What we're about

About:
Welcome to the hub for all things in Portland related to effective altruism and rationality aka PEAR!

Effective altruism is about using reason and evidence to do the most good we can with our limited resources.
In the rationality community, we aspire to improve our reasoning and decision making and address the biases that prevent us from holding true beliefs and accomplishing our goals.

Please feel free to come out, even if, like many of us, you feel awkward, feel that you're not the typical rationalist or effective altruist, are worried that people won't like you, are just curious, or have read this far, etc.

Events:
All events will be posted here on Meetup, on our public calendar, and sent out from our mailing list. You can also check out the previous events we've hosted, and keep the conversation going on our Discord. If you have any other questions, please message us anytime here on Meetup or at support@pearcommunity.com.

More Info:
Check out PEAR's website here! Otherwise, for more information on rationality, here’s a brief explanation on LessWrong, or dive into some of the posts on Scott Alexander’s blog. For more information on effective altruism, visit effectivealtruism.org.

Community Health and Safety:
It is a priority to make our group a place that feels safe and welcoming for everyone who is interested in contributing to or learning from the Rationality or EA movement, and in particular, to be a place that is safe and welcoming for members of groups that are currently underrepresented in our community. We expect members to respect one another at all times, and will take action to prevent inappropriate behavior.

  1. If you'd like to give us feedback:
    Feedback Form: https://forms.gle/avYJccNhbVGufGFi7

  2. If you'd like to report a concern:
    Contact Organizer Team: support@pearcommunity.com
    Contact Sam: scelarek@gmail.com

  3. If you have any urgent concerns, but for any reason prefer not to reach out to the PEAR support team about them
    CEA Community Health Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScJooJD0Sm2csCYgd0Is6FkpyQa3ket8IIcFzd_FcTRU7avRg/viewform

Upcoming events (4+)

PEAR Dinner Social

1207 SE Hawthorne Blvd

When: 5:30pm every other Thursday
Where: Cartopia at 1207 SE Hawthorne
About:
This is PEAR Social at Cartopia, one of our favorite spots with the Firepits, thai food, and heated tent. If you're new, this is a great way to meet people in the group and find out what we are about in a low - key social setting. If you've been before, you know it is where some of the most unexpected and insightful conversations take place. Can't wait to see you!

Cartopia Description:

  • This 8-cart pod sits a couple of blocks away from Hawthorne Asylum and features 3 roaring fire pits and a heated tent for colder weather. Pyro Pizza is a standout here, with a brick pizza oven in the trailer serving up popular wood-fired pizzas. Potato Champion’s poutine is another cart popular with locals for a late night bite, as this pod is open later than most others.

Contacts:
Lead: Jeremy at[masked]
Support: Conor
Support: Sam at[masked]

Bi-Weekly Meetup: Using Scaling to Predict AI Progress

3246 NE 57th Ave

When: 5:00-7:30 pm
Where: Beeminder's (Daniel Reeves's) House at 3246 NE 57th Ave, Portland, OR 97213

About:
This is a Bi-Weekly PEAR Meetup, where we talk about recent posts on EA, ACX, or LessWrong or do something else interesting. Please feel free to come, even if, like many of us, you feel awkward about it, feel that you're not the typical rationalist or effective altruist, are completely new to either community, or worry that people won't like you, etc.
Food will be provided! With most options being vegetarian or vegan. Can't wait to see you!

Topic:
Using Scaling to Predict AI Progress

Contact:
Lead: Amaryllis
Support: Sam at[masked]
Support: Lukas at[masked]

Article Discussions (Hosted by Solutions)

Online event

---- This event is hosted by a PEAR adjacent group ----
When: 7:00pm on every Monday
Where: Online at https://discord.io/solutions

About:
Every Monday, the Solutions Discord server hosts Article Discussions - we read an interesting article about news, technology, ethics, politics, or anything else we find interesting, and then we talk about our thoughts on it!
Discussions are open to everyone's involvement. We vote on, and announce, articles each week in the Discord server, so stay tuned there for the latest info!

Topic:
Check the Discord "Article Announcements Channel"
HOW TO JOIN: Sign up for Discord and join our server (https://discord.io/solutions). You'll need some sort of mic (you can also join using the Discord app on your phone).
Solutions is a podcast/publication/community hosted by Elias Jackson and Grant Erwin that tackles societal and economic problems using evidence and reason. https://medium.com/solutions

## Other links

PEAR Dinner Social

1207 SE Hawthorne Blvd

When: 5:30pm every other Thursday
Where: Cartopia at 1207 SE Hawthorne
About:
This is PEAR Social at Cartopia, one of our favorite spots with the Firepits, thai food, and heated tent. If you're new, this is a great way to meet people in the group and find out what we are about in a low - key social setting. If you've been before, you know it is where some of the most unexpected and insightful conversations take place. Can't wait to see you!

Cartopia Description:

  • This 8-cart pod sits a couple of blocks away from Hawthorne Asylum and features 3 roaring fire pits and a heated tent for colder weather. Pyro Pizza is a standout here, with a brick pizza oven in the trailer serving up popular wood-fired pizzas. Potato Champion’s poutine is another cart popular with locals for a late night bite, as this pod is open later than most others.

Contacts:
Lead: Jeremy at[masked]
Support: Conor
Support: Sam at[masked]

Past events (274)

Article Discussions (Hosted by Solutions)

This event has passed