New Meetup Announcement Thread

[Ham Nox]

Schelling Day: A Rationalist Holiday

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I challenge every person reading this (ESPECIALLY YOU!) to leave ONE piece of feedback regarding what you think about this event. Before, during, or after. One sentence. Can you do that?
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Why should I care?

• There will be dinner! Eat food!
• Hang out with and befriend generally awesome people!
• Have friends or family you want to introduce to rationality? This makes a great appeal for emotional thinkers!
• Generate hedons and warm fuzzies!
• Generate fond memories to be nostalgic about!
• Receive empathy for what's going on in your life!
• Gain arbitrary Kudo points for having come!

I like hanging out with just generally awesome people. It's why I started this group in the first place!

Spending time with people is fun. But getting to know people—really, truly getting to know people—is hard. Rewarding, but hard.

Sharing your fondest hopes and deepest fears is a powerful way to make connections, but exposing your soul like that terrifying. Worse, it’s awkward. There are few socially appropriate times to bring up stuff like that. Even when everything works out beautifully, getting it started feels stressful and not-fun.

As soon as people are in a context where everyone agrees that sharing is normal (e.g. an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, or a conversation with a therapist, or Truth or Dare), the stigma and self-consciousness don’t hold people back nearly as much.

This is our version of Truth or Dare: optimized for more plausible deniability, more warm fuzzy feelings, less debasement†, and more genuine connection with other people.

• Five different flavors of Truth: Struggles, Joys, Confessions, Hopes, and Miscellaneous.
• To provide plausible deniability, everyone rolls a die before speaking. A one means you cannot speak your turn, a 6 means you MUST.
• What happens in the Schelling Game stays in the Schelling Game.

This game is traditionally meant to played every April 14th, the birthday of Thomas Schelling, for the obvious reason‡, followed by dinner and socializing. I moved it around a bit to get it on the weekend instead of a Monday.

Any of that interest you? All you have to do is:

• RSVP now. I won't hold it against you if you back out later.
• Show up at 9771 S 170 E, Sandy UT
  2:45pm on April 20th. If you come in after we start the game at 3:00, please wait for the lull between speakers to announce yourself.
• Find us near the Trax station on 9800, just north of Dewey Bluth Park. There will be a small boat in the driveway.
• Bring your observations on what you've been up to since last meetup, if you've got any to share.
• Children are welcome, provided they are mature enough to either handle the adult themes in the game, or entertain themselves mostly unsupervised while we play.
• Anyone who brings Potluck contributions will get Two Rationality Points. If you'd like to show some non-food support for this and other events, I have a PayItSquare set up: http://www.payitsquare.com/collect-page/edit/24123

Thank you for your time, and thank you for being part of the most fun, engaging, and all-around rewarding social group I know.

(†) Don't worry about missing the discomfort and humiliation of dares. That will be the focus of a different game, later in the year >:-D Muahahahahahaha!
(‡) A Schelling point is is a solution that people will tend to use in the absence of communication, because it seems natural, special or relevant to them. This is an arbitrary consensus point for changing social rules. It fits.

PS: Be warned--warm fuzzy feelings are fun, but they do run a risk of skewing your view of people. It is up to you to find the appropriate benefit/cost balance.

[Ham Nox]

By the way, RSVP can happen through mheis...@gmail.com or 801-897-8273 or the Facebook LWSLC group. You can still come if you don't, but I prefer having a preliminary headcount.

[Ima Junryou]

I'm all for new holidays to round out my calendar, and this one is interesting.  I'm intrigued by the "Dare-Free Truth Or Dare -- Now With Five Flavors Of Truth!"  This sounds fun all around!

[Ham Nox]

 May 2014 - Improving the Brain
The brain is probably the most powerful tool we've got as human beings, being the tool that makes other tools. But can it be improved upon?

Let's talk about it!

• Discover what low-hanging fruit there are to help you operate at your peak. 
• Share your personal tricks for using brainpower to solve problems in directed ways
• Explore the ways that technology is used to be an 'exobrain' for mental tasks like calculations, remembering birthdays and appointments, etc.
• Get up to speed on the basics and the cutting edge of brain enhancement, from simple self-care to nootropics.
• Get specific feedback and positive reinforcement on valuable habits of good thinking and success.
• Receive empathy and support for struggles with akrasia and intellectual integrity.. and maybe brag a little after you've won the battle.
• Hang out with just generally awesome people! (We like awesome people, you should definitely come!)

Any of that interest you? All you have to do is:

•  Show up at Kafeneios Coffeehouse on May 3rd @ 3pm
• •  (258 W 3300 S, Salt Lake City)
• • Look for the girl with the plaid shirt and fedora, she'll probably be there.
• Nootropics, diet/exercise, mental exercises, assistive technology... If it's something you do or are interested in to help you operate at the top of your game, bring it along to share!

• Bring your observations on what you've been up to since last meetup, if you've got any to share.

• Leave your politics, or other ideas that you identify with or are emotionally invested in, at the door. 

Thank you for your time, and thank you for being part of the most fun, engaging, and all-around rewarding social group I know.

If you have any questions or if there is anything at all bothering you, please don't hesitate to message me. And please err on the side of asking; it costs little to address your concerns if they're trivial and costs a lot to ignore them if they're not.

[Ham Nox]

Summer Solstice 2014

Sunday June 22, 2014 2pm

9771 S. 170 E.

This is an event to bring all the friends and family to. There will be singing, food, friends, and most of all, an opportunity to bring the best of yourself.

There is one rule: that everyone who comes brings a gift. Everyone. Not just any gift; it must be something of your own make and one for all to enjoy.
What do you have to share?
* A few words from the heart
* A song to sing
* A story to tell
* A lesson to give
* A moment of entertainment
* A craft or creation
* Whatever else you can think of.

But please, don't stress yourself over it. This is not a talent contest. Showboating is highly discouraged. You can make a contribution as small or grand as you like. Whether you spend 4 days or 4 seconds on it what we really want to see is something that is *yours*.

The specific aims of this ritual are to invoke:
* A sense of unity and connection within the community 
* Pride in teamwork and contribution as part of achievement
* Appreciation for the contributions of others, and for the unique set of circumstances that brought about Us.
* Determination to go on succeeding at life

The plan is to do a practice run first on Saturday 2pm, anyone who wants to come and be part of the decisive effort to figure out what works is welcome to that. Come an hour before the real one if you'd like some time and materials to make a last minute project :P

[Carrie Joy]

So, does it "officially" start at 2:00 or 3:00?

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[Melanie Heisey]

Depends what you mean by officially. The event starts at 2 pm. An hour
or so before that we have Art stuff out for those who want to do
something last-minute. Probably won't get to the meat of the event
until 2:30 or 3:00.

On 6/19/14, Carrie Joy <tunin...@gmail.com> wrote:
> So, does it "officially" start at 2:00 or 3:00?
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 17, 2014 at 11:27 PM, Ham Nox <mheis...@gmail.com> wrote:
>

>> *Summer Solstice 2014*

--
Melanie Heisey

Mobile: 801.897.8273
AIM: MHeiseyNox
Hotmail: MHeis...@hotmail.com
Meebo: HamNox

[Ham Nox]

No time for meetups? Akrasia got you down?

Come onto the LW study hall for a pomodoro or two. Newcomers always welcome: http://tinychat.com/lesswrong 

[Ham Nox]

August Lightning Talks

WHEN: 09 August 2014 4:45PM

WHERE: Steamhead Cafe, 2470 S Main St, Salt Lake City, Utah 84115

The irony of hosting a rationalist meetup by a witch's store amuses me. This actually takes place right around the tail end of a polyamory meetup, if you'd like to attend that as well.

This is an open subject night. Everyone who wants to gets 10 minutes to lead a topic, called a "Lightning talk".

My topic of interest is: What kind of everyday assumptions does each philosophy/religion encourage people to implicitly act on? What meta-heuristics are being used? Is there a significant difference between being a pastafarian and a subgenii?

This sort of thing is easiest to notice when there are comparative clashes, such as the difference in the values of individualism vs. collectivism in America vs. Japan.

[Ham Nox]

Inform yourself of how your own brain approaches problems as we delve deeper into Khaneman's Thinking Fast and Slow, and try out some tried and true rationality skills based off of the work of the Center for Applied Rationality.

What our meetup does in general:

• Give specific feedback and positive reinforcement on valuable habits of good thinking and success.
  
• Empathize and assist with akrasia troubles and struggles of intellectual integrity.. and celebrate every achievement along the way!
  
• Spread general awesomeness to all.
  

If that's the sort of group you want, all you have to do is show up. To get the best experience, bring your observations on what you've been up to since last meetup, and leave behind your politics, or other ideas built directly into your identity or emotional wellbeing, at the door.

If you have any questions or if there is anything at all bothering you, please don't hesitate to message me at 801.897.8273 or shoot me an email.
Please err on the side of asking; it costs little to address your concerns if they're trivial and costs a lot to ignore them if they aren't.

[Ham Nox]

The meetup for this month is on

January 24th, at 3pm.

We will meet at Kafeneios Coffeehouse on 3300 South.