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It's good to see that lots of people would like to come, even if they can't make it to this specific meeting. Hopefully in the future it'll work out better.
In response to
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality Podcast
Thank you! These will be great. I much prefer books to podcasts, but I can't read books while I'm walking to uni :(
A test could be anything from simply asking "Do you have feelings for me?"
Or change your body language and see if she mirrors. Or maintain eye contact and see how long she maintains it and in what manner she breaks it. Make a moderately funny joke and see if she laughs. Or just ask her out already - willingness to go on an outing being an easier and potentially less personal admission to make than an outright confession of feelings and also easier to decline so the test is even further away from 'nasty'.
wedrified: I would have, except mutual friends who had been in similar situations with her had tried that, and it made things very awkward between them for a few months. So I had to find a more subtle way.
Alicorn: I just made an overly flirtatious joke and when she didn't respond, I knew what it meant. She's usually very flirtatious with everyone, so it was very unexpected behaviour for her.
In response to
In What Ways Have You Become Stronger?
I've become good at resolving fights in my family - people don't understand why the other person's angry, and I can explain the mistakes they're making in terms of probability, or in biases, cognitive science or often status-seeking behaviour, and they understand.
Also, I've become a lot better at managing my life romantically. I kept changing my mind about whether someone had feelings for me - she did, she didn't, she did, she didn't - and I could never be sure if I was re-interpreting evidence to suit my preferred hypothesis. So I decided upon a test, decided ahead of time how I should update my beliefs based on how she'd react, and did it. Saved myself a lot of heartache.
Learning about priming, consistency effects and cached thoughts has also helped me steer my future self towards what I'd like to be.
In response to
Don't Fear Failure
Very true. Since starting university I've had many more opportunities to try new things, many of which I didn't think I'd like, but had a small enough failure cost that it seemed worth trying.
I'm now head writer of a university show, in a Madrigal choir and can dance salsa. I'm having a lot of fun.
In social situations, where you fear embarrassment and a status loss if you fail, you could try to cultivate a reputation for giving anything a try. Most people have the same fears, and trying something scary will usually get you respect because you're facing fears others couldn't. Trying and failing at something can actually be a status-raising move.
In response to
Sydney Less Wrong Meetup (cancelled due to lack of interest)
Sigh... I haven't checked "new posts" recently, and would have loved to attend this. I mostly read Less Wrong through its RSS feed, which only shows the promoted posts. Man, I've got to start checking the actual site more often.
In response to
Less Wrong: Open Thread, September 2010
Singularity Summit AU
Melbourne, Australia
September 7, 11, 12 2010
More information including speakers at http://summit.singinst.org.au.
Register here.
Sigh... I would consider flying down from Sydney to go to it, but sadly I'm in a show that whole week and have to miss out entirely. Ah well. Hopefully they'll have the audio online, but I would have loved to mingle with people who share my worldview.
In response to
Welcome to Less Wrong! (2010-2011)
Hello! My name's Adam. I've been reading LessWrong since April, but I think this might be my first comment. I usually feel like I don't have much to add :)
I think my awakening as a rationalist can be traced back to reading Plato's Republic when I was 15. While not the typical rationalist text, it did open my eyes to the world of philosophy and logic, and first gave me the hunger for truths.
I found Less Wrong when a rationalist friend of mine badgered me for ages to visit it. This was after a weekend I'd spent in a particularly foul mood because of the short-sightedness and irrationality of the people around me. And then I remembered that Less Wrong site he'd mentioned, and decided to check it out. Wow. I'd found a place where people shared my beliefs - and I realised it had taken me years to independently think of a lot of the ideas taken for granted here.
Less Wrong has been a large part of my life in the last half-year or so, and I can see myself here for a very long time.
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Calendared. I plan to be there!
Would you be able to make it if we moved to a slightly later time, so Oklord and Erratio could come after work?