Anna Eplin

Karma: 36

I’m a former fundamentalist Christian turned secular humanist/atheist who deeply values rationality and critical thinking. (“I’m allowed to think for myself?!”) I have loved Eliezer’s sequences and I adore HPMOR; I also like reading other LessWrong posts when I can.

I’m also big on mental health and secular spirituality. These themes show up most in my own writing—writing is my main thing—which spans fiction, poetry, essays, and songs. My Substack blog is at annaeplin.com.

I’m from West Virginia (and still live there, though I did move around some in my 20s; I’m almost 40 now), and I’m a mother of three kids.

Anna Eplin 31 Jan 2026 2:54 UTC
2 points
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in reply to: george_adams’s comment on: Anna Eplin’s Shortform
Thank you! I didn’t know about quantified intuitions. I’m checking it out now!

Anna Eplin 30 Jan 2026 4:59 UTC
1 point
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in reply to: Screwtape’s comment on: Anna Eplin’s Shortform
I suppose this is why the comparison with Duolingo came to mind: teaching rationality is akin to teaching a whole language. We need lots of aspects of it, not just one.

Also (now I’m just introducing another thing here), ideally it would be in a style that is as friendly and non-threatening as possible—again, like Duolingo’s vibe—though obviously it couldn’t be as entirely neutral as learning a language. To be effective, it would need to leave learners feeling supported rather than shamed.

Again I think of HPMOR as a great example of all of this: it covers lots of different rationality skills and has a reader-friendly vibe.
The app’s hook might be something like “Learn to think like a scientist” or “level up your decision making skills” or “hack your own brain.” (lol, idk)
But to answer your question, if I had to pick one rationality skill that seemed most important to me personally, the one that comes to mind seems like a meta-rationality skill, which working on lots of other various rationality skills would also serve: building the habit—through training/practice—of noticing, questioning, and testing one’s beliefs.

Anna Eplin 29 Jan 2026 2:52 UTC
11 points
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in reply to: Raemon’s comment on: Anna Eplin’s Shortform
I look forward to your site!

To answer your question: similarly to how HPMOR presents rationality skills in a learning format (fiction) that is accessible to a general audience, I would love for there to be an app that, like Duolingo, teaches skills and concepts in small, guided practice sessions with little rewards for completion.

For context: I’m not in Silicon Valley surrounded by people who are already really smart and interested in rational thinking. I’m in the middle of West Virginia, surrounded by right-wing tribalism and fundamentalist evangelicalism, out of which I have clawed my way. We need all the easy, accessible help we can get with learning rationality. (HPMOR has changed my life!)

Anna Eplin 28 Jan 2026 19:08 UTC
18 points
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on: Anna Eplin’s Shortform
Has anyone yet created a free app that would be like Duolingo but for rationality, to teach skills such as logical reasoning, recognizing & adjusting for cognitive biases, and looking for hypothesis falsification tests instead of confirmation? If not, can you smart tech people here please make one?!

Anna Eplin’s Shortform

Anna Eplin24 Jan 2026 4:50 UTC

1 point

12 comments1 min readLW link

Anna Eplin 24 Jan 2026 4:50 UTC
8 points
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on: Anna Eplin’s Shortform
Inspired by you guys (LessWrong), I’m trying out a thing: a free forum website called Kindness Village, which is intended to be a safe space for people to connect and support each other. This feels like a Thing I Can Do (among other things I’m already doing) in response to my ongoing feelings of dismay about current events. I want to make a place where people can not only make authentic connections and be supported—bypassing chitchat and social media blather—but also where, theoretically, people from both sides of the political spectrum can connect in a bridge-building, tribe-expanding way.
I have no tech skills to speak of, but I did my best as of now (I just made it). Would anyone here like to come join in and lend your intelligent voice to this project? I haven’t announced it on my various channels yet; you’re first because you inspired me! The URL is kindnessvillage.org (not .com because that one was taken).

Anna Eplin 26 Mar 2025 2:09 UTC
1 point
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in reply to: Kenoubi’s comment on: Are the other Rationality: A-Z sequences coming out as books?
Add my vote too!!

Anna Eplin 28 Feb 2023 19:44 UTC
1 point
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in reply to: niplav’s comment on: Open & Welcome Thread — February 2023
Oh, I see. Thank you very much.

Anna Eplin 24 Feb 2023 17:55 UTC
2 points
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on: Open & Welcome Thread — February 2023
Hello, I’m new here and still working on reading the Sequences and the other amazing content on here; hopefully then I’ll feel more able to join in some of the discussions and things. For now, I have what I’m sure is an embarrassingly basic question, but I can’t find an answer on here anywhere and it keeps distracting me from focusing on the content: would someone please tell me what’s the deal with the little degree symbols after some links but not others?
Thank you in advance, and warm regards to you all.