I’d like to say that I have similar feeling concerning this.
Even if I wouldn’t probably feel bad participating in any ritual, the described things (candles, people crying, reciting texts by Yudkowsky) are completely incompatible with my taste. Perhaps it is the apparent absolute lack of humor and the exalted seriousness which is most off-putting for me.
There really wasn’t a lack of humor, it just doesn’t translate very well into a blog post. In person, my natural demeanor is high energy and silly, most of the time. When writing, for some reason it comes much easier to write seriously. Writing comedically is something I need to work on.
It may be that this would feel less offputting to some people if I had done emphasized other parts of the ceremony more. However, part of the biggest selling point of the night is that we (the NY group, and most other LW folk I’ve met), are generally pretty fun, often funny in self-depreciating ways. So having a night that starts with that, yes, but which also builds to something powerful and profound is a novel, interesting experience. People came from across state lines to experience something that isn’t normally a part of their lives at all.
Yvain touched on this elsewhere—we (the broader American western culture, in general) are really good at being ironic and silly and fun. We’re not really good at taking serious, important things seriously. I set this in motion because I thought it was something I didn’t get nearly enough of, that I wanted and that other people seemed to want too.
I’d like to say that I have similar feeling concerning this.
Even if I wouldn’t probably feel bad participating in any ritual, the described things (candles, people crying, reciting texts by Yudkowsky) are completely incompatible with my taste. Perhaps it is the apparent absolute lack of humor and the exalted seriousness which is most off-putting for me.
There really wasn’t a lack of humor, it just doesn’t translate very well into a blog post. In person, my natural demeanor is high energy and silly, most of the time. When writing, for some reason it comes much easier to write seriously. Writing comedically is something I need to work on.
It may be that this would feel less offputting to some people if I had done emphasized other parts of the ceremony more. However, part of the biggest selling point of the night is that we (the NY group, and most other LW folk I’ve met), are generally pretty fun, often funny in self-depreciating ways. So having a night that starts with that, yes, but which also builds to something powerful and profound is a novel, interesting experience. People came from across state lines to experience something that isn’t normally a part of their lives at all.
Yvain touched on this elsewhere—we (the broader American western culture, in general) are really good at being ironic and silly and fun. We’re not really good at taking serious, important things seriously. I set this in motion because I thought it was something I didn’t get nearly enough of, that I wanted and that other people seemed to want too.