About Me

Interests

  • Haskell, Python, Java
  • Effective Altruism
  • Agglutinative languages
  • Computational Biology
  • The past and how different it was
  • The future and how different it will be
  • Stoicism, Asceticism, and general Frugality
  • Puzzles without instructions

Books

There are few things in life better than books. 

I particularly enjoy older books; the culture shock can be truly thrilling.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Nonfiction:
The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose
Rationality: From AI to Zombies by Eliezer Yudkowsky
Apology by Plato

Fiction:
- Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone by Sophocles
The Clouds by Aristophanes
- A Midsummer Night's Dream, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth by William Shakespeare
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- The Odyssey by Homer
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

"Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider."

Francis Bacon, "On Study"

Philosophy and Politics: 

The Political Compass Test:
Economic Left (-2.13/10)
Social Libertarian (-4.87/10)

Schwartz Value Survey:
Results

Comprehensive Motive Taxonomy:
Results

It's important to listen to the ideas of others and judge them rationally, based on neither emotion nor tribe. Even the strangest ideas can lead somewhere useful.

I've become less involved in current events over time, and I no longer consume news. It is better to have a timeless mind than a timely one. 

Contact:

If you have something to say about something I write, please share it here.

Otherwise, the best way to contact me is through email:

collisteru@gmail.com