I am pleased by the charming irony (and… anti-irony??) of this post. A complex point-by-point commentary on the writings of putanumonit on loneliness, this post recalls the intellectual traditions of ancient monks (a comparison that Jacob himself has made elsewhere: https://putanumonit.com/2021/04/03/monastery-and-throne/). As the author notes, writing like this is both a solitary endeavor and an oddly communal activity that demonstrates the depth of connection possible in distributed intellectual movements (whether modern rationalism or the medieval world of IRL monasteries). Of course it’s intrinsically a bit silly to be enumerating the logical and psychological complexities of an exhortation to just get out there and actually socialize. But I’m obviously not too bothered by that silliness, because I’m here doing the same thing!
Perhaps the equanimous and incredibly joyful monk was within us the whole time?
it is about abstract intellectual ideas vs going out and doing the stuff as jacob exhorts us to do
in that sense it is arguably more on the “personal development” side of things
it is a monklike, non-social activity
Anti-ironic (english doesn’t really have a word for this… like when something is oddly fitting, like if someone named “James Baker” is actually a baker) insofar as LessWrong / rationalism is a pretty strong shared intellectual culture and that these seemingly solitary monkish endeavors are actually a space for social connection, thus perhaps we are fulfilling Jacob’s exhortation.
I am pleased by the charming irony (and… anti-irony??) of this post. A complex point-by-point commentary on the writings of putanumonit on loneliness, this post recalls the intellectual traditions of ancient monks (a comparison that Jacob himself has made elsewhere: https://putanumonit.com/2021/04/03/monastery-and-throne/). As the author notes, writing like this is both a solitary endeavor and an oddly communal activity that demonstrates the depth of connection possible in distributed intellectual movements (whether modern rationalism or the medieval world of IRL monasteries). Of course it’s intrinsically a bit silly to be enumerating the logical and psychological complexities of an exhortation to just get out there and actually socialize. But I’m obviously not too bothered by that silliness, because I’m here doing the same thing!
Perhaps the equanimous and incredibly joyful monk was within us the whole time?
Well thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed reading this comment.
Out of interest, what parts did you see as ironic or anti-ironic?
Well, ironic to the extent that:
it is about abstract intellectual ideas vs going out and doing the stuff as jacob exhorts us to do
in that sense it is arguably more on the “personal development” side of things
it is a monklike, non-social activity
Anti-ironic (english doesn’t really have a word for this… like when something is oddly fitting, like if someone named “James Baker” is actually a baker) insofar as LessWrong / rationalism is a pretty strong shared intellectual culture and that these seemingly solitary monkish endeavors are actually a space for social connection, thus perhaps we are fulfilling Jacob’s exhortation.