Of the posts I've delayed writing for years, I maybe regret this one the most.

I think more people (x-risk researchers in particular) should consider becoming (and hiring) metacognitive assistants. This is the single largest performance boost I know of – hire someone to sit with you and help you think. It doesn't help me (much) when I'm at my peak, but I'm not at my peak most of the time.

There are four types of assistants I'm tracking so far:

Body Doubles
Metacognitive Assistants
Tutors
Partners/Apprentices

Body doubles just sit in the room with you, periodically looking at your screen, and maybe saying "hey, do you endorse being on facebook?". They're a kind of brute force willpower aid. The person I know who uses them the most (Alex Altair) has them just sit in the same room (I believe while doing pomodoros, each of them working on [...]

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Outline:

(03:25) Executive Assistants

(04:06) Core Skills of a Metacognitive Assistant

(07:35) Pitfalls

(09:37) Optimizing for (not-particularly skilled) Metacognitive Assistance

(10:39) Automated AI Assistants?

(12:34) Trialing People + Matchmaking

(12:57) Focusmate + TaskRabbit?

(13:58) Aligning Incentives

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First published:
December 23rd, 2024

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ajT6q5aMokagfthvG/hire-or-become-a-thinking-assistant-body-double

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

“Hire (or become) a Thinking Assistant / Body Double” by Raemon

LessWrong (30+ Karma)