D-Machine

4 ms·

31.
by D-Machine 17d ago
This is partly why only aphantasics argue for the "it is only semantics" explanation. For anyone else, this explanation makes no sense, because they have at least one vivid example showing otherwise. Only if you have no vivid visu
32.
by D-Machine 17d ago
Anyone who doesn't believe this is real needs to explain the well-documented cases of acquired aphantasia. Good luck with that.
33.
by D-Machine 17d ago
Your theory is fairly conclusively disproven, most damningly by acquired aphantasia. See also my post below: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49707079
34.
by D-Machine 17d ago
There is some truth in this, but evidence sometimes suggests worse visuospatial memory, at least under some very specific operationalizations. E.g. less detail can be remembered overall, even though crucial details remembered are the same:
35.
by D-Machine 17d ago
> Yes, I am well aware of the bias that only certain people post, as well as the distinct possibility that there are underlying correlations that could lead to our industry abounding in them. Though prior to this I would have thought qui
36.
by D-Machine 17d ago
> I've also wondered whether this entire conversation is just all of us collectively talking past each other for the entire conversation and we all in fact have quite similar experiences This is fairly conclusively disproven by far
37.
by D-Machine 29d ago
You are wrong, as I didn't limit the analogy specifically to desktop computers only, try reading the rest of what I wrote. The original analogy was obviously hedging against simplistic brain-computer analogies (GP could be read as: &qu
38.
by D-Machine 29d ago
"The brain is not a computer" != "Parts / aspects of the brain do computation". "A computer" in the first statement is IMO obviously intended in the common usage sense of the term, i.e. the brain is not a
39.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
Wait, I finally found a paper that properly presents the results in a way that lets you decide for yourself! See figure 2 here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9344377/#f2 , you want to focus on the second
40.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
> You simply completely ignored my core statement. Most of it was junk, or included stuff about TMS which has zero relevance to antidepressants. Here's the junk: > The truth is we took someone from being passively suicidal to fun
41.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
> SSRIs have an NNT around 7, depending on the study you look at [...] Which sounds terrible if you know nothing about NNT. But when you learn that Tylenol has an NNT of almost 5 and even a powerful drug like Xanax has an NNT of 4, you r
42.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
I am telling you to ask a chatbot because you are saying things so hilariously philosophically incompetent and ignorant that even a retarded LLM will improve your thinking. You obviously don't care about thinking coherently though, or
43.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
This is why the denialism about differences in visual experience are so indefensible: they basically require an assumption that the whole world is out to lie and deceive. Like, so, people just say things like "I see it in my mind'
44.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
> there are obviously no testable hypotheses about subjective descriptions Clearly false if you take just 30 seconds to scroll through this thread. Embarrassing.
45.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
Frankly, it is very hard to tell at times.
46.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
If you want to get really kooky, read up on Western Esotericism and Chaos Magic or tantric Buddhist practices and etc. They make basically this exact claim that this is how you "do magic" or similar such things, via sustained, &qu
47.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
I can almost always tell the projection and reality are different, but in some very rare and extreme cases (psychedelics, sleep deprivation, extremely protracted and deliberate meditative focus / practice, or e.g. in situations where
48.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
Very cool
49.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
There are plenty of examples multiple times in this thread that show that what is self-reported is demonstrated in non-self-reported phenomena, so those self-reports are clearly not nonsense, basically by definition. The aphantasia theory i
50.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
Honestly, every time I look into if the "treatment by severity effect" is clearly established, I feel I come away only able to shrug. It is at least plausible, but hasn't been clearly established or refuted. What does seem cl
51.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
I suppose it can be moralizing, and probably is in the parent comment. For me I still feel the surprise because I've followed the evidence carefully for well over a decade, and the methodological problems and lack of evidence for meani
52.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
> As you point out, placebo antidepressants are fairly effective. This is a misunderstanding of concepts like regression to the mean, and also the active placebo elements involved. > but the experienced reality is that they help peopl
53.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
To be polite, it is called "typical-mind fallacy". To be less polite, it is called "cope".
54.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
Yup, sadly the absolute denialists saying "it is just semantic confusion" don't really have a tenable position, as a quick read through this whole thread would instantly reveal.
55.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
There are measurable practical differences, besides differences in fMRI responses and pupil dilations as mentioned in the thread, there are also the ones I mention here ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49471908 ) that i
56.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
There are plenty of competent meditation approaches that don't really require visualization of any kind. Most Western "mindfulness" meditations don't require visualizations, nor does e.g. shi-ne / opening awareness,
57.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
Agreed. The problem is largely that the pluses of antidepressants have been quite significantly overstated, and the minuses have been understated, meaning the cost-benefit equation is unfortunately quite different than what the general publ
58.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
The idea that simple serotonin deficiency is the whole entirety of all depressions is 100% discredited and completely incoherent in the face of current evidence, but yes, for sure it remains clear and plausible that some forms or aspects
59.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
Agreed. They have to be significantly helping at least some, but we can't say who these people are for certain yet, or how many there really are. And yes, in some cases, no other options are possible, so even if the evidence is pretty
60.
by D-Machine 1mo ago
> The truth is antidepressants have a larger effect on mental health than actually gets reported because of how improvements are measured. The truth is actually exactly the opposite, and I provided very high-quality evidence demonstratin

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