Meetup : Hiking in Vancouver, Canada

0 michaelkeenan 07 August 2011 09:59AM

Discussion article for the meetup : Hiking in Vancouver, Canada

WHEN: 09 August 2011 06:00:00PM (-0700)

WHERE: Grouse Mountain, British Columbia, Canada

We're hiking at Grouse Mountain on Tuesday evening from 6:30pm. The best way to get there seems to be taking the seabus to North Vancouver and then catching the 236 from there.

There is a free (if you pay for the mountain pass or have a annual pass) transit (shuttle bus) that goes from downtown to Grouse. Pickup/drop-off points (for the shuttle bus) are Canada Place, the Hyatt Regency and the Blue Horizon Hotel.

I'm going to be driving there from Joyce St in Collingwood from about 5:30pm, so get in touch (michael dot keenan AT gmail dot com or +1 650 283 9013) if you'd like to be picked up on the way.

To hear more last minute details, join the mailing list.

Discussion article for the meetup : Hiking in Vancouver, Canada

Meetup : Vancouver meetup

0 michaelkeenan 05 August 2011 02:40AM

Discussion article for the meetup : Vancouver meetup

WHEN: 06 August 2011 03:00:00PM (-0700)

WHERE: Waves Coffee House, 100-900 Howe St. Vancouver, BC V6Z 2M4

Last Sunday's first Vancouver rationalist meetup was great! Seven people turned up and we talked about the Singularity, Bitcoin, seasteading, polyamory, the Khan Academy, the Hanson/Caplan view that education is more about signaling than imparting knowledge, Non-Violent Communication, akrasia, nootropics, our favorite Less Wrong posts and authors, and many other things.

I think we have the beginnings of a lasting community. If you're interested, join the Vancouver Rationalists Google Group to plan meetups and for general discussion.

Sunday afternoon was not convenient for everyone, and a Doodle poll shows Saturday as the better option. So we'll meet at 3pm on Saturday (sorry about the short notice if you're just hearing about this now).

We have a meeting room booked at the Waves Coffee House on the corner of Howe St. and Smithe.

This week's discussion topic is:

Tell your rationality success story or failure story. Describe a time when rationality helped (or hurt) you, or a time when irrationality hurt (or helped) you, and what lessons might be drawn from the experience.

Feel free to bring friends who are interested in rationality.

Discussion article for the meetup : Vancouver meetup

Meetup : Vancouver, Canada

0 michaelkeenan 25 July 2011 05:03PM

Discussion article for the meetup : Vancouver, Canada

WHEN: 31 July 2011 03:00:00PM (-0700)

WHERE: Commune Cafe, 1002 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada

We're holding the first Vancouver meetup on Sunday, July 31st starting at 3pm at the Commune Cafe on Seymour Street. We'll definitely be there from 3pm-6pm, but it'll end when it ends.

I've recently moved to Vancouver from the San Francisco Bay Area, where I lived at the household that hosts the Tortuga/Mountain View meetup. The rationalist community in Silicon Valley is vibrant and growing, and I loved being part of it. As Cosmos wrote of the New York group:

Before this community took off, I did not believe that life could be this much fun or that I could possibly achieve such a sustained level of happiness.

Being rational in an irrational world is incredibly lonely. Every interaction reveals that our thought processes differ widely from those around us, and I had accepted that such a divide would always exist. For the first time in my life I have dozens of people with whom I can act freely and revel in the joy of rationality without any social concern - hell, it's actively rewarded! Until the NYC Less Wrong community formed, I didn't realize that I was a forager lost without a tribe...

Activities of the rationalist community at Tortuga included meetups, hiking trips, guest speakers, transhumanist movies, skill-training sessions, parties and impromptu pillow fights. I want to find or build a similar community in Vancouver. We have a base of several people, and will be reaching out through Less Wrong and in other ways to find like-minded people.

I'm anticipating holding weekly meetups. The Commune Cafe in downtown Vancouver is a good place to start, but we have a great place in North Vancouver that we could use if that location works for everyone.

At this first meetup, we'll get to know each other, and talk about what we want to get out of holding meetups and forming a community, and figure out how to accomplish those things.

Feel free to bring friends, significant others, or anyone else who's interested in rationality.

Discussion article for the meetup : Vancouver, Canada

Anyone else going to the WorldFuture 2011 Conference in Vancouver?

1 michaelkeenan 05 July 2011 07:54AM

I'm attending the WorldFuture 2011 conference this weekend in Vancouver. I'd love to meet other rationalists here, so if you're coming too, please contact me at michael.keenan AT gmail.com, or just come say hi at the event. I'll be at the table representing The Seasteading Institute.