Personal website of Gwern Branwen (writer, self-experimenter, and programmer): topics: psychology, statistics, technology, deep learning, anime. This index page is a categorized list of Gwern.net pages.
Visit gwern.net → RSS feedOn Hacker News Nov 2011 – Sep 2026
Life, Learning & Writing 35Society, Policy & Culture 23Science & Space 23AI & Machine Learning 14Tools & Productivity 13Tech Industry & Business 12
Writing advice: some nonfiction fails because it opens with background instead of a hook—readers leave before reaching the good material. Find the single anomaly or question that makes your topic interesting, lead with that, and let the background follow once you’ve earned attention.
Self-experiment on whether changes in bedroom CO₂ levels affect sleep quality
Applied Computer Science: On Murder Considered As STEM Field—using information theory to quantify the magnitude of Light Yagami’s mistakes in 𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑡𝘩 𝑁𝑜𝑡𝑒 and considering fixes
Notes on nootropics I tried, and my experiments
Many writers anecdotally report they write best first thing early in the morning, apparently even if they are not morning people. Do they, and why?
Melatonin improves sleep, & sleep is valuable
A description of advanced tips and tricks for effective Internet research of papers/books, with real-world examples.
Discussion of dabbling in samplers of ‘avant-garde’ perfumes and other perfumes; what I liked and did not like, and what 2 perfumes I ultimately bought for myself (Acqua di Sale and Kyoto Incense).
Efficient memorization using the spacing effect: literature review of widespread applicability, tips on use & what it’s good for.
A discussion of why I don’t intend to turn Gwern.net into a book, and how trying to write a book can harm writers.
Efficient memorization using the spacing effect: literature review of widespread applicability, tips on use & what it’s good for.
Internet links small groups, helping dissolve big groups; good, bad? But a bit sad.
Which books on GoodReads are most difficult to finish? Estimating proportions in December 2019 gives an entirely different result than absolute counts.
Creative writing by OpenAI’s GPT-3 model, demonstrating poetry, dialogue, puns, literary parodies, and storytelling. Plus advice on effective GPT-3 prompt programming & avoiding common errors.
Applied Computer Science: On Murder Considered As STEM Field—using information theory to quantify the magnitude of Light Yagami’s mistakes in 𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑡𝘩 𝑁𝑜𝑡𝑒 and considering fixes
A description of advanced tips and tricks for effective Internet research of papers/books, with real-world examples.
Efficient memorization using the spacing effect: literature review of widespread applicability, tips on use & what it’s good for.
Proposal & discussion of how default mode networks for LLMs are an example of missing capabilities for search and novelty in contemporary AI systems.
3 magnesium self-experiments on magnesium ʟ-threonate and magnesium citrate.
Internal, external, stylometric evidence point to live-action leak of 𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑡𝘩 𝑁𝑜𝑡𝑒 Hollywood script being real.
Self-experiment with sub-psychedelic doses of LSD; no benefit
Iron Law of Bureaucracy: the downwards deletionism spiral discourages contribution and is how Wikipedia will die.
On the benefits and lack of demerits of nicotine (research up to 2015)
Internet links small groups, helping dissolve big groups; good, bad? But a bit sad.
Why most supplements fail: IQ improvement skepticism, Yudkowsky & Bostrom’s heuristics, nootropics
Efficient memorization using the spacing effect: literature review of widespread applicability, tips on use & what it’s good for.
On the benefits and lack of demerits of nicotine (research up to 2015)
Famous Ted Chiang SF short story ‘Story Of Your Life’ is usually misinterpreted as, like the movie version 𝐴𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙, being about time-travel/precognition; I explain it is instead an exploration of xenopsychology and a psychology of timeless physics.
Why most supplements fail: IQ improvement skepticism, Yudkowsky & Bostrom’s heuristics, nootropics
What are the true limits to motivation?