The Summer Program for Applied Rationality and Cognition (SPARC) is a camp intended for really bright high school students to get together and become more “agenty.” It was originally spun up by people around CFAR to get math students interested in AI alignment and EA, though the focus has now expanded to include more than that. I attended SPARC last year, and it was sufficiently incredible that I want to bring the news to any high schoolers here that read Lesswrong.
Please apply – You won’t regret it!
As somebody who was and still is a frequent reader of LessWrong, it might not be at first apparent that getting to interact with others your age and talking about many of the same ideas would be so pivotal. But your monkey brain will disagree. In theory, you know that agenty people exist, who work on interesting things, and that you could be one of them, but until you actually meet them, it doesn’t become real. Furthermore, finding your “tribe” of young individuals like yourself is not something to be overlooked, especially if you don’t live in a major rationalist hub. Finding people you click with is genuinely amazing. Anyway, I don’t want to go on for too long, but even if this sounds even marginally appealing, please do actually sit down and writing yourself a reminder to apply. Be the agent you want to see in the world :)
How do I apply?
https://www.sparc-camp.com/apply
Note: The program is free for all participants, with financial assistance for travel available for those who need it.
Applications are due March 6th.
More firsthand accounts of SPARC can be found here: