Do you mean the Thai Temple, on Russell? (That'd be a block north of Ashby, and just off MLK behind the tool lending library.) Very distinctively temple-looking? If so, I know the place, but I haven't been there. Thanks for the heads up. :)

I support this.

I think the tricky part would be finding a cluster of interested people who are able to convene at the same place--especially given that they'd need both the ability to take ten days off normal life, and presumably money for the location, food, etc. (It's pretty easy to have free time or money, but tough to have both.)

Personally, I'm interested, not at all experienced, not able to travel far from the east SF bay (barring a carpool with someone local), and can't contribute funds, although I am willing and able to cook and do other work to help out, and it's not too hard for me to have ten days available.

It could be amazing if we organized a vipassana course for rationalists.

We'd meet at a cabin in the woods. For 10 days we would meditate for 8 hours a day, take breaks by walking in the wilderness, and cook our meals together at night. It might even be beneficial if it wasn't entirely silent; we could discuss at night any insights we'd had that day.

Moving us one step closer to Bayesian Buddhist Conspiracy.

Seriously, any rationalist vipassana masters out there want to help make it happen?

I think largish fraction of the population have worries about human extinction / the end of the world. Very few associate this with the phrase "existential risk" -- I for one had never heard the term until after I had started reading about the technological singularity and related ideas. Perhaps rebranding of a sort would help you further the cause. Ditto for FAI - I think 'Ethical Artficial Intelligence' would get the idea across well enough and might sound less flakey to certain audiences.

In regards to your postscript, it's certainly possible that the use of Shabos goyim by Orthodox Jews is logically consistent, but it doesn't stop there! One of, to me, the most fascinating examples of this sort of patching is Shabbat technology. The example that always strikes me is the Shabbat elevator, which is quite common in Israel. Basically, it's a normal elevator, except that during the appointed period of time it operates in a much different manner: constantly cycling through the floors and stopping on every single one. This way 'observant' Jews are able to get to the high floors without having to push a button. (There are actually a number of Modern Orthodox families in my 16 story apartment building in Maryland, but I think they use the stairs on Shabbat, especially as our elevators are more likely to break down than anything else...)

I suppose one could argue that the elevator has become a Shabbat robot and that robots, like goyim, are exempt from Halakha, but these technologies are designed and built for the sole purpose of, from the religious perspective, cheating God. It baffles me how anyone can actually see this as a valid use of technology while still claiming to observe Shabbat. Bill Maher actually visited a company that designs and builds a large variety of Shabbat machines in Israel in Religulous where they demonstrated some more such technologies such as a compressed air-powered Shabbat wheelchair.