Comment author: AdeleneDawner 15 November 2010 09:45:18PM 0 points [-]

Durham, here, right by Duke University, though I'll be moving to another part of the city early next year, with some luck.

I don't drive, but if we scare up a couple more people nearby and start a meetup group, it'd be worth taking a cab to, I bet.

Comment author: soundchaser 16 November 2010 02:31:22AM 0 points [-]

Having a meetup here would be great. I know a couple people that would attend, but I'm not too sure of the overall readership here.

Comment author: AdeleneDawner 15 November 2010 06:53:21PM 0 points [-]

(Located in North Carolina)

Hey, that makes two of us. Where about?

Comment author: soundchaser 15 November 2010 07:57:58PM *  1 point [-]

Raleigh, what about you?

Comment author: soundchaser 28 October 2010 07:58:35PM 5 points [-]

Hi. I've been a lurker since before Less Wrong existed, reading though the sequences as they existed on Overcoming Bias. I regularly read new posts on Less Wrong and have made it through a couple of the sequences, but have failed to internalize much.

I am very interested in the topics discussed here and have recently decided to take a more active role in the community as well as really learning the existing material.

A little about me personally. I'm a 23, male, computer programmer ('software engineer') that has essentially slacked off his entire life. I have extremely varied intellectual interests ranging from the arts, music, and design to computer programming, programming languages, mathematics, human intelligence augmentation, medicine, computer science, and artificial intelligence. It is rare that I find something that I am not in any way interested. I have studied mathematics and computer science formally.

I can't necessarily call myself a rationalist because I lack pretty much all instrumental rationality. I am generally very rational in thought, but not in action.

I think the materials available on Less Wrong are both awesome and intimidating. I feel like I have already learned a lot, but know that I have really only scraped the tip of the iceberg.

(Located in North Carolina)

In response to Art and Rationality
Comment author: XiXiDu 28 October 2010 03:48:54PM 4 points [-]

Here are some answers to your question:

Less Wrong Q&A with Eliezer Yudkowsky: Video Answers

  • Q: The only two legitimate occupations for an intelligent person in our current world? Answer
  • Q: What's your advice for Less Wrong readers who want to help save the human race? Answer

Eliezer Yudkowsky explicitly mentions art in the first video.

In response to comment by XiXiDu on Art and Rationality
Comment author: soundchaser 28 October 2010 05:25:47PM 0 points [-]

Thanks for those. Great thoughts for those trying to find some way to help out.

Art and Rationality

3 soundchaser 28 October 2010 01:56PM

What are your thoughts on the role of Art in rationality (personal or otherwise) and in the singularity?

If one wants to help in the efforts of SIAI (or other organizations) does it make sense to focus on an art form as more than a hobby?

Is it rational to pursue an art form that encourages people to contribute to a cause when there are more direct ways of contributing?

It seems difficult to receive much recognition for one's work in art related fields, but it also seems as though one big success (say, a musician whose music was primarily about the singularity and increasing rationality) would turn many people on to the ideas. 

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