If you're in London, and want access to some book that you don't otherwise have access to, you can can apply for a reader's card at the British Library. I don't know if this is useful, as you can then only access the works while in the Reading Rooms (and so, while the library is open), but I find the Reading Rooms in there are a good place to get work done.
They're also probably the only place that you'll be able to access recent journals without being at a university (or asking people who are at a university to get them for you, but that doesn't suit the "browsing" style of learning).
On the other hand, I pretty much agree that you don't really need access to physical books. In CS areas of maths, at least, most people tend to make a draft of their textbook available for free online.
If this post is inappropriate, I apologize.
I stumbled upon this site after reading "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality". The story so far has really moved me on multiple levels and sent me here in a quest to learn more about rationality as a philosophy/way of thinking about the world. I have read Ayn Rands published works and loved the stories and most of the message. The characters always seemed like titans that were far and above me, but now, I've seen a character that is a bit more approachable.
I've started to go through the "Map and Territory" section of the "Core Sequences" and this whole project and community makes me ecstatic. I'm currently working my way through the Bayes's Theorem article with some success. The more I read, the more I realize I may have a problem.
I'm pretty dumb.
Is higher level reasoning "use it or lose it" ? I like learning new things and love reading but any new ideas require a ton of thought and re-reading. I think I have enough interest to keep plugging away at it, but I'm not sure I'm going at things the right way. Is there a "Kid's Table" for lesswrong.com?
For "Priors": I'm 28 years old, white male, married, no children, poor economic upbringing, solid emotional upbringing, currently lower to middle class, high school diploma, US Navy, currently a civilian electronics technician, raised Baptist currently Agnostic/Atheist (recently).
I guess that's it. Thanks!
--John