San Diego Rationalists

Welcome to our regular meetup! We talk about rationality, thinking, reasoning, relationships, science, math, economics, technology, and everything else. If you're interested in thinking and talking about ideas we'd love to hear what's on your mind. We love to share ideas, discuss, debate, learn and grow together. Don't worry about being the "right" kind of person - you most definitely are. Please join us!

This month, we'll be discussing a debate between Robin Hanson and Scott Alexander on the effectiveness of medicine. To have a productive conversation, we are asking that people read the material beforehand.

The chronological order of the post is as follows:

* https://www.econlib.org/archives/2006/10/robin_hanson_on_1.html
* https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/medical-doubts-opedhtml
* https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/contra-hanson-on-medical-effectiveness
* https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/response-to-scott-alexander-on-medical
* https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/response-to-hanson-on-health-care
* https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/second-response-to-alexander-on-medicine

However, I don't think this is the best order to read them. I think Robin is unclear about exactly what he's arguing in the beginning. In particular, he's not he's arguing that all medicine doesn't work and I don't want people to go down the route (like I did) thinking that. I think his position is best articulated in this post: https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/response-to-scott-alexander-on-medical
Then, you can read on chronologically from there, referencing the old ones when you need to, or go back and read through them chronologically, or do something else. Also, feel free to skim/skip the oldest one.

You don't need to have followed every word, but we would like you to have a good understanding of their main arguments. Feel free to bring your questions or thoughts, and if you find the readings challenging, that's perfectly fine—we're here to explore together. We look forward to seeing you there!

Welcome to our annual Schelling point meetup! If you only come to one event a year, make it this one!

We talk about rationality, thinking, reasoning, relationships, science, math, economics, technology, and everything else. If you're interested in thinking and talking about ideas we'd love to hear what you are thinking about. We love to share ideas, discuss, debate, learn and grow together. Don't worry about being the "right" kind of person—you most definitely are. Please join us!

Pizza will be provided. Let me know if you have any dietary restrictions other than vegetarian.

Some people like to bring a blanket to lay out on the grass. Others like to bring a friend—the more the merrier!

Let's discuss the status quo in the education system. Bryan Caplan in his book 'The Case Against Education' claims it is mostly signaling and because of that, even if the returns from education for individuals are mostly good, the returns for the society are mostly zero or negative. As such, he recommends cutting government spending on education (separate state and school) and instead putting more value on vocational education and allowing labor for underage kids. We can start by talking about the following:

1. his claims with respect to signaling
2. his proposals regarding the change of status quo
3. possible changes to education in the digital era

Even though the book covers all education, let's focus on higher education. If you haven't read the book, ChatGPT gives a good summary. Also, a review from Scott Aaronson: https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=3678

Kirill will be hosting this event.