I feel that this deserves greater celebration.

Hey Luke,

This is great to hear. What drew me to you and your works initially was your extraordinary ability to take concepts foreign to me and make them accessible, easy to understand and even enjoyable. It's good to see that you intend to capitalize on this talent, and I can't wait to see what more comes of it. That being said seeing how far you've come already in the past few years is mind-blowing.

You really make me want to do better. Thank you.

Do try. As said I will be there (and presumably at least one associate) regardless, If only to reinforce that I will attend regardless.

Probably worth noting that last time the majority of attendees where lurkers.

I'd love to come but we'll see.it's quite a trek for me.

As an avid irrationalist and Sith-in-training, I’ll take a stab at your question. Irrationality offers all the things rationality does not: creativity, a sense of “magic”, ecstasy, revelation, cosmic awe, passion and pure psychic power. Who has historically had more influence on human civilization, the irrationalist prophets or the rationalist philosophers? Until there is a rationalist whose power can compare to a Moses, Jesus, Mohammed or even Hitler, I will continue to be skeptical of rationalism. Faith in reason is simply another form of religion, which, taken to its logical conclusion, seems to result in human beings being replaced by machines. Rationalism is a kind of psychological Skynet which seeks to terminate all competing belief systems and reduce the landscape of ideas to logical paperclips. Singularitarians who fear a universe reduced to paperclips are really just projecting the barren state of their own inner landscapes onto the world!

My Levels of Communication seems relevant.

Hey Luke,

Thanks again for your work. You are by far the greatest online teacher I've ever come across (though I've never seen you teach face-to-face). you are concise, clear, direct, empathetic, extremely thorough, tactful and accessible. I am in awe of your abilities. You take the fruit that is at the top of the tree and gently place it into my straining arms! Sorry for the exuberant worship but I really want to express my gratitude for your efforts. They definitely aren't wasted on me.

Are you recommending this book as someone independently knowledgeable about the relevant history? Or do you just assume that since its thesis, if accepted, would further some contemporary political goals that you favor, its historical claims must be more accurate than the historical claims of the other side? I lack the expertise to evaluate this book, but I do know that history written with the goal of providing propaganda ammunition for modern ideological controversies almost inevitably ends up heavily biased, no matter whose case it serves.

In any case, the idea that the modern U.S. First Amendment constitutional law doctrines and the controversies arising from them have any relation with its original meaning and purpose is fantastically ahistorical. Taking quotes from that period, to whatever effect, and trying to present them as having some bearing on the present-day issues is sheer propaganda.

One of the big things about improving rationality is 'Getting Crap Done' and I think the problem is that for an online community wherein most of us are anonymous, there's not a lot on here to help us with that.

Now this site has helped me conceptualize and visualize in a way that I didn't realize was possible. It helped me to see things as they are, and how things could be. The problem is that whilst I'm flying ahead in terms of vision, I still sleep in and get to work late, I still play world of warcraft over going to the local toastmasters meetup, I still haven't opened up my online trading account.

It's like I know what to do, but in terms of generating the willpower and committment and motivation to do it, this site just becomes another of many shiny distractions. The thing is as an online community I'm not sure how much you could remedy that.

The Meetups however I think is possibly the best thing to come out of this site so far, as it has inspired me to start my own, which has come to great success, even after a somewhat rocky start, and provides a way for those who feel isolated to find a network of support.

Just my two humble cents.

It's hard to articulate all the benefits it's had in my life, but I'll name some that I've really noticed:

Self evaluation and development: Many of the posts on Bias and human behaviours have helped me understand myself as a very primal creature, and in distinguishing the difference between the rational logic in my head, and the very human part of me that exists in day-to-day, and because I have the tools to understand those subjective parts of me, I can essentially 'manipulate' myself for my own benefit. For example, Luke's article on The Good News of Situational Psychology helped me to understand how influenced I am by my situation, and that I need to pro-actively place myself in situations that will encourage me to make better decisions. Also the ability to be objective about myself and my emotions allows me to do a cost-benefit analysis on what parts of me need the most work.

Social interaction: Many of the same tools have given me a stronger understanding of humans as social creatures, with many similar behaviours and mannerisms as animals, and being able to see things in that light has allowed me to take advantage of these social norms, even in terms of encouraging positive behaviours in my friends and family, and optimizing our lives.

Those are the main two, but they sort of underly everything else that goes on in my life as well....