Yes. I think LW’s problems as an introduction to rationality go far beyond this. The Sequences are a great introduction to rationality if you were in to them from early on and could take part in the discussions they generated, but as a sequence of cold blog posts they’re a large, disconnected and forbidding introduction, and in any case there’s no easy way to read them in order. LW in general doesn’t come across as a website with a mission of improving rationality so much as a community with curious shared interests like deciding how many boxes to take and getting our heads frozen.
I’m not sure that’s the case. I read most of the sequences before posting here, and I’m aware of at least two people personally who’ve started reading the sequences fairly recently. And I know a third person who refuses to read anything linked to on LW because she’s heard that “LW’s archives are addictive like TVtropes on crack” which suggests that to at least some people the Sequences are interesting enough to read. I’m more inclined to wonder a) are they having an impact? And b) how do you get people like Sam who are clearly intelligent and educated to read them or to improve their rationality by some other means?
That’s encouraging! Doubtless there’s much more we can do to make it easier for people to get into this sort of thing, but I’ll adjust my estimate of how well we’re doing right now upwards—thanks!
Yes. I think LW’s problems as an introduction to rationality go far beyond this. The Sequences are a great introduction to rationality if you were in to them from early on and could take part in the discussions they generated, but as a sequence of cold blog posts they’re a large, disconnected and forbidding introduction, and in any case there’s no easy way to read them in order. LW in general doesn’t come across as a website with a mission of improving rationality so much as a community with curious shared interests like deciding how many boxes to take and getting our heads frozen.
I’m not sure that’s the case. I read most of the sequences before posting here, and I’m aware of at least two people personally who’ve started reading the sequences fairly recently. And I know a third person who refuses to read anything linked to on LW because she’s heard that “LW’s archives are addictive like TVtropes on crack” which suggests that to at least some people the Sequences are interesting enough to read. I’m more inclined to wonder a) are they having an impact? And b) how do you get people like Sam who are clearly intelligent and educated to read them or to improve their rationality by some other means?
That’s encouraging! Doubtless there’s much more we can do to make it easier for people to get into this sort of thing, but I’ll adjust my estimate of how well we’re doing right now upwards—thanks!
Maybe we need to do more with “This ia a part of my life I’d like to improve, how do I apply rationality to it?”.
Sometimes it helps to have good examples of a skill in action rather than being told about solved problems.