--- layout: post title: "On self-imposed constraints and shame" tags: [essays] description: "An essay on self-imposed constraints and shame: legal supplements versus steroids, and AI-assisted exploit discovery" --- Person A: Have you heard about Shilajit? It increases your testosterone, your lifts will go up by 20%, and it's legal because it falls under the category of a health supplement! I've been taking it with my Ashwagandha and I've never felt better! This _natural fitness trainer_ I follow on Instagram has been taking it for ages and he's got my dream body! I've bought a huge supply, just in case they make it illegal to sell it in the future. Person B: Why don't you just ... take steroids? Person A: Because this is natural, and I'd never take that illegal chemical stuff?! I'm all natural. In addition to those two, my pre-workout now includes caffeine, citrulline malate, L-citrulline, beta-alanine, creatine monohydrate, betaine anhydrous, taurine, L-tyrosine, alpha-GPC, L-theanine, beetroot extract, sodium bicarbonate, electrolytes, glycerol, agmatine sulfate, nitrosigine, theobromine, L-norvaline, BCAAs, L-carnitine. And then to top it all off, after my workout, I never miss my all natural 0-sugar cookies and cream protein shake. Person B: What's the difference? You want to achieve some goal by cheating, using some mystery unproven pseudo-solution that hedges on a legal loophole/grey-area cheat-code, but not just use the real solution, because ... why? Would you do it if it were legal? The same goes for, say, "weight-loss supplements that are advertised on TV" versus just ... taking GLP-1. --- > Magnesium, melatonin, glycine, valerian, CBD, special teas, expensive mattresses, red lights, sleep trackers... > Prescription sleep medication? Absolutely not. I want to sleep naturally. --- Person A: Look, I discovered a totally new exploit in software X! Person B: Cool, but did you use AI? Person A: Well yeah, it was really helpful in my discovery. Person B: So you didn't discover it? Person A: I ran a marathon wearing shoes, too. --- If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? | ![It's illegal to cross a double-line.](/files/lol-car.png) | | :---------------------------------------------------------: | | *It's illegal to cross a double line.* | --- Person A: I drink six espressos a day, otherwise I can't focus. Person B: Have you considered getting evaluated for ADHD? Person A: No, I don't want to depend on drugs. The same can kind of be said about energy drinks (but maybe not). --- Person A: You took this photograph? Person B: Yes. Person C: Autofocus was on. Person A: Ah, so the camera took it.