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Anxiety as an algorithm

adamjuliangoldstein.com

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Re: Anxiety as an algorithm

#21
post #4

> Developing a habit of recognizing thoughts as distinct from reality has been shown to reduce anxiety. For more information on this approach see here. I think this helps with catastrophic thinking (i.e. "I'll never pass another technical interview if I quit my job -> My girlfriend will leave me -> I'll run out of money -> I'll be on the street" etc.), verbalizing this kind of thing can help show that often the extre…

Anxiety has a lot to do with Uncertainty.

Kirk Douglas recently died. One of the things he said it that he did not fear poverty, loosing all his wealth, because he was raised in poverty as a child.

He probably was happy in lots of ways, even being poor.

One of the things I love to do is going out and living in a cavin in the woods with all the inconvenience it brings you. No computer, no phone,alone, wild animals, very simple food and you could die from simple things, like running off a hillside.

This makes you feel alive like nothing else, makes you feel gratitude for what you have(your family, your work, your computers, your car) and also gives you psychological safety, that whatever happens you can deal with it.

It was a known technique by Seneca, 2000 years ago.

Re: Anxiety as an algorithm

#22

I have noticed a tendency (especially amongst HN articles and readers) to continually compare our bodies, minds, souls etc. to machines, as if they could be "biohacked" into perfection with just the right patches or software updates. Or that we could easily be replaced by the "correct AI" algorithm, if we could just get the simulation close enough. Not that I don't believe we aren't complex systems, we are, to be sur…

Where do you think that the concept of computation comes from? The entire idea of computers, and of algorithms that can be executed mechanically, came from an attempt to generalize what human reasoning is capable of proving and constructing.

Similarly, the concept of cybernetics predates the naming of the field by a few centuries, considering tools like eyeglasses, and possibly millennia, if we include dentures, canes, or wheelchairs.

While we're on analogies that irritate you but have reasonable historical and scientific contexts, I'd like to remind you of the idea of humans as colonies of trillions of cells. A human isn't one thing, but trillions of things, much smaller and more autonomous than one might think.

Re: Anxiety as an algorithm

#23

I have noticed a tendency (especially amongst HN articles and readers) to continually compare our bodies, minds, souls etc. to machines, as if they could be "biohacked" into perfection with just the right patches or software updates. Or that we could easily be replaced by the "correct AI" algorithm, if we could just get the simulation close enough. Not that I don't believe we aren't complex systems, we are, to be sur…

It may be useful to consider either metaphor—humans as robots / humans as monkeys—as just giving some insight into what it means to be human, rather than defining what a human is. When it's pointed out that our minds are computer-like, it's because they include aspects which resemble computers: e.g. when some subset of its behavior is describable by an algorithm that could in principle be executed by a computer (even…

> because they include aspects which resemble computers

Other way around, these computers we use resemble us (however not particularly closely) because we created them, not vice-versa.

Re: Anxiety as an algorithm

#24
post #4

> Developing a habit of recognizing thoughts as distinct from reality has been shown to reduce anxiety. For more information on this approach see here. I think this helps with catastrophic thinking (i.e. "I'll never pass another technical interview if I quit my job -> My girlfriend will leave me -> I'll run out of money -> I'll be on the street" etc.), verbalizing this kind of thing can help show that often the extre…

> I suspect that a lot of anxiety comes from too actively predicting future negative outcomes

Is this not the definition of anxiety?

Re: Anxiety as an algorithm

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may be useful to consider either metaphor—humans as robots / humans as monkeys—as just giving some insight into what it means to be human, rather than defining what a human is. When it's pointed out that our minds are computer-like, it's because they include aspects which resemble computers: e.g. when some subset of its behavior is describable by an algorithm that could in principle be executed by a computer (even…

> because they include aspects which resemble computers Other way around, these computers we use resemble us (however not particularly closely) because we created them, not vice-versa.

If A resembles B, it’s implied that B resembles A—or at least that was the usage I intended.

The fact that we took inspiration from ourselves in developing computers only strengthens my original point.

Re: Anxiety as an algorithm

#26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because they include aspects which resemble computers Other way around, these computers we use resemble us (however not particularly closely) because we created them, not vice-versa.

If A resembles B, it’s implied that B resembles A—or at least that was the usage I intended. The fact that we took inspiration from ourselves in developing computers only strengthens my original point.

Oh yeah, I wasn't disagreeing with you about the resemblance, just kind of pushing the "who-made-who" point.

Re: Anxiety as an algorithm

#27
post #4

> Developing a habit of recognizing thoughts as distinct from reality has been shown to reduce anxiety. For more information on this approach see here. I think this helps with catastrophic thinking (i.e. "I'll never pass another technical interview if I quit my job -> My girlfriend will leave me -> I'll run out of money -> I'll be on the street" etc.), verbalizing this kind of thing can help show that often the extre…

> I suspect that a lot of anxiety comes from too actively predicting future negative outcomes Is this not the definition of anxiety?

No really, there is also a physical response, and the actual emotional state of being anxious. You can feel anxious without knowing why.

Re: Anxiety as an algorithm

#28

I have noticed a tendency (especially amongst HN articles and readers) to continually compare our bodies, minds, souls etc. to machines, as if they could be "biohacked" into perfection with just the right patches or software updates. Or that we could easily be replaced by the "correct AI" algorithm, if we could just get the simulation close enough. Not that I don't believe we aren't complex systems, we are, to be sur…

Totally agree. I think it comes from people who have a narrow technical background trying to extrapolate to humanities by analogy to what they know. They only have a hammer and see nails everywhere.. But HN is the wrong place to expect anything different :D

Re: Anxiety as an algorithm

#29
post #12

I have noticed a tendency (especially amongst HN articles and readers) to continually compare our bodies, minds, souls etc. to machines, as if they could be "biohacked" into perfection with just the right patches or software updates. Or that we could easily be replaced by the "correct AI" algorithm, if we could just get the simulation close enough. Not that I don't believe we aren't complex systems, we are, to be sur…

Personally, I like that as a human, I have the capacity to use tools as an extension of my being to improve myself and my place in the world. I don't think applying the same tools I use to solve problems in the physical world to solve problems in my mind makes me any less human. Sure, those tools may not be a perfect match for the problem domain and provide the wrong answers sometimes, but it doesn't hurt to try appl…

[deleted]

Re: Anxiety as an algorithm

#30
post #4

> Developing a habit of recognizing thoughts as distinct from reality has been shown to reduce anxiety. For more information on this approach see here. I think this helps with catastrophic thinking (i.e. "I'll never pass another technical interview if I quit my job -> My girlfriend will leave me -> I'll run out of money -> I'll be on the street" etc.), verbalizing this kind of thing can help show that often the extre…

> verbalizing this kind of thing can help show that often the extreme worst case thinking seems a little more ridiculous out loud.

None of those examples you've mentioned sound in any way ridiculous to me. I've had two of those happen and one very close to.

An approach that seems to be working for me lately is to simply try and accept the (realistic )worst case outcomes as a very real possibility, try to accept it as-is, but without piling on further mental agony with value judgements.

"Yes, XYZ can and probably will happen, but I will survive it. If I don't, I wouldn't need to worry about it anymore anyway."

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