UPDATE June 27, 2021: I got a lot of replies. My schedule is full and I am no longer taking mentees at the moment. ~~However, I am still open to one-off video calls if you'd like to say hi or you'd like me to help you get started with something.~~

[NORMAL] What an opportunity! Kudos to Zvi for lowering the activation energy by creating this thread. You win this week's Catalyst Prize.

Here is a link to the Don't Worry About the Vase sister post for those who don't have it.

[APPRENTICE] Quantitative finance. My goal is to eventually start my own hedge fund. I have experience in mathematical modeling and I have hand-coded my own small data machine learning algorithms, but I haven't applied these skills to a financial context yet. I want to learn more about this industry but I don't want to move to New York or commit myself to working 9-5 for someone else.

[MENTOR] Writing. I am good at writing nonfiction. I got linkposted by Scott Alexander. I even helped write advertising copy that got my startup on international news. I'm not willing to be your editor (for free) but I am willing to be my editor. There are many things I want to write but don't have the time to write myself, like a sequence on Adversarial Learning Environments. My offer: I help you learn to write better on the condition you write about my ideas on the topic of my choice and then we both get our names on the post. Prerequisites: [1] Basic competence at writing. [2] The skill of translating ideas into words (legible thinking).

[MENTOR] Programming. I am a self-taught software engineer. Proper guidance could have saved me years. Prerequisites: You must be very smart and self-motivated. You must learn fast and work faster. I expect you can read an entire technical book of this difficulty in a week. What I get: software development. What you get: education, experience and a portfolio.

[MENTOR] Agency. People routinely comment on my agency and their own lack thereof. If you want someone to help guide you through savage trials of pure will then I'm your guy. My expectations of you are extra high on this one. [See below.] If you fail to complete a single assignment on time then we're done. What you get: A life of your own. What I get: This is an experiment. I'm curious to what extent agency can be learned.

[MENTORSHIP EXPECTATIONS] Free mentorship offers tend to attract flakes so if you show up one minute late to a meeting then we're done. If I message you and you do not reply in a reasonable timeframe then we're done. I'm not going to be your therapist. Expect something more along the lines of a drill sergeant.

[CONSPIRACY] I believe we might be in an AI overhang and that AI alignment depends on winning the race to an AGI. Still figuring out the details on this one since it's a jungle of secrets and infohazards. More information is available here.

You can contact me via Less Wrong private message or by sending me an email.

togetherwewill

togetherwewill

togetherwewill

togetherwewill