You started with an intent to associate SIAI with self delusion and then tried to find a way to package it as some kind of rationality related general point.
No, I’d love another example to use so that people don’t have this kind of emotional reaction. Please suggest one if you have one.
UPDATE: I thought of a better example on the train today and changed it.
I’m Aaron Swartz. I used to work in software (including as a cofounder of Reddit, whose software that powers this site) and now I work in politics. I’m interested in maximizing positive impact, so I follow GiveWell carefully. I’ve always enjoyed the rationality improvement stuff here, but I tend to find the lukeprog-style self-improvement stuff much more valuable. I’ve been following Eliezer’s writing since before even the OvercomingBias days, I believe, but have recently started following LW much more carefully after a couple friends mentioned it to me in close succession.
I found myself wanting to post but don’t have any karma, so I thought I’d start by introducing myself.
I’ve been thinking on-and-off about starting a LessWrong spinoff around the self-improvement stuff (current name proposal: LessWeak). Is anyone else interested in that sort of thing? It’d be a bit like the Akrasia Tactics Review, but applied to more topics.