It's time to gather together and remember the true Reasons for the Season: axial tilt, orbital mechanics and other vast-yet-comprehensible forces have converged together to bring another year to a close, and as the days grow shorter and colder we remember how profoundly lucky we are to have been forged by blind, impersonal forces into beings that can understand, and wonder, and appreciate ourselves and each other. This year's East Bay Rationalist Winter Solstice will be held in the center of Berkeley, bringing 300 rationalists together in a theatre hall for food, songs, speeches, and conversations. We encourage other Bay denizens who can't make our solstice to put on their own show. Or even if you do come, we encourage people to try out their own ideas. The East Bay Solstice celebration will be on Saturday, December 17th, in the Anna Head Alumnae Hall in Berkeley. Acquire tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2016-bay-area-winter-solstice-tickets-27853776395 We are coordinating with the Bayesian Choir and will be coordinating with various speakers, as in previous years. An MC and schedule will be posted as details solidify. Kids are welcome. Vegetarian food will be available. Let us know if you have specific accomadation requests or have questions.

Idaho exists! This is the first Boise meetup I can find evidence of.

Topic: Introductions, getting to know each other. What brought you here?

Encontro mensal de LessWrongers em SP no café Vanilla. Como sempre, novatos são bem vindos!

(Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1064379460250772/)

Greetings! I haven't done one of these for far too long, but it's back. Tell us what you've learned recently, ask for rationalist advice, talk about cool stuff, and so on. I'll post a Google Hangouts link on Facebook close to the time.

We tend to go until late, so if you can't make it for the official time, you're welcome to pop in anyway.

People outside Australia are welcome too! We've heard from New Zealanders, South Americans, Europeans, North Americans...

Time zone is 7.30pm Canberra/Melbourne/Sydney, 6.30pm Brisbane.

x-posted from list. Gathering in courtyard from 3:00pm, hard start 3:30pm - until closing (7:00 pm).

Richard will be leading a discussion this week on economics questions that people bring.

As always, side conversations are permitted and welcome.

Upcoming meetups:

• Jan. 24: Game Design
• Jan. 31: Fun & Games
• Feb. 7: Fermi Estimates

Casa Soule-Reeves aka the crow's nest 2945 NE 64th Ave around the corner from Cafe Ohana on Sandy AKA the regular place. Take your pick of: * remembering name * new years resolutions * organisation systems * time management * other cfar methods, (trigger action planning, focussed grit, goal interrogation) or just general hanging out... cross posted here, facebook and on the google group. also: https://web.facebook.com/groups/581711345245383/ and: https://web.facebook.com/events/1534314410212033/

Parts of LessWrong London have been feeling like the association with LW no longer really captures what we're about. Several of us have pretty much stopped reading the site. So we're doing an experimental rebrand as a diaspora meetup group.

The diaspora includes, but is not limited to: LessWrong, SlateStarCodex, parts of the Effective Altruism movement, the bit of tumblr that brands itself 'rationalist tumblrsphere'.

If you feel like you want to hang out with the sort of people who are involved with those things: welcome! You are invited. You do not need to think you are clever enough, or interesting enough, or similar enough to the rest of us, to attend. You are invited.

This meetup will be social discussion in a pub, with no set topic. If there's a topic you want to talk about, feel free to bring it.

There will be some way to identify us.

People start showing up around two, and there are almost always people around until after six, but feel free to come and go at whatever time.

https://goo.gl/maps/7Zm8dea7hGF2 Centennial park, in the park, closest gate at 63 york st, 5pm local time.

See the facebook page for any last minute updates i.e. weather problems. or call (04--3848--11-43) me to confirm any details you want to know.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1651519248459695/

https://goo.gl/maps/7Zm8dea7hGF2 Centennial park, in the park, closest gate at 63 york st.

Same place as last year.

Bring a dish! Something tasty... Try to aim for something inclusive of vegetarian/vegan, at the very least - know what is in your dish for when people ask.

Agenda: Eat food; be merry! Our year in review (as a local community, as a country, as humanty) Talk about goals for the past year, share successes and failures (as individuals) Lachlan - making resolutions for the new year Taryn - songs Over the next year: plans for ourselves Over the next year: predictions about the state of the future of the world

Bonus mini-game: prepare for the Candles VS wind game, and this time bring a solution with you.

Post below what you plan to bring so we don't get duplicates...

See you there!

We're having another all-Texas party in Austin. We'll be welcoming Scott Aaronson, who's moved here to teach at UT Austin.

(Previously, we were worried that the time might work, but now it's been confirmed.)

We will be meeting in the courtyard to discuss survivorship bias - statistical biases that come into play when someone tries to understand a whole group by only looking at the examples that made it through a winnowing process.

As always, side conversations are allowed and encouraged.

Upcoming meetups:

• May 15: Fun & Games
• May 22: Typical Mind Fallacy
• May 29: meeting canceled for Memorial Day
• Jun. 5: Intro to Rationality