I made an account seven months ago, but I wasn’t aware of the last welcome thread, so I guess I’ll post on this one.
I’m not sure when I exactly “joined”. My first contact with this community was passing familiarity with “Overcoming bias” as one of the blogs which sometimes got linked in the blogosphere I frequented in high school. As typical of my surfing habits in those days, I spent one or two sessions reading it for hours and then promptly forgot about all it. Second contact was a recommendation from another user on reddit to Lesswrong. Third contact was a few months later when my roommate recommended I read hpmor. I lurked for a short time, and made an account, and went to my first few meetups about two months ago. Meetups are fun, you meet lots of smart people, and I highly recommend it.
First impressions? I think this is the (for lack of a better word) most intellectual internet community that I am familiar with. Almost every post or comment is worth reading, and the site has got an addictive reddit-ish feel about it (which hampers my productivity somewhat, but que sera, sera.)
I’ve noticed that most of the opinions here tend to align precisely with my own, which is gratifying, because it’s evidence that my thinking makes sense. However, it’s also irritating, because it means I learn less and I have little to contribute. It’s a little disconcerting for someone who thrives on discussion and is usually forced to play the role of the contrarian. Not that I’m complaining—it would be quite worrying if rationalists didn’t tend to agree. Plus, it’s really refreshing to have discussions where two people mutually try to figure out where the truth lies, rather than arguments where two people try to convince each other of something.
Biggest upside: Lesswrong has it’s own, rationality/philosophy specific jargon, which is really helpful for communicating complicated ideas using very few words. In addition to introducing me to a few concepts I’d never even considered, I think the greatest benefit I got from reading this site is that I’ve got a better language to verbalize abstract concepts.
What I’d like to see: Expansion from the philosophical side into practical things, like scientific knowledge,, useful skills, etc. It’s not often you get a community hub with such a high concentration of skills and knowledge, and I think it should be put to more use. (the rationalist-utilitarian charities lesswrong is loosely affiliated with is one good example of this being done successfully)
I’ve noticed that most of the opinions here tend to align precisely with my own, which is gratifying, because it’s evidence that my thinking makes sense. However, it’s also irritating, because it means I learn less and I have little to contribute.
I noticed this as well, while first reading the sequences. I flew through blog posts, absorbing it all in, since it all either matched my own thoughts, or were so similar that it hardly took effort to comprehend. But I struggled to find anything original to say, which was part of why I initially didn’t bother making an account—I didn’t want to simply express agreement every time. (And now I notice that my second comment is precisely that.)
Biggest upside: Lesswrong has it’s own, rationality/philosophy specific jargon, which is really helpful for communicating complicated ideas using very few words.
That’s one of the things I’ve frequently benefited from in my thinking. I have found that the concepts behind keywords like dissolving the question, mysterious answers, map and territory, and the teacher’s password can be applied in so many areas, and that having the arsenal to use them makes it much easier to think clearly about otherwise elusive concepts.
I made an account seven months ago, but I wasn’t aware of the last welcome thread, so I guess I’ll post on this one.
I’m not sure when I exactly “joined”. My first contact with this community was passing familiarity with “Overcoming bias” as one of the blogs which sometimes got linked in the blogosphere I frequented in high school. As typical of my surfing habits in those days, I spent one or two sessions reading it for hours and then promptly forgot about all it. Second contact was a recommendation from another user on reddit to Lesswrong. Third contact was a few months later when my roommate recommended I read hpmor. I lurked for a short time, and made an account, and went to my first few meetups about two months ago. Meetups are fun, you meet lots of smart people, and I highly recommend it.
First impressions? I think this is the (for lack of a better word) most intellectual internet community that I am familiar with. Almost every post or comment is worth reading, and the site has got an addictive reddit-ish feel about it (which hampers my productivity somewhat, but que sera, sera.)
I’ve noticed that most of the opinions here tend to align precisely with my own, which is gratifying, because it’s evidence that my thinking makes sense. However, it’s also irritating, because it means I learn less and I have little to contribute. It’s a little disconcerting for someone who thrives on discussion and is usually forced to play the role of the contrarian. Not that I’m complaining—it would be quite worrying if rationalists didn’t tend to agree. Plus, it’s really refreshing to have discussions where two people mutually try to figure out where the truth lies, rather than arguments where two people try to convince each other of something.
Biggest upside: Lesswrong has it’s own, rationality/philosophy specific jargon, which is really helpful for communicating complicated ideas using very few words. In addition to introducing me to a few concepts I’d never even considered, I think the greatest benefit I got from reading this site is that I’ve got a better language to verbalize abstract concepts.
What I’d like to see: Expansion from the philosophical side into practical things, like scientific knowledge,, useful skills, etc. It’s not often you get a community hub with such a high concentration of skills and knowledge, and I think it should be put to more use. (the rationalist-utilitarian charities lesswrong is loosely affiliated with is one good example of this being done successfully)
I noticed this as well, while first reading the sequences. I flew through blog posts, absorbing it all in, since it all either matched my own thoughts, or were so similar that it hardly took effort to comprehend. But I struggled to find anything original to say, which was part of why I initially didn’t bother making an account—I didn’t want to simply express agreement every time. (And now I notice that my second comment is precisely that.)
That’s one of the things I’ve frequently benefited from in my thinking. I have found that the concepts behind keywords like dissolving the question, mysterious answers, map and territory, and the teacher’s password can be applied in so many areas, and that having the arsenal to use them makes it much easier to think clearly about otherwise elusive concepts.