I'll be at Skepticon - I'm moderating the "death" panel with Eliezer and Julia (and Greta Christina and James Croft)!
From knowing the speakers and backgrounds, I also recommend:
1) Julia's talk "The Straw Vulcan" on the interaction between rationality and emotion, 2) Spencer Greenberg's talk, Self-Skepticism: What the Tools of Science Tell Us About Our Thoughts, Beliefs, and Decisions and 3) Hemant Mehta's "The Need for More Critical Thinking in Math Education"
These, along with my panel, should all be of interest to the rationalist community. See you there!
So, are we actually going to plan something? I'll be arriving Friday night and leaving Sunday night, so Saturday is probably the best day for me. Hopefully someone who knows the city can suggest a place?
So, are we actually going to plan something?
Good question! I was hoping to have gotten more of a response by now. As I see it, here are our options:
Friday evening, during the "Drinking Skeptically" event (8:00 pm). We could either meet at the same location (whatever that turns out to be), or arrange for an alternate LW-specific event somewhere else. (I'm not much of a drinker, personally, so it's pretty much a matter of indifference to me.)
Saturday during the 12:00 pm (noon) lunch break, immediately following Eliezer's talk. This has the advantage that LW folks are particularly likely to be around at that time; unfortunately it has the disadvantage of being time-constrained (the "death" panel begins at 1:00 pm).
Saturday during the 5:00 pm dinner break. Same disadvantage as above (next event at 6:00).
Saturday evening after the day's talks are finished (i.e. 9 pm or later). (Perhaps a decent late-night dessert place?)
Sunday, 12 pm lunch break.
Sunday, after all the talks (6 pm or later).
Those attending should weigh in with what they prefer...
If any members of the Less Wrong community are planning to attend Skepticon IV this weekend (Nov. 18-20) in Springfield, Missouri (USA), it might be nice to see if we can arrange a meetup.
Feel free to comment and say "I'll be there!". (At least one prominent Less Wronger is even among the speakers.) Suggestions regarding locations, etc. from folks familiar with the local area are particularly encouraged.
Attractions this year include (besides what was mentioned above): a panel on "How Should Rationalists Approach Death?"; and a talk by Richard Carrier entitled "Bayes' Theorem: Key to the Universe" (and subtitled: that's right, I'm teaching you math, bitches!).