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Meetup : Vancouver, Canada: Backyard BBQ
Discussion article for the meetup : Vancouver, Canada: Backyard BBQ
I've got access to a house with a big backyard, and I'm hosting a big meetup at my house on Sunday.
My address is 3461 12th Ave W., in Vancouver.
The meetup starts at 1500 hours, 3:00 p.m., The BBQ will go all evening, so feel free to show up anytime up until 10 p.m. If we're not outside in the backyard when you get there, knock on the front door, and we'll be outside.
Bring your own food to grill on the BBQ (meat, fish, veggie burgers, whatever). B.Y.O.B. Feel free to bring snacks to share as well. I'll have a few general beverages sitting around.
If you live nearby, and could spare an outside chair for seating, that would be appreciated, as I don't believe I own enough to accommodate everyone myself.
Feel free to invite your friends. Feel free to bring board games, any topic to the table to discuss, opportunities to join your start-up, whatever...
I'll see you there. Let me know if you have questions.
Discussion article for the meetup : Vancouver, Canada: Backyard BBQ
Open Thread, May 12 - 18, 2014
You know the drill - If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
Notes for future OT posters:
1. Please add the 'open_thread' tag.
2. Check if there is an active Open Thread before posting a new one.
3. Open Threads should start on Monday, and end on Sunday.
4. Open Threads should be posted in Discussion, and not Main.
Open Thread for February 18-24 2014
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
Meetup Report Thread: February 2014
A month ago, a new type of thread was proposed: a monthly page for meetup reports. The idea is that meetup attendees, or organizers, who wanted to share information about how the meetup went could do so in the comments of this thread. This is so information is dispersed, but without the need for anyone, and/or everyone, to dedicate their own thread to the report. The idea worked for January, and nobody had objections. So, we'll do this every month.
If you had an interesting Less Wrong meetup recently, but don't have the time to write up a big report to post to Discussion, feel free to write a comment here. Even if it's just a couple lines about what you did and how people felt about it, it might encourage some people to attend meetups or start meetups in their area.
If you have the time, you can also describe what types of exercises you did, what worked and what didn't. This could help inspire meetups to try new things and improve themselves in various ways.
If you're inspired by what's posted below and want to organize a meetup, check out this page for some resources to get started! You can also check FrankAdamek's weekly post on meetups for the week
Meetup : Vancouver Biweekly Sequences Discussion: Politics Is the Mind-killer
Discussion article for the meetup : Vancouver Biweekly Sequences Discussion: Politics Is the Mind-killer
For those not in the know, the Less Wrong sequences are a corpus of essays written by the self-educated blogger and AI theorist Eliezer Yudkowsky on applying rationality further into and also beyond the domains of science and skepticism. Less Wrong is the website where Mr. Yudkowsky and others blog about rationality.
This week we'll be reading "Politics is the Mind-Killer". It's a series of essays about how errors in thinking about politics and social dichotomies prevent people from reaching more accurate beliefs, and how these errors in thinking might be identified and corrected.
If you're interested in attending, please read the posts under the heading "most important posts" at this link: http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/How_To_Actually_Change_Your_Mind#Politics_is_the_Mind-Killer
We'll primarily be discussing those seven essays, but feel free to read the rest of the ones in the sequence if you have the time.
This is the first biweekly meetup for this reading and discussion group. We hope to see you there.
Discussion article for the meetup : Vancouver Biweekly Sequences Discussion: Politics Is the Mind-killer
Question on Medical School and Wage Potential for Earning to Give
A friend of mine who may want to Earn to Give for the purposes of effective altruism mused 'The wages of American doctors seem inflated right now. I wonder if it is likely that the American health care system will be fixed by the time I am able to work there. If I do go to med school that is.'
Right now, he is an undergraduate student from, and living in, Canada. He is about half-way through a degree in computer science, but he is taking some biology electives. There is a good chance he will switch his major completely to biology, because he no longer believes he wants to become a programmer, and because he is very passionate biology and the study of life, and he would rather go into grad school for biology, or maybe medical school. If he already completed several credits from a previous major, and by December will have done 2 semesters worth of biology classes, I expect it will take him at least another 3 semesters to complete his degree, and/or complete the prerequisites for medical school. If he gets into medical school 2 years from now, it will take him another 4 years of medical-school+residency to be able to practice in the United States, and 2-3 years more than that if he specializes, or goes to a medical school in the Caribbean (where getting into them is apparently easier than mainland medical schools, but to complete the training takes six years). So, it would be at least 6-8 years from now before he is a practicing doctor in the United States.
So, does anyone have any ideas of how to go about the solving the initial problem? What is the likelihood that the wages of American doctors will deflate in the next 6-8 years due to major shifts in how the American medical system is run? What sorts of changes ought one be looking for to answer this question: political, bureaucratic, technological, or cultural change?
edit: my friend in question has expressed interest in this thread, so if you want to make recommendations about or discuss medical schools in the United States vs. other places, or in general, or about entering the medical profession vs.s other jobs, go ahead. Such valuable information would be appreciated. I don't yet know if he himself will participate in this discussion.
Meetup : Vancouver Open Discussion
Discussion article for the meetup : Vancouver Open Discussion
We're having our usual meetup on Saturday. We're looking to expand the breadth of our meetup, so we'll be fielding suggestions and discussion for new activities to try. Otherwise, we don't have any plans, so feel free to drop in and start a discussion about whatever you feel like!
If you're there first, please put up a paper sign that says 'Less Wrong/Rationality Meetup', as last week we had trouble with newcomers who couldn't find us.
Whether you're a regular, you haven't been in six months, or this is your first time, we'd love to see you there. The meetup is at 1530 at Benny's Bagels on Broadway.
And if you haven't already done so, join the mailing list
Discussion article for the meetup : Vancouver Open Discussion
Meetup : Meetup: Vancouver
Discussion article for the meetup : Meetup: Vancouver
Tomorrow we will be discussing the Landmark Education forum, a self-improvement workshop attended by some of our members, who reflect positively on it and would like to discuss its merits. http://www.landmarkworldwide.com/
Also, two of us have recently returned from the July CFAR workshop, and there will hopefully be discussion of how great that was.
Anyways, please join us for rationality discussion and learning at Benny's Bagels on west Broadway. Note that tomorrow will be meeting at the earlier time of 1:30 PM, instead of the usual 3:30, but we will still be there for the full time we usually chill out there.
Join the mailing list if you're new or haven't already: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/vancouver-rationalists
See you there!
Discussion article for the meetup : Meetup: Vancouver
Which College Major?
N.B.: This discussion isn't up for mainstream article status, as far as I'm concerned (unless someone else wants to take it and run with it). I just didn't know how else to direct an important question to the LW community in general.
I'm currently a first-year university student in Vancouver, Canada, attending UBC. I have a trust fund and otherwise I will not need to worry about paying for my undergraduate degree. I am open to the idea of going to grad school. So, I have the luxury to take my time in my studies and there are lots of options I can choose from. Majors I'm considering are Cognitive Systems, Economics (and philosophy or math or stats), English, Philosophy and History of Science, Mathematical Sciences/CompSci, or Psychology. I'm open to other options. So, have at it with your suggestions.
Specific Questions:
Should I care more about making money or doing something that I have a "passion" for?
How will this allow me to maximize my production of utilons?
What else should I keep in mind?
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Note: I don't have a trust fund. Even though I said I did in the last post. Apparently I misunderstood what that was, and I just have RESPs to cover my undergrad. Please take that into account.
Building on my last post, I've concluded to pursue either a major or a double major in one or two of the following areas for my undergraduate degree:
Grad school appeals to me. Current considerations are in neuroeconomics or some other neuroscience, economics, or some hard science (still undecided). The only graduate degree in the humanities I would pursue would be in Philosophy or in Philosophy of Science. Professional programs that I might consider going into are medicine (least likely), M.B.A., Law, healthcare (e.g., physiotherapy/OT; nursing practitioner, etc.), teaching (preferred but unlikely).
Foreseeable problems with grad work:
1) It takes a long time to publish in peer-reviewed journals in academia Instead, if I really turn out to be some sort of prodigy, I will have a greater intellectual and ethical impact by just becoming a better rationalist and publishing well-written and well-researched blog posts, like SIAI, FHI, and Overcoming Bias do. And then making some fat cash on the side and donating it to the most effective causes. Which career for me would lead to this I don't know.
2) 80,000 hours pointed out in one blog post (I forget which one) that grad or professional schooling can be more time/effort/work than it's worth. This would be especially true if I'm saddled with debt and cannot find employment with high remuneration.
3) The potential jobs that I would pursue could be outsourced, or have humans being replaced by robots/computers. This would make all that extra school a waste of time, obviously.
4) Having a graduate degree somehow makes my resume look less attractive than just having an undergrad. I don't understand the rationale behind this phenomenon, but I've heard it exists in some fields.
Do you have any recommendations/advice? Specifically:
What is a waste of time? What is a great use of my time?
What kinds of university programs (in which countries) will play me for a sucker?
Which professional fields aren't worth pursuing, considering that the jobs will be lost to computers/robots inside of 20 years?