Hello, I am Alexander, and also a number of variations on Chalybs Levitas (depending on the screenname parameters of the site I'm signing up to).

I don't consider myself a rationalist, yet. I still have a lot to learn, but I've started working my way through the Sequences, and I've started my walk through the other articles, by opening a new tab at each new link.

I value language, and I am practicing my craft as a writer (I'm terrible) as well as studying Japanese (also terrible there).

I chose Japanese as the foreign language to study first in part because I want to move to Japan, and I've signed up to the site because one of the things I've learned through reading the articles and Mr. Yudowsky's fiction is that people are not pessimistic enough in preparing their plans. I tried to apply pessimism to my current plan to live in Japan, and I don't think I got it right. I'm hoping to learn more, and to work out answers I would not have found on my own, by talking with the community here.

Phew.

Nice meeting you all, ~Alexander