So the most important point of this post is to lay out the Robust Agent paradigm explicitly, with a clear term I could quickly refer to in future discussions, to check “is this something we’re on the same page about, or not?” before continuing on to discuss more complicated ideas.
Have you found that this post (and the concept handle) have been useful for this purpose? Have you found that you do in fact reference it as a litmus test, and steer conversations according to the response others make?
It’s definitely been useful with people I’ve collaborated closely with. (I find the post a useful background while working with the LW team, for example)
I haven’t had a strong sense of whether it’s proven beneficial to other people. I have a vague sense that the sort of people who inspired this post mostly take this as background that isn’t very interesting or something. Possibly with a slightly different frame on how everything hangs together.
It sounds like this post functions (and perhaps was intended) primarily as a filter for people who are already good at agency, and secondarily as a guide for newbies?
If so, that seems like a key point—surrounding oneself with other robust (allied) agents helps develop or support one’s own agency.
I actually think it works better as a guide for newbies than as a filter. The people I want to filter on, I typically am able to have long protracted conversations about agency with them anyway, and this blog post isn’t the primary way that they get filtered.
Have you found that this post (and the concept handle) have been useful for this purpose? Have you found that you do in fact reference it as a litmus test, and steer conversations according to the response others make?
It’s definitely been useful with people I’ve collaborated closely with. (I find the post a useful background while working with the LW team, for example)
I haven’t had a strong sense of whether it’s proven beneficial to other people. I have a vague sense that the sort of people who inspired this post mostly take this as background that isn’t very interesting or something. Possibly with a slightly different frame on how everything hangs together.
It sounds like this post functions (and perhaps was intended) primarily as a filter for people who are already good at agency, and secondarily as a guide for newbies?
If so, that seems like a key point—surrounding oneself with other robust (allied) agents helps develop or support one’s own agency.
I actually think it works better as a guide for newbies than as a filter. The people I want to filter on, I typically am able to have long protracted conversations about agency with them anyway, and this blog post isn’t the primary way that they get filtered.