snackwalrus (u/snackwalrus)

snackwalrus commented on Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s first spatial computer apple.com/newsroom/2023/0... · Posted by u/samwillis

JumpCrisscross · 2 years ago

> Does someone watch an entire 2+ hour movie with a sweaty headset strapped to them (and plugged into a socket) instead of on a couch with their family/friends?

Flights. This might become a must-have for the jet-setting class. That not only makes Apples first-year numbers, it fertilizes the market for developers.

snackwalrus · 2 years ago

I also thought flights were a compelling use case until I saw that the battery life was “up to” a whopping 2 hours

snackwalrus commented on AI is taking the jobs of Kenyans who write essays for U.S. college students restofworld.org/2023/chat... · Posted by u/impish9208

ben_w · 2 years ago

I'm seeing a lot of conflicting estimates on Google for Kenyan average income, and nothing at all about the distribution.

Does anyone know what fraction of Kenyans have incomes of at least 1000 USD/month?

snackwalrus · 2 years ago

For starters, one of the ones mentioned in the article…

snackwalrus commented on GPT-4 openai.com/research/gpt-4... · Posted by u/e0m

nealabq · 2 years ago

Test taking will change. In the future I could see the student engaging in a conversation with an AI and the AI producing an evaluation. This conversation may be focused on a single subject, or more likely range over many fields and ideas. And may stretch out over months. Eventually teaching and scoring could also be integrated as the AI becomes a life-long tutor.

Even in a future where human testing/learning is no longer relevant, AIs may be tutoring and raising other baby AIs, preparing them to join the community.

Edit: This just appeared: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35155684

snackwalrus · 2 years ago

There was blog post on HN recently about the upbringings of great scientists, physicists, polymaths, etc. They almost invariably had access to near unlimited time with high quality tutors. He cited a source that claimed modern students who had access to significant tutoring resources were very likely to be at the top of their class.

Personalized learning is highly effective. I think your idea is an exciting one indeed.

snackwalrus commented on Ketamine disrupts late sensory information transfer in corticothalamic network onlinelibrary.wiley.com/d... · Posted by u/bookofjoe

kthrowaway · 3 years ago

The ramp-up to "I need to save this for extreme circumstances only" happened over about a couple months, during which I'd use it maybe once or twice a week. I didn't feel any particular longer-term boost attributable to it; it felt very much like just an acute treatment. Maybe I'm due for more experimentation, I'll keep your comment in mind the next time I'm anxious and feel like giving it a another try. Regardless, thanks for your comment.

snackwalrus · 3 years ago

It's different for everyone, it may be that it works better for my neurochemistry that it does for yours. And for what its worth its never really helped my anxiety, only the depression. You can also try doing it in a more clinical setting with a therapist, that makes a big difference for some people. It can allow you to work on deep-seated emotional issues in a very profound way.

snackwalrus commented on Ketamine disrupts late sensory information transfer in corticothalamic network onlinelibrary.wiley.com/d... · Posted by u/bookofjoe

tbalsam · 3 years ago

Five nights a week is quite a lot, she may have some strong tolerance as well. It's a semi-low to moderate dose for pain patients I believe IIRC just a higher dosing rate compared to the median rates that I commonly see.

snackwalrus · 3 years ago

Five nights a week is extremely frequent, if she does not tone it down she will likely develop moderate to severe bladder problems in the future.

snackwalrus commented on Ketamine disrupts late sensory information transfer in corticothalamic network onlinelibrary.wiley.com/d... · Posted by u/bookofjoe

asdff · 3 years ago

Have you ever tried pot or mushrooms? They both could help for depression like Ketamine does but any of the effects will be long done by the morning for you.

snackwalrus · 3 years ago

In my personal experience marijuana only makes depression worse. It can make it more bearable in the moment and treat minor anhedonia, but at least for me it only bolsters my unhealthy habits which in turn makes the depression worse. I don't think there's any evidence that it can lead to long term remission. It's the neuroplasticity provided by psilocybin and ketamine that really helps.

I think psilocybin is promising, but doing it when you're depressed can put you in terrifyingly bad places. I think in the long term psilocybin and ketamine will both end up being valuable tools in combating treatment resistant depression. My guess would be that psilocybin will be used more in clinical settings with a guide and ketamine will be something you can do at home and talk about with a therapist later.

snackwalrus commented on Ketamine disrupts late sensory information transfer in corticothalamic network onlinelibrary.wiley.com/d... · Posted by u/bookofjoe

kthrowaway · 3 years ago

Despite having access through acquaintances to recreational ketamine for quite some time, I refused to try it until a couple months ago when a major life event left me spiraling and borderline suicidal. Upon taking it (nasally), I was amazed at how effectively and immediately it stopped my runaway panic and allowed me to feel peace. I fully believe that having access to ketamine at that moment allowed me to stay grounded and made it tangibly easier to bounce back and recover in the weeks following.

I have depression and anxiety, so it wasn't long before something else, less severe this time, set me on another spiral and I decided to address it with ketamine again. I found that the same dose was now less effective at quieting the anxiety. As I continued to experiment with ketamine as a potential anti-depressant and anti-anxiety drug, I found that I was building up a tolerance alarmingly quickly. Doses that would put others in a k-hole would leave me still very much able to feel my panic and anxiety. Realizing that, I decided to stop using it before the ratchet of tolerance turned too far. I still keep some ketamine in the house, but with the personal rule of "only reach for this if you'd otherwise be reaching for a gun."

My personal hypothesis is that whatever chemical difference makes my brain more depressed and anxious than a typical person is also making me more resistant to ketamine, though of course I have no science to back this up. (If you do, please link me!) I'm grateful that I don't have a very addictive personality - I know many people who have made a regular habit of it.

There isn't much point to this post other than to share my personal experiences with ketamine. I'd love to hear the experiences of others with it. I think it has an incredible potential as an acute anti-depressant/anti-anxiety medication, but would love to see more studies on it, particularly on how it affects the neurodivergent.

snackwalrus · 3 years ago

How often were you taking it? I use ketamine for depression and I don't think I've experienced tolerance before. While I usually feel less depressed during the high, I don't feel the long term anti-depressant effects for 2-7 days after treatment. Once it comes, it lasts for 3-6 weeks. It makes me a completely different person. I can go from borderline suicidal to living in the moment and relishing the simplest parts of life in an unbelievably short time. I fully realize that depression is more than just neurochemistry and that its just as important to use these windows of joy to create healthy physical, mental, and social habits to prolong wellness. I'm still figuring out how I can create a long term regiment using ketamine, but for the time being it seems like using it once every month-ish is making me feel well enough and is not leading to tolerance or addiction. This is after over a decade of constant crippling depression. If I were you I would definitely not think about it as a "feel better in the moment drug", that will only lead to overuse and potential psychological addiction. I was briefly prescribed anti-anxiety medication I can tell you that having a pill that instantly stops chronic symptoms is unbelievably addictive. Ketamine is different in that the effects can last longer than the high itself when used correctly. It takes time, research, experimentation, and understanding of contemporary ketamine assisted therapy methods to really figure out what works for you. I wholly believe that this is going to replace the majority of antidepressant use in the next twenty years.

snackwalrus commented on Apple to withhold its latest employee perks from unionized store bloomberg.com/news/articl... · Posted by u/alphabetting

paxys · 3 years ago

Apple has 370+ stores across the country and 65,000 retail workers. Exactly one store is unionized. It’s safe to say that broad benefits decisions across the company aren’t being driven by this union.

snackwalrus · 3 years ago

The implication is that additional perks will make other stores less likely to unionize. One store successfully unionizing is certainly enough to cause Apple to take such measures, they're likely trying to prevent a domino effect.