I'm not a programmer, although I code a little when I have something that needs coding. Someone (I forget who) linked me to the Parable of the Dagger, and I liked it so much that I nosed around to see what the rest of the blog was about.

I'm not a programmer. (Well, I can write code--and studied CS for two years in college--but I avoid it even better than most programmers do; it's not a regular hobby and now I have to RTFM even for simple things.) I've lurked on various transhumanist lists for just about a decade and started following Overcoming Bias pretty early in its life, so I found LW from there.

I have some general technical background (lots of math and quite literally just enough engineering to be dangerous), actually managed to finish the music degree, but mostly I'm a translator between hackers and lawyers/policy types; I just finished law school and am waiting to be licensed. (Though I expect to remain more of a researcher than a litigator.) I appreciate the programming mindset but ultimately I like words better, and I think I have a comparative advantage in dealing with the fuzzy, illogical bits that drive real engineers mad.

Also I'm pretty sure this is my first comment here even though I've been a lurker for ages; I blame my recent dive into the IRC channel.

I just started learning python, but I've been on LW for well over a year.

I used to read Econlog, and from there Marginal Revolution and Overcoming Bias. I remember finding the post on Traditional Capitalist Values, which was the first article on LW I read.

I don't think I'm a programmer on your definition - I took two CS classes in undergrad (both in C++) and I have a working knowledge of R now that I'm in a stat grad program. I came to LessWrong when it started through OB, and I found OB through Marginal Revolution. At first, OB was "just another econ blog," but since I was a philosophy major at the time and had an interest in epistemology, OB really grabbed my interest.

I can't programme but I should learn. I amn't sure but I think my progression was soc.history.what-if to Randy McDonald's blog to gnxp to Mencius Moldbug to him linki´ng to "Beware of Steven Jay Gould" when Eliezer was on OB. Insofar as anyone who isn't a programmer can fit the cognitive profile I probably do.