The LessWrong Review is a yearly event where posts from a previous year are nominated, reviewed, and voted on.
On LessWrong we’re trying to make intellectual progress on problems that matter, but it can be hard to tell whether we’re making progress. The Annual Review is the once-yearly Schelling time to reflect, debate, discuss and vote. It’s a poke to say “remember that idea you and everyone else were obsessed with in 20xx? Did it continue to matter or was it just a fad?” It’s also the time when we can determine which contributions most affected people in the long-term, and reward those authors and inspire others to follow suit. I think it’s pretty great that when an author who invested hours into a post and greatly benefits the community, the community eventually recognizes and rewards them in some fashion.
Preliminary Voting Phase: Site members start identifying posts especially worthy of consideration in the review. Posts with 2 preliminary votes move into the Discussion Phase.
Discussion Phase: Site members begin reviewing and debating posts in earnest. This discussion will inform members on how to cast their final votes. Posts that receive at least one written review move to the Final Voting phase.
Final Voting: Site members allocate their vote budget (quadratic voting) among nominated posts. The outcome of the final determines the Annual Review results.