I wish the CFAR materials were freely available, or at least were for sale without a $4000 workshop. I don’t understand the business model. Textbooks are no substitute for lectures, labs and seminars, but more of an advertisement for them, since doing all the work on one’s own is virtually impossible. The current model also gives a vibe of cultish exclusivity, where only those committed, inducted and indoctrinated can be trusted with the sacred knowledge. Odds are, I am missing something.
You might already be aware, but there’s the Unofficial CFAR Canon List which compiles a lot of their earlier material (though some things have now changed) that someone put together a while back.
If you’re looking for more derivative content written by people who have gone to CFAR workshops:
Shminux, here’s some useful framing from my experience. From having read the HammerTime sequence and the Instrumental Rationality sequence, there were only a handful of techniques or ideas introduced to me at CFAR that I’d never heard of before. Yet I got useful stuff out of almost every class. I really felt that the people + context were the main forces driving my learning/growth.
So that to say, the things Owen linked to cover a huge swath of the CFAR content, though I’d still expect going to CFAR to be a fruitful experience for a given person who’s read it all.
CFAR doesn’t have anything resembling a textbook that would help advertise a lecture or seminar.
Some better analogies for what they have are notes that would supplement an improv class, or a yoga class, or a meditation retreat. Unlike textbooks / lectures, this category of teaching involves a fair amount of influencing system 1, in ways that are poorly captured by materials that are directed mainly at system 2. Another analogy for what they provide is group psychotherapy—in that example, something textbook-like seems somewhat valuable, but I think there are still good reasons not to expect a close connection between a specific textbook and a specific instance of group psychotherapy.
And calling CFAR’s strategy a business model is a bit misleading—a good deal of their strategy involves focusing on free or very low cost workshops for people who show AI-related promise. They seem to get enough ordinary rationalists who pay $4000 via word of mouth that they can afford to give low priority to attracting more participants who will pay full price.
I wish the CFAR materials were freely available, or at least were for sale without a $4000 workshop. I don’t understand the business model. Textbooks are no substitute for lectures, labs and seminars, but more of an advertisement for them, since doing all the work on one’s own is virtually impossible. The current model also gives a vibe of cultish exclusivity, where only those committed, inducted and indoctrinated can be trusted with the sacred knowledge. Odds are, I am missing something.
You might already be aware, but there’s the Unofficial CFAR Canon List which compiles a lot of their earlier material (though some things have now changed) that someone put together a while back.
If you’re looking for more derivative content written by people who have gone to CFAR workshops:
There’s also the Hammertime sequence alkjash wrote and the Instrumental Rationality sequence I wrote.
Shminux, here’s some useful framing from my experience. From having read the HammerTime sequence and the Instrumental Rationality sequence, there were only a handful of techniques or ideas introduced to me at CFAR that I’d never heard of before. Yet I got useful stuff out of almost every class. I really felt that the people + context were the main forces driving my learning/growth. So that to say, the things Owen linked to cover a huge swath of the CFAR content, though I’d still expect going to CFAR to be a fruitful experience for a given person who’s read it all.
CFAR doesn’t have anything resembling a textbook that would help advertise a lecture or seminar.
Some better analogies for what they have are notes that would supplement an improv class, or a yoga class, or a meditation retreat. Unlike textbooks / lectures, this category of teaching involves a fair amount of influencing system 1, in ways that are poorly captured by materials that are directed mainly at system 2. Another analogy for what they provide is group psychotherapy—in that example, something textbook-like seems somewhat valuable, but I think there are still good reasons not to expect a close connection between a specific textbook and a specific instance of group psychotherapy.
And calling CFAR’s strategy a business model is a bit misleading—a good deal of their strategy involves focusing on free or very low cost workshops for people who show AI-related promise. They seem to get enough ordinary rationalists who pay $4000 via word of mouth that they can afford to give low priority to attracting more participants who will pay full price.