How can I distinguish between reflective attention and common attention?

I believe that tulpas expend host's attention, unless proven otherwise.

Why do you think that attention is a central part of human thinking?

Here's what I am thinking: Attention seems to be a crucial and finite resource. I could certainly become more productive if I become more attentive, and vice versa. If creating a tulpa expends my attention, it is a negative-sum game for me; if it makes me training attention as a side effect, that's good, but not better than just training attention.

Have you never had the experience that you searched for a piece of information in your mind and can't find it, then two hours later it pops into your mind?

Sure! Sometimes I try hard to remember a piece of information, but can't. Then later, when I don't try, it just pops. Interesting, but usually unhelpful.

From what I read of the field there nobody even making a business out of the topic

Shouldn't the fact that nobody ever made a business out of the topic be counted as evidence towards impossibility to make a business out of the topic? If tulpas were monetizable in any way, why wouldn't there be people monetizing them?

Now, I fantasize that maybe our minds just need some tiny little upgrade for tulpas to become a clear advantage? Can you help me imagine what would that be?

Yeah, I bought the Kindle version a few days ago. Very handy for getting up to speed very quickly on our understanding of intelligence. I wish there was an Oxford Handbook of Rationality that wasn't from 2005 and didn't suck.

Point taken. It is less ambiguous like that. But is there other easy way to access meetup announcements other than via map on main page, so it became confusing in the first place?

So, since tinychat seems to work, just use that and instead of the study hall where we all do work, in this we'll chat about...? I guess whichever topics are picked for that session.

This sounds great, when and how? Video chat, phone, or just use multiple IRC rooms for different discussion topics?

Would you like to contact with me and share views and information regarding meet up organization? I also want to bring CFAR workshop in my city and we conduct practical gatherings all the time.

Your meet up is planned for the year 2019, can you correct it?

I would like to help to create LessWrong communities in the Russian speaking countries, can anyone provide me with site visitor statistics from Russia and CIS?

I absolutely can visit Moscow! I'm waiting to receive more info on my itinerary but I expect I'll be able to make it out to Moscow sometime during the last week of May/first week of June.