I didn’t read the whole article (It’s a school day; I’m busy), but in my case, I have to disagree with your premise. LW has definitely been a net positive for me.
First, it has introduced me to different “tricks” for increasing productivity/doing what I want. Melatonin, knowledge of heuristics/biases, PUA/Ev Psych inspired social skills, etc.
Second, reading LW has directly contributed to me constructing an identity for myself that makes me more rational. If I identify myself as a rationalist, then my brain will act accordingly. This has been crucial in fighting akrasia.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, I know where my priorities lie. I post on LW irregularly, don’t read every article—let alone most of the comments, and realize that LW is primarily “fun time.” It’s rationalist porn to some degree, and I’m ok with that. It certainly beats normal porn.
I can easily imagine that some of the most “advanced” rationalists here might not be getting as much useful information out of LW, and so they might see it as a low-ROI site.
But the average LW reader probably isn’t so “advanced” (might not have been familiar with a lot of the concepts taught here before reading LW), and so the ROI can be much higher.
Update: In fact, one of the main benefits of LW might be to transfer some of that knowledge from the more advanced rationalists to the beginners.
If you read it during “fun time”, then you may well be getting positive value out of it. Just understand that you have joined a community with a strong displayed value of “talking about rationality”, and little to no displayed value of “becoming better at achieving our goals in real life”. If that identity works for you, great. You’ve leveled. But I don’t think it will get you very far. I think the value of “relentless self-improvement through deliberate practice in real life” will get you much, much further towards being an actual rationalist, not just someone who signals their love for rationality.
Not everyone would accept the definition of ‘rationalist’ that you seem to be using. (And many would find your attitude condescending and a little obnoxious. This stuff is obvious and well understood.)
I didn’t read the whole article (It’s a school day; I’m busy), but in my case, I have to disagree with your premise. LW has definitely been a net positive for me.
First, it has introduced me to different “tricks” for increasing productivity/doing what I want. Melatonin, knowledge of heuristics/biases, PUA/Ev Psych inspired social skills, etc.
Second, reading LW has directly contributed to me constructing an identity for myself that makes me more rational. If I identify myself as a rationalist, then my brain will act accordingly. This has been crucial in fighting akrasia.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, I know where my priorities lie. I post on LW irregularly, don’t read every article—let alone most of the comments, and realize that LW is primarily “fun time.” It’s rationalist porn to some degree, and I’m ok with that. It certainly beats normal porn.
Am I atypical here on LW?
I don’t think you are very atypical.
I can easily imagine that some of the most “advanced” rationalists here might not be getting as much useful information out of LW, and so they might see it as a low-ROI site.
But the average LW reader probably isn’t so “advanced” (might not have been familiar with a lot of the concepts taught here before reading LW), and so the ROI can be much higher.
Update: In fact, one of the main benefits of LW might be to transfer some of that knowledge from the more advanced rationalists to the beginners.
If you read it during “fun time”, then you may well be getting positive value out of it. Just understand that you have joined a community with a strong displayed value of “talking about rationality”, and little to no displayed value of “becoming better at achieving our goals in real life”. If that identity works for you, great. You’ve leveled. But I don’t think it will get you very far. I think the value of “relentless self-improvement through deliberate practice in real life” will get you much, much further towards being an actual rationalist, not just someone who signals their love for rationality.
Not everyone would accept the definition of ‘rationalist’ that you seem to be using. (And many would find your attitude condescending and a little obnoxious. This stuff is obvious and well understood.)
Just to be precise: do you find that your productivity is increased, and that you do more of what you want?
yes