Hey everyone! I’m Birdy, and currently in my second-to last-year of Germany’s equivalent of high school.
I’ve discovered LessWrong only about two months ago, after I saw someone mention HPMOR in their “top-ten-lifechanger-books ever”-list in a reddit thread. Needless to say, I was really confused and curious, because what crazy kind of fanfiction permanently affects people’s lives? So I looked it up online, and started reading. I stumbled upon LessWrong shortly after, while going down the rationality-rabbithole a bit further. And so, here I am, and genuinely believe that discovering this place is one of the greatest things to happen to me so far.
Arriving here felt like seeing sense in the world for the first time; my parents and brother aren’t involved in science or academics at all (unless you count the “alternative medicine” and pseudo-science my mum regularly gets from facebook). I genuinely wasn’t aware there even was a place like LessWrong, or that discussions could even be so civil, reasonable and informative.
I know I still have a lot to learn, even more to un-learn, but I’m looking forward to the journey. Two months already made me notice countless small, positive changes in the way I think and see myself and the world. (The only troublesome side effect: school has become much less tolerable as a whole. I’m truly trying to get through it with top grades, but now that I see how much time I waste there, it’s much harder to try and be interested in the actual material...)
When I was fourteen, I decided to become a politician; mostly out of frustration with where the world is headed, and how little I could to prevent it. I’m still very much interested in trying to help save the world from going to hell in the next few decades, but I’m very uncertain as to whether or not my current job aspirations are really the best way to reach that goal.
Regardless; I’m very glad to be here, and excited to contribute in whichever way I can.
I felt much warmth reading your intro. I remember how magical LessWrong was for me when I first discovered it. (Now, almost a decade in, I have a different feeling towards it, but I remain deeply proud to participate in this community.)
All of which is to say that I feel vicarious excitement for the experiences you have ahead of you. I look forward to meeting you in person one day. : )
(The only troublesome side effect: school has become much less tolerable as a whole. I’m truly trying to get through it with top grades, but now that I see how much time I waste there, it’s much harder to try and be interesting in the actual material...)
I looked into the half-assing-thing, and found that it might actually be somewhat helpful for me (in the sense that I’ll stop putting so much effort in the subjects that aren’t as relevant/rewarding when it’s not necessary). This is something I’ve struggled with for quite a while, so thank you for the resources as well, I appreciate the effort :)
Welcome from a fellow German here! IIRC I also stumbled on Less Wrong via HPMoR, though back then the story wasn’t even finished yet.
I must say, I’m impressed with the quality of your English writing at that age!
If you’re ambitious and driven to choose a career to make the world a better place, check out the resources at 80,000 Hours from the Less-Wrong-adjacent Effective Altruism community. They’ve done lots of research and thinking into various career paths and their expected impacts, requirements, etc. They’re not perfect, in that they e.g. expect a lot from their readers, and below a certain level of ambition and conscientiousness much of their advice might not be particularly applicable. But now might be a good time to check whether their resources could be useful to you.
If you think you could benefit from chatting with someone to get a rough overview of the landscapes of Less Wrong or effective altruism, I’m available to chat. I’m mostly a longtime lurker in the community, but I do have enough familiarity with it that I can at least point towards further resources on most topics.
Thanks for the offer; if I end up having any questions, I’ll take you up on it.
I also looked into the 80,000 Hours community, and although I didn’t get very far yet, it seems quite promising. It’s definitely a lot to take in, but I think you’re right; it would be useful for me now to at least dive into it for a few hours and then decide whether or not to continue.
I appreciate the compliment, as well—I’ve been working on developing sufficient writing skills for a while now, and am very happy to hear it pays off.
Politicians still have a lot of power in our society, so it’s one way to create change.
Given what you wrote about your background I think there’s a good change that you currently don’t have a good source about how people become politicians in Germany.
German politics differs from US politics in that money isn’t central for becoming a job as a politician. What’s central is how the people who go to the meetings of the party for which you want to be elected see you.
If you want to become a politician it’s good to join one of the parties that has representatives in your state (Bundesland) early and participate in discussions.
There’s a lot of tension between moving to the views that the other people in your party have which is partly necessary to be accepted and seen as trustworthy and then contributing your own views. If you have detailed ideas and write them up in a motion and the other people support that motion that’s one of the ways to earn an reputation as someone valuable to have around. Depending on the local enviroment it can also be very important with whom you build relationships in addition to your general reputation for being thoughtful.
You’re right—I don’t have even half as much of a clue about the whole process as I’d like to have, yet. I very much appreciate that you took the time to explain the basics to me.
Looking for reasonably reliable sources, joining a party, and building a certain reputation there should be extremely high on my list of priorities right now. I’ll be looking to check them off as soon as possible.
Welcome! That’s very similar to how I arrived here (also discovered HPMOR in german high-school, also ran into LessWrong afterwards and started everything else Eliezer had written), so I hope you end up having a good time. I hope I get to see you around more! :)
Hey everyone! I’m Birdy, and currently in my second-to last-year of Germany’s equivalent of high school.
I’ve discovered LessWrong only about two months ago, after I saw someone mention HPMOR in their “top-ten-lifechanger-books ever”-list in a reddit thread. Needless to say, I was really confused and curious, because what crazy kind of fanfiction permanently affects people’s lives? So I looked it up online, and started reading. I stumbled upon LessWrong shortly after, while going down the rationality-rabbithole a bit further. And so, here I am, and genuinely believe that discovering this place is one of the greatest things to happen to me so far.
Arriving here felt like seeing sense in the world for the first time; my parents and brother aren’t involved in science or academics at all (unless you count the “alternative medicine” and pseudo-science my mum regularly gets from facebook). I genuinely wasn’t aware there even was a place like LessWrong, or that discussions could even be so civil, reasonable and informative.
I know I still have a lot to learn, even more to un-learn, but I’m looking forward to the journey. Two months already made me notice countless small, positive changes in the way I think and see myself and the world. (The only troublesome side effect: school has become much less tolerable as a whole. I’m truly trying to get through it with top grades, but now that I see how much time I waste there, it’s much harder to try and be interested in the actual material...)
When I was fourteen, I decided to become a politician; mostly out of frustration with where the world is headed, and how little I could to prevent it. I’m still very much interested in trying to help save the world from going to hell in the next few decades, but I’m very uncertain as to whether or not my current job aspirations are really the best way to reach that goal.
Regardless; I’m very glad to be here, and excited to contribute in whichever way I can.
Hello and welcome!
I felt much warmth reading your intro. I remember how magical LessWrong was for me when I first discovered it. (Now, almost a decade in, I have a different feeling towards it, but I remain deeply proud to participate in this community.)
All of which is to say that I feel vicarious excitement for the experiences you have ahead of you. I look forward to meeting you in person one day. : )
I think this would not have helped me very much, so YMMV, but one frame you might want to consider is that of half-assing [school] with everything you’ve got.
Thanks a lot for kind words!
I looked into the half-assing-thing, and found that it might actually be somewhat helpful for me (in the sense that I’ll stop putting so much effort in the subjects that aren’t as relevant/rewarding when it’s not necessary). This is something I’ve struggled with for quite a while, so thank you for the resources as well, I appreciate the effort :)
I’m interested what are you feelings from lesswrong now?
Welcome from a fellow German here! IIRC I also stumbled on Less Wrong via HPMoR, though back then the story wasn’t even finished yet.
I must say, I’m impressed with the quality of your English writing at that age!
If you’re ambitious and driven to choose a career to make the world a better place, check out the resources at 80,000 Hours from the Less-Wrong-adjacent Effective Altruism community. They’ve done lots of research and thinking into various career paths and their expected impacts, requirements, etc. They’re not perfect, in that they e.g. expect a lot from their readers, and below a certain level of ambition and conscientiousness much of their advice might not be particularly applicable. But now might be a good time to check whether their resources could be useful to you.
If you think you could benefit from chatting with someone to get a rough overview of the landscapes of Less Wrong or effective altruism, I’m available to chat. I’m mostly a longtime lurker in the community, but I do have enough familiarity with it that I can at least point towards further resources on most topics.
Thanks for the offer; if I end up having any questions, I’ll take you up on it.
I also looked into the 80,000 Hours community, and although I didn’t get very far yet, it seems quite promising. It’s definitely a lot to take in, but I think you’re right; it would be useful for me now to at least dive into it for a few hours and then decide whether or not to continue.
I appreciate the compliment, as well—I’ve been working on developing sufficient writing skills for a while now, and am very happy to hear it pays off.
Politicians still have a lot of power in our society, so it’s one way to create change.
Given what you wrote about your background I think there’s a good change that you currently don’t have a good source about how people become politicians in Germany.
German politics differs from US politics in that money isn’t central for becoming a job as a politician. What’s central is how the people who go to the meetings of the party for which you want to be elected see you.
If you want to become a politician it’s good to join one of the parties that has representatives in your state (Bundesland) early and participate in discussions.
There’s a lot of tension between moving to the views that the other people in your party have which is partly necessary to be accepted and seen as trustworthy and then contributing your own views. If you have detailed ideas and write them up in a motion and the other people support that motion that’s one of the ways to earn an reputation as someone valuable to have around. Depending on the local enviroment it can also be very important with whom you build relationships in addition to your general reputation for being thoughtful.
You’re right—I don’t have even half as much of a clue about the whole process as I’d like to have, yet. I very much appreciate that you took the time to explain the basics to me.
Looking for reasonably reliable sources, joining a party, and building a certain reputation there should be extremely high on my list of priorities right now. I’ll be looking to check them off as soon as possible.
Thanks a lot!
Maybe this overview over some career paths in German politics is helpful: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/7FqszSxJ6NHBcZ7nW/report-on-careers-in-politics-and-policy-in-germany
It is! Thank you!
Welcome! That’s very similar to how I arrived here (also discovered HPMOR in german high-school, also ran into LessWrong afterwards and started everything else Eliezer had written), so I hope you end up having a good time. I hope I get to see you around more! :)