Hey, I’m Jon. I’ve been reading Overcoming Bias for probably about 3 years and only recently discovered Less Wrong. (IIRC, OB was getting more and more into AI, then it split into OB and LW. I stayed with OB but never looked at LW.) I have a bachelor’s in Mathematics and Economics, and was getting a PhD in Economics before I dropped out after my second year. (I became severely disenchanted with the discipline and arrogant and hostile with my program.)
Some post (I don’t remember which) from OB lead me here maybe two weeks ago, and I read “Generalizing From One Example.” I thought it was fantastic and have spent the past couple weeks devouring the LW archives when I could. I was particularly struck by “Intellectual Hipsters and Meta-Contrarianism” and have sheepishly accepted this bias in myself.
I’m not sure if I’m a “rationalist” per se (since I’m not sure what a “rationalist” is—more reading to do) but I hate being wrong and/or not understanding things and have historically been more interested in becoming right than proving I’m right. Through my study of economics, especially my focus on first principles (the idea of rational preferences, choice structures, and revealed preferences, etc) I’ve come to believe that rationality is actually more of a skill. Imagine my delight when I discovered a whole community who not only agrees with me, but who actively endeavors at further understanding and honing that skill.
I look forward to learning more here, and hope that eventually I might be able to offer something of value in return.
Hey, I’m Jon. I’ve been reading Overcoming Bias for probably about 3 years and only recently discovered Less Wrong. (IIRC, OB was getting more and more into AI, then it split into OB and LW. I stayed with OB but never looked at LW.) I have a bachelor’s in Mathematics and Economics, and was getting a PhD in Economics before I dropped out after my second year. (I became severely disenchanted with the discipline and arrogant and hostile with my program.)
Some post (I don’t remember which) from OB lead me here maybe two weeks ago, and I read “Generalizing From One Example.” I thought it was fantastic and have spent the past couple weeks devouring the LW archives when I could. I was particularly struck by “Intellectual Hipsters and Meta-Contrarianism” and have sheepishly accepted this bias in myself.
I’m not sure if I’m a “rationalist” per se (since I’m not sure what a “rationalist” is—more reading to do) but I hate being wrong and/or not understanding things and have historically been more interested in becoming right than proving I’m right. Through my study of economics, especially my focus on first principles (the idea of rational preferences, choice structures, and revealed preferences, etc) I’ve come to believe that rationality is actually more of a skill. Imagine my delight when I discovered a whole community who not only agrees with me, but who actively endeavors at further understanding and honing that skill.
I look forward to learning more here, and hope that eventually I might be able to offer something of value in return.