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What is the goal of this document? If it is significantly contributing to the dialogue about rationality expressed by the community, then why would you put it behind an arbitrary paywall?
There is something objectively good about particular musical intervals, e.g., the octave, the 1-3-5 chord, that has to do with the ratios of their frequencies. Therefore there is some objective truth about musical taste.
I'm not sure I agree here. I understand the point you are making about ratios of frequencies, but by that logic, equal tempered music would presumably be automatically inferior to music in just intonation, because the consonant intervals are more consonant in just intonation than E-12 tuning.
Music that is more consistently consonant is not better; all pieces composed entirely of octaves and fifths aren't inherently better than all pieces that also have thirds (or any other less-harmonic interval you care to name). This also assumes that Western music theory is the only valid type; musical languages consisting of a non-diatonic system are not automatically inferior.
EDIT: I'd like to add that I'm inclined to think there is a degree of objective musical quality.
I understand the point you are making about ratios of frequencies, but by that logic, equal tempered music would presumably be automatically inferior to music in just intonation, because the consonant intervals are more consonant in just intonation than E-12 tuning.
Well, yeah. That's the only reason that people still talk about just intonation - it's considered a virtue that its intervals sound cleaner than equally tempered ones. Equal temperament is the standard because it allows transposition between keys, not because of some objection to how pure and clean just intervals are.
"The Way Things Work" books.
Oh yeah, I had that book when I was that age. Absolutely awesome. The mammoths everywhere were great although I think I really only appreciated them when I got older.
"The Way Things Work" books.
Seconded (or thirded). One of my favorite books as a child as well; it was one of my first thoughts on reading the original post.
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It's always nice to hear that people are deriving utility (other than just the fun of discussion) out of all the stuff we talk about on this site. With that said, I wouldn't emphasize the first benefit you listed too strongly.
Yeah, it's true that surrounding yourself with people who agree with you on stuff is fun - and productive, if you agree correctly. But it's not a specific benefit of rationality - if you happened to believe that decisions should be made by searching your heart for the Holy Spirit's guidance, you would get exactly the same sense of subjective well-being by joining a group that believes the same thing. So to someone who isn't already a member of your rationalist in-group, this isn't going to look particularly appealing.
On the other hand, the second item does seem like something that's specific to a rationalist community. I would be curious to see if anyone could think of more things like that - if enough come up, it could make good reading for people who aren't necessarily enthusiastic about the topics LW covers.