CEO of the Guild of the ROSE here. This is an excellent writeup, and I appreciate the shoutout. You've correctly identified that our current structure lends itself more towards a university-like environment, but we have always aspired for that to just be one piece of the Guild. We are also interested in being a more open-ended community and providing the things you describe.
Right now, we are limited by funds and time. We have been working on this project for several years without pay, and so we have had to severely restrict what we focus on. If anyone wants to use us for the aspirations outlined in this post, let us know and we will happily lend ourselves to this mission.
Use this link if you are having trouble getting in: https://app.gather.town/app/aPVfK3G76UukgiHx/lesswrong-campus
For sure!
This article touches on most of it: https://guildoftherose.org/articles/structure-of-the-guild
Hi! CEO here.
I would re-frame the conversation by saying everyone has things that are already impressive about them, but they also have weaknesses that prevent them from fulfilling their individual potential. The approach ROSE is taking is to help people shore up their weaknesses, leaving them only with strengths. To this end, we have already begun to succeed.
We have members who have made significant life decisions with the help of our Practical Decision Making course. We have helped people learn how to learn new skills more efficiently with our Meta...
The primary goal of this document is to articulate my personal moral philosophy, and I use the Mohism branding because it has strong corollaries to said moral philosophy, but otherwise I am reinventing it from scratch.
I do think that a lot of the core tenets are widely (if subconsciously) held. As for the ones that aren't widely held, I personally think they should be. But, like any good Neo-Mohist, I'm willing to be convinced otherwise. ;)
The phrasing of this as a philosophy for others to adopt is mostly an aesthetic decision, a reframing to help me look at it more critically.
Thanks for the feedback!
Basing it on Mohism is more of an aesthetic decision than anything; if classical Mohism has an issue then Neo-Mohism should set out to solve it. :)
I think there's a difference between "no fixed standards" and "the ability to update standards in light of new evidence". Neo-Mohism is definitely about "strong opinions, weakly held" kind of thing. The standards it sets forth are only to be overturned by failing a test, and until then should be treated as the best answer so far.
I see Bayesian Rationality as a methodology as much as it is a calculation. It's being aware of our own prior beliefs, the confidence intervals of those beliefs, keeping those priors as close to the base rates as possible, being cognizant of how our biases can influence our perception of all this, trying to mitigate the effects of those biases, and updating based on the strength of evidence.
I'm trying to get better at math so I can do better calculations. It's a major flaw in my technique I acknowledge and am trying to change.
But as you noted earlier, non
...Yes, but they could all be explained by the fact I just sat down and bothered to think about the problem, which wouldn't exactly be an amazing endorsement of rationality as a whole.
I also don't look at rationality as merely a set of tools; it's an entire worldview that emphasizes curiosity and a desire to know the truth. If it does improve lives, it might very well simply be making our thinking more robust and streamlined. If so, I wouldn't know how to falsify or quantify that.
If I find that it does have actual impact on the podcast's effectiveness, then I absolutely will seriously consider changing it. Your criticism has updated me marginally in that direction, but it's not quite enough for me to act on it, particularly since you're the only person to mention it. Thank you for your feedback!
Done! Link to the transcript has been posted in the description, and also here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MjTM4revF1upDvO00y0v8jF8G6HUbcABtFDxVYiLyPc/edit?usp=sharing
Is there a different venue/format for the notes you had in mind?
The Kansas City Rationalists are putting together a dojo, for the purpose of improving our cognitive abilities, happiness, and efficiency. For content, we will be using the 'Hammertime' sequence. Attendees are expected to read the introduction ('Hammers and Nails') and Day 1 ('Bug Hunt'), as well as put together their bug list. The meeting will consist of meta-discussion about the content, and discussion about our experience putting together our bug lists. Bonus points if you are willing to share the bugs you found!
We will be meeting weekly, at the same time and location.
If I understand you correctly, I wholeheartedly agree that "Less Wrong" is not just referring to a dichotomy of "what is true" and "what is wrong" (although that is part of it, ala 'Map and Territory').
There's a reason rationality is often called "systemized winning"; while the goals that you are trying to win are entirely subjective, rationality can help you decide what is most optimal in your pursuit of goal Y.
Kansas City, MO
When: December 21st, 5p
Where: Kansas City Oasis (1717 W 41st St, Kansas City, MO, 64111)
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