Hi, I’m Ian. I am a 32 year old computer programmer from Massachusetts. My main interest (in computer science) is in the realm of computational creativity but is by no means my only interest. For half my life, I’ve been coming up with my own sets of ideas—way back when it was on Usenet—some ideas better than others. Regardless of the eventual proven validity of my ideas, I find coming up with original ideas one of the primary motivators in my life. It is an exercise that allows me to continuously uncover beliefs and feelings and uncharted territory that wouldn’t be possible for me to explore otherwise. Also, I find it remarkably difficult to find people to share and dissect my ideas with. Generally, people either tell me that I’m smart (I’m not particularly smart) or weird (I’m not particularly weird). In either case I find most people also don’t want to continue talking about why wasabi and thunder are the same thing...or the relationship between creativity, intelligence, primes and small worlds...or why there is no such thing as a question...or why I’m a non-practicing atheist at the moment. What I hope to get out of this community is disagreement, agreement, new ideas, a reshaping of old ideas, friends, and above all, to know that other people in this world understand my ideas (even if they disagree with them). I hope to give this community some ideas they have never thought of.
I admire your reasons for joining. It is easy to find a group or circle that does not challenge you and then rest on your laurels. Seeking out disagreement and criticism is a hard first step for a lot of people. But don’t worry… you will certainly find both here! Not that that is a bad thing.
I see you’ve already added to the Discussion forum. Good on you for diving in and starting some new conversation. If you have some ideas you want to share and get critiqued but feel they are not fully formed enough for a post of their own, try the Open Thread. Even Open Thread conversations can be quite engaging and constructive (and heated! Don’t forget heated).
Also, I don’t know if you’ve read any of the LW literature people tend to reference, but, given your interest in refining your ideas, this) set of posts might interest you.
Thanks for the guidance. It can be intimidating exposing your ideas to a new set of people. I’ve been reading things here on LW off and on for roughly a year. There is quite a bit of jargon on this site and I’ve been reading through as many sequences as I have time for to try and fill myself in. I find that even concepts I’m familiar with tend to have sub-context here that doesn’t quite allow me to fully understand some of the ideas being discussed. I have a fairy good grasp of map versus territory for example, but my understanding comes by way of The Precession of Simulacra by Jean Baudrillard, where in that book he argues that the territory no longer exists, and only the map is real. That is quite different from the arguments I’ve seen here postulating that we can somehow gain access to the true underlaying territory. Regardless, I expect that with enough reading, I’ll be able to contribute. I was a chef for 17 years, so heated debates don’t intimidate me I have a thick skin. I ask that people understand the ideas I have—not agree with me. I will give others the same curtesy. Again, thanks for the welcome. I’ll check out the links. Cheers.
Hi, I’m Ian. I am a 32 year old computer programmer from Massachusetts. My main interest (in computer science) is in the realm of computational creativity but is by no means my only interest. For half my life, I’ve been coming up with my own sets of ideas—way back when it was on Usenet—some ideas better than others. Regardless of the eventual proven validity of my ideas, I find coming up with original ideas one of the primary motivators in my life. It is an exercise that allows me to continuously uncover beliefs and feelings and uncharted territory that wouldn’t be possible for me to explore otherwise. Also, I find it remarkably difficult to find people to share and dissect my ideas with. Generally, people either tell me that I’m smart (I’m not particularly smart) or weird (I’m not particularly weird). In either case I find most people also don’t want to continue talking about why wasabi and thunder are the same thing...or the relationship between creativity, intelligence, primes and small worlds...or why there is no such thing as a question...or why I’m a non-practicing atheist at the moment. What I hope to get out of this community is disagreement, agreement, new ideas, a reshaping of old ideas, friends, and above all, to know that other people in this world understand my ideas (even if they disagree with them). I hope to give this community some ideas they have never thought of.
Hello and welcome to LessWrong!
I admire your reasons for joining. It is easy to find a group or circle that does not challenge you and then rest on your laurels. Seeking out disagreement and criticism is a hard first step for a lot of people. But don’t worry… you will certainly find both here! Not that that is a bad thing.
I see you’ve already added to the Discussion forum. Good on you for diving in and starting some new conversation. If you have some ideas you want to share and get critiqued but feel they are not fully formed enough for a post of their own, try the Open Thread. Even Open Thread conversations can be quite engaging and constructive (and heated! Don’t forget heated).
Also, I don’t know if you’ve read any of the LW literature people tend to reference, but, given your interest in refining your ideas, this) set of posts might interest you.
Thanks for the guidance. It can be intimidating exposing your ideas to a new set of people. I’ve been reading things here on LW off and on for roughly a year. There is quite a bit of jargon on this site and I’ve been reading through as many sequences as I have time for to try and fill myself in. I find that even concepts I’m familiar with tend to have sub-context here that doesn’t quite allow me to fully understand some of the ideas being discussed. I have a fairy good grasp of map versus territory for example, but my understanding comes by way of The Precession of Simulacra by Jean Baudrillard, where in that book he argues that the territory no longer exists, and only the map is real. That is quite different from the arguments I’ve seen here postulating that we can somehow gain access to the true underlaying territory. Regardless, I expect that with enough reading, I’ll be able to contribute. I was a chef for 17 years, so heated debates don’t intimidate me I have a thick skin. I ask that people understand the ideas I have—not agree with me. I will give others the same curtesy. Again, thanks for the welcome. I’ll check out the links. Cheers.