Meetup : Melbourne, practical rationality
Discussion article for the meetup : Melbourne, practical rationality
Practical rationality. This meetup repeats on the 1st Friday of each month and is distinct from our social meetup on the 3rd Friday of each month.
Discussion: http://groups.google.com/group/melbourne-less-wrong
All welcome from 6:30pm. Call the phone number on the door and I’ll let you in.
What do you do at a practical rationality meetup?
Typically it’s a group discussion of various rationality-related topics. In the past we’ve had problem-solving situations where somebody will be looking at a problem or upcoming decision in their life, and be unsure of how to optimise their outcomes, and the group will discuss it and try to formulate strategies and ideas to help out (for example, we did this when I was looking at buying a car, but unsure how to go about researching and deciding on one).
Other times we’ve had more structured activities, where members give presentations and/or run exercises to develop rationality skills. For example, we did a calibration exercise a while back, and more recently a few members have done presentations based on sessions from the rationality minicamps, or from the Skill of the Week posts.
Often we’ll just discuss whatever topic is of interest, with a rational approach strongly encouraged. We’ll often share techniques and tools for self-optimisation of all sorts (particularly electronic: websites, software, mobile apps etc) or personal progress toward self-improvement.
This month’s meetups have been excellent. Look forward to seeing you all next Friday, and Matt, thanks for the venue.