Last night I tried to describe the rationalist community to a friend who had never heard of it. I struggled, but finally settled on describing it as "A school of philosophy that arose on the internet rather than in the academy."
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How would you describe the rationalist community (to fresh ears)? And (while I have your attention) what are some other examples of fields born on the internet?
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Replying to @KevinSimler
In general, I love the idea of para-academic communities - the notion that serious research communities can now arise completely in parallel to standard academia. But there's not a lot of examples I know of - most are connected to LW in some way.
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Replying to @michael_nielsen @KevinSimler
I think this is incredibly important (as the university system is collapsing) and inspiring. I’d like to contribute, to the extent I can!
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Replying to @Meaningness @michael_nielsen
My vague sense is that para-academic fields suffer from being under-networked. A little too much of the non-joiner, "I'm going my own way" mentality. Not enough people building off each others' work.
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For all its faults, the academy does a great job forcing people to connect their ideas to each other's. The emphasis on credit, citations, learning the history of a field, the glory of being "first," paying homage to predecessors, etc — all contribute to the stability of a field.
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Yes… if/as para-academia develops, it will need to develop more structure and mechanisms of this sort (while also leaving freedom for experimentation and iconoclasm)
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