“Eliezer’s Unteachable Methods of Sanity” by Eliezer Yudkowsky cover art

“Eliezer’s Unteachable Methods of Sanity” by Eliezer Yudkowsky

“Eliezer’s Unteachable Methods of Sanity” by Eliezer Yudkowsky

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 "How are you coping with the end of the world?" journalists sometimes ask me, and the true answer is something they have no hope of understanding and I have no hope of explaining in 30 seconds, so I usually answer something like, "By having a great distaste for drama, and remembering that it's not about me." The journalists don't understand that either, but at least I haven't wasted much time along the way.

Actual LessWrong readers sometimes ask me how I deal emotionally with the end of the world.

I don't actually think my answer is going to help. But Raymond Arnold thinks I should say it. So I will say it.

I don't actually think my answer is going to help. Wisely did Ozy write, "Other People Might Just Not Have Your Problems." Also I don't have a bunch of other people's problems, and other people can't make internal function calls that I've practiced to the point of hardly noticing them. I don't expect that my methods of sanity will be reproducible by nearly anyone. I feel pessimistic that they will help to hear about. Raymond Arnold asked me to speak them anyways, so I will.

Stay genre-savvy [...]

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Outline:

(01:15) Stay genre-savvy / be an intelligent character.

(03:41) Dont make the end of the world be about you.

(07:33) Just decide to be sane, and write your internal scripts that way.

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First published:
December 6th, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/isSBwfgRY6zD6mycc/eliezer-s-unteachable-methods-of-sanity

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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