Cracking cultures

Note that these are their answers to cultures they like and cultures they hate.


   - mathematics   - Poetry    - Training to control your body (e.g. yoga)   - Training to control your mind (e.g. through meditation)   - Instrumentals   - jazz   - Improv (e.g. Nils Frahm Ibrahim Maalouf)    - Effective altruism   - Nature   - mountaineering   - Introspection   - partwork   - Authentic relating   - anger   - Pop culture   - Twitter    - Gardening   - Fashion    - Japanese punk fashion   - vintage fashion   - Quantified self    - Tea   - Rituals   - ceremonies   - Love   - Theater   - Action movies   - romances   - thrillers   - Reality TV    - Manipulation   - frame games   - implicit communication   - Neon lights   - Fireworks   - making noise   - stage magic   - Being overly polite   - Cars   - Smoking   - Eating animals   - Narrative podcasts   - long form video essays   - mythology inspired fantasy   - ghibli movies   - fanfiction   - audiobooks   - consequentialism   - metroidvania   - TV   - rococo   - anime   - horror   - gender abolitionism   - news   - Nietzsche   - Freud   - self help   - bad takes on plagiarism   - conspiracy theories   - warm weather   - leather couches   - Having mentors   - curiosity   - joking about modern art   - watching sports   - Competitiveness   - dancing   - online courses   - old music   - gym supplements   - reggae    - cryptography   - playing instruments   - Fishing   - loud cinemas   - huge parties   - shopping   - politics in sports   - hermetic poetry   - tanning   - silent movies   - overthinking   - Alt rock   - Romantic classical music   - plushies   - AI and machine learning    - anthropology   - gothic horror   - minimalism   - heavy metal   - art deco   - lists   - colour theory   - dubstep   - rap   - mumble rap   - modern rap   - (German) Rap    - black comedy   - arthritis   - pornography   - oil painting   - physics   - misogyny   - misandry   - psychedelic drugs (or any recreationally for that matter)   - fandom wars   - baroque music   - film music   - board games   - comedy books   - feminism   - pop music   - Samba music   - murder mysteries   - film noir   - love stories   - waltzes   - minimalist music   - heavy metal   - horror films   - serialist music   - punk   - tinkering with electronics   - mindfulness   - anime   - playing video games vicariously    - rock climbing   - classic literature   - birds   - swing dance   - languages   - modern art   - running   - food   - techno   - modern art (most of it is garbage)   - twitter   - most TV   - critical race theory   - smoking   - wwe wrestling   - wow this is hard   - ok i give up: bunch of other music genres   - effective altruism   - transhumanism   - love   - La Dispute   - folk punk   - emo   - sentient beings   - cats   - movies   - tv shows   - anime   - books   - gadgets   - hanging out with people   - parenting   - talks   - education   - internet memes   - texting   - dancing   - drinking   - religion   - faith   - nationalism (any form of sectarianism really)   - harmful pranking culture   - posting pictures of yourself online   - marvel movies   - mindless scrolling   - Sailing/windsurfing   - mathematics   - acoustic/piano covers   - fantasy books   - LGBT   - Yoga   - baking   - vegetarianism   - hiking   - religions   - Japanese   - Englisch   - scones   - Alcohol consumption   - French   - modern art   - ASMR   - extreme nationalism   - TikTok   - patriachates   - traditional role models   - soccer   - nightcores   - hacker culture   - acoustic music   - anime   - film   - transhumanism   - fantasy   - history   - literary theory   - country   - comedy   - productivity hacks   - statistics   - malls   - car   - social media culture   - tv reality   - cult around luxury   - credential culture   - cryptocurrency for pure speculation   - short video content (<2 min)   - selfhelp   - celebrities   - A collection of stuff (organic molecules   - dinosaurs...);   - Rationality & logic;   - Linguistic puzzles;   - Surrealism literature & art;   - Typography;   - Soft rock;   - Physical simulation   - Physical intimacy;   - Antidiscrimination movements;   - Deontology;   - Environment protection;   - Animes;   - Postrock;   - Silly questions   - Alcohol   - tobacco   - and similar;   - Social Darwinism;   - Punk;   - Distrust in government;   - Digitization of books;   - Nonfiction thirdperson narratives;   - Celebrity culture   - HIMEHINA   - dystopianish books/films/music/games   - psychology/philosophy   - Burger King   - learning new fun concepts   - ML   - music   - even life hacks)   - EDM   - coding (when it goes well)   - writing (when it goes well)   - watching YouTube   - hanging out with friends (if all goes well)   - casual academic discussion (for fields I'm interested in)   - watching movies/TV shows   - Twitter/Reddit/IG   - pinball   - card games   - COVID   - COVID origin search   - presidential debates   - extremely hot days   - militaryrelated   - TV talk shows that end up being guests shouting over each other   - Puns / wordplay / banter   - Certain religious stuff   - Circling   - Meme culture   - Dunk culture   - Psychoanalysis   - Sharp criticism / bridgewater / radical honesty   - Making salient the ways in which men and women are different   - Social justice   - Seeing like a state   - Great Person view of the world   - Woo / new agey stuff   - Really incomprehensible art criticism   - The lens of degeneracy   - cognitive science   - grunge/rock   - epiphenomenalism   - NLP   - thingspaces   - modernist literature   - free will   - anime/manga   - icedcoffee   - number theory   - transhumanism   - badminton   - rap   - hiphop   - indie.    - introspection   - implicit wordassociation tests   - ballet   - birdwatching   - Apple Music   - indie movies   - celebrity culture   - finance bros.    - Cooking   - Persuasion and communication    - Vegan / vegetarianism   - (comic) books   - dog training   - scifi   - interdisciplinary research   - rock music   - math puzzles   - manga   - running   - meditation   - board games   - longevity biohacking   - coding   - gardening   - bird watching   - modern music   - sport cheering   - team ball sports   - watching sports   - makeup   - techno music   - religion   - being active on social media   - hand crafts   - luxury goods   - All classical art genres   - singleplayer video game   - movies   - theatrical production   - Classical music   - science fiction   - hard scifi   - linguistics   - rock&roll   - synthpop   - physics   - history   - philosophy   - Hollywood movies   - K-pop   - sneaker culture   - fandom   - geography   - tea    - whiskey   - ratfic   - ambient electronica   - philosophical Buddhism   - admiring nature through science   - effective altruism   - transhumanism   - RPG games   - board games   - alternative medicine   - metal music   - mainstream action movies   - anime/manga   - haiku   - birdwatching   - cultural revisionism & SJWs   - clubbing   - telenovellas   - youtube monologues   - dating apps   - reggae   - programming   - word games   - EA   - forecasting   - drinking socially if it helps me get laid   - quantified self   - nice and expensive gadgets   - cryonics   - physical violence   - gun culture   - going to parties   - answering questions about myself   - using mobile phones   - using something that isn't Linux   - trying out drugs   - Christianity   - mediocrity/lack of ambition   - going to loud parties   - crying in front of people   - the Hogwarts house Hufflepuff   - Microsoft Word   - The Guardian   - itchy clothes   - Twitter   - Economic rationality   - Mathematics   - Politics   - Faith    - Books   - Hypocrisy   - Death   - Betting   - Confidentiality   - Unions   - Empiricism   - Low energy conversations   - Pranks    - Noise music   - The idea of mental health   - Smoking   - Alcohol   - Bureaucracy   - The illiberal left   - Celebrity culture   - Gender abolitionism   - Body positivity   - Stimulants    - Modernism   - Effective altruism   - Animal welfare people   - Jazz   - Analytic philosophy   - Slate Star Codex   - Libertarianism/classical liberalism   - Rationality community   - Learning foreign languages   - Homeschooling   - Tabletop boardgames   - Reddit   - Being weirdly traditional   - Being patriotically Irish   - Poker   - Political tribalism   - Smoking   - Wokeism   - Antiwokeism   - Drinking   - Partying   - Loud music    - Nature   - Marriage   - Radical political / general state systems    - Psychology   - War    - Social media    - History   - Homophobia   - Cartoons   - Effective altruism   - minimalism   - veganism   - physics   - philosophy   - interior design   - friendships involving introspection and communication   - pineapple on pizza   - romantic films   - classic literature   - board games   - chess   - olympiads   - truth seeking   - go   - meditation   - polyamory   - taking drugs (caffeine   - acid   - MDMA   - ecstasy etc)   - Tik tok culture   - horoscopes   - excessive signalling   - marvel films   - films with dark aesthetics   - horror films   - saying ‘I don’t like kids’   - expensive cars   - manga   - gambling   - Agency   - Rational fiction   - Effective Altruism   - Transhumanism   - Free Markets   - Utilitarianism   - AI   - Social justice   - Environmentalism   - Binge drinking   - Conservatism   - Chess   - weight training   - machine learning   - beer   - English literature   - Social justice   - Emo/goth   - Dance   - Country music   - infovore   - taking unnecessary risks   - improvisation expertise (cannot plan)   - Science   - Literally any idioms (No matter how controversial)   - Conspiracy Theories   - Random philosophy bs   - Weatherspoons   - Guitar   - 4X games   - Old school hip hop   - Tea   - Go   - Chess   - MMA   - Vegetarianism / veganism   - Gambling   - Whiskey   - Note taking   - Fanfiction   - Anime   - K pop   - Friends (tv)   - Hustle culture    - Finance bro culture   - Dance   - Tik tok leftists   - Self help stuff   - Theatre    - Yugioh   - Folk Punk music   - Tabletop gaming   - Postmodern literature   - Modern art   - Coffee   - Tea   - NonModern art (especially sculpture)   - Alcohol   - Critical theory   - Transhumanism   - Free verse   - Camp   - Electronic music   - Effective altruism   - Charles Bukowski   - SelfHelp   - Opera   - Dance   - HipHop music   - NonMonogamy   - Gender nonabolitionism   - Haute Cuisine   - Everyday fashion   - Hard Scifi + reading in general   - opera   - Peking Opera   - Avalon   - Owls   - jazz music   - podcasts   - Stand up comedy   - punk music   - self help   - camping   - social media   - hacker lore   - historic fiction   - spoken word    - SCP   - Fruit on food   - romance scenes in movies   - soap opera   - zoos   - car racing   - Marvel movies   - tonic water   - scented candles   - ice water   - sci fi   - Cyberpunk   - Exercise (weightlifting & running mostly)   - Philosophy :)   - Biohacking/self ex   - Anthropology   - Open borders   - Religious faith   - Anarchism   - Fanfiction   - Emo (music or culture   - any wave)   - Effective altruism   - Massive generalisation to produce an ESPR class   - Car culture   - Weebs   - Keto (and carnivorism)   - Conspicuous consumption? Designer brands?   - Productivity culture? Productivity porn?   - Elon musk veneration   - Billionaires generally   - Rational egoism   - Trads   - Podcasts where it's either a) politics b) two guys hanging out c) two guys hanging out and discussing politics   - Emo rap   - Betting (e.g poker)   - Effective Altruism   - Clean code   - Yoga   - gender abolitionism   - Stoicism   - Meditation   - socialism   - agnosticism   - abstinence   - transgenderism   - Spirituality   - antinatalism   - minimalism   - Celebrity culture   - reality TV   - hierarchies based on age   - military intervention   - Humanism   - Organized religion   - Tik tok/vines   - sociology   - exams   - Attachment to brands (retail or car brands   - Apple)   - I'm sure there's a formal name for this...   - Economics   - Non fiction books   - Harry potter   - Strategy games   - Musicals   - Foodies   - Paintings and illustrations   - Any genre of music   - Movies   - Hiking   - Dog ppl   - conservatism   - Long termism   - Patriotism   - Cat ppl   - Any sport community   - Chemistry/Science   - Guitar music   - Publically sharing ideas   - Finding political middleground   - Pursue a better tomorrow   - Arts   - Learning new things   - Cultural evolution   - Travel   - physics   - mourning   - food waste   - radicalized religion or belief   - treating animals without empathy   - bad tap water   - Noblesse oblige   - sea shanties   - adversarial strategy games   - cooperative limited information games   - grand fantasy narratives   - multilayered schemes/mindgames   - low/no contact martial arts (eg capoeira)   - narrative poetry   - mindbreak (eg DDLC)   - ratfiction   - synchronized dance   - rap/hiphop   - Choral music   - minimalist art   - contact martial arts   - romance novels   - ancient literature/the classics   - puzzle hunts/CTFs   - religious study   - metal music   - street dancing   - ballroom dancing   - nonrat fanfiction   - unorthodox edgy extremism    - neoreaction   - sports   - team sports   - mystery fiction   - infohazard peddling    - equality of opportunity   - hivemind   - scorched earth/MAD policy   - knowledgebased secret societies   - Death worship/cycle of life   - freeform poetry   - gore   - normal edgy extremism (altright   - eat the rich)   - newage mystics (Deepak Chopra)   - racing/jumping sports   - snobbish art criticism   - statusbased secret societies   - equality of outcome   - original sin narratives   - Jung   - astrology   - mumble rap   - yodelling   - glitchhop (and most noise)   - dancing   - climbing & several weird sports   - puzzle hunting   - xkcd   - gelato   - experiental camps :)   - almost everything I guess   - music   - hardcover books over digital copies   - hairstyling   - boardgames   - ultimate frisbee   - US oversmily overpolite communication   - Tarantino movies   - meditation retreats (for long time   - monks etc.)   - Other people's coherent consistent models   - large parties   - effective altruism   - themes of sacrificing personal good for the greater good   - intuitive explanations for complicated maths concepts    - Metal music   - scenic walks   - optimism about the long run future   - philosophy   - status hierarchies   - muscular hypertrophy   - reviews and summaries   - tourism   - team sports   - art museums   - action video games   - fiction without significant emotional content   - stay at home mothers   - SCPs   - shonen, seinen, isekai   - scanlations   - Video essays   - Fantasy card games (e.g. Magic: The Gathering)   - Punk   - Goth   - Peking opera   - Fasting / extreme dieting   - Lovecraft   - Painting/Sketching   - Clubbing   - Cheese tasting   - Dating sims   - top models   - A fascination with pirates   - Boxing/MMA   - Historical autobiographical fiction   - Sports video games   - My little pony   - Poetry   - Kpop   - Kardashian culture   - Wine tasting   - Chinese language   - writing   - motorcycles   - living abroad   - perfectionism   - teaching   - acting   - tea   - ecofriendly   - vegetarianism   - trading   - business   - Islam   - luxury   - parenting   - cooking   - Marie Kondo   - HPMOR   - homesteading   - basically all ceremonies and holidays   - Halloween   - productivity culture   - School   - HR   - Informal logic   - 'Oxbridge college' culture   - Tea+coffee   - Late nights   - Introversion   - Chess   - Statistics   - Humanism   - Atheism   - Vegetarianism   - Platonic affection   - Physics   - Competitive games   - Astrology/Horoscopes   - Spectator sports   - Elaborate weddings   - 'Luxury' brands   - Speed/slam/spit   - Pyramid schemes (and corrupt lotteries)   - Clubbing   - Blind dating   - Masochism   - Music genres that involve boring chord progressions   - Theoretical Computer Science   - Movie Soundtracks   - Coding Projects   - Public Speaking and Debating   - Story Driven Video Games   - Self Help   - Spirituality   - Meditation   - Stoicism   - Zen   - Life Planning and Optimisation   - Steampunk   - Anime   - (very moderate)    - Supplements   - This is hard. I think most nontrivial things can be famed in a positive light.    - blogging culture   - science fiction   - musicals   - black comedy   - mistake theory   - shamefully flashy big budget movies   - elegant philosophical / legal arguments   - infinite games   - hipster culture   - cooking & cuisine   - watching dance   - LARPing   - arthouse   - competitive card games   - considered diets   - gym and weight lifting   - classic [rhyme] poetry   - military/martial norms   - survivalism/prepper   - hacker culture   - some critical theory   - 'high' or classic literature   - conflict theory   - CRT   - trying to pursue political change through word engineering/policing   - modern poetry   - oldfashioned masculinity norms   - Programmer   - AI   - post scarcity scifi   - low carb   - longevity   - pragmatism   - shorttermism   - animal welfare   - feminism   - strict veganism   - faith   - religion   - sleeping < 6 hours per day more nights   - loud music   - Card games   - Vegan food   - Rap   - Ecofuturism   - Nuance   - strategic altruism   - Poetry   - abstract art   - spirituality   - football   - crypto space   - conservatism   - dogma   - left wing politics   - Techno   - wine   - xenophobia   - crowds   - NFTs   - Straw rationality   - Postmodernism   - Radicalism   - Dancing   - volcanoes   - bird watching   - curiosity   - scientific method applied to life   - alone time.   - Theatre and the arts in general   - scifi books   - historical novels   - healthy nutrition   - board games   - hiking   - mind altering substances taken responsibility   - scepticism   - humanism   - growth mindset.   - Faith and spirituality   - muscle hypertrophy   - unboxing videos   - hypocrisy   - unconditional optimism   - hugs from strangers   - multitasking   - libertarianism   - chitchat   - identity   - games   - environment design   - Continental philosophy   - capitalism   - astrology/general divination   - politics   - romance   - individualism   - irony   - abuse of notation   - dance   - status games   - Descriptive epistemology   - normative ethics   - metaphysical opinions   - rent seeking   - essentialism   - optimisation   - guilt   - fear of breaking things   - enlightenment   - linguistic prescriptivism   - rock music   - experiments   - philosophy   - rationalism   - bullet journaling   - utilitarianism   - deontology   - virtue ethics   - agile   - phenomenology   - all kinds of music   - pain   - ice skating   - alcohol   - feminism   - sleeping all day   - psychoanalysis   - nihilism   - decorations   - feng shui   - smoking   - fishing   - hypocrisy   - astrology   - intolerance   - hédonism   - medieval philosophy   - weird narrative structure   - classic memes   - hacker culture   - fundamental physics   - space   - psychedelics   - loop quantum gravity   - doorstopper fantasy   - EDM   - MRA   - individualism   - religion   - magic   - capitalism   - poetry   - AI   - string theory   - proprietary software   - jazz   - revolutionary politics   - modern memes   - just works   - multiplayer   - veganism   - tinkering with electronics   - mindfulness   - anime   - playing video games vicariously (watching playthroughs)   - rock climbing   - classical literature   - birds   - swing dance   - languages   - modern art   - techno   - modern art (most of it is garbage)   - TV   - critical race theory   - smoking   - WWE wrestling   - Puns / wordplay / banter    - Persuasion and communication    - Veganism   - Certain religious stuff    - Cooking   - Circling    - Meme culture    - Dunk culture    - Psychoanalysis    - radical honesty    - Making salient the ways in which men and women are different    - Social justice    - Seeing like a state    - Great Person view of the world   - Woo    - Really incomprehensible art criticism   - The lens of degeneracy   - (comic) books   - dog training   - scifi   - interdisciplinary research   - rock music   - puzzles   - manga   - running   - meditation   - board games   - biohacking   - coding   - bird watching   - modern music   - team sports   - watching sports   - techno music   - religion   - social media   - hand crafts   - luxury goods   - Whiteboards (I mean not just the object I mean something larger about how one likes to think/move through idea space)

I've been doing this for years, but I only became self-conscious of it after seeing Tyler Cowen's version. One of his most important blog posts is just 400 words long and reports on his far longer programme of getting into things.

I also view [cracking cultural codes] as an investment in understanding symbolic meaning, cultural codes of excellence, the transmission of ideas, and also how the details of an area fit together to form a coherent whole. I believe this knowledge makes me smarter and wiser, although I am not sure which mass-produced formal test would pick up any effects.

...I have found it highly useful, most of all for various practical ventures and also for dealing with people, and for trying to understand diverse points of view and also for trying to pass intellectual Turing tests.

It might also pay you. When I started working in tech, I didn't negotiate very hard, under some silly assumption that pay would trade off against respect and security.



In reality, you must negotiate pay to be respected. The more someone pays you, the more they will respect you, to retroactively explain their paying you so much.



This is unfair, unwritten, and a massive part of your lifetime income.
(This graph applies to corporate culture, not other parts of business.)

In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it’s the exact opposite.

– Paul Dirac, or

Poetry presents the thing in order to convey the feeling. It should be precise about the thing and reticent about the feeling… If the poet presents directly feelings which overwhelm ... they cannot strengthen morality and refine culture, set heaven and earth in motion and call up the spirits!

– Wei Tai (魏泰)


Critics: Paul Keegan, FR Leavis, IA Richards, Harold Bloom, Wei Tai

Material conditions: mostly people without jobs, alone, intentionally floating free of society. No capital requirements and mostly subsistence pay. So mostly posh people or patronees. 7

Aims: many!

• Oral history
• Propaganda
• Teaching (mnemonics)
• Social critique
• Seduction
• Philosophy
• Religious expression
• Emotional expression

Almost all modern poetry is written in the latter mode, the lyric-confessional. If you think you don't like poetry, this might be why.

This ^ is one of the all-time great punk recordings. It has 5 chords (or rather one chord moved around a little) and was made by 16 year olds.


Somehow this ^ is punk too. They took punk to mean freedom (ha!), and got the real freedom afforded to the thrifty at least. By a band who practiced harder than you would believe.


Critics: Michael Azerrad, Daniel Sinker, Steve Albini, Robert Christgau, Piero Scaruffi

Material conditions: Ideal teenage culture. Parents don’t like it, it’s incredibly easy for you to participate, cool and edgy, easy uniform, expresses & ennobles alienation you were feeling anyway. DIY. Cheap! $5 gig tickets. Skill optional. Shocking on purpose. Alternative economics. Full lifestyle. Distortion covers mistakes.

Aims: The expression of alienation. Easiest to express this as a critique of society, consumerism, war.

Punk is probably my deepest engagement with anything I don't literally work for or belong to. Here is my theory of the ideology.

Critics: Toby Ord, Paul Christiano, Nate Soares, David Pearce, Bernard Williams, Larissa Macfarquhar, Angus Deaton, Phil Torres and Amia Srinivasan if you must.

Material conditions: We got rich, and so able to help. We got data, and so able to check. We got universalism, and so the will to help.

Speculatively: the EA attitude is rare because of scope insensitivity, localism, maybe economic illiteracy, and (justified!) background cynicism about charity and foreign aid.

Aims: to make the world as good as possible (whatever that means), using econometrics and philosophy.

https://live.givedirectly.org/

Critics: Ada Palmer, Adam Elkus, Gwern, Tamerlane, SD Shamsel. 9

I didn't understand manga at all before knowing the material conditions: often one chapter per week, low pay, enormous catalogues of copy-paste backgrounds. The author does not know when the series will be cancelled, so it's impossible to plot properly. Shirobako is an anime about the material conditions of anime.

It's very important to understand Japanese drawing even if you hate it. It is massive and growing fast. The French government is currently spending about €200m a year on manga, because they were beautiful and decided to trust French youth with their own cultural spending.

Manga is not about virtuoso linework but here are some examples to study. (The background of the latter is a standard library asset.)

My gloss: The essence of manga is exaggeration. Men with swords taller than them, preteen superheroes, all kinds of bodies which couldn’t be, all kinds of facial expressions and gesticulations which didn’t exist until they memed themselves into real life. But you can exaggerate anything, it doesn’t have to be combat or sensuality. And the exaggeration tends to take a certain form: self-exaggeration, aspiration, the psychology of becoming excellent. There’s one about being a better chess player, one about being a better baseball player, one about being a better farmer, one about being a better teacher. All treated with high drama, extreme closeups, and OTT declarations. War against one’s own lack of skill and character.

Despite 8 years of trying I still don’t love mathematics. Despite 1 month of trying I still hate haiku, Heidegger, Youtube monologues. That’s fine! (But also, help.) There are things we should not like. There could be things we should not understand, though probably not many.

• Pick something you don’t understand, but want to. Run the procedure!
• example of an unwritten rule you realised recently
• example of using one code to understand another
• Examples of cultures you “get”
• Any you understand without liking?
• Have you ever intentionally gotten into something?
• Have you ever failed to get into something despite trying hard?
• What don’t you want to like?

If you like Gwern’s statistical work, you might be able to use his anime or tea criticism. If Scaruffi on krautrock thrills you, maybe some of his odd views on everything else in the world will land.
If you love film, then you already have a royal road into modern classical music. Film soundtracks are the main way that classical music is now appreciated.
I once used football to get into Tanzanian culture. (I wasn't even that good on football.)