Astral Codex Ten Podcast

Original post here. And I forgot to highlight a link to the directory of dating docs. Table Of Contents 1: Comments That Remain At Least Sort Of Against Dating Docs 2: Comments Concerned That Dating Docs Are Bad For Status Or Signaling 3: Comments About Orthodox Judaism And Other Traditional Cultures 4: Comments Including Research 5: Comments By People With Demographically Unusual Relationships 6: Comments About The Five Fake Sample Profiles 7: Things I Changed My Mind About https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/highlights-from-the-comments-on-dating

On the fetish post, I discussed people who had some early sexual experience - like seeing a sexy cartoon character - and reacted in some profound way, like becoming a furry. Sometimes people have described this as a “critical window” for sexuality (similar to the “critical period” in language learning?) where young children “imprint” on sexual experiences - and then can’t un-imprint on them later, even when they see many examples of sex that don’t involve cartoon animals. One of my distant cousins won't eat tomatoes. His parents say when he was very young, he bit into a cherry tomato and it exploded into goo in his mouth, and he was so upset he wouldn't eat tomatoes from then on. Now he’s in his 30s and still hates them. Is this fairly described as a “critical window” for food preferences? https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/more-thoughts-on-critical-windows

Scott Young writes about Seven Expert Opinions I Agree With That Most People Don’t. I like most of them, but #6, Children don’t learn languages faster than adults, deserves a closer look. Some people imagine babies have some magic language ability that lets them pick up their first language easily, even as we adults struggle through verb conjugations to pick up our second. But babies are embedded in a family of first-language speakers with no other options for communication. If an English-speaking adult was placed in a monolingual Spanish family, in a part of Spain with no English speakers, after a few years they might find they’d learned Spanish “easily” too. So Scott says: https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/critical-periods-for-language-much

Exploring the implications of fetish research on understanding AI and AI alignment. Discussion on autogynephilia fetishes, BDSM, and lactation fetishes. Examining evolution's alignment strategy and human instincts regarding sex. Exploring the formation of fetishes and possible explanations. Connecting the formation of categories in fetishes to morality and broader moral systems. Exploring generalization and its connection to fetishes, including insights into AI category generalization. Mention of support for the $80,000 podcast and details about a narrated audiobook.

Exploring the effects of fake robotic crab spider attacks on bumblebees, emotional capacity and navigation in bees, the honeycomb conjecture and honeybee construction, adaptations and brain circuitry in bees, bee behavior and consciousness, and the significance of orfish and the intelligence of bees.

[previously in series: 1, 2, 3] You spent the evening agonizing over which Bay Area House Party to attend. The YIMBY parties are always too crowded. VC parties were a low-interest-rate phenomenon. You’ve heard too many rumors of consent violations at the e/acc parties - they don’t know when to stop. And last time you went to a crypto bro party, you didn’t even have anything to drink, and somehow you still woke up the next morning lying in a gutter, minus your wallet and clothes. You finally decide on a Progress Studies party - the last one was kind of dull, but you hear they’re getting better. https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/bride-of-bay-area-house-party

The New York Times has an article on “dating docs”. These are a local phenomenon - I think an ex of mine might have been Patient Zero. I don’t begrudge the Times for writing about them. I’m just surprised they’re considered an interesting phenomenon. What could be more obvious than making sure potential dates know what you’re like? https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-describable-dating

Explore finalist #13 in the Book Review Contest and the author's limited knowledge of history outside of Europe. Learn about the difference between written and unwritten history and the books 'The Secret of Our Success' and 'The Weirdest People in the World'. Discover the causal chain from cultural change to economic growth and the interdisciplinary approach to studying Western history and economics. Dive into the development of the West from Europe to modernity, exploring the role of the Western Church, the decline of kin institutions, and the influence of science and democracy. Explore the Church's impact on European institutions and individualism through the Marriage and Family Program.

This podcast explores Putin's rise to power, debates his actions, and raises concerns about potential democracy undermining. It also discusses the fast privatization in Russia, conspiracy theories surrounding Putin, his ties to the Russian Orthodox Church, and reflections on political violence and threats to democracy.

The podcast covers a range of interesting topics, including a book review contest, opposition to traffic congestion taxes, libertarianism, AI governance, historical incidents, murder crackdown, controversies surrounding famous figures and concepts, the impact of college on earnings, gene variability and far ultraviolet radiation, FDA restrictions on cancer patients, room temperature superconductors, prediction markets, claims of political bias in AI models, the horrifying reality of taxation and its parallels to slavery, and insights on drop in Mormon fertility and the impact of Trump's republicanism.