Finally, this was written as a blog post, not a final draft of a formal article. Criticisms related to tone and style are especially welcomed.

As an introduction, this did not 'hook' me. As you say, you make many large abstract claims without supporting evidence in a very long intro post. But these claims are pretty similar (although sprinkled with other LW content) to those I would expect as the result of an affective death spiral, selection for enjoyment of meditation, and so forth.

What might attract me is a post front-loaded with the concrete evidence that makes you believe what you believe, with some assessment of the major biases bearing on it. By burying the evidence until later, you prevent the reader from assessing the likely value of continuing.