My self-summary
I live in San Jose and regularly visit Santa Cruz.
I'm a Slytherin but all my best friends are Hufflepuffs.
I like making jokes about things that are important, like existential risk, education policy, and scientific progress. I like being very serious about things that aren't so important, like Pokemon, sci fi world building, and cat pictures. I have a lot of energy, but I don't always have access to all of it. I want to be able to geek out over things that I love and find new trivial things to do, but I also want to help make progress on important problems.
I like staying positive, although I sometimes have trouble with it on my own.
I kind of do this thing where I wish I had a deep emotional connection to every human, but that doesn't magically grant me infinite time and I'm trying to shape up on the being an adult front instead of fawning over cuties on the internet.
I'm a Slytherin but all my best friends are Hufflepuffs.
I like making jokes about things that are important, like existential risk, education policy, and scientific progress. I like being very serious about things that aren't so important, like Pokemon, sci fi world building, and cat pictures. I have a lot of energy, but I don't always have access to all of it. I want to be able to geek out over things that I love and find new trivial things to do, but I also want to help make progress on important problems.
I like staying positive, although I sometimes have trouble with it on my own.
I kind of do this thing where I wish I had a deep emotional connection to every human, but that doesn't magically grant me infinite time and I'm trying to shape up on the being an adult front instead of fawning over cuties on the internet.
What I’m doing with my life
I used to study number theory, but I left due to artistic differences with the university system. It is my firm belief that future generations should be able to learn this material by playing computer games, and it is my desire to assure this outcome.
Right now I'm looking for work in machine learning, where I'm especially interested in safety and control issues like dealing with adversarial examples and providing explanations for classifications in opaque systems. I will probably stay in the post-startup phase startup sector until I've paid my literal debts and bought a tesla, then I hope to move in to less lucrative but more awesome things like indie game design, rationality training, computational moral philosophy, or supervillainy.
My friends say I'm not evil enough to be a supervillain, but I'll show them. I'LL SHOW THEM ALL!!! MWAHAHAHAAHAHA!
Right now I'm looking for work in machine learning, where I'm especially interested in safety and control issues like dealing with adversarial examples and providing explanations for classifications in opaque systems. I will probably stay in the post-startup phase startup sector until I've paid my literal debts and bought a tesla, then I hope to move in to less lucrative but more awesome things like indie game design, rationality training, computational moral philosophy, or supervillainy.
My friends say I'm not evil enough to be a supervillain, but I'll show them. I'LL SHOW THEM ALL!!! MWAHAHAHAAHAHA!
I’m really good at
Cuddling!
Mathematics, especially congruence and symmetry arguments.
Following complex chains of reasoning.
Citing academic papers in everyday conversation.
Acknowledging when I am wrong.
Maniacal laughter.
Giving zero fucks.
Mathematics, especially congruence and symmetry arguments.
Following complex chains of reasoning.
Citing academic papers in everyday conversation.
Acknowledging when I am wrong.
Maniacal laughter.
Giving zero fucks.
The first things people usually notice about me
My nerdy T-shirts and my poorly behaved hair.
I also tend to wear faux-leather jackets and a stupid grin on my face.
I also tend to wear faux-leather jackets and a stupid grin on my face.
Favorite books, movies, shows, music, and food
I'm just going to start this with a shout out to Steven Universe, which is the best thing ever, because it is the best thing ever. Three (ish) moms represent!
I grew up alongside Harry Potter; I was 14 and whiny when he was 14 and whiny, and it was great. Nowadays I enjoy fanfiction more, mostly due to Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. (I want a disclaimer here that acknowledges the extremely problematic elements of HPMOR while still allowing me to enjoy it, especially since it's aimed at people who are exactly like me, which is part of the problem because part of the "exactly like me" it's aimed at is people who used to be huge douchebags with a bit of a superiority complex who are also white men. Anyway that's probably enough rant before I even meet you.)
I enjoy the occasional campy film and I like self-referential works a lot, but I've come recently to enjoy things on their own merits. I like stories with dynamic characters, and I find them frustratingly rare.
I like fantastic worlds that are taken seriously by their occupants and whose moral and economic consequences are explored, such as in Temeraire, Worm, Red Mars, and Ancillary Justice.
And I like trope subversion and awareness, and intensity that doesn't come from violence or sex, like in Steven Universe, Adventure Time, and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
I've been on a Homestuck kick recently and I really want people to talk about it with. This continues to be true even though homestuck is over, and that just makes it more difficult to figure out how to talk to people about it.
I prefer music that has some intellectual depth to it; They Might Be Giants and Bad Religion come to mind.
But I also revel in mindless pop punk like Blink 182 and Green Day, as well as things in the middle like The Vandals and Presidents of the USA.
I'm also super into rap that has academic content because of Hamilton and ERBH.
I enjoy lots of other kinds of music too but those are what I seek out on my own. I just bought albums by Green Day, Bad religion, and Tupac.
I like bagels and pasta and rice and other flavorless things that you put cheese on. (Seriously I get upset if there's too much flavor in my food.) Recently I've been trying out MealSquares.
I grew up alongside Harry Potter; I was 14 and whiny when he was 14 and whiny, and it was great. Nowadays I enjoy fanfiction more, mostly due to Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. (I want a disclaimer here that acknowledges the extremely problematic elements of HPMOR while still allowing me to enjoy it, especially since it's aimed at people who are exactly like me, which is part of the problem because part of the "exactly like me" it's aimed at is people who used to be huge douchebags with a bit of a superiority complex who are also white men. Anyway that's probably enough rant before I even meet you.)
I enjoy the occasional campy film and I like self-referential works a lot, but I've come recently to enjoy things on their own merits. I like stories with dynamic characters, and I find them frustratingly rare.
I like fantastic worlds that are taken seriously by their occupants and whose moral and economic consequences are explored, such as in Temeraire, Worm, Red Mars, and Ancillary Justice.
And I like trope subversion and awareness, and intensity that doesn't come from violence or sex, like in Steven Universe, Adventure Time, and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
I've been on a Homestuck kick recently and I really want people to talk about it with. This continues to be true even though homestuck is over, and that just makes it more difficult to figure out how to talk to people about it.
I prefer music that has some intellectual depth to it; They Might Be Giants and Bad Religion come to mind.
But I also revel in mindless pop punk like Blink 182 and Green Day, as well as things in the middle like The Vandals and Presidents of the USA.
I'm also super into rap that has academic content because of Hamilton and ERBH.
I enjoy lots of other kinds of music too but those are what I seek out on my own. I just bought albums by Green Day, Bad religion, and Tupac.
I like bagels and pasta and rice and other flavorless things that you put cheese on. (Seriously I get upset if there's too much flavor in my food.) Recently I've been trying out MealSquares.
The six things I could never do without
The internet. Being able to communicate with people far away and find things I'm looking for... it's amazing.
The march of technological and economic progress. The world is becoming a better place over time, which is amazing!
An unending supply of questions, especially in mathematics, philosophy, and psychology. Like: how many integer solutions are there to a generic plane cubic? What is the nature of knowledge? Why do I always want to eat ONE MORE COOKIE? What type of coffee can I order to impress that barrista?
The scientific method, and the ability of science to provide actual answers to those questions. Like: Between one and twelve. Confident beliefs emerging from robustly reliable reasoning processes. Because in the ancestral environment you would often have to go weeks without eating a cookie and you really needed to stock up. I'm not sure but my caramel macchiato didn't impress her at all.
My amazing new memory foam queen bed, which is even nicer than Anah's large and comfortable bed, which is much better than the one that I bought prudently against my dad's advice. Having a nice bed is important.
Talking. I love words. I have lots of them to share, and I want everyone to give me even more!
The march of technological and economic progress. The world is becoming a better place over time, which is amazing!
An unending supply of questions, especially in mathematics, philosophy, and psychology. Like: how many integer solutions are there to a generic plane cubic? What is the nature of knowledge? Why do I always want to eat ONE MORE COOKIE? What type of coffee can I order to impress that barrista?
The scientific method, and the ability of science to provide actual answers to those questions. Like: Between one and twelve. Confident beliefs emerging from robustly reliable reasoning processes. Because in the ancestral environment you would often have to go weeks without eating a cookie and you really needed to stock up. I'm not sure but my caramel macchiato didn't impress her at all.
My amazing new memory foam queen bed, which is even nicer than Anah's large and comfortable bed, which is much better than the one that I bought prudently against my dad's advice. Having a nice bed is important.
Talking. I love words. I have lots of them to share, and I want everyone to give me even more!
I spend a lot of time thinking about
How to mildly inconvenience my arch nemesis. (How to obtain an arch-nemesis, and maintain a productive relationship that utilizes enmity without being super douchey)
What sort of experiences would cause me to rethink my most basic assumptions.
Whether problems come from decisions people make or the infrastructure surrounding them.
Definitions of things most people take as ontologically basic.
How to solve poorly phrased philosophy questions by adding zombies. For example, I recently rewrote the Transplant version of the Trolley dilemma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem#Transplant):
Imagine you are a surgeon whose medical license was revoked for not following procedure so you could save a life. Suddenly the zombie apocalypse happens, and imaging technology reveals seven humans alive on the continent. You meet up with five others, but they all drink diseased water, giving them severe liver damage. The final survivor, who had been holed up on accident, meets up with you and is a type O- organ donor who declines to go under for surgery due to the apocalypse. Do you harvest his liver, putting him in danger, for a good chance of saving your fellows? The circumstances are extraordinary and so won't apply strong self image effects or create worse traumatic memories. You don't know any of the people. You have as much confidence in your ability to save five people as the chance of the donor dying, and you are not associated to a medical organization whose reputation matters (either through licensing or through other survivors' chances of meeting up with you personally.)
In these circumstances I would think it right to harvest the man's organs.
What sort of experiences would cause me to rethink my most basic assumptions.
Whether problems come from decisions people make or the infrastructure surrounding them.
Definitions of things most people take as ontologically basic.
How to solve poorly phrased philosophy questions by adding zombies. For example, I recently rewrote the Transplant version of the Trolley dilemma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem#Transplant):
Imagine you are a surgeon whose medical license was revoked for not following procedure so you could save a life. Suddenly the zombie apocalypse happens, and imaging technology reveals seven humans alive on the continent. You meet up with five others, but they all drink diseased water, giving them severe liver damage. The final survivor, who had been holed up on accident, meets up with you and is a type O- organ donor who declines to go under for surgery due to the apocalypse. Do you harvest his liver, putting him in danger, for a good chance of saving your fellows? The circumstances are extraordinary and so won't apply strong self image effects or create worse traumatic memories. You don't know any of the people. You have as much confidence in your ability to save five people as the chance of the donor dying, and you are not associated to a medical organization whose reputation matters (either through licensing or through other survivors' chances of meeting up with you personally.)
In these circumstances I would think it right to harvest the man's organs.
On a typical Friday night I am
Ideally playing board games and having a beer. Codenames, Between Two Cities, Galaxy Trucker, and Roll for the Galaxy are some of my favorites.
The most private thing I’m willing to admit
Senior year of high school I got my two front teeth knocked out while LARPing. I ran into someone over 5 years later who still remembered me ONLY because of that.
I sometimes get overly absorbed in what people say rather than what they mean. As an example: an ex once told me she felt like an apple slice on the cheese tasting platter of my life, and I was so taken by the metaphor I couldn't keep pace with the conversation. The metaphor has lasted in my mind years after I forgot what else she was talking about.
I like playing guitar and singing with people but I don't do either much because I don't want to be a giant douchebag.
I sometimes get overly absorbed in what people say rather than what they mean. As an example: an ex once told me she felt like an apple slice on the cheese tasting platter of my life, and I was so taken by the metaphor I couldn't keep pace with the conversation. The metaphor has lasted in my mind years after I forgot what else she was talking about.
I like playing guitar and singing with people but I don't do either much because I don't want to be a giant douchebag.
You should message me if
If you are interested in: drinking microbrews, talking philosophy over coffee, going dancing, staging an elaborate duel, starting a band, debating elaborate homestuck theories, helping me feel less awkward wearing skirts in public, having me curl up on your lap like a cat and then you pet my belly also like a cat.
Honestly if you've gotten this far I'd love it if you messaged me even just to say what you thought, even if you're not interested in dating, or being friends, or even chatting. I'd love to know why! And I promise to respect any requests regarding further communication if any is or is not desired.
By the way, pro tips for flirting with me: http://magfrump.tumblr.com/tagged/how-to-flirt-with-me
Honestly if you've gotten this far I'd love it if you messaged me even just to say what you thought, even if you're not interested in dating, or being friends, or even chatting. I'd love to know why! And I promise to respect any requests regarding further communication if any is or is not desired.
By the way, pro tips for flirting with me: http://magfrump.tumblr.com/tagged/how-to-flirt-with-me
