Steven K Zuber

• Steven K Zuber 24 Mar 2021 16:25 UTC

  4 points

  in reply to: Dale Udall’s comment on: A Ret­ro­spec­tive Look at the Guild of Ser­vants: Alpha Phase

  Briefly, the Character Sheet module didn’t focus on any particular deficit for the entire cohort, but rather allowed each participant to identify their own weaknesses through some helpful guided exercises. Overcoming these completely was not in scope for the duration of the alpha, but we put together some docs and spreadsheets to track our progress going forward.

• Steven K Zuber 23 Mar 2021 15:07 UTC

  4 points

  on: Quotes from the WWMoR Pod­cast Epi­sode with Eliezer

  Around 1:25:00, EY points out that Quirrel’s biggest error during the Final Exam was bringing in 36 Death Eaters after not seeing them for ten years, something a real Quirrel would never do.

  The transcript from this part was “Wand wand wand wand wand! Ahhhhh!!!!!!” I had to do more editing than usual to have the volume spike from that hurt the audio for the rest of the track. :)

  It was a really fun conversation and I’m grateful he joined us for it. I’ve been meaning to discuss somewhere my thoughts on WWMoR as a whole, but the quick summary is that I had a great time and found it a valuable experience in spite of its rocky start.

• Steven K Zuber 23 Mar 2021 3:02 UTC

  21 points

  on: A Ret­ro­spec­tive Look at the Guild of Ser­vants: Alpha Phase

  I was in the alpha and found value in both the community component and the modules. I had the pleasure of seeing people bring problems they were facing to the group and watching what it’s like to have a group of Rationalists coordinate and descend on it together. It’s hard to overstate the value of having a dozen people with practiced thinking skills work on a problem with you, but I suspect the reader of the comment can imagine what I’m talking about.

  The modules were varied and valuable in their own way. Like Matt indicated above, there were some areas where they could be improved, but from my perspective I think The Council is being too hard on themselves. Many of the issues with practicing the fashion and How to Spot a Con modules were due to lockdown. While I suppose one could make the case that The Council could have seen this complication coming and planned for it, none of us really knew how long we could expect the Plague Months to last when this project was being scoped. I suspect the lack of clarity with the Character Sheet will be soundly cleared up by the time the beta launches. (I strongly recommend Alex’s Tsuyoku Naritai podcast, which I suggested he make required prerequisite learning for that module. It outlines the goal and methods of the Character Sheet brilliantly.)

  I explain all of this because I think that our community as a whole will benefit from both pillars that the Guild is looking to build. Having a coordinated group of similarly-trained allies to collectively work on problems will be invaluable and I can easily imagine a future where the resultant successes are a huge selling point going forward. Likewise, having a sort of training camp where the techniques (in these modules and future modules) are actively taught can rapidly reduce the time it takes newcomers to become adept in the Methods of Rationality. I took away actionable lessons from the modules that I didn’t glean in my almost-a-decade of being somewhat involved in the community.

  I would go on, but then I’d worry that the word count would warrant its own post. I also want to extend a sincere thanks to both the Council and my fellow Guild members. I very much look forward to watching this project grow.

Wel­come to Den­ver Area LessWrong