I don’t know that it’s actually targeting the stuff you specifically say here (because I think a lot of this isn’t actually the most useful version of rationality), but, I (and @Screwtape) am working on a rationality training site. I would compare it more to the older version of brilliant.org or codewars than duolingo.
Can you say a bit more about what you’d have wanted out of such an app?
To answer your question: similarly to how HPMOR presents rationality skills in a learning format (fiction) that is accessible to a general audience, I would love for there to be an app that, like Duolingo, teaches skills and concepts in small, guided practice sessions with little rewards for completion.
For context: I’m not in Silicon Valley surrounded by people who are already really smart and interested in rational thinking. I’m in the middle of West Virginia, surrounded by right-wing tribalism and fundamentalist evangelicalism, out of which I have clawed my way. We need all the easy, accessible help we can get with learning rationality. (HPMOR has changed my life!)
A question I have been asking since before starting work with Raemon on this, which is only more relevant now:
What rationality skill(s) do you think is most important? Put another way, if we could snap our fingers and teach some rationality skill as broadly as literacy currently gets taught, what skill should we pick?
(I don’t think this is Raemon’s angle on the project but it is kind of mine.)
Maybe one of Logan Strohl’s Fucking Goddamn Basics of Rationalist Discourse? Actually the whole thing is short enough to repost here in its entirety to save the trouble of clicking through:
Don’t say false shit omg this one’s so basic what are you even doing. And to be perfectly fucking clear “false shit” includes exaggeration for dramatic effect. Exaggeration is just another way for shit to be false.
One hypothesis is not e-fucking-nough. You need at least two, AT LEAST, or you’ll just end up rehearsing the same dumb shit the whole time instead of actually thinking.
Whatever the fuck else you do, for fucksake do not fucking ignore these guidelines when talking about the insides of other people’s heads, unless you mainly wanna light some fucking trash fires, in which case GTFO.
I suppose this is why the comparison with Duolingo came to mind: teaching rationality is akin to teaching a whole language. We need lots of aspects of it, not just one.
Also (now I’m just introducing another thing here), ideally it would be in a style that is as friendly and non-threatening as possible—again, like Duolingo’s vibe—though obviously it couldn’t be as entirely neutral as learning a language. To be effective, it would need to leave learners feeling supported rather than shamed.
Again I think of HPMOR as a great example of all of this: it covers lots of different rationality skills and has a reader-friendly vibe.
The app’s hook might be something like “Learn to think like a scientist” or “level up your decision making skills” or “hack your own brain.” (lol, idk)
But to answer your question, if I had to pick one rationality skill that seemed most important to me personally, the one that comes to mind seems like a meta-rationality skill, which working on lots of other various rationality skills would also serve: building the habit—through training/practice—of noticing, questioning, and testing one’s beliefs.
I don’t know that it’s actually targeting the stuff you specifically say here (because I think a lot of this isn’t actually the most useful version of rationality), but, I (and @Screwtape) am working on a rationality training site. I would compare it more to the older version of brilliant.org or codewars than duolingo.
Can you say a bit more about what you’d have wanted out of such an app?
I look forward to your site!
To answer your question: similarly to how HPMOR presents rationality skills in a learning format (fiction) that is accessible to a general audience, I would love for there to be an app that, like Duolingo, teaches skills and concepts in small, guided practice sessions with little rewards for completion.
For context: I’m not in Silicon Valley surrounded by people who are already really smart and interested in rational thinking. I’m in the middle of West Virginia, surrounded by right-wing tribalism and fundamentalist evangelicalism, out of which I have clawed my way. We need all the easy, accessible help we can get with learning rationality. (HPMOR has changed my life!)
A question I have been asking since before starting work with Raemon on this, which is only more relevant now:
What rationality skill(s) do you think is most important? Put another way, if we could snap our fingers and teach some rationality skill as broadly as literacy currently gets taught, what skill should we pick?
(I don’t think this is Raemon’s angle on the project but it is kind of mine.)
Maybe one of Logan Strohl’s Fucking Goddamn Basics of Rationalist Discourse? Actually the whole thing is short enough to repost here in its entirety to save the trouble of clicking through:
I suppose this is why the comparison with Duolingo came to mind: teaching rationality is akin to teaching a whole language. We need lots of aspects of it, not just one.
Also (now I’m just introducing another thing here), ideally it would be in a style that is as friendly and non-threatening as possible—again, like Duolingo’s vibe—though obviously it couldn’t be as entirely neutral as learning a language. To be effective, it would need to leave learners feeling supported rather than shamed.
Again I think of HPMOR as a great example of all of this: it covers lots of different rationality skills and has a reader-friendly vibe.
The app’s hook might be something like “Learn to think like a scientist” or “level up your decision making skills” or “hack your own brain.” (lol, idk)
But to answer your question, if I had to pick one rationality skill that seemed most important to me personally, the one that comes to mind seems like a meta-rationality skill, which working on lots of other various rationality skills would also serve: building the habit—through training/practice—of noticing, questioning, and testing one’s beliefs.