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Two publicity ideas

by NancyLebovitz
3rd Dec 2010
1 min read
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12

Personal Blog

12

Two publicity ideas
5David_Gerard
2[anonymous]
1NancyLebovitz
0[anonymous]
0David_Gerard
1NancyLebovitz
2Nick_Tarleton
0NancyLebovitz
1waitingforgodel
0NancyLebovitz
1DanArmak
0Kutta
1NancyLebovitz
0nazgulnarsil
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[-]David_Gerard15y50

The very simple ideas, perhaps? I'm talking about simple on the level of:

  • It is possible to think about your thinking.
  • It is possible to thus make it better.

These seem assumed by EY's sequences, but I can't find something that specifically asserts and explains them.

(Edit: Tetronian notes that The Lens That Sees Its Flaws covers this idea.)

And these points do need expressly asserting and explaining, because surprising people with these two notions and getting people to notice their minds for the first time is a lot of how nasty memetic infections get to people. (I'm thinking specifically of Scientology, and watching this happen to someone, but if they can do it then lesser but still nasty infections can do the same.)

I suppose "how do I know what I know?" and "why do I believe what I believe?" are about this low level.

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[-][anonymous]15y20

This idea is discussed pretty early on in the Sequences; I always found that post to be one of the most compelling.

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[-]NancyLebovitz15y10

That essay strikes me as asserting that people can improve their thinking, but having very little detail about how, or about the process of getting over the psychological hump for those who are committed to the impossibility of improving their thinking rather than just ignorant of it.

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[-][anonymous]15y00

Agreed--but I was following David's advice and keeping it simple.

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[-]David_Gerard15y00

And I read that one just yesterday, but didn't spot it today as being in there ...

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[-]NancyLebovitz15y10

Those are very important ideas, though I think it's possible to go somewhat farther. Conveying the idea that updating is important, and that it's valuable to appreciate it when people update instead of mocking them for having been wrong, for example.

Taking five minutes to think also seems like a sufficiently simple idea.

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[-]Nick_Tarleton15y20

"Twelve Virtues of Rationality" exists in pamphlet form.

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[-]NancyLebovitz15y00

Yudkowsky.net is down.

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[-]waitingforgodel15y10

http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/yudkowsky.net

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[-]NancyLebovitz15y00

Now that I can see it (earlier, your link signaled down for everyone), I can tell that it doesn't have contact information.

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[-]DanArmak15y10

Anime adaptation of MoR!

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[-]Kutta15y00

We'd need to invent the category of fanfiction fananime to bypass the copyright issues.

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[-]NancyLebovitz15y10

Would it be enough to just change the names in the story? This includes having substitutes for "wizard" and "muggle" as well as for the character names.

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[-]nazgulnarsil15y00

I think animated shorts are the best bet for wide dissemination.

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14Comments

Here's the easy idea-- how about a brochure about LW and SIAI? I was just at a couple of science fiction conventions, and it occurred to me that if there were a brochure, I could have printed it out and put it on the freebie table.

The hard idea is Sesame Street for rationalism-- entertaining video that dramatizes rationality. This would require money and possibly talents which aren't currently in the community, but I think a good bit of rationality could be dramatized, and it would be a big win for raising the rationality waterline.