I’m actually in favor of keeping “The Sequences” in the title. “Rationality” is unfortunately a vague term for most people, and might even turn off some. There are several routes other than “catchy”—for ascetic purposes it’s okay to be a little esoteric. The Sequences sounds like part of something mysterious and important. Plus it fits nicely with Eliezer Yudkowski’s Bayesian Conspiracy motif.
I really dislike “The Sequences: How to become Less Wrong.” The problem I have with it is that I think it misrepresents what one of titular sequences actually is. The impression I receive is that this book offers some step by step instructions, known as the Mysterious and Capitalized “Sequences” that will improve your life and make you a better person.
...ok so maybe it’s not that far off but the point I’m trying to make here is: A book that advertises itself that way doesn’t sound legitimate. It gives me an impression of belonging to the “self-help book” category, which has a fairly bad reputation. If I saw a book with that title in a book store, I’d probably smirk at it and move on. Whereas I think that beginning the title with “Rationality” gives it a more scientific air. And I ah e to imagine that the idea here is that the cover of the book should reflect the contents as usefully as possible.
Ah, besides the Lego Turing Machine. A perfect replica … apart from the whole infinite tape thing, that’s gotta be a Lego marketing gimmick. I’d say they are apparently easy to build, but then again, the A-Team can build anything.
The Sequences: How to Become Less Wrong
I’m actually in favor of keeping “The Sequences” in the title. “Rationality” is unfortunately a vague term for most people, and might even turn off some. There are several routes other than “catchy”—for ascetic purposes it’s okay to be a little esoteric. The Sequences sounds like part of something mysterious and important. Plus it fits nicely with Eliezer Yudkowski’s Bayesian Conspiracy motif.
I really dislike “The Sequences: How to become Less Wrong.” The problem I have with it is that I think it misrepresents what one of titular sequences actually is. The impression I receive is that this book offers some step by step instructions, known as the Mysterious and Capitalized “Sequences” that will improve your life and make you a better person.
...ok so maybe it’s not that far off but the point I’m trying to make here is: A book that advertises itself that way doesn’t sound legitimate. It gives me an impression of belonging to the “self-help book” category, which has a fairly bad reputation. If I saw a book with that title in a book store, I’d probably smirk at it and move on. Whereas I think that beginning the title with “Rationality” gives it a more scientific air. And I ah e to imagine that the idea here is that the cover of the book should reflect the contents as usefully as possible.
The Bayesian Conspiracy
The Bayesian Conspiracy: How to Become Less Wrong
Or some other suggested title with The Bayesian Conspiracy added/substituted?
The Sequence-Less Conspiracy: How to Become Bayesian-Wrong?
We need to enable the old steam-powered Permutation-Machine!
It’s over by the hand-cranked Von Neumann Machine.
Ah, besides the Lego Turing Machine. A perfect replica … apart from the whole infinite tape thing, that’s gotta be a Lego marketing gimmick. I’d say they are apparently easy to build, but then again, the A-Team can build anything.