CFAR is coming to the UK,and we'd love to have some Russian LWers at our next workshops

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Tara MacAulay

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Oct 29, 2014, 8:28:54 PM10/29/14
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Hey everyone,

 

My name is Tara, I'm currently an intern with the Center for Applied Rationality (CFAR) and I'd like to send out an invite to all the members of the LessWrong St Petersburg group to apply for one of our upcoming workshops in the UK. CFAR is holding two workshops in England on November 13th-18th and 21st-26th. We're expecting to gather aspiring rationalists from all over Europe together in England to spend 4 days learning and practicising the art of rationality and putting it into practice in our everyday lives. 

 

If you want to get a quick overview of what a workshop is like, watch this video from our most recent workshop

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lOLho7kzP8

 

In case you haven't heard about CFAR we're on a mission to develop the art of rationality and spread it throughout the world in an effort to both raise the sanity waterline and turn people into vastly superior versions of their past selves. CFAR aims to create a close-knit community of competent, truth-seeking individuals intent on doing good and solving the world's major problems. We focus on developing curriculum designed to increase epistemic rationality and turn people into rational agents capable of making rapid progress towards their goals. One of the ways we do this is by running fully immersive 4 day workshops in which we try to impart the spirit of rationality as well as providing techniques grounded in cognitive science research that can be applied to everyday problems. CFAR has run a series of workshops in the USA, mostly in Berkeley and New York with 2 workshops in Australia and I'm very excited to announce that we will be coming to the UK in November! This is your chance to attend a CFAR workshop a little closer to home and become a part of the first cohort of the European CFAR community.

 

CFAR workshops generally attract a diverse group of entrepreneurs, effective altruists, philosophers and analytically minded people and those familiar with LW typically feel at home in a workshop. The 4 day workshop is a chance to drastically improve your productivity and learn a bunch of instantly applicable techniques while surrounded by a pretty awesome group of people, there's plenty good conversation late into the night and lots fo fun to be had. The full price of the workshop is $3900 USD (around 3000 euros) which includes accommodation, all meals and a 6 week follow-up program designed to help keep you on track after the workshop. Keep in mind that we offer financial aid based on a combination of genuine need and the ability to create good in the world. Financial constraints are occasionally a good reason not to attend a workshop, but they should never be a reason not to apply. To apply for a workshop, simply take 2 minutes to fill out this form http://rationality.org/apply/  The application process involves a fun, casual 15 minute skype conversation with one of our instructors, Kenzi. During this interview, Kenzi will help you determine whether a CFAR workshop is right for you and will explain what sorts of things you might get out of attending. If needed, this is followed by a short financial aid interview with Anna. CFAR also offers payment plans and we have had many participants attend a workshop on the promise of deferred payment once the participant gets a job or finishes their university studies. Alternatively many participants have had their workshop funded by their employer as part of their professional development, we're happy to assist in negotiating with an employer in order to help you attend

 

If you're interested in attending a workshop anytime in the future, I suggest that you act now, flights from St Petersburg  to London will only set you back around 13000 RUB, whereas a visit to the bay area is much more. Also as an added bonus, the UK workshops are both being held in beautiful old manor houses and you'll get the chance to meet some of the people from CEA and many of your fellow European LWers.

 

If anyone has any questions about what a CFAR workshop is like, please just apply, applying online isn't a commitment to attending, merely an expression of interest, worst case scenario you lose 15 minutes and you gain a whole bunch of information!


tl;dr if you've ever considered attending a CFAR workshop, now is the time, fill out this form (1 min) to learn more about the November England workshops and get a chat with one of our instructors http://rationality.org/apply/  

 

I'm excited to meet all of those who attend in a couple of weeks! 

 

Tara

Efim Nefedov

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Oct 30, 2014, 3:00:19 AM10/30/14
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Hello Tara!
Thank you for this direct post! I will distribute it among widest possible target audience.
This mail-list is mainly for Spb meetup goers, but we have more general rationality related russia-wide group in vk social network.
Have you already found Moscow lesswrong meetup mailing list?

I will definitely seriously consider going myself.

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Nickolai Leschov

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Oct 30, 2014, 6:34:08 PM10/30/14
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Thanks for the heads-up, Tara!

Do you have the information regarding what it takes to get a UK visa, or, by chance, any tips on how to do it right? I remember hearing that it's pretty hard to get a UK visa, to the point that I consider not trying myself, just because the workshop is in the UK specifically.

Best regards,
Nickolai

Gleb Smirnov

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Oct 31, 2014, 4:35:16 AM10/31/14
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Hi Nickolai,

A tourist UK visa is actually a fairly simple thing to get. I did that about a year ago, and it only took me about 2 weeks.
The process has been simplifed since then, as far as I know. Most of it is done online, the only two times your physical presense is required is when you hand in your passport (and any additional documents such as evidence of employment or invitation letter) and when you get it back.

Here's the link that should get you started: https://www.gov.uk/apply-uk-visa

Kind Regards,
Gleb
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