DaystarEld

> "Truly, whoever can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." — Voltaire, 1765 A man in his late forties discovers a new passion. After decades of working as a mid level manager for a restaurant chain, he starts spending his evenings deep in study, filling notebooks with...

In Part 1, I argued that the four main sources most people learn about romance from—media, family, religion/culture, and friends—are all unreliable in different ways. None of them are optimized for truth, and each comes with its own incentives, blind spots, and distortions. As I said, I'm not the first...

The Notebook is one of the most beloved romance films of the 21st century. When I run this activity, whether it’s at a rationality workshop or Vibecamp, and I ask someone to summarize what it’s about, there’s usually someone who, eyes shining bright, will happily describe what a moving love...

One of my favorite basic concepts from CFAR is the Bugs List. By writing down everything in your life that feels "off," things you'd change if you could, problems you've been meaning to solve, irritations you've learned to live with, you have a straightforward set of problems to try solving...

Do avalanches get caused by loud noises? Based on my dozen+ times giving this class or presentation, at least 7/10 of you are nodding yes, and the main reason the other 3 aren’t is that you sense a trap. So. What do you think you know, and why do you...

Since 2023 I've been directing WARP, the Wandering Applied Rationality Program, with the help of ESPR and SPARC staff, which are summer camps I've taught at since 2017. For those that don't know, these ~10 day programs are hard to summarize well, but are generally meant to create an environment...

Emotions Make Sense is a class I started teaching five years ago at various rationality camps, workshops, conferences, etc. I’ve done it maybe 40 times in total, more than any of my other ~20 classes at this point, and in those 5 years I think I’ve only encountered a handful...