I voiced my reservations about this project in the feedback form, but in summary for public record:
I approve of:
a thriving in-person rationalist or rationalist-adjacent community (“community” for short) existing somewhere that’s not a metropolis
a community that does not oblige its members to “live rationally” according to some consensus definition thereof
a community encouraging people to experiment with their lives and gain real-world rationality skills
I have reservations about:
the claim that the rationalist community as it exists is predominantly upper-middle-class.
In particular, it seems very likely to me that Bendini’s sense of alienation from the UK Cambridge Solstice is best explained by the demographics of Cambridge, rather than the demographics of rationalists. I know many high-profile rationalists who do not come from upper-middle-class backgrounds and who spend their money carefully. Most of the rationalists I know in-person are college dropouts, not Oxbridge elites. There’s plenty more I could say on this issue.
the tone of the project
the difficulty of immigrating to the UK
the degree of similarity to Alicorn’s bagruppe idea—there’s one line about kids, but this doesn’t seem like a thoroughly kid-oriented project.
I am organizing a project that is 95% this, and people are flying to the selected location later this month for a 3-day meetup
My project: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wmVZJiDjTjxmVshSFSk2rH-b8GLiQ0DJ0Cw1hyOnswM/edit?usp=sharing
Anyone who would be interested in this is welcome to join us
I voiced my reservations about this project in the feedback form, but in summary for public record:
I approve of:
a thriving in-person rationalist or rationalist-adjacent community (“community” for short) existing somewhere that’s not a metropolis
a community that does not oblige its members to “live rationally” according to some consensus definition thereof
a community encouraging people to experiment with their lives and gain real-world rationality skills
I have reservations about:
the claim that the rationalist community as it exists is predominantly upper-middle-class.
In particular, it seems very likely to me that Bendini’s sense of alienation from the UK Cambridge Solstice is best explained by the demographics of Cambridge, rather than the demographics of rationalists. I know many high-profile rationalists who do not come from upper-middle-class backgrounds and who spend their money carefully. Most of the rationalists I know in-person are college dropouts, not Oxbridge elites. There’s plenty more I could say on this issue.
the tone of the project
the difficulty of immigrating to the UK
the degree of similarity to Alicorn’s bagruppe idea—there’s one line about kids, but this doesn’t seem like a thoroughly kid-oriented project.