I will confirm that Less Wrong is dramatically more useful when you have people to reinforce good rationality practices.
I’d start by doublechecking that there are actually no rationalists in your area. Post a meetup in the discussion section for your city if you haven’t already, go to a coffeeshop with a sign that says “Rationality Meetup” and see if people show up. (Bring a book in case they don’t and don’t stress about it)
Can you give me a few examples of the good rationality practices you’re speaking of? You probably don’t mean good epistemic practices, because hanging out on LW and similar websites handles that, so I assume you mean something else, but I can’t think of what else you would need LW-style rationalists for.
Both epistemic and instrumental stuff. It’s one thing to read about biases in an academic fashion. It’s quite another thing to have friends who know you, who also know rationality, who can point out when you’re being affected by biases (which you wouldn’t have thought to bring up on LW because you were busy being blinded by a bias), who you trust to help you evaluate things with a concern for truth-seeking.
Being surrounded by people who actively work to improve their decision making also inspires me to do better.
And then there’s just value in having LW-caliber intellectuals to socialize with, just because there’s a kind of enjoyment that comes from that which you don’t get from other types of people.
I will confirm that Less Wrong is dramatically more useful when you have people to reinforce good rationality practices.
I’d start by doublechecking that there are actually no rationalists in your area. Post a meetup in the discussion section for your city if you haven’t already, go to a coffeeshop with a sign that says “Rationality Meetup” and see if people show up. (Bring a book in case they don’t and don’t stress about it)
Can you give me a few examples of the good rationality practices you’re speaking of? You probably don’t mean good epistemic practices, because hanging out on LW and similar websites handles that, so I assume you mean something else, but I can’t think of what else you would need LW-style rationalists for.
Both epistemic and instrumental stuff. It’s one thing to read about biases in an academic fashion. It’s quite another thing to have friends who know you, who also know rationality, who can point out when you’re being affected by biases (which you wouldn’t have thought to bring up on LW because you were busy being blinded by a bias), who you trust to help you evaluate things with a concern for truth-seeking.
Being surrounded by people who actively work to improve their decision making also inspires me to do better.
And then there’s just value in having LW-caliber intellectuals to socialize with, just because there’s a kind of enjoyment that comes from that which you don’t get from other types of people.