Thanks all for the suggestions. Given the nearly unanimous opinion that chronological order is optimal, I have started re-reading from the beginning. I am still thinking over which of the other suggestions are likely to work well for me.
One aspect of reading the sequences that no one has addressed so far is what role should reading the comments play in understanding/retaining the content of the sequences?
I read most of the comments as I read them, and don't regret having done so, but then I find community social dynamics interesting for their own sake and LW/OB was a novel sort of community. I'm not sure I would recommend it for someone who didn't care about that part; I doubt it's cost-effective. I would recommend thinking carefully about what parts of each post you agree with, disagree with, and are unsure about.
I am a relative new-comer to LW, and I have read ~half the articles in the core sequences, but I think I have not been optimizing for comprehension/retention while reading them. Could some more experienced members of the community give some recommendations on how best to read them \(both in terms of in which posts in which order and in terms of the actual reading process\)?
I will periodically edit this post to include some of the suggestions in order to provide the most benefit to future newcomers.
EDIT: Here are the most popular suggestions:
Order:
How to read them: