Took it, did most of the extra credit questions. I think that a mixture of already being familiar with the test, and being used to consciously correcting for some bias about self perception may have thrown off my personality stuff.
beoShaffer
On a related note make sure that they are people who are actively doing X, or at least making credible progress towards it not just professing a desire to X. This is an easy mistake to make.
I forgot to ask, does spelling count on the calibration questions? Because there are several were I was less confidient of my spelling than of having the basically right answer.
Took the survey and cooperated.
in combination with his lack of technical publication
I think it would help for EY to submit more of his technical work for public judgment. Clear proof of technical skill in a related domain makes claims less likely to come off as arrogant. For that matter it also makes people more willing to accept actions that they do perceive as arrogant.
Gave $8000
[link]Mass replication of Psychology articles planed.
Always have a hand physically in contact with your key whenever you close the door to your house/apartment from the outside. I have never been locked out since I started doing this.
Dang, I was really hoping this was for some kind of SIAI kid-cloning experiment.
One groups reaction to Hamlet.
Always remember to thank them after they agree to help you and again after they’ve actually helped you, see for reference Ben Franklin effect , the 299th rule of acquisition, and the power of reinforcement.
And that people who have been raped are much (infinitely?) more likely to go one to participate in discussions on rape than people who have been murdered are likely to participate in discussions on murder. Also, that rape is more likely to bring in gender politics.
Less Wrong
The Modern Rationality Institute.
The institute for Bayesian Reasoning
Center for applied rationality.
The Applied Rationality Institute
First Rule …. p(A|X) =p(X|A)p(A) / (p(X|A)p(A) + p(X|~A)*p(~A))
Second Rule You DO NOT talk about Bayes Club.
Everyone should read Slate Star Codex by Yvain.
In addition to optimizing boring things you use frequently you should optimize boring things you do frequently. You usually need to set a side a time to do this, rather than hope you remember to do it when doing a boring thing. On a related note beware reoccurring commitments. Remember, for less than a dollar a day you can waste 300 dollars a year.
[Note: I also attended the workshop and am writing this before reading the main post to avoid being biased.]
The out of class discussions alone were more than worth my while. However this is partially due to my circumstances, I am about to graduate college with a double major in CS and psychology. Deciding which (if either) field to pursue, and how to best pursue it is obviously quite important to me. Before going to the workshop, I had already done most of the obvious “due diligence” research on the matter, but still updated significantly during the workshop. Talking to several of the other CfAR participants, the instructors, and several LW people who stopped by (Lukeprog, Yvain ect.) uncovered many important points that I had missed. For example, I assumed the median staring salary for computer scientists was a reasonable estimate for what my starting salary would be. It turns out that I can expect to make about twice that much money if I use certain job hunting techniques I learned at the workshop and optimize for money (instead of, say, cool sounding problems). I don’t expect most people to be in similar positions, but I do think asking questions at a CfAR event is a very powerful way of researching a fairly large class of problems. If all else fails pick one position and offer ridiculous side-bet odds with a high burden of proof on the other person.
As for the official lessons, if I actually internalize them all, and they work as advertised they will be some of the most important things I have learned in my life. If we take the outside view and assume that I will retain and successfully use them at the same rate as skills I learned at similar retreats then the expected value drops by more than half, but is still pretty high. Furthermore, I have several strong inside view reasons to believe I will retain more of what I learned here. The most obvious is the six weeks of follow up, but there are other reasons, like the fact that I actually slept at CfAR which should increase my retention.
-Edit, minor gramar stuff fixed. Also, I endorse the OP’s view of the workshop, except for the sleep part. In particular I forgot to mention the venue, but both the Rose Garden Inn and the food were both spectacular (this was despite my having dietary restrictions). One minor complaint, the Inn could use more writing/setting food down surfaces.
In conclusion tell CfAR “Shut up and take my money.” or you will not go to space today.
The welcome thread indicates at least one person has joined because of the article.
I’d like to take a second to recomend that people re-read Politics is the Mind-Killer because it doesn’t say what almost everyone seems to think it says.
Done