I don’t think sfb is saying that they should do the same thing as the Howard Foundation. He does discuss doing “research” and so the Howard Foundation is simply a tag to get the reader interested.
(This brings up a separate issue: Is LW turning off potential rationalists by the large number of scifi/nerd references that we pack into things?)
There’s a distinction there. In those cases, they are arguments some people here believe are rational and have thought out consequences. That’s distinct from the nerd references which aren’t connected to rationality in the same way and therefore aren’t necessary. Rationalists should win.
Agreed, but I was looking solely at which is more likely to deter potential rationalists. Cryonics and the Singularity raise a lot more red flags (especially for people who already believe themselves to be rational, i.e. “skeptics”) than nerd/sci-fi references.
Yes, I would consider anti-aging research as counting, but I meant to discriminate so that leaving money for nonspecific medical research would not count, and nor would leaving 1 million to longevity and 99 million to universities.
I don’t think sfb is saying that they should do the same thing as the Howard Foundation. He does discuss doing “research” and so the Howard Foundation is simply a tag to get the reader interested.
(This brings up a separate issue: Is LW turning off potential rationalists by the large number of scifi/nerd references that we pack into things?)
Possibly, but I’m willing to bet that references to the Singularity and cryonics do so to an even larger extent.
There’s a distinction there. In those cases, they are arguments some people here believe are rational and have thought out consequences. That’s distinct from the nerd references which aren’t connected to rationality in the same way and therefore aren’t necessary. Rationalists should win.
Agreed, but I was looking solely at which is more likely to deter potential rationalists. Cryonics and the Singularity raise a lot more red flags (especially for people who already believe themselves to be rational, i.e. “skeptics”) than nerd/sci-fi references.
Yes, I would consider anti-aging research as counting, but I meant to discriminate so that leaving money for nonspecific medical research would not count, and nor would leaving 1 million to longevity and 99 million to universities.