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About 11 people were in Takkakabinetti in Otaniemi. The introduction to Lojban led to many questions. There was some describing of LW as there were many first-timers. Post-Lojban conversation included a lot of talking about ethics, particularly utilitarianisms.
Meetup : Helsinki Book Blanket Meetup
Discussion article for the meetup : Helsinki Book Blanket Meetup
Location changed to the large lobby-cafe of [http://www.musiikkitalo.fi/en] because of weather
Posted also as an event on Less Wrong Finland's Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/events/632882116808767/ – viewing might require joining the group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/lw.finland/
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[Less Wrong Finland meetup]
Having recently grown into a hundred-member group, we will hold our (first!) Book Blanket Meetup which should work regardless of how many people attend!
The idea is that you can add books through a simple Google form below, and that the added books will be made into cards like those in the event photo. The resulting deck of book-cards will be brought to the meetup and used for discovering new books, and whether people have read the same books and how others felt about them — and perhaps for trading them in an attempt to build a Hand of Sanity in case you end up deserted on some island. (Would you risk it and pick highly-praised books you haven’t read, or rather resort to old favorites you know to be full of deep meaning? Come find out!)
The form (which seemed to me anonymous even if signed in to Google): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1OCPK0_GLHBFEnB_WQ6e8lfFIbPlP1y7PahuQK9abeZg/viewform?usp=send_form)
Also, you're just as welcome even if you haven't read or submitted anything! Deserted islands are serious considerations regardless of reading history, and in any case others can practice explaining why some books could be good to read. And of course you can just ask others about books they admit having read, though everyone's bound to forget old books. Time to resurface memories?
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Time?: 08-16-2014 15:00:00 (UTC+03)
Place?: CHANGED: To be weather-safe, we're going to meet at the large lobby-cafe of Musiikkitalo (Mannerheimintie 13 A). To find me, I'll have an orange hoodie.
Discussion article for the meetup : Helsinki Book Blanket Meetup
In response to
Meetup : Helsinki Meetup
About 12 people split in smaller groups to discuss strategic thinking. Topics included describing long and medium-term goals, whether you'd thought about them (or of ways to solve problems you'd had) recently, and what kind of systems people had had for creating and maintaining habits. We regrouped many times, switching tables to hear what others had came up with. Half of the people went to Kaisla after that.
In response to
Meetup : Helsinki Meetup
13 people met in Kaisla. Due to unclear distribution of organizing responsibilities, no exercises were actually tried, but we did look at some materials. Split into smaller groups later in the park, which at least in my experience resulted in increased activity.
Some had tried more active self-quantifying since the QS meet and noticed at least temporary benefits. Discussed habit formation, self-rewarding, and social pressure (through sharing). Shared experiences on comfort zone expansion.
Also discussed/mentioned:
- Resolving conflicts in relationships.
- Changing variables in some mental simulation while observing what kind of scenario would surprise you, and why.
- Value of Information.
- Nonviolent Communication.
- Speed reading.
- Prediction markets.
- Personal problem solving meetups.
- Emotions that lack accurate translations between languages.
- "Humans are not automatically strategic"
- "Self-Improvement or Shiny Distraction: Why Less Wrong is anti-Instrumental Rationality"
- "Less Wrong NYC: Case Study of a Successful Rationalist Chapter"
- The LW meetup guide
- http://xkcd.com/1205/
In response to
Meetup : Helsinki LW meetup
Eventually 14 people attended. After some time spent in the park (with birds yelling at the ground), we moved on to Helsinki Music Centre. Whole meetup lasted a little under five hours.
Topics discussed included at least the intended studying, as well as Quantified Self, meditation, online habits and anonymity, and Friendly AI. Some were also interested in starting a local study group.
Many had studied Mathematics, Physics or Computer Science, which might have played part in them being recommended for people interested in learning transferable general problem-solving skills. For width, many agreed that textbooks are awesome; for depth, Mathematics and Physics were considered good starting points for the more polymathically-minded. As 'fields that teach you meta-skills' were promoted also at least Psychology and Economics. Generally, Physics and Programming were considered to be quite practical and good-to-know, training thinking that transfers also to other areas.
In response to
Meetup : Helsinki Practical Meetup
About 14 people attended the library room presentation and discussion on Quantified Self.
Most also had a few hours of more casual conversation in Kaisla afterwards.
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Hello.
I am a beginner rationalist (slowly making my way through How to Actually Change Your Mind), I haven't read any field-specific books yet, but I happen to be in Helsinki on Aug 16th. As far as I understand, the event is specifically about exchanging reading recommendations. Would visiting be premature? Will I find anything interesting for me there?
Also, judging by the description, the attached map seems to be slightly off. OSM gives a better location: http://www.openstreetmap.org/way/110713493
Hi, yes, at least one of the main ideas was to find out more about books one might want to read, from people who have read them: to share experiences around common interests. It so happened that I printed the books just before someone posted more, but it doesn't have to be limited to talking about the ones (printed) at https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/33540495?page=1&shelf=printed&view=covers
If weather forecasts seem rainy, we'll probably meet at the lobby of http://www.musiikkitalo.fi/en in which case I'll announce the change tomorrow. True about the map though!
My feeling is that this shouldn't end up being demanding in any way; if some people want to talk about some technical books they've all read, then they can take a separate table, but mostly we'll just wonder about/around books spread as cards on the table and see what leads to interesting associations. I recommend browsing the Goodreads shelf of printed books and to why-not consider joining at least if you'd be interested in hearing or talking about any of them, as probably many of them are at least somehow familiar to participants. (Based on the Facebook event, I expect at most 10 people will attend.)