Rough and Smooth
The author introduces the concept of 'texture-of-experience' as an axis from 'rough' to 'smooth', where rough experiences are information-rich and smooth experiences are simplified. The post explores examples of this dichotomy and questions the inherent value of roughness.
Texture of Experience Texture-of-experience is a rough-to-smooth axis where rough experiences carry multi-level information and are distinct from wireheading. | 1:37Original | |
Smooth Bird Identification Merlin to identify birds provides only the species information, making it a smooth experience that screens off other details. | 1:05Original | |
Against Rat-Style Reviews Rat-style reviews are ill-suited for fiction because they reduce complex narratives to brief summaries and miss prose, character development, and higher-level themes. | 1:07Original | |
Rough Experiences and Growth Rough experiences provide high information density and help build resilience, so one should assess their experiences along the rough–smooth axis and consider increasing rough experiences if possible. | 1:24Original |