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Vladimir_Nesov comments on Welcome to LessWrong (For highschoolers) - Less Wrong Discussion

23 Post author: Curiouskid 26 November 2011 03:47PM

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Comment author: KPier 26 November 2011 05:24:04PM 10 points [-]
  1. I'm 17, a senior in high school.
  2. I read a lot of nonfiction on my own when i have time, but lately I almost never have time. I've also learned a ton from doing competitive debate, though I'm not sure it's made me a better rationalist - I'm planning a post on this after I finish applying to college.
  3. My family and friends tolerate my interest in rationality, and say "that's really cool!" whenever I explain things, but I haven't been able to convince them to read the Sequences or even the occasional post. My best friend learned Bayesian statistics for science fair and loves philosophy and debate - he'd be a fantastic rationalist if he wasn't Catholic. I'm working on that.
  4. I take seriously the argument for giving what we can, and intend to go into a high earning career so I can donate what I can to charity (probably x-risk reduction). I haven't mentioned this before on LessWrong, because without a concrete plan for how to achieve it it seems like an applause light. I would love to talk with someone (CarlShulman?) about how best to do this, because I'm really not sure.
  5. Nope. I learn well in an academic environment, and I still have a lot to learn.

As for the other things you suggest in your post: there are no meetups where I live, and I would love to just talk with rationalists occasionally. I've read all the Sequences, though I still have trouble with the quantum physics one, and I would also be interested in sharing tips on getting the most out of high school.

See also my posts.

Comment author: Vladimir_Nesov 26 November 2011 05:47:14PM 15 points [-]

he'd be a fantastic rationalist if he wasn't Catholic. I'm working on that.

It should probably be the other way around: once he gets better epistemic tools, which doesn't require not being a Catholic, he'll probably cease being a Catholic. Confronting religion directly seems significantly counterproductive if training in rationality is a feasible plan.