How can we improve the pitiful birthrates of the rationalist community?

What is it with Senpais respect for Vinay Gupta, which appears to be entirely uncalled for when looking at VG's online persona?
I haven't read the "Gupta on Enlightenment" post, because damn do I not care about the object level here, but VG posting in the comment section makes me think SA wasn't exactly being negative about him. I also didn't have the impression that he was being ironic when he was shilling the Luna Coin thing.
What am I missing here? Is VG much more likable / credible in person than in the comment section? Is VG revered by people in SA's circle of friends? Is it an in-joke?

So what exactly is postrationalism and how does it differ from rationalism?

autocorrect conspiracy

I'll start:

>You've presented me a gish gallop of claims which are so anti-true that I am losing sleep over them. I have never experienced rage this intense in my entire life; I can actually feel slight nausea. I find myself wondering how you can even conjure up so many evil, slimy, bold-facedly inaccurate things to say. If you were as well-read in Eliezer's writings as would be required for you to be justified in having made any blanket evaluations of LW rationality, there's no way you would have conveyed your disagreement exactly like this, and I am lead to believe you are intentionally creating hostility for some reason, despite actually being oblivious to Eliezer's beliefs and the practices of the LW community.

>And I still want to reconcile with you, calmly and peacefully, because I expect that my gut is probably deceiving me about your intentions. There are so many causes for people saying wrong things, and usually the cause is not bad intent.

CMV: Suicide is a rational choice for many people

Life has no meaning.
Due to that the only thing that really matters is the quality of the journey. Do you enjoy the Dance/Game of life.
If most of the time Life is shitty for you (High amounts of suffering), even if nothing terrible really happens. You're probably better off dead. Why would you like to experience a shitty time?

Possible counterarguments – answers
Not everybody feel more suffering than joy in their life – It's true, but many do. I would assume > 10%. Many of these people choose to live only due to fear of death, or to serve ideologies, religions or other spooks. They are being used by the system just like animals that are bred for their meat. It doesn't mean their life worth experiencing.

Even if it's rational to commit suicide, it's not easy or sometimes even possible, Survival instinct is a bitch – I agree, My argument only says that's the "rational" thing to do, the one that makes sense. Not that's it's easy or always possible.

Some people live for other people – Agreed again, if you have dependents (like small children) maybe it's better you won't kill yourself and leave them alone. Your friends/parents/wife are also a reasonable reason, but weaker IMO - if they really love you they should understand that death might be better for you.

https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/07/04/some-clarifications-on-rationalist-blogging/

> Insofar as SSC makes any pretensions to rationality at all, it’s a rationalist picnic and not a rationalist monastery. (…) Everything above applies to SSC’s engagement with effective altruism too, except 100x more. (…) I’ve been consistently skeptical of claims that rationality has much practical utility if you’re already pretty smart and have good intuitions and domain-specific knowledge. (…) In any case, if rationality has much practical utility for your everyday life, you won’t find that practical utility here.

Did anything happen recently? Is it in response to something?

While Scott claims he doesn't distance himself from the community, it sounds like " rationality and EA are interesting, but they might make little to no practical difference, treat them as interesting concepts, but don't expect me to continue providing substantial input on things in the movement, calling out bad actors or addressing controversies". As much as I'd like Scott to remain heavily involved, I respect his need for autonomy and keeping SSC a place for people with diverse backgrounds.

I consider applying for an unpaid internship at CEA. Have you had any experiences with them? If you could choose, would you go for the Berkeley or Oxford office?

How should you deal with issues of anger and resentment?

https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/07/02/editing-unsong/

> "onoes, what if someone calls me racist for an absolutely fucking inoffensive joke about china D: D: D:"

please someone archive.is the entire novel before scott cucks it up kthx ?

let's see if /ratanon/ Gets Shit Done or if this board is less capable than fucking /tg/