Hello! I’ve been here lurking for a bit, but never quite introduced myself. I found myself commenting for the first time and figured I should go ahead and write up my story.
I don’t quite remember how I first stumbled upon this site, but I was astonished. I skimmed a few of the front page articles and read some of the comments. I was impressed by the level of dialogue and clear thought. I thought it was interesting but I should check it out when I had some more time.
One day I found myself trying to explain something to a friend that I had read here, but I couldn’t do it justice. I hadn’t internalized the knowledge, it wasn’t a part of me. That bothered me. I felt like I should have been able to understand better what I read, or explain as I remembered reading it.
So I decided to dig in, I wanted to understand things, to be able to explain the concepts, to know them well enough to write about them and be understood. I like reading fantasy, so I decided to start with HPMOR.
I devoured that book. I found myself stunned with how much I thought like Harry. It was like reading what I had always felt but never been able to put into words. The more I read, the more impressed I was, I had to keep reading. I finished the book, and immediately started on the Sequences. I felt like this was a great project I could only have wished for, and yet here it was.
I started trying to apply the things I learned to myself, and found it very difficult. rationality was not as easy as reading up how it all works, I had to actually change my mind. For me, the first great test of my rationality was religious. I had many questions about my faith for a long time. Reading the Sequences gave me the courage I needed to finally face the scariest questions. I finally had tools that could apply to the foundational questions I had.
The answers I came to where not pretty. Facing the questions had changed me. In finding answers to my questions I had lost my belief in the claims of religion. I found myself with a clarity that I hadn’t thought possible. I had some troubling issues to confront, now that my religious conception of the world had fallen away.
I found myself confident, in ways I had never been before. I could kind of explain where the evidence for my beliefs were, instead of having no answer at all. I have all kinds of mental models and names for concepts now that I wish I had found earlier. I had found a path that would take me where I wanted to go. I’m not very far along that path, but I found it.
Of course, I’m still learning. And I’m still not all that good at practicing my rationality. But I’m getting better, a little bit at a time. My priorities have changed. I’ve got money on the line now for some of my goals, thanks to Beeminder. I’ve been writing more, trying to get better at communicating. I can’t thank enough all the people who contribute and maintain this site. It’s a wonderful place of sanity in a mad world, and I have become better, and less wrong, because of it.
Hello! I’ve been here lurking for a bit, but never quite introduced myself. I found myself commenting for the first time and figured I should go ahead and write up my story.
I don’t quite remember how I first stumbled upon this site, but I was astonished. I skimmed a few of the front page articles and read some of the comments. I was impressed by the level of dialogue and clear thought. I thought it was interesting but I should check it out when I had some more time.
One day I found myself trying to explain something to a friend that I had read here, but I couldn’t do it justice. I hadn’t internalized the knowledge, it wasn’t a part of me. That bothered me. I felt like I should have been able to understand better what I read, or explain as I remembered reading it.
So I decided to dig in, I wanted to understand things, to be able to explain the concepts, to know them well enough to write about them and be understood. I like reading fantasy, so I decided to start with HPMOR.
I devoured that book. I found myself stunned with how much I thought like Harry. It was like reading what I had always felt but never been able to put into words. The more I read, the more impressed I was, I had to keep reading. I finished the book, and immediately started on the Sequences. I felt like this was a great project I could only have wished for, and yet here it was.
I started trying to apply the things I learned to myself, and found it very difficult. rationality was not as easy as reading up how it all works, I had to actually change my mind. For me, the first great test of my rationality was religious. I had many questions about my faith for a long time. Reading the Sequences gave me the courage I needed to finally face the scariest questions. I finally had tools that could apply to the foundational questions I had.
The answers I came to where not pretty. Facing the questions had changed me. In finding answers to my questions I had lost my belief in the claims of religion. I found myself with a clarity that I hadn’t thought possible. I had some troubling issues to confront, now that my religious conception of the world had fallen away.
I found myself confident, in ways I had never been before. I could kind of explain where the evidence for my beliefs were, instead of having no answer at all. I have all kinds of mental models and names for concepts now that I wish I had found earlier. I had found a path that would take me where I wanted to go. I’m not very far along that path, but I found it.
Of course, I’m still learning. And I’m still not all that good at practicing my rationality. But I’m getting better, a little bit at a time. My priorities have changed. I’ve got money on the line now for some of my goals, thanks to Beeminder. I’ve been writing more, trying to get better at communicating. I can’t thank enough all the people who contribute and maintain this site. It’s a wonderful place of sanity in a mad world, and I have become better, and less wrong, because of it.