For a bunch of these, the minimum viable product for mentoring me is a combination of pointing me to books/textbooks and checking in on me to make sure I actually do it.
Some things I’d like mentorship on:
People willing to review my writing, and accountability on spewing out a bunch of blog posts. (and maybe on starting an actual novel!)
Operations. I’ve run a couple large projects in the past, including a group house, and there’s a lot I can do better. Would love to hear from people who have run group houses or organizations in the past.
Economics: I have most of the 101-level stuff, but could use some more specific knowledge on labor econ. Especially curious about (banking) regulation.
Math: Besides teaching myself calculus and linear algebra, I haven’t really gotten into much complicated math; someone able to point me at more advanced stuff, ideally alignment-relevant, would be much appreciated.
Programming. Ideally, I’d go through a bunch of projects you suggest in Python, with you available for occasional debugging/querying, with the goal of eventually being able to do more technical alignment work.
What are your current skills in Python and programming in general?
(Just approximately, like “never programmed at all”, “never wrote a program longer than one screen”, “senior developer in C++ but never used Python” etc.)
Took APCS (Java 101-102) in high school (culminating with coding Tetris in Java), read through Diveintopython3.net, done a bunch of miscellaneous programs in Python, lots of experience in Linux.
Hm. My background is computer science at university, about 20 years of Java, plus some Python in my free time. Chances are, you know more about Python than I do, so the useful advice I could provide would be in the “programming in general” area, which of course also applies to Python code. Either something theoretical (e.g. finite-state machines), or something from practice (e.g. test-driven development); actually those are the only two examples that come to my mind right now, but maybe if I think longer about it, I will find something more. Also, you could show me your code for a review.
If you want a project, I think a fun exercise could be to design your own toy language and write its interpreter in Python.
If you are interested, send me a private message and let’s figure out how to communicate.
*
Thinking about math, the part relevant for alignment seems to be logic. Could give you a short introduction, but nothing too advanced.
Seems like in both programming and math, I can help you make a step or two forward, but it will still be far from where you want to get. Just saying it in advance, to keep your expectations appropriately low.
Do you have a plot for your novel, or just an idea?
I have an idea on HP:MoR-like novel with different negative forces implying different setting (though still magical world and Hogwarts). I’ve also written a plot for it (with help of ChatGPT), however the plot doesn’t actually matter much to me—I just want to read an exciting story! (It also seems the most realistic way to write a novel, because the finish is not fixed in real life.)
[APPRENTICE]:
For a bunch of these, the minimum viable product for mentoring me is a combination of pointing me to books/textbooks and checking in on me to make sure I actually do it.
Some things I’d like mentorship on:
People willing to review my writing, and accountability on spewing out a bunch of blog posts. (and maybe on starting an actual novel!)
Operations. I’ve run a couple large projects in the past, including a group house, and there’s a lot I can do better. Would love to hear from people who have run group houses or organizations in the past.
Economics: I have most of the 101-level stuff, but could use some more specific knowledge on labor econ. Especially curious about (banking) regulation.
Math: Besides teaching myself calculus and linear algebra, I haven’t really gotten into much complicated math; someone able to point me at more advanced stuff, ideally alignment-relevant, would be much appreciated.
Programming. Ideally, I’d go through a bunch of projects you suggest in Python, with you available for occasional debugging/querying, with the goal of eventually being able to do more technical alignment work.
What are your current skills in Python and programming in general?
(Just approximately, like “never programmed at all”, “never wrote a program longer than one screen”, “senior developer in C++ but never used Python” etc.)
Took APCS (Java 101-102) in high school (culminating with coding Tetris in Java), read through Diveintopython3.net, done a bunch of miscellaneous programs in Python, lots of experience in Linux.
Hm. My background is computer science at university, about 20 years of Java, plus some Python in my free time. Chances are, you know more about Python than I do, so the useful advice I could provide would be in the “programming in general” area, which of course also applies to Python code. Either something theoretical (e.g. finite-state machines), or something from practice (e.g. test-driven development); actually those are the only two examples that come to my mind right now, but maybe if I think longer about it, I will find something more. Also, you could show me your code for a review.
If you want a project, I think a fun exercise could be to design your own toy language and write its interpreter in Python.
If you are interested, send me a private message and let’s figure out how to communicate.
*
Thinking about math, the part relevant for alignment seems to be logic. Could give you a short introduction, but nothing too advanced.
Seems like in both programming and math, I can help you make a step or two forward, but it will still be far from where you want to get. Just saying it in advance, to keep your expectations appropriately low.
Do you have a plot for your novel, or just an idea?
I have an idea on HP:MoR-like novel with different negative forces implying different setting (though still magical world and Hogwarts). I’ve also written a plot for it (with help of ChatGPT), however the plot doesn’t actually matter much to me—I just want to read an exciting story! (It also seems the most realistic way to write a novel, because the finish is not fixed in real life.)