See my caveats in the comment section, so those being said, I’d say the most useful thing I know/read on my path to being something of an “experienced” rationalist was Godel, Escher, Bach. The older I get the more I realize how much was in that book that set me down my path, and yes there were lots of opportunities to get various things wrong and confused along the way, but in the end I think it might be the single best source I’ve seen that might turn someone to the rationalist mindset if they really grok what it has to say.
+1 on the recommendation. I read it in high school <mumble> years before the word “rationalist” was used by anyone, and it’s shaped my worldview and approach since. It absolutely made me more able to understand and use the writing and discoveries on this site. Very hard to believe it’s over 40 years old.
And the reason it’s so formative points to a missing topic (or maybe two) on this list. That topic is something like “modeling and reductionism”. I’m unsure if it’s one or two distinct topics, but they’re related by how they fit into an epistemic framework. One could argue that it should be the first topic: how do you understand things based on knowledge?
See my caveats in the comment section, so those being said, I’d say the most useful thing I know/read on my path to being something of an “experienced” rationalist was Godel, Escher, Bach. The older I get the more I realize how much was in that book that set me down my path, and yes there were lots of opportunities to get various things wrong and confused along the way, but in the end I think it might be the single best source I’ve seen that might turn someone to the rationalist mindset if they really grok what it has to say.
+1 on the recommendation. I read it in high school <mumble> years before the word “rationalist” was used by anyone, and it’s shaped my worldview and approach since. It absolutely made me more able to understand and use the writing and discoveries on this site. Very hard to believe it’s over 40 years old.
And the reason it’s so formative points to a missing topic (or maybe two) on this list. That topic is something like “modeling and reductionism”. I’m unsure if it’s one or two distinct topics, but they’re related by how they fit into an epistemic framework. One could argue that it should be the first topic: how do you understand things based on knowledge?