lukeprog comments on Rationality Dojo Examples? - Less Wrong

11 Post author: XFrequentist 15 November 2011 09:28PM

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Comment author: lukeprog 16 November 2011 02:34:41AM 11 points [-]

I cannot say more at this time, but other camps are actively being planned, and rationality curricula are being developed. This is because you are correct that the world needs Rationality Dojos.

Comment author: ahartell 16 November 2011 04:03:09AM 4 points [-]

Will a version of the rationality curriculum be put out for use in meetup groups? This seems like something the weekly meetup groups could handle and would 1) greatly increase the audience since the camps can't accommodate many people and 2) give the groups something to do which could lead to an increase in group creation/attendance.

Comment author: lukeprog 23 November 2011 09:46:59AM 3 points [-]

Will a version of the rationality curriculum be put out for use in meetup groups?

Yes. Some Bay Area groups have already been used to test the material so we can improve it.

Comment author: Mercurial 16 November 2011 05:08:53AM 2 points [-]

Yeah, that's another dynamic I meant to ask about. I could see SIAI wanting to make sure that the only Rationality Dojos they acknowledge are ones led by those whose rationality skills they've agreed are formidable (and, hopefully, who have also developed good teaching skills). But if that's the case, I'd still want to use the local groups to practice even if SIAI doesn't want to recognize or support us as "a Rationality Dojo."

Comment author: CharlesR 17 November 2011 04:01:46PM 2 points [-]

I wonder if we could get local groups to sponsor a member they want to send for training.

Comment author: Mercurial 17 November 2011 05:19:09PM 0 points [-]

If the model SIAI uses is that they're the "hombu dojo" and each regular meetup group is a local dojo, then I think this would probably be downright necessary.

Comment author: XFrequentist 16 November 2011 03:29:50AM 4 points [-]

Awesome! If you need help or a pilot group, let me know.

Comment author: Mercurial 16 November 2011 04:11:01AM 2 points [-]

I second that. There's a fair number of people down here in southern California, and I suspect that many of us would be quite happy to be guinea pigs for rationality dojo training.

Comment author: CharlesR 17 November 2011 03:55:14PM 0 points [-]

Have you been to the Westside Meetup?

Comment author: Mercurial 17 November 2011 05:15:15PM 0 points [-]

I think so... I went to one of the meetups at an IHOP. The weekly LA meetups are about a two-hour drive from me, though. (I'm in San Diego.)

Comment author: CharlesR 17 November 2011 07:45:35PM 0 points [-]

Didn't realize you were SD. That would be a bit far.

Comment author: marchdown 16 November 2011 07:25:22AM 0 points [-]

Third that. Please, when evaluating alternatives, consider that there are many people who would be willing to participate even in somewhat intrusive experiments online.

Comment author: Mercurial 16 November 2011 04:08:37AM *  2 points [-]

I'm glad to hear this. Can you tell us at least a little bit about what kind of general structure to anticipate? To give a few examples of the level of thing I'm asking about:

  • Maybe it's being planned as Boot Camp trainings paired with teaching manuals, to create and then support people who can run LW Meetups as Dojos. Maybe even with "ranks" and objective standards of excellence, if you really want to extend the martial arts metaphor. (In martial arts, it's common for instructors of local dojos to go to regular seminars where high-ranking masters refine and update the skills of the local-dojo instructors.)
  • Maybe a Khan Academy setup, where SIAI offers some kind of general guidelines about what sort of results (both positive and challenging) to expect from certain kinds of group activities. So this would be less centralized and standardized than the first option.
  • Maybe just a set of descriptions of exercises that seem to work well at cultivating certain aspects of Awesomeness. Perhaps paired with key references (e.g., Cialdini).

I'm not offering suggestions per se, though you're very welcome to take them. I'd just like to know what level of organization to expect so I know what my job is with meetups I am or will be involved in. For instance, if it's basically the last of the examples I give above, I'll end up wanting to apply my experience with research in educational psychology to basically develop the guidelines mentioned in the second example. But if that's what you guys are doing anyway, I'd like to know so I don't waste my time!

So can you tell us on that level of scope what you're cooking up?

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