Problems one and two (hard and imperfect) would suggest that people will get less value out of ScottL’s post than a workshop. OK, fine. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Scale ScottL’s post up through easy online access and the many, many people getting a smaller somewhat unreliable benefit turns into something very significant. But problem 3,
Having seen crappy, distorted versions of the CFAR curriculum (or having attempted to absorb it from text, and failed), a typical human would then be much, much less receptive to other, better explanations in the future.
We don’t want to poison the well, we don’t want to break the very thing we’re trying to protect, and as a member of a group with something that at least resembles expertise (if you don’t want to credit us as actual experts), I think that requires a lot more work on our end, first.
That’s reason enough to not release your own material. But specifically, do you think ScottL’s compilation above or sharing the guide I’ve written (if I was to post it here for anyone to use) has the same effect? Do you think our compilations will have a net negative effect on rationality?
Thus far, CFAR hasn’t had the cycles to spend time creating the (let’s say) 80-20 version of their content.
For my own part, I think this belongs in our near future.
Do you have an estimate on this? I won’t hold you to it, I’d just like to know what kind of time frame ‘near’ is.
But specifically, do you think ScottL’s compilation above or sharing the guide I’ve written (if I was to post it here for anyone to use) has the same effect? Do you think our compilations will have a net negative effect on rationality?
My view, as a CFAR alum and donor, is that the primary arguments against CFAR releasing their material are 1) better returns on time and 2) making it more difficult to change the material. I think online material complements instead of competes with in person classes; standard advice in consulting is “give away your best material for free.” (I think CFAR was sensible to wait until now to decide that some of its material is ‘best’ enough to give away.)
I don’t think independent compilations of rationality material are net negative, in the same way that I think Starbucks complements instead of competes with independent coffee shops.
I do think it’s weird to call this the CFAR canon if it’s not explicitly endorsed by CFAR. (ScottL, what do you think the word ‘canon’ means?)
I’m not sure, re: whether your or ScottL’s compilations provide negative value. I definitely fall shy of recommending that they be posted, but I think I ALSO fall shy of anything like requesting that they be taken down. I think there’s probably a meaningful difference between CFAR publishing something, and friendly Less Wrongers being like, “Hey, here’s this thing I pulled together, hope it helps.” The risks I anticipate seem much stronger in the former case.
As for what “near” means, I predict with 70% confidence that we will publish more than 5000 words about actual CFAR content before the end of 2016. That’s a pretty weak prediction, I know, but also I’m not in a position to be very confident (given my naïveté). I will say that in the universes where we publish 5000 words, we’re also likely to publish a lot MORE.
Problems one and two (hard and imperfect) would suggest that people will get less value out of ScottL’s post than a workshop. OK, fine. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Scale ScottL’s post up through easy online access and the many, many people getting a smaller somewhat unreliable benefit turns into something very significant. But problem 3,
That’s reason enough to not release your own material. But specifically, do you think ScottL’s compilation above or sharing the guide I’ve written (if I was to post it here for anyone to use) has the same effect? Do you think our compilations will have a net negative effect on rationality?
Do you have an estimate on this? I won’t hold you to it, I’d just like to know what kind of time frame ‘near’ is.
My view, as a CFAR alum and donor, is that the primary arguments against CFAR releasing their material are 1) better returns on time and 2) making it more difficult to change the material. I think online material complements instead of competes with in person classes; standard advice in consulting is “give away your best material for free.” (I think CFAR was sensible to wait until now to decide that some of its material is ‘best’ enough to give away.)
I don’t think independent compilations of rationality material are net negative, in the same way that I think Starbucks complements instead of competes with independent coffee shops.
I do think it’s weird to call this the CFAR canon if it’s not explicitly endorsed by CFAR. (ScottL, what do you think the word ‘canon’ means?)
I’m not sure, re: whether your or ScottL’s compilations provide negative value. I definitely fall shy of recommending that they be posted, but I think I ALSO fall shy of anything like requesting that they be taken down. I think there’s probably a meaningful difference between CFAR publishing something, and friendly Less Wrongers being like, “Hey, here’s this thing I pulled together, hope it helps.” The risks I anticipate seem much stronger in the former case.
As for what “near” means, I predict with 70% confidence that we will publish more than 5000 words about actual CFAR content before the end of 2016. That’s a pretty weak prediction, I know, but also I’m not in a position to be very confident (given my naïveté). I will say that in the universes where we publish 5000 words, we’re also likely to publish a lot MORE.