You might want to add a disclaimer when not to try this or what the risks are. Meditation risks have been discussed on LW before. I don’t want to overblow this, I think it is pretty safe. But it is an experimental meditation practice and you could link to the risks section of SSC Book Review The Mind Illuminated or offer to help if anything unexpected happens.
Also, your mileage may vary. You couldn’t sell me on all the nice points you listed—having a lot of time to work on it I arrived at a stable inner life via other means. What sold me on your practice was your aside
… not to mention that having robust copies of my actual friends and colleagues has much better equipped me to interact with those friends and colleagues
On the one hand, I agree that potential side effects are important. Shoulder advisors seem very similar to tulpas, and mental health disorders are very common (~50% or so) in the tulpamancy community. Though this paper argues that this is because mental health issues cause people to be drawn towards tulpamancy, and that tulpamancy can benefit those with mental illnesses. Of course, people who had negative experiences with tulpas would likely leave the community and not be available for surveys.
On the other hand, shoulder advisors and tulpas are fundamentally exercises in prediction. Your perception of the practice influences the results you’ll get. If you create shoulder advisors with the assumption that they’ll go wrong immediately, your odds of a beneficial outcome drop. It’s thus important not to over-emphasize potential negatives.
You might want to add a disclaimer when not to try this or what the risks are. Meditation risks have been discussed on LW before. I don’t want to overblow this, I think it is pretty safe. But it is an experimental meditation practice and you could link to the risks section of SSC Book Review The Mind Illuminated or offer to help if anything unexpected happens.
Also, your mileage may vary. You couldn’t sell me on all the nice points you listed—having a lot of time to work on it I arrived at a stable inner life via other means. What sold me on your practice was your aside
On the one hand, I agree that potential side effects are important. Shoulder advisors seem very similar to tulpas, and mental health disorders are very common (~50% or so) in the tulpamancy community. Though this paper argues that this is because mental health issues cause people to be drawn towards tulpamancy, and that tulpamancy can benefit those with mental illnesses. Of course, people who had negative experiences with tulpas would likely leave the community and not be available for surveys.
On the other hand, shoulder advisors and tulpas are fundamentally exercises in prediction. Your perception of the practice influences the results you’ll get. If you create shoulder advisors with the assumption that they’ll go wrong immediately, your odds of a beneficial outcome drop. It’s thus important not to over-emphasize potential negatives.
Agree.