a bunch of decent reasons to learn about some particular technical topic. Only when I later look at the big picture do I realize - was that actually important?
Don't pay me, but my collaborators
There are mu...

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