It’s been over a year since the Singularity Institute launched our ongoing Visiting Fellows Program and we’ve learned a lot in the process of running it.  This summer we’re going to try something different.  We’re going to run Rationality Boot Camp.

We are going to try to take ten weeks and fill them with activities meant to teach mental skills - if there's reading to be done, we'll tell you to get it done in advance.  We aren't just aiming to teach skills like betting at the right odds or learning how to take into account others' information, we're going to practice techniques like mindfulness meditation and Rejection Therapy (making requests that you know will be rejected), in order to teach focus, non-attachment, social courage and all the other things that are also needed to produce formidable rationalists.  Participants will learn how to draw (so that they can learn how to pay attention to previously unnoticed details, and see that they can do things that previously seemed like mysterious superpowers).  We will play games, and switch games every few days, to get used to novelty and practice learning.

We're going to run A/B tests on you, and track the results to find out which training activities work best, and begin the tradition of evidence-based rationality training.

In short, we're going to start constructing the kind of program that universities would run if they actually wanted to teach you how to think.

As some of you may know, SIAI is in the process of moving our Visiting Fellows Program to a larger and more permanent location in Berkeley.  Nothing is final yet but, however things turn out, November will be the last month we spend at 3755 Benton street.  In honor of the house's proud history, we'll be throwing one final Less Wrong meetup this Saturday, the 13th of November, starting at 6pm.  Come meet the SingInst staff, the visiting fellows and your fellow Less Wrong readers for one final party in Santa Clara!

As usual, food and drink shall be provided.

Please RSVP at the meetup.com page if you plan to attend.

SIAI's Fellows Program is looking for rationalists with skills.  More specifically, we're looking for rationalists with skills outside our usual cluster who are interested in donating their time by teaching those skills and communicating the mindsets that lead to their development.  If possible, we'd like to learn from specialists who "speak our language," or at least are practiced in resolving confusion and disagreement using reason and evidence.  Broadly, we're interested in developing practical intuitions, doing practical things, and developing awareness and culture around detail-intensive technical subskills of emotional self-awareness and social fluency.  More specifically:    

In honor of Eliezer's Birthday, there will be a Less Wrong meetup at 5:00PM this Saturday, the 11th of September, at the SIAI Visiting Fellows house (3755 Benton St, Santa Clara CA).  Come meet Eliezer and your fellow Less Wrong / Overcoming Bias members, have cool conversations, eat good food and plentiful snacks (including birthday cake of course!), and scheme out ways to make the world more Bayesian.

As usual, the meet-up will be party-like and full of small group conversations. Rationality games may also be present. Newcomers are welcome. Feel free to bring food to share, or not. 

Please RSVP at the meetup.com page if you plan to attend.

Sorry for the last minute notice, I just found out that the 11th was Eliezer's birthday today.

For those in the New York City area:  I will be giving a talk on Friendly AI at the NYC Future Salon this Saturday, the 20th of February, at 3:00pm.  We'll be gathering in the back room of Stone Creek Bar, located at 140 E. 27th Street in Manhattan.

At the moment, 29 people have RSVPed "Yes" and 10 "maybe," with 21 spots left.  If you're interested in comming, please RSVP through the Future Salon's meetup group, as space is limited.

Those of you familiar with the existing FAI literature probably won't hear anything new, but we have the venue for over 3 hours and my talk should only take 20 to 30 minutes, so there should be plenty of time for stimulating discussion.  Be sure to bring your toughest questions!  This would also be a good opportunity for those who haven't made any of the local LW/OB meetups (we have a meetup group now!) to meet other aspiring rationalists in the NYC area.

I look forward to seeing some new faces.