Tyler Mills
@tyler-mills·Joined Jan 2026·Ideas
#5075·Tyler MillsOP revised 3 months agoAssuming qualia are classical, there is nothing stopping every step in the computation comprising them from being measured, like any computation. Then, nothing is stopping that recording/program from being rerun.
This is true, but assumes that "qualiation" still occurs when each subsequent state is pre-existing and determined. Do we know this? What if qualiation somehow depends on the (computational) indeterminacy of the subsequent states..?
#5320·Tyler MillsOP, about 1 month agoInterest 2: This measure of productivity is suspect. By whose yardstick is a day not productive enough? This is itself the source of the anxiety. Just work as much as we can each day without coercion. Asking for any more is foolish.
Interest 1: It's my yardstick. I want to accomplish more, and I know I can (and we do, often, by staying up "too" late). And staying up is working as much as we can each day without coercion. It's stopping and getting ready for bed that requires coercion!
#5318·Tyler MillsOP, about 1 month agoInterest 1: Stay up past 16 hours and do more things! Accomplish more, have more fun today and feel like the day was more productive. Some loss of sleep is okay for the sake of accomplishing more, earlier in life.
Interest 2: This measure of productivity is suspect. By whose yardstick is a day not productive enough? This is itself the source of the anxiety. Just work as much as we can each day without coercion. Asking for any more is foolish.
#5317·Tyler MillsOP, about 1 month agoPer #5229, here is a debate to find a common preference for the two interests in me.
Interest 2: Go to bed around hour 16, to get the full 8 ours we require for good health and functioning! We regret when we sleep too much less than 8 hours, and the cumulative health impact causes us some background anxiety (which is itself unhealthy).
#5317·Tyler MillsOP, about 1 month agoPer #5229, here is a debate to find a common preference for the two interests in me.
Interest 1: Stay up past 16 hours and do more things! Accomplish more, have more fun today and feel like the day was more productive. Some loss of sleep is okay for the sake of accomplishing more, earlier in life.
Per #5229, here is a debate to find a common preference for the two interests in me.
#5243·Benjamin Davies, about 1 month agoThis doesn't rule out blue light from other sources disturbing your ability to wind down and fall asleep.
True, I have a lamp that is warm in color, but probably still has some blue in it. I'll consider looking into redder lamps. I still suspect mental stuff is the main issue.
#5245·Benjamin Davies, about 1 month agohttps://youtu.be/boWSKR7OrUw?t=627&si=V4UOiSZym6i0ZhjO
From 10:27 onwards, this video goes over a variety of diet related elements that affect sleep. Might be useful.
Checking this out, thanks!
#5241·Benjamin Davies, about 1 month agoDiet isn't ruled out just by comparing a large dinner with an empty stomach before bed.
You've said that you often put off eating and struggle to eat as much as you intend to. If you're regularly under-eating or going long stretches without food, that may be keeping adrenaline and cortisol elevated into the evening, making it harder to wind down, fall asleep and stay asleep.
That could also explain why you're physically tired but still mentally alert and able to keep working at night.
Good reasoning. But I don't go long stretches without eating (no more than 4 or 5 hours), and my weight is stable (or growing, depending on goals), so I can't be undereating in general.
Revised again because #5234 has been addressed and no longer applies
Interesting. But I would guess it only works well for constant sounds. The sensor has to read the waveform to create one that cancels it. Will not do much for short impulses of sound, which are the main offender (my current neighbors are okay, for the record).
Interesting. But I would guess it only works well for constant sounds. The sensor has to read the waveform to create one that cancels it. Will not do much for short impulses of sound, which are the main offender (my current neighbors are okay, for the record).
#5299·Dennis Hackethal, about 1 month agoNot to be nitpicky, especially since you ended up agreeing, but #5234 now has a pending criticism (yours), yet you acted on the idea. (Or rather, on the suggestion implied by it.) Acting on an idea with pending criticisms is technically the definition of irrationality on V.
I’m purposely not marking this a criticism so the flags don’t flip.
#5237·Dennis Hackethal, about 1 month agoFound this article illuminating (emphasis mine):
The gradual loss of energy during the day produces a drive to sleep in order to restore that energy. This is known as the homeostatic sleep drive. If the homeostatic process were the only one involved, a person would wake up fully energized and then gradually wind down over the course of the day, like a battery losing power. This would mean an uneven level of alertness during the day, with dangerously low alertness in the afternoon and evening. To counterbalance this, the SCN also regulates alertness by what is known as the circadian process. As the day goes on, and energy winds down, the SCN compensates for this by sending a stronger alertness signal to the brain and body. This alertness signal reaches a peak in the two hours just before bedtime. This zone of maximum alertness is known as the “forbidden zone for sleep” since the alertness signal makes sleep nearly impossible during that zone. When the usual bedtime is reached, the SCN begins to turn down its alertness signal to allow the body to sleep.
The article is on “Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder”. I’m obviously no doctor so don’t take anything I say as advice or diagnosis. But from what you’ve said, I wonder if you have that. I think I have the same issue.
The article goes into several causes you could look into. For example, it says exposure to blue light in the morning can help reset one’s internal clock. But that requires a special type of cell on the retina. If those cells don’t work properly, then as far as your internal clock is concerned, you’re effectively blind.
Interesting and disturbing. I still think psychology is the prime suspect for me, though. Runaway thinking. I'll pay more attention going forward, and see if I observe this "alertness signal."
#5244·Benjamin Davies, about 1 month agoSomething simple you could try is heavily dimming your computer and other devices and using strong red filters for the last few hours before bed.
Not just the standard night shift features, which are often far too weak. I mean making the screen properly red so that almost all of the blue and green light is removed.
You might be surprised by how dim you can make your devices while still being able to use them fine. You just need to give your eyes a minute to adjust. I routinely have my iPhone and MacBook on their dimmest settings.
Dimming or reddening the room lighting could help too. (Following up on #5243.)
I do use 0% brightness on my monitor and Windows' red night filter at 90% about 90 minutes before getting ready for bed, and I use only a warm-colored lamp. But could do more. Have not messed with the actual monitor color presets (turning off the blue and green channels; not the same thing as the night filter?). No screens at all seems like a smarter habit, which I'll work toward.
#5235·Dennis Hackethal, about 1 month agoHave you traveled internationally? I’m thinking specifically of flying west for a large distance.
For example, if I fly to the West coast from central Europe and I land at 12pm say. That’s 9 hours behind Europe. And then I try to stay up until 10pm or so. That’s nearly impossible. I’ve fallen asleep with the lights on.
Would be interesting if you still lay awake for an hour or so even when severely jet lagged.
I have traveled internationally, and I think jetlag is the same as just staying up very late. Both allow for fast time-to-sleep (<30min). I can fall asleep quickly if I've been awake for 19 hours, say. The issue is trying to achieve that time-to-sleep for ~16 hours of awake time.
Interesting. But I would guess it only works well for constant sounds. The sensor has to read the waveform to create one that cancels it. Will not do much for short impulses of sound, which are the main offender (my current neighbors are okay, for the record).
Interesting. But I would guess it only works well for constant sounds. The sensor has to read the waveform to create one that cancels it. Will not do much for short impulses of sound, which are the main offender (my current neighbors are okay, for the record).
Well the device may deal with some noisy neighbors, but sure, a criticism overall. Edited.
#5205·Tyler MillsOP, about 1 month agoTime-release melatonin also does not noticeably affect the larger issue for me of falling asleep.
I've wondered about taking some regular to fall asleep, and the time-released to stay asleep. But in any case testing so far has shown melatonin (of either kind) on its own does not significantly help the falling asleep issue (the greater of the two, falling asleep and staying).
#5233·Dennis Hackethal, about 1 month agoWhat’s wrong with using melatonin indefinitely?
AFAIK it creates no physical dependence, you don’t build a tolerance, and it’s cheap. What’s not to love?
A cursory search suggests I was mistaken. It may be "mentally" habit forming (one becomes anxious if it's unavailable). But that's no big deal. So it could be a fine long-term solution to the staying asleep problem. What's not to love: #5205.
Indeed; the criticism included with it (that I don't want to be dependent) applies to regular melatonin as well.
#5229·Dennis Hackethal, about 1 month agoThe cause of procrastination is a conflict between preferences. Part of you wants to take out the trash, another doesn’t. The solution is a common preference: a new option both parts of you prefer to their respective initial position.
Can you identify those parts within you?
Try brainstorming many new options on V. With any luck, you’ll find a new option both parts of you want without delay.
It strikes me that I may have some confusion around compromise. There's an idea (from who/where? Gemini says Brett Hall...) that a compromise can actually be bad, because it is a new theory that no one was advocating for. So if it fails, it's harder to learn from and hold anyone accountable for. Yet, to resolve our procrastination and other hangups (and many problems in life), it seems like finding a common preference is the thing to do (and it seems like it works). But isn't that the same as compromising?
#5230·Dennis Hackethal, about 1 month agoCould you do meal prep for the week? Have meals ready in the freezer so you don’t need to cook every day.
Oh I definitely meal prep. But major room for improvement. Work in progress.
#5231·Dennis Hackethal, about 1 month agoSomething I made the other day, recipe in the caption :) https://www.instagram.com/p/Db2DzFplBXq/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Looks awesome! Didn't realize you have a bodybuilding channel, will check it out.
Not sleeping at all certainly damages the rhythm. But for me the current choice is between a chemically-mediated 8-9 hours from, say, 12am to 8am, or a natural 5-6 hours, from 2 or 3am to 8am. Both are similar in terms of the day night cycle, and not close to as bad as sleeping in to noon (and later and later) would be, I think.
#5283·Tyler MillsOP, about 1 month agoIncrease reliability of the quiet apartment search by thoroughly interviewing several neighboring residents.
This depends on neighboring residents being home during your apartment tour, and being honest (or correct) about noise pollution (maybe they're causing it and don't know). The search remains an uncertain one, even with great interview participation.
#5282·Tyler MillsOP, about 1 month agoFinding quiet places in a city is indeed doable, but it's hard to even come close to guaranteeing success. There's no way to sample an apartment for 24 hours before moving in. It comes down to scoping it out, reading reviews, interviewing other residents if you can, then signing the lease and hoping for the best. If it's a bad fit, moving again is a huge, costly hassle.
Increase reliability of the quiet apartment search by thoroughly interviewing several neighboring residents.