Very interesting account, and admirably self-aware! (Though some work on the latter front remains, it seems to me.)
One thing did jump out at me. Your “rationalist origin story” has you reading the Sequences at the end (and this having a salutary effect on your understanding), and HPMOR and glowfic at the beginning (and this having… well, we can’t confidently conclude what effect, but the implication is not encouraging).
This seems to suggest that (as I have long held) one fruitful opportunity for improvement, for many “rationalists” (by which is meant: the sort of people who hang out with the sort of people who read Less Wrong and/or live in a certain cluster of Bay Area group houses), would be to… read the Sequences.
To be clear, I had already read the Sequences long before I did any of the many crazy things I ended up doing. However, I absolutely agree that going back to them is important. One read is insufficient to actually grok the material, as best as I can tell. You have to actually practice the skills—which I did not do. The sequences were cool, but implementing them in my life didn’t happen.
Very interesting account, and admirably self-aware! (Though some work on the latter front remains, it seems to me.)
One thing did jump out at me. Your “rationalist origin story” has you reading the Sequences at the end (and this having a salutary effect on your understanding), and HPMOR and glowfic at the beginning (and this having… well, we can’t confidently conclude what effect, but the implication is not encouraging).
This seems to suggest that (as I have long held) one fruitful opportunity for improvement, for many “rationalists” (by which is meant: the sort of people who hang out with the sort of people who read Less Wrong and/or live in a certain cluster of Bay Area group houses), would be to… read the Sequences.
To be clear, I had already read the Sequences long before I did any of the many crazy things I ended up doing. However, I absolutely agree that going back to them is important. One read is insufficient to actually grok the material, as best as I can tell. You have to actually practice the skills—which I did not do. The sequences were cool, but implementing them in my life didn’t happen.