I intend to run a series of rationality workshops at University of Maryland for a group of dedicated CS students. I have run five workshops so far, to an audience of about 40 students. An example of a typical lecture can be found here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17OpIeX9KWvrrcmQ-YLIKYq2PlkKDDVa2WzsuWsH6Tsk/edit?usp=sharing
I estimate that out of this group, maybe 5 or so will head in an EA direction, which honestly, given the potential lifetime earnings from a computer scientist coming out of a top school, seems like it could have pretty good ROI. I have no way of measuring the actual impact beyond "I gave a bunch of lectures about thinking clearly and trying to save people from Malaria to impressionable college students who are about to be making tons of money," but hopefully you find that compelling.
I am an experienced educator with 10 years of teaching experience at the collegiate level, as well as a dedicated lurker in the EA/LW space. I did a prototype of this class a few semesters ago as a pilot with generally positive reception. The first five of these classes have been met with massively positive feedback.
"oh right regarding that question that u asked at the start of class, the one where its like why people keep showing up. Idk about others but for me, this class is actually something I look forward to every week. It is really fun to learn all these new tricks and algorithms for better understanding life. Also so far I have been applying literally everything you have mentioned in the lectures so far and it has improved many parts of my life very different [sic]. Even the procrastination lecture, i finally understand why my friend has so much trouble with his studio landscaping projects. But yeah, that is just why i at least come to the class every week and also why i take it extremely seriously. Also the reason why i try and ditch my english class several minutes early to try and get to ur class in time."
At present, I am financing this entire project myself, but that isn't sustainable. Costs include: Weekly snacks for 40 people, prizes for solving various puzzles (typically copies of the books used to teach the class, such as Scout Mindset and The Precipice), puzzle components (they have fully destroyed two lock boxes at this point). If anyone is interested, I can provide a full account of expenses. I am happy to finance this on my own, but any assistance would be appreciated.
For further information, please contact me at maksym.morawski@gmail.com
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