Things I Learned from College
http://mdickens.me/2025/11/07/things_I_learned_from_college/ (that I still remember a decade later) Evolution on Earth Fact 1: When foxes are bred to be more...
Things I Learned from College
(that I still remember a decade later) Evolution on Earth Fact 1: When foxes are bred to be more docile, their ears become floppy like dogs’ ears instead of...
How Can I Not Know Whether I'm Having a Good Experience?
http://mdickens.me/2025/11/05/how_can_I_not_know_whether_I'm_having_a_good_experience/ I’m playing Elden Ring. I’m fighting a difficult boss1, and I’m...
Cash Back
When I was 18, my dad took me to the bank to get my first credit card. I had a conversation with the bank teller that went something like this: Bank teller:...
How Can I Not Know Whether I'm Having a Good Experience?
I’m playing Elden Ring. I’m fighting a difficult boss1, and I’m getting kind of frustrated. I die again. I’m thinking about whether I want to keep playing. I...
Do Small Protests Work?
http://mdickens.me/2025/11/04/do_small_protests_work/ TLDR: The available evidence is weak. It looks like small protests may be effective at garnering...
Do Small Protests Work?
TLDR: The available evidence is weak. It looks like small protests may be effective at garnering support among the general public. Policy-makers appear to be...
My Third Caffeine Self-Experiment
http://mdickens.me/2025/11/03/third_caffeine_self-experiment/ Last year I did a caffeine cycling self-experiment and I determined that I don’t get habituated...
My Third Caffeine Self-Experiment
Last year I did a caffeine cycling self-experiment and I determined that I don’t get habituated to caffeine when I drink coffee three days a week. I did a...
Things I've Become More Confident About
http://mdickens.me/2025/11/02/things_ive_become_more_confident_about/ Last year, I wrote a list of things I’ve changed my mind on. But good truth-seeking...
Things I've Become More Confident About
Last year, I wrote a list of things I’ve changed my mind on. But good truth-seeking doesn’t just require you to consider where you might be wrong; you must...
Will Welfareans Get to Experience the Future?
http://mdickens.me/2025/11/01/will_welfareans_get_to_experience_the_future/ Epistemic status: This entire essay rests on two controversial premises (linear...
Will Welfareans Get to Experience the Future?
Epistemic status: This entire essay rests on two controversial premises (linear aggregation and antispeciesism) that I believe are quite robust, but I will...
The Next-Gen LLM Might Pose an Existential Threat
http://mdickens.me/2025/10/15/next_gen_LLM_might_pose_existential_threat/ I’m pretty sure that the next generation of LLMs will be safe. But the risk is...
The Next-Gen LLM Might Pose an Existential Threat
I’m pretty sure that the next generation of LLMs will be safe. But the risk is still high enough to make me uncomfortable. How sure are we that scaling laws...
Mechanisms Rule Hypotheses Out, But Not In
http://mdickens.me/2025/10/08/mechanisms_rule_hypotheses_out_not_in/ If there is no plausible mechanism by which a scientific hypothesis could be true, then...
Mechanisms Rule Hypotheses Out, But Not In
If there is no plausible mechanism by which a scientific hypothesis could be true, then it’s almost certainly false. But if there is a plausible mechanism...
How Much Does It Cost to Offset an LLM Subscription?
http://mdickens.me/2025/10/04/cost_to_offset_LLM_subscription/ Is moral offsetting a good idea? Is it ethical to spend money on something harmful, and then...
How Much Does It Cost to Offset an LLM Subscription?
Is moral offsetting a good idea? Is it ethical to spend money on something harmful, and then donate to a charity that works to counteract those harms? I’m...
I Made an Emacs Extension That Displays Magic: the Gathering Card Tooltips
http://mdickens.me/2025/10/03/mtg_emacs/ This post is about the niche intersection of Emacs and Magic: the Gathering. I considered not writing this because I...