I just had a 17-year-old Less Wronger e-mail me for advice regarding the Thiel Fellowship after reading my application essay from last year when I was 19. We had a long instant message conversation where I gave him a lot of advice which he seemed to find highly useful (my biggest piece of advice was to start teaching himself programming using Learn Python the Hard Way, shamelessly asking for help using a pseudonym on IRC channels, forums, and Stack Overflow if he got stuck).
It seems likely that there are other Less Wrong users who still live with their parents who could benefit from life and career advice. I'm especially interested in reaching those who see reducing existential risk as a major life goal.
A related idea is for people who have some goal they want to achieve, like having a romantic relationship with someone of their preferred gender or being admitted to a prestigious graduate school, to pair up with someone who has accomplished that goal.
So if you're a young person who would like advice, an older person who would like to give advice, a person who wants to accomplish a goal, or a person who has accomplished a goal and is willing to help others accomplish that goal, consider leaving a comment on this post so you can find your counterpart.
I realize this post is a bit open ended--consider it an experiment in tapping Less Wrong's social capital in a novel fashion.
I'd totally like to help people!
For reference, I ran a robotics team, got into Harvard, am taking a gap year, and am currently being paid to do things that I find interesting.
I'd also like to reduce x-risk and encourage a friendly singularity, and my current plan is to create a rationalist community capable of developing and empirically testing other rationality moves like kicking. I don't think that I have the skills necessary to achieve that yet, but I'm optimistic about my ability to acquire them.
I got a degree in psychology and a couple credits short of a minor in philosophy. I had a poor gpa due mostly to the fact that i started as a computer engineer and have some learning disabilities that i didn't realize then. I want to be able do something with my psych degree such as go to grad school to do research in psych but have no idea if i can make it. Also, currently i am a cashier who is looking for a tech job (i have an associates in information technology and 6 years of part time experience) but i can't seem to get one. Any help would be appricated