It’s an interesting idea but I feel very skeptical about the generic plan. Personally, a revulsion for organized/standardized education is what drove me to look at things like Less Wrong in the first place. I think this is fairly common in the community, with many people interested in discussion of akrasia and self-work habits.
Also, considering the informality of ideas like “I want to be a good rationalist”, I would expect this sort of thing to be much more open-ended and unstructured anyways. It doesn’t seem to fit with the idea of a rigid system or a “boot-camp”. It just seems contrary to the idea of rationality and free thinking.
I’m sympathetic to this reaction, but I suspect a lot of it is a reversed-stupidity mistake. I’ve been repeatedly surprised by how poorly plans for open-ended, unstructured activities work in practice, and how useful (and non-unpleasant) skillfully-executed structure and discipline are. I don’t understand why a “boot camp” would be contrary to rationality, unless you think structure and discipline require committing not to update on evidence.
(Also, most of the reasons people dislike organized education seem like they would be entirely irrelevant here.)
I’m sympathetic to this reaction, but I suspect a lot of it is a reversed-stupidity mistake. I’ve been repeatedly surprised by how poorly plans for open-ended, unstructured activities work in practice, and how useful (and non-unpleasant) skillfully-executed structure and discipline are. I don’t understand why a “boot camp” would be contrary to rationality, unless you think structure and discipline require committing not to update on evidence.
(Also, most of the reasons people dislike organized education seem like they would be entirely irrelevant here.)