Hello, Less Wrong users. My internet handle is Jen, and I’m here because the conversations are interesting and this feels like the natural next step to reading the sequences (still in progress, but I’m getting through them alright) and HPMOR (caught up).
I’m a seventeen-year-old high school senior in the Southern California area. My most notable interests are anime, economics, evolutionary psychology, math, airsoft (and real guns), and possibly something important that I’m forgetting but that should be mentioned. I grew up speaking Spanish and English, but the latter is the only one I’m fluent in. I’m currently in my fourth year of Japanese, and I know enough for conversation, but my Spanish is still better because of early acquisition and the like. One thing I should mention ahead of time is that my ADHD makes it difficult for me to focus on writing something for long periods of time, so I stop posts a lot to do something else and thus what appears below may seem somewhat fragmented.
I learned about this community through a friend on another website, and when I learned about HPMOR a couple of months ago, I read through it in about two weeks, which says something when you learn that I had not read fiction (outside of what was required in school) in over a year prior to this fan fiction. About a month ago, I started to read through the sequences, which intimidated me at first since Bayes’ Theorem is tossed at you right away, but once I got through my initiation, the rest was (or is, so far) not quite so overwhelming. Some posts feel obvious to me, others are in the category of “I’ve thought about this before but I could never articulate it,” and then there are the fun ones where I have an “Ah ha!” moment upon learning something new and genuinely interesting. I’m going through the Sequences as they are listed on the Sequences’ wiki page and am currently at the beginning of the Overly Convenient Excuses subsequence of How To Actually Change Your Mind.
As mentioned above, I’m in my senior year of high school, and since it’s the fall semester I’m currently focused on college applications and the like, so I can’t spend quite as much time reading and discussing things online as I’d like to, but I’m nonetheless trying to finish the Sequences, and after that I may start to read the Copy of Thinking, Fast & Slow that’s been sitting on my bookshelf for the last three months, among other things.
I’m not a very poetic person, so I can’t provide a beautiful, elegant, graceful explanation of how rationality feels to me in my heart of hearts. I’m interested in rationality because I like being correct, and because there are systematic errors in my thinking that prevent me from being correct.
No need to apologize for your writing. Seems clear and succinct to me. Glad to see you’ve been enjoying the literature so far. Maybe, you’ll have a little of your own to contribute eventually. And yes, while Bayes’ Theorem is used somewhat for a “gate keeper,” the Sequences are still highly relatable and not as intimidating as some people make them out to be.
Since you live in Southern California, you’re right near the heart of LW territory. The Bay Area is a particular hive of LW activity. Since you’re still in high school and under 18, I don’t know how your age affects your ability to participate, but in a year or so, you might consider checking out your local LessWrong meetup or a CFAR workshop. They’re both good fun, great learning experiences, and fine ways to socialize with fellow rationalists.
Glad to have another polylingual on board. Our range of the languages can sometimes be a little drab.
Anyway, glad to have you join the conversation! Hope to see you around.
Hello, Less Wrong users. My internet handle is Jen, and I’m here because the conversations are interesting and this feels like the natural next step to reading the sequences (still in progress, but I’m getting through them alright) and HPMOR (caught up).
I’m a seventeen-year-old high school senior in the Southern California area. My most notable interests are anime, economics, evolutionary psychology, math, airsoft (and real guns), and possibly something important that I’m forgetting but that should be mentioned. I grew up speaking Spanish and English, but the latter is the only one I’m fluent in. I’m currently in my fourth year of Japanese, and I know enough for conversation, but my Spanish is still better because of early acquisition and the like. One thing I should mention ahead of time is that my ADHD makes it difficult for me to focus on writing something for long periods of time, so I stop posts a lot to do something else and thus what appears below may seem somewhat fragmented.
I learned about this community through a friend on another website, and when I learned about HPMOR a couple of months ago, I read through it in about two weeks, which says something when you learn that I had not read fiction (outside of what was required in school) in over a year prior to this fan fiction. About a month ago, I started to read through the sequences, which intimidated me at first since Bayes’ Theorem is tossed at you right away, but once I got through my initiation, the rest was (or is, so far) not quite so overwhelming. Some posts feel obvious to me, others are in the category of “I’ve thought about this before but I could never articulate it,” and then there are the fun ones where I have an “Ah ha!” moment upon learning something new and genuinely interesting. I’m going through the Sequences as they are listed on the Sequences’ wiki page and am currently at the beginning of the Overly Convenient Excuses subsequence of How To Actually Change Your Mind.
As mentioned above, I’m in my senior year of high school, and since it’s the fall semester I’m currently focused on college applications and the like, so I can’t spend quite as much time reading and discussing things online as I’d like to, but I’m nonetheless trying to finish the Sequences, and after that I may start to read the Copy of Thinking, Fast & Slow that’s been sitting on my bookshelf for the last three months, among other things.
I’m not a very poetic person, so I can’t provide a beautiful, elegant, graceful explanation of how rationality feels to me in my heart of hearts. I’m interested in rationality because I like being correct, and because there are systematic errors in my thinking that prevent me from being correct.
強くなりたい and all that.
Hello and welcome to LessWrong!
No need to apologize for your writing. Seems clear and succinct to me. Glad to see you’ve been enjoying the literature so far. Maybe, you’ll have a little of your own to contribute eventually. And yes, while Bayes’ Theorem is used somewhat for a “gate keeper,” the Sequences are still highly relatable and not as intimidating as some people make them out to be.
Since you live in Southern California, you’re right near the heart of LW territory. The Bay Area is a particular hive of LW activity. Since you’re still in high school and under 18, I don’t know how your age affects your ability to participate, but in a year or so, you might consider checking out your local LessWrong meetup or a CFAR workshop. They’re both good fun, great learning experiences, and fine ways to socialize with fellow rationalists.
Glad to have another polylingual on board. Our range of the languages can sometimes be a little drab.
Anyway, glad to have you join the conversation! Hope to see you around.