This is several percent of my income, it works out to roughly two weeks of my labor. I could tell a story about how the ideas developed by this website improve my productivity by at least that amount. I could mention that I bought the appreciated stock I am donating because of a few specific posts about noticing confusion and market prices. The gratitude framing would hold together, but it’s not the real reason.
I notice that I have reinvested far more than two weeks of my time this year into the community. I spent two weeks at Lighthaven specifically. I had the seed of an idea in a comfy Lighthaven nook, then gathered some friends in Glass Hall and developed it. I let Eneasz peer pressure me into doing a podcast, wrote it up in my first LessWrong post, then expanded those ideas into conference talks at LessOnline, Manifest, and EA Global NYC. I attended a ridiculous number of meetups, info sessions, discussion groups, “happy hours” both with and without alcohol, developing nuanced preferences between partiful, luma, and eventbrite. I helped edit and promote a book. And schemed to put on a conference locally, with the express intent of Lighthaven-pilling my friends.
I did not have time to do all this. I’m so tired, my apartment is a mess, I’m way behind on my to-do list, my personal life has suffered, and my coworkers have started making jokes about how much time I’m spending in Berkeley. I’m also drug tested more frequently, though I’m sure that’s coincidental. So I don’t think I can make the “thanks for the productivity hack” case with a straight face.
The real reason I’m donating is that I think we’re on to something here. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about these topics. I’m excited to contribute in my small way to the infrastructure and the ideas. I expect my gratitude to date will pale in comparison to how this place and this community benefit us all in the future.
I intend to donate an amount on the order of $5k.
This is several percent of my income, it works out to roughly two weeks of my labor. I could tell a story about how the ideas developed by this website improve my productivity by at least that amount. I could mention that I bought the appreciated stock I am donating because of a few specific posts about noticing confusion and market prices. The gratitude framing would hold together, but it’s not the real reason.
I notice that I have reinvested far more than two weeks of my time this year into the community. I spent two weeks at Lighthaven specifically. I had the seed of an idea in a comfy Lighthaven nook, then gathered some friends in Glass Hall and developed it. I let Eneasz peer pressure me into doing a podcast, wrote it up in my first LessWrong post, then expanded those ideas into conference talks at LessOnline, Manifest, and EA Global NYC. I attended a ridiculous number of meetups, info sessions, discussion groups, “happy hours” both with and without alcohol, developing nuanced preferences between partiful, luma, and eventbrite. I helped edit and promote a book. And schemed to put on a conference locally, with the express intent of Lighthaven-pilling my friends.
I did not have time to do all this. I’m so tired, my apartment is a mess, I’m way behind on my to-do list, my personal life has suffered, and my coworkers have started making jokes about how much time I’m spending in Berkeley. I’m also drug tested more frequently, though I’m sure that’s coincidental. So I don’t think I can make the “thanks for the productivity hack” case with a straight face.
The real reason I’m donating is that I think we’re on to something here. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about these topics. I’m excited to contribute in my small way to the infrastructure and the ideas. I expect my gratitude to date will pale in comparison to how this place and this community benefit us all in the future.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it.