Personal achievement report, Feb 2012

Kaj Sotala: > For decades, people talked about “the gene for height”, “the gene for intelligence”, etc. Was the gene for intelligence on chromosome 6? Was it on the X chromosome? What happens if your baby doesn’t have the gene for intelligence? Can they still succeed?

> Meanwhile, the responsible experts were saying traits might be determined by a two-digit number of genes. Human Genome Project leader Francis Collins estimated that there were “about twelve genes” for diabetes, and “all of them will be discovered in the next two years”. Quanta Magazine reminds us of a 1999 study which claimed that “perhaps more than fifteen genes” might contribute to autism. By the early 2000s, the American Psychological Association was a little more cautious, was saying intelligence might be linked to “dozens – if not hundreds” of genes.

> The most recent estimate for how many genes are involved in complex traits like height or intelligence is approximately “all of them” – by the latest count, about twenty thousand. [...] Late-90s/early-00s psychiatry was a lot like late-90s/early-00s genetics. The public was talking about “the cause” of depression: serotonin. And the responsible experts were saying oh no, depression might be caused by as many as several different things.

> Now the biopsychosocial model has caught on and everyone agrees that depression is complicated. I don’t know if we’re still at the “dozens of things” stage or the “hundreds of things stage”, but I don’t think anyone seriously thinks it’s fewer than a dozen. [...]

> One possible lesson [for psychiatry and science in general] is: there are more causes than you think. Stop looking for “a cause” or “the ten causes” and start figuring out ways to deal with very numerous causes.
The Omnigenic Model As Metaphor For Life

Kaj Sotala: Tradition is Smarter Than You Are: numerous excerpts from a book discussing how various peoples follow traditions which seem unnecessary and whose purpose you might never understand if individuals within the culture tried to figure them out - but which nonetheless people have somehow converged on, making them more successful as a result.

> In the Americas, where manioc was first domesticated, societies who have relied on bitter varieties for thousands of years show no evidence of chronic cyanide poisoning. In the Colombian Amazon, for example, indigenous Tukanoans use a multistep, multiday processing technique that involves scraping, grating, and finally washing the roots in order to separate the fiber, starch, and liquid. Once separated, the liquid is boiled into a beverage, but the fiber and starch must then sit for two more days, when they can then be baked and eaten. [...]

> ... one person would have a difficult time figuring out the detoxification technique. Consider the situation from the point of view of the children and adolescents who are learning the techniques. They would have rarely, if ever, seen anyone get cyanide poisoning, because the techniques work. And even if the processing was ineffective, such that cases of goiter (swollen necks) or neurological problems were common, it would still be hard to recognize the link between these chronic health issues and eating manioc. [...]

> ... if one did the common-sense thing and just boiled the high-cyanogenic manioc, everything would seem fine. [...] consider what might result if a self-reliant Tukanoan mother decided to drop any seemingly unnecessary steps from the processing of her bitter manioc. [...] Adopting this easier protocol, she would have more time for other activities, like caring for her children. Of course, years or decades later her family would begin to develop the symptoms of chronic cyanide poisoning. [...]

> Perhaps it’s actually rather easy to individually figure out the detoxification steps for manioc? [...] At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Portuguese transported manioc from South America to West Africa for the first time. [...] manioc spread rapidly across Africa and became a staple food for many populations. The processing techniques, however, were not readily or consistently regenerated. Even after hundreds of years, chronic cyanide poisoning remains a serious health problem in Africa. [...]

> The point here is that cultural evolution is often much smarter than we are. [...] Though these complex repertoires appear well designed to meet local challenges, they are not primarily the products of individuals applying causal models, rational thinking, or cost-benefit analyses. Often, most or all of the people skilled in deploying such adaptive practices do not understand how or why they work, or even that they “do” anything at all. Such complex adaptations can emerge precisely because natural selection has favored individuals who often place their faith in cultural inheritance—in the accumulated wisdom implicit in the practices and beliefs derived from their forbearers—over their own intuitions and personal experiences.
Tradition is Smarter Than You Are

Kaj Sotala: A broken boat in the middle of a forest, asking whoever sees it to try again. Try what again? Presumably the thing that the previous boat-owner failed at. And what was that? Sailing through a forest? Is this boat from a time hundreds of thousands of years ago, when this place was under water? How did it survive to this day, and with English writing? The mind boggles. I feel like I am standing in a scene from Myst.

Kaj Sotala: I've been using meditation techniques to make unpleasant feelings less unpleasant, but it was only this morning that I realized that I can use them to make pleasant emotions less unpleasant, too!

Part of my model for how craving is generated in the mind goes like this. First, there's first a physical-ish sensation (such as an emotion). Call this the "primary sensation". This then activates a new subprogram that applies a cognitive interpretation on top of the primary sensation. That interpretation often leads to craving.

So for example, sensations of physical fatigue -> cognitive interpretation saying that taking a nap would give me relief from these sensations -> craving for a nap. And in that situation, it may be possible to drop the subprogram creating that interpretation, which also causes the craving that it generated to drop, at which point the sensations of fatigue stop bothering you. (they will still be around, but they are no longer interpreted negatively)

But I only now realized that subprograms that cause craving may be triggered by pleasant emotions too! Basically I was feeling strong feelings of compassion and love, not aimed at anyone in particular, and then I started feeling like it would feel even better if I was with someone who I could cuddle with and direct that love towards. And then that subprogram-reacting-to-the-positive-emotion turned into craving-for-someone-to-cuddle-with, introducing an overall negative flavor into the experience.

And then I realized that I could just apply the same mental motions that I use for dealing with craving created by a negative sensation, and just... drop the subprogram that's reacting to the primary emotion. And I did, and then the positive feeling started feeling purely positive again.

David Chapman writes at https://vividness.live/2012/06/21/spacious-freedom/ that

> When situations are stripped of meaning, it is possible to appreciate all circumstances. When emotions are stripped of meaning, they are freed from compulsion, resentment, and ennui. It becomes possible to enjoy all emotions as vivid, non-conceptual energy.

I think that I understood that a bit better now, as that's kind of like how the love started feeling after the subprogram was turned off: just positive energy which doesn't need to have a conceptual interpretation applied on top of it.

Kaj Sotala: The moment when an upcoming PC game seems cool, and you get vaguely annoyed that it was done through a regular publishing model rather than Kickstarted and you didn't have the chance to support such a cool concept and receive regular backer updates to boot.