This is a bit offbeat as a curated LW post, but I felt it was appropriate to curate for a few reasons:
1. It was object level interesting. I felt like I learned a bunch about raising kids, enjoyed learning it, and from the karma of the post it seems others did too.
2. I think there is actually something fairly important about the topic of raising kids, which is relevant to more common LessWrong themes. First, there is a sense in which raising a family is one of the core things humanity is about. Many LW folk don’t seem to have kids, and part of me is worried that all our philosophy and strategy is sort of missing something important if we don’t have a background sense of “what raising kids is like” subtly informing our judgments.
There is also a sense in which this post is about “how to raise an agent”, which I think ties pretty directly into core LW themes. I felt like reading the article fit into my overall worldview that includes robust agents and rationality and learning to think independently. (I think this effect was weaker than the previous “why artists study anatomy” curation, but similar in type)
But… I almost feel kinda bad listing this as the reason for curation, because honestly...
3. I think it’s important that people feel not only entitled, but rewarded, for writing about whatever is important to them. Sometimes those post will be niche posts that don’t get much appreciation, but I think it’s good when one seems to capture a lot of enthusiasm to reward that. I want people reading LW Curated posts to get a sense that sometimes, exploring your own interests will find something that excites people and gets rewarded.
I suspect that it’s best for most curated posts to cleave a bit closer to central LW topics, but think occasional variety is good.
I think there is actually something fairly important about the topic of raising kids, which is relevant to more common LessWrong themes. [...]Many LW folk don’t seem to have kids, and part of me is worried that all our philosophy and strategy is sort of missing something important if we don’t have a background sense of “what raising kids is like” subtly informing our judgments.
+1 to this specifically. Taking an unformed brain and guiding it along a path to become stronger seems like the equivalent of a lab class in rationality.
This is a bit offbeat as a curated LW post, but I felt it was appropriate to curate for a few reasons:
1. It was object level interesting. I felt like I learned a bunch about raising kids, enjoyed learning it, and from the karma of the post it seems others did too.
2. I think there is actually something fairly important about the topic of raising kids, which is relevant to more common LessWrong themes. First, there is a sense in which raising a family is one of the core things humanity is about. Many LW folk don’t seem to have kids, and part of me is worried that all our philosophy and strategy is sort of missing something important if we don’t have a background sense of “what raising kids is like” subtly informing our judgments.
There is also a sense in which this post is about “how to raise an agent”, which I think ties pretty directly into core LW themes. I felt like reading the article fit into my overall worldview that includes robust agents and rationality and learning to think independently. (I think this effect was weaker than the previous “why artists study anatomy” curation, but similar in type)
But… I almost feel kinda bad listing this as the reason for curation, because honestly...
3. I think it’s important that people feel not only entitled, but rewarded, for writing about whatever is important to them. Sometimes those post will be niche posts that don’t get much appreciation, but I think it’s good when one seems to capture a lot of enthusiasm to reward that. I want people reading LW Curated posts to get a sense that sometimes, exploring your own interests will find something that excites people and gets rewarded.
I suspect that it’s best for most curated posts to cleave a bit closer to central LW topics, but think occasional variety is good.
+1 to this specifically. Taking an unformed brain and guiding it along a path to become stronger seems like the equivalent of a lab class in rationality.