I see an opportunity to spread rationality a little. One of the Ajah (subdivisions) of the Tower is specifically concerned with pursuing truth, logic etc. which means if I joined it, I would have no trouble teaching a class or two with some material from the Sequences. I wonder if any of us here have done things like that in the past?
Are you serious? I was a Warder in the same White Tower on that MUD. My Sedai (Cate) was a Brown - the other of the two 'Academic' Ajah. The Brown Ajah are a bit more worldly (and more scientific than philosophical) so our research involved near daily 'field trips' to investigate the Seanchan continent and rather a lot of collection of severed heads from inside Seandar itself.
- truth, map/territory
This is the obvious one. I mean... come on. The vast majority of you will actually use maps on your computer. The maps you have are almost certainly not perfect - mine was close but when new zones are added or changes are made the map is going to be wrong. Following the map will make you crash into the wall, slow you down for a pulse and give the guy with the red or purple asterisks on their name the chance opportunity to hit you.
You could extent this by looking at how the map available to the character are not even the same as the territory. That is, if you don't practice enough search you cannot open that door. If you don't practice enough track you don't see tracks the same way. But the territory itself is no different.
- what is evidence
- rational evidence vs other kinds of evidence
Talk about SMOBs. How much evidence the load one time is about how often the SMOB loads that item in the future. Does getting the load this time make it more or less likely that it will load next repop? (Including the few exceptions where it does make a difference.)
Part 2 : Cognitive biases
- which ones would be most interesting/simple/useful to teach about?
- obviously i need to start with how knowing about biases can hurt you...
- what examples would you use?
I think I'm using Brown Ajah thinking again in as much as all the examples springing to mind are the ones that are real world (from their perspective) applicable (it's what I would do if I logged in as Cate and was teaching her class for her). So:
Or is the very idea of teaching Bayes in such a setting an outrageous underestimation of the inferential distance?
You're a White. The sort of Novices that would bother going to a White's classes for anything other than brown nosing would expect that sort of thing. It is pretty much exactly what they are supposed to be doing. If you used in game examples it'd probably stick with a couple and for those who don't actually learn Bayes theorem they may learn the notion "hey, sometimes I can calculate probabilities for things and it helps!" - a good start.
Wait, what, you're actually Wedrifid as in Wedrifid? I always thought it was a coincidence. We were clanmates then. Earle, before I declanned him. (Got a better-statted Warder now)
Also, great reply, thank you. But some of the stuff you suggest is OOC, and I'm talking about an IC class. Mostly I'm thinking about "playing wotmud", can't talk about that in-character.
You're a White.
Red currently, thank you very much. ;) Just thinking about switching for this. In any case, I'll doubt I'll have much attendance if try to make it just for White students. The game is smaller than it used to be.
EDIT: Minor updates happened.
I'd like to ask you all for thoughts on a certain idea I'm toying with. Especially any of you who are familiar with the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan.
I play a MUD (multi-user dungeon, basically a text-based MMORPG), based on that series. One of my characters is a member of the White Tower, which is basically a mage organisation/school, and as part of our roleplay activities we sometimes hold classes (example, long, probably not worth your time) for lower rank members. These typically last an hour or two and sometimes get used to convey interesting real life knowledge. For instance there has been a class on mnemonic techniques.
I see an opportunity to spread rationality a little. One of the Ajah (subdivisions) of the Tower is specifically concerned with pursuing truth, logic etc. which means if I joined it, I would have no trouble teaching a class or two with some material from the Sequences. I wonder if any of us here have done things like that in the past?
What sort of essentials would you pack into a class or at most a few classes 1-2 hours each (not just me reading stuff out but including a discussion), for people without technical backgrounds? Conducted at typing speed, so basically imagine you're going to spend two hours talking to 3-6 people about rationality on IRC chat or some such setting.
Also, should I involve or steer away from the metaphysics of the Wheel of Time setting (the Creator/Dark One, the Pattern etc)?
My ideas so far:
Part 1: "Cognitive biases, or why you, yes you, are an idiot".
- which ones would be most interesting/simple/useful to teach about?
- Obviously i need to start with how knowing about biases can hurt you...
- Confirmation bias: I might try the 2-4-6 game, though it'll be a bit of a mess in a group setting.
- what other biases and examples would you use?
Part 2: Truth and evidence
- truth, map/territory
- what is evidence
- rational evidence vs other kinds of evidence
- what is not evidence (instead of UFO cults I'd speak of False Dragon followers)
A question I anticipate coming up: Is there rational evidence for the Creator/Dark One/the Pattern? Ideas for handling this needed.
Note: I am NOT aiming at atheism at all costs, like a Force Skeptic approach. It's neither very rational if we're in WoT, nor practical for my character. In fact I intend to not talk about religion if possible. Wrong setting, wrong audience for that.
Part 3: Bayes' theorem
- the wedding in the desert example looks easily adaptable (Aiel!)
- more examples of practical Bayes Theorem application needed!
Or is the very idea of teaching Bayes in such a setting an outrageous underestimation of the inferential distance?
So yeah. Any ideas or advice that might help me give this shape and make it interesting and successful would be appreciated.