Back then I was a lonely, depressed (though I didn’t know it yet) student at Rice University. I’m a night owl and sometimes I say “screw it” and allow myself to stay up as long as I want. I stayed most of one weekend in the Fondren Library reading classic SSC posts and comments
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I was familiar with Less Wrong and didn’t realize Scott posted there too under a different pseudonym. But I knew I found a mind that I’ll discuss ideas with for hours upon hours, even if mostly in my head. There’s a joy in finding someone who takes ideas very seriously.
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Community around SSC was great back then and it grew since. I frequently check /r/ssc. It’s almost like an informal, spontaneously organized debate club in which culture comes from the top: from Scott. In this culture we extend kindness and generosity to one another.
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Intellectual breadth of different members of this community is astonishing. A quick skim of comment sections will reveal people familiar with many different worlds. But I’m not here to sell SSC but rather say what it means to me.
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I’m from Poland, went to college in US, and after that I came back, spent a year in the Netherlands, and now I’m back in Poland. Partly because of my struggles with depression, mostly because of my own fault, things haven’t turned out as I had hoped (not yet!).
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Still, over these years SSC was an intellectual home for me. All of these are online and SSC is probably my main residence. I have always had different interests than my peers (reading plenty of generic non-fiction, math, economics, US history and politics, country music).
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The intellectual companionship, which I couldn’t get in the real world, I found online. SSC is one of few websites I open almost everyday, has posts that I regularly reread, and posts which have influenced me. I never met Scott but I love him for the safe haven he created.
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And dearly hope we haven’t seen the last of him. I never met you Scott, and I may never meet you, but I admire your work and see in you a kindred spirit. In the words of the great Kris Kristofferson: “Don’t let the bastards get you down.”
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Replying to @SameOldTrain @slatestarcodex
If you're ever in Seattle, first round on me :)
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Replying to @eigenrobot @slatestarcodex
Same if you’re ever in Warsaw (or Gdańsk). If things go well enough I may try applying to some PhD programs in US. But I’m a long way from there now.
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stay safe pal
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