human stack overflow
debugging my fingers, body, and brain (in that order)
I’ve been working through Hammertime, and—no surprise—some hammers are more useful than others. I’ve been slacking off the past couple of weeks but I’m reaping the benefits of things I set in motion earlier. Goal is to get back in to it this week.
Touch Typing
For most of my life, I typed in a way that was objectively terrible—right index and middle fingers, left index, about 45 WPM. I knew it was slow, and was wasting time, and something I should fix. The ROI of fixing it was obvious, but there was always something more urgent, more pressing to handle. I’m sure it’d pay off in theory, just not today.
Hammertime was a great catalyst and it’s been coming along well. I expected it to be slow at first—11 WPM, humbling—but being a beginner again felt good, felt like progress. The point isn’t how fast you start; it’s how quickly you improve.
I'm at 35 WPM now—closer to 50 if I drop caps and punctuation. It's coming together, bit by bit. There’s something satisfying about the process—feeling each keystroke get just a little smoother, watching as my thoughts translate faster, more directly. It’s not about the speed itself, though. It’s the quiet joy of removing friction, of noticing how tasks that once felt clunky are starting to flow. I can tell this will pay off long-term, but for now, I’m just enjoying the learning curve, watching the numbers tick up as the muscle memory builds. Feels very similar to the joy I used to get from (learning) ballroom dancing.
Bonus Level: I’ve started using keyboard shortcuts more efficiently, inspired by CF. These shortcuts feel like cheats, and g my workflow has been faster and oddly satisfying. Wish I’d picked this up years ago.
Systematic Overhaul
Now, onto health. I’d been running on autopilot for a while—only seeing a doctor when something went wrong, with no real sense of how things were ticking along under the hood. I was bad at keeping track of this during college I was pretty much the opposite of a model for self-maintenance. If there was a spectrum, I’d be the data point skewing the average. I also had peripheral worries lurking in the background. Family history of high cholesterol, blood pressure, combined with some less-than-ideal food habits :(
So, I decided to go all in: scheduled a full physical, insisted on blood work to check everything out. But then I thought, why stop there? Turned it into a fun experiment and scheduled appointments with basically everyone—physical therapy, nutritionist, therapist, pulmonologist, optometrist. Figured I might as well get a full system check-up, see what I’ve been ignoring.
Results
Physical
Baseline Health: Blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar were all within healthy ranges, which was reassuring given family history.
Asthma Management: Flare-ups were manageable, albuterol prescription renewed. Clarified proper use of maintenance vs. rescue inhaler
Test Results: No diabetes. Cholesterol levels "excellent": total cholesterol 166 mg/dL, HDL 62 mg/dL, LDL 92 mg/dL.
1. Nutrition: Suboptimal Inputs
Current diet: Sporadic, low-calorie meals—cereal, Chipotle, sandwiches. Skipping breakfast or lunch due to poor planning.
Plan:
Increase calorie intake with more frequent, larger meals.
Prioritize high-calorie, nutrient-dense foods: nuts, oils, starchy vegetables, whole grains.
Reintroduce protein powders.
Outcome: Slowly transitioning, but consistency remains the main challenge.
2. Physical Therapy: Weak Links
Neglected areas: weak hip abductors, core strength deficits, and shoulder instability. The physical therapist gave me exercises to target these weak points.
Plan:
Focus on exercises for hip, core, and shoulder stability.
Address posture issues from long hours of study—neck and back strengthening.
Outcome: Necessary maintenance. Fixing this now prevents future problems, basic upkeep but crucial for long-term stability.
3. Optometry:
Diagnosed with mild astigmatism, which was almost amusing.
Plan:
Glasses are on the way.
Outcome: Soon, I'll have literal clarity—expect a post about how I can now notice plot holes in real life
Therapist: TBD
Pulmonologist: TBD
Both had no openings this or last week. Will update.
Clarity on My Macro Path:
I think AI safety is where I’ll want to focus. I’ve been firmly skeptical for a few months, and now—well, what a shame. Full credit to SH for pushing me in the right direction.
Current Steps:
AI Safety Fundamentals: I’m working through this course and and slowly piecing together my own understanding of alignment. I feel almost credulous right now, and so the challenge isn’t just to grasp argumentation or heuristics that seem persuasive. I’m trying to build a model in my head that doesn’t just sound convincing but also feels right to me.
Tried explaining alignment to a friend (ES) for the first time—results were mixed. I thought it made perfect sense, but not sure I made a very compelling case. Seems like this is worth expanding into a structured set of common arguments and rebuttals for future discussions.
Mentorship: Met with Professor BG this week, and it was more productive than expected. He gave solid advice on crafting cold emails and proposals to reach out to potential mentors for the projects I’ve been thinking about. Time to get the wheels in motion.
What I’ve Been Reading
The Gene: An Intimate History- Siddhartha Mukherjee.
Henry V- Shakespeare.
Goals for Next Week
Apply to 80,000 Hours for career coaching.
Publish my AISF notes, assuming I can make them coherent enough to share.
Flesh out a clearer idea for an independent AI governance project and stress test it
Email 10 potential mentors
