All of UnplannedCauliflower's Comments + Replies

We will not force anyone to use the hostel for sleep and meals, but we strongly recommend it

The sessions often run well into the night and that might mean you'll be forced to find transport to your accommodation late, which might be tricky. Plus, that's were almost everyone will be all the time, and not staying at the hostel you'll miss out on some socialising and meeting cool people. That said, there are usually a few people who sleep at their own homes or in hotels

There is a very small number of single and double bedrooms at the hostel, so if you do have... (read more)

We will end accepting applications in the first half of August, but it's possible we'll run out of spots earlier, in which case people will be automatically placed on the waiting list. You don't have to hurry, but also it's a good idea not to wait till the last moment

This is not a problem at all. Once you're accepted, you'll have a chance to ask for financial support

This is from the EA group:

The Date You Can Save for Summer Camp 2024: September 18–22

• Retreat for 150 people sympathetic to EA values to connect, relax & enjoy late summer together
• Four days filled with participant-driven program including fun workshops, experiential learning, creative expression, games, sports, guided introspection, and plenty of time for 1-1 conversations, socializing and chilling out
• Like in earlier years, this is still not the time for getting work done
• Near Berlin, at Zeltplatz Heiligensee, next to a lake!

Summer is where your

... (read more)
2Linda Linsefors
Thanks :)

LWCW 2024 Save The Date

tl;dr: This year’s LWCW happens 13-16th September 2024. Applications open April/May. We’re expanding to 250 attendees and looking for people interested in assisting our Orga Team.

The main event info is here:

https://www.lesswrong.com/events/tBYRFJNgvKWLeE9ih/less-wrong-community-weekend-2024

And fragments from that post:

Friday 13th September- Monday 16th September 2024 is the 11th annual LessWrong Community Weekend (LWCW) in Berlin. This is world’s largest rationalist social gathering which brings together 250 aspiring rationalists fro... (read more)

4. asking "would you answer my questions" and only with a confirmation, later, telling those questions wastes time and mental energy of the person being asked (i.e. they need to spend time considering the first question, replying to it and only then receive the real communication)

Reminds me of a blog post I read a long time ago where a writer told a story how a high school student requested a sort of interview for a class project. The student essentially wrote the whole interview, including the writer's answers and said "if you want to take time to write y... (read more)

2Severin T. Seehrich
Thanks for your comments! I corrected point 7 now.

Update, since we're getting closer to the event and the epidemiological situation is clearer:
We expect of everyone to arrive with the best vaccination protection available to them. It is mandatory to test yourself within 24h of your arrival and to stay home when tested positive. In such a case we hope to be able to offer you a refund, depending on our financial situation. Right now we are in the process of evaluating further measures to reduce the risk for everyone, it may include e.g. daily testing, setting up more outdoor spaces, recommending to wear masks etc. It is a fine balance between diminishing the risks and making the event enjoyable

On Friday we begin with an optional welcome lunch at noon. About 3-4pm we give keys to the rooms and the official beginning is usually about 5pm. Any lectures/workshops/etc. begin in earnest only after dinner on Friday, so it's fairly easy to join any time during the day

The official wrap up happens on Sunday afternoon but events happen until Sunday night. On Monday there might be a morning run or workout scheduled, but no more plans at the hostel. Usually on Monday afternoon, evening and even on Tuesday there are some afterparty-type events locally, e.g. rock climbing, meeting in a park with alcohol drinking and such

Question from off-site: the meetup is at a hostel, does this mean that we do not need to book a hotel?

Answer: yes. Accommodation and provisions are all provided. The food at the hostel is decent and by default we ordered vegan for everyone. They offer some allergen-free options (though as an aunt to a celiac kid, I wouldn't trust their gluten-free option), closer to the event we'll ask you to fill some more exact information and contact the hostel about the dietary needs. Apart from the regular meals, there are also plenty of snacks clearly labelled for vegan or vegetarian and nobody goes hungry. We rent bedlinens and towels for everyone, so also no need to bring your own

Question from the announcement post: Is there going to be any covid-related precaution? I assume it would be mentioned if so, but I believe an explicit statement is better anyway

Answer: We take the question of Covid safety seriously
Currently Covid is on the wane, most people have been vaccinated or already infected, the event is to be held at the end of the summer, and Covid exhibits a strong seasonal pattern in Europe. While right now we can't declare anything with certainty and it looks like we won't need many precautions, we will monitor the situation c... (read more)

1UnplannedCauliflower
Update, since we're getting closer to the event and the epidemiological situation is clearer: We expect of everyone to arrive with the best vaccination protection available to them. It is mandatory to test yourself within 24h of your arrival and to stay home when tested positive. In such a case we hope to be able to offer you a refund, depending on our financial situation. Right now we are in the process of evaluating further measures to reduce the risk for everyone, it may include e.g. daily testing, setting up more outdoor spaces, recommending to wear masks etc. It is a fine balance between diminishing the risks and making the event enjoyable

We take the question of Covid safety seriously.

Currently Covid is on the wane, most people have been vaccinated or already infected, the event is to be held at the end of the summer, and Covid exhibits a strong seasonal pattern in Europe. While right now we can't declare anything with certainty and it looks like we won't need many precautions, we will monitor the situation closely and decide on the details as we get closer to the event.

In any case, such an event will involve taking more risk than some people are comfortable with, and I expect some people n... (read more)

No, it won't be easier. Because of the hostel's policies we cannot offer attendance without accommodation. A lot of our events last well into the night, so it could also be difficult for you to go back home or you would miss some interesting talks or workshops. Just for sake of clarity: if for personal reasons you prefer to spend the night someplace else, we won't force you to stay. The best the hostel (and we) can offer, are a few single person rooms, and even those come without AC and we understand that it still may not be enough for a decent night's sleep
If you already know you might only be able to spend one of the days with us, please note that in your application, it may be important for our decision processes

Question from off-site: will there be any online events or talks?

Answer: no. This event is intended to be in-person and a lot of the value people get from it is derived from personal contact. For the same reason we also opted against recording of the sessions for later publication

Question from off-site: what methods for financing are available
only bank transfer or stuff like cash/crypto/whatever

Answer: We only support SEPA by default. Easiest alternative is asking a friend to issue the transaction for you. If necessary we can work out an alternative. Send an email to lwcw.europe@gmail.com and we’ll find a way.
Accepting crypto etc would make the bookkeeping quite difficult. Bookkeeping is boring and arduous enough without having an additional PayPal account or crypto wallet, and we're all doing this stuff in our free time, so we have decided against offering more other official methods so far.

You have omitted the fact that vitamin K2 is produced not just by bacteria fermenting our food before we eat it, but also by bacteria in our intestines. Have you researched this source of K2? Do you have any reason to believe intestinal flora does not produce enough K2?

At university I was taught that vitamin K deficiency is extremely rare due to its production by inestinal bacteria and that is why normally only newborns (who simply don't yet have gut bacteria) receive K2 supplementation.

5ChristianKl
I don't think that my argument about bacteria being a source of Vit K2 is alone sufficient for arguing that we are commonly insufficient in it. The argument however makes it plausible that we get less of it then in paleo times. My main reason is that it seems that people who take a lot of Vitamin D3 but no Vitamin K2 show symptoms that correspond to Vitamin K2 deficiency and as a result it's prudent to suppelement K2 when supplementing Vitamin D3 seriously. A lot of K2 research also happened quite recently and our existing system of thinking about RDA unfortunately treats substances as being independent from each other which makes things harder.

Berlin location has been changed, but the space is still somewhat limited (date: 15th December). Contact Anne (Lachoutte?) if you really want to attend

Frankfurt definitely has a Solstice celebration, but I don't know the details.