<![CDATA[Astral Codex Ten]]>https://www.astralcodexten.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bGN2!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F430241cb-ade5-4316-b1c9-6e3fe6e63e5e_256x256.pngAstral Codex Tenhttps://www.astralcodexten.comSubstackThu, 09 Apr 2026 06:04:38 GMT<![CDATA[Open Thread 428.5 + Zagreb Update]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/open-thread-4285-zagreb-updatehttps://www.astralcodexten.com/p/open-thread-4285-zagreb-updateWed, 08 Apr 2026 18:45:24 GMTMidweek open thread to announce: the Zagreb organizers have changed the meetup location. It’s now Importanne Galleria (Galleria Business Center), 1st Floor (Microblink), Trg Drage Iblera 10, Zagreb. Everything else, including the time (8PM Fri) stays the same.

]]><![CDATA[Zagreb Meetup This Friday]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/zagreb-meetup-this-fridayhttps://www.astralcodexten.com/p/zagreb-meetup-this-fridayTue, 07 Apr 2026 20:51:24 GMTI’ll be in Zagreb, Croatia this Friday. The local meetup group has offered to work with my schedule and hold their April meetup that evening. Here’s the information they gave me:

(Meetup Czar Note: The organizer asked to change the venue, since more people RSVPd than expected!)

Contact: Dominik
Contact Info: dt[@]d11r[.]eu
Time: Friday, April 10th, 8:00 PM
Location: Importanne Galleria (Galleria Business Center), 1st Floor (Microblink), Trg Drage Iblera 10, Zagreb
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FQQRX7P+62
Group Link: You can contact me at dt[@]d11r[.]eu to be added to the Telegram group
Notes: RSVPs on LessWrong are desirable but not mandatory. The meetup is on the first floor of the Importanne Galleria mall. If you’re coming by car, there’s a parking garage under the mall. The easiest way to get to the meetup is to take the elevator to the 1st floor. Look for the “Microblink” logo. When you exit the elevator, ring at the door on the right. There’ll be a sign on the door saying “ACX meetup”. I’ll take care of drinks and food, but you’re free to bring your own as well. If you get lost, ring me at +385 91 947 5409 and I’ll come get you.

Looking forward to meeting some of you there.

]]><![CDATA[Open Thread 428]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/open-thread-428https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/open-thread-428Mon, 06 Apr 2026 09:01:19 GMTThis is the weekly visible open thread. Post about anything you want, ask random questions, whatever. ACX has an unofficial subreddit, Discord, and bulletin board, and in-person meetups around the world. Most content is free, some is subscriber only; you can subscribe here. Also:

1: Late additions to spring meetup list: San Francisco, Belo Horizonte, Birmingham, Columbus, Hobart, Hyderabad, Madrid.

2: New subscribers only post - The Pause AI Protest: A Photo-Essay:

Starting at Anthropic, we marched thirty minutes to OpenAI, then another forty to X. A friendly and professional police escort allowed us to walk down the street. As we marched, David led us in chants and slogans. I remember “1…2…3…4…Orwell told us what’s in store” and “5….6….7….8…no AI surveillance state.” Someone tried to start a chant of “You will not replace us!” but was shushed by the other attendees.

Some people in the comments accused me of “doxxing” the companies by mentioning the location of their headquarters. I take this accusation seriously, but their headquarters are on Google Maps and in the information box on the top of their Wikipedia page, so I think this is past the point where I have an obligation not to mention it.

3: ETA for next ACX Grants round is provisionally next winter, but this year I’ll be helping evaluate grants for the Survival and Flourishing Fund, an EA-aligned group associated with billionaire investor Jaan Tallinn which looks for “projects that are trying to support humanity’s long-term survival and flourishing”. In recent rounds, they’ve focused on making AI go well, including technical safety, policy, and maintaining freedom and fairness through the AI transition. They’ll probably continue this agenda for their main track, but they’re now also trying out auxiliary tracks focusing on animal welfare, climate change, and human self-enhancement. See here for more information or to apply. Deadline is April 22 for the round I’m helping with, or later this summer for the auxiliary tracks or other rounds.

4: A message from Coefficient Giving (formerly Open Philanthropy):

Our Biosecurity and Pandemic Preparedness team has launched a request for proposals. Advances in AI and biotechnology are accelerating fast, and the window to reduce catastrophic risks from engineered biological threats may be short. In response, we are aiming to quickly and significantly expand our grantmaking. Our biosecurity team has awarded hundreds of millions in grants to date, and we expect to direct >$100 million this year. In this RFP, we’re particularly excited about proposals focused on transmission suppression (e.g., PPE and clean air), AIxBio, biosecurity policy, and field-building efforts to grow the talent pipeline, though we’re also open to strong ideas outside these areas. To make it easy to apply, we’re starting with very simple expressions of interest (≤500 words). Applications will be open until May 11 2026 at 11:59pm PT. We’re eager to support ambitious new ideas, new teams, and to grow the field—if you think your work might be relevant, we strongly encourage you to apply here.

5: I owe Nikita Sokolsky a favor for helping me with sun miracle research, and he’s asked me to advertise his dating app photo business, getdatingphotos.com:

Most advice in this space is vague. I care about outcomes you can actually measure. Most photographers optimize for their portfolio. I optimize for dating app performance. I publish my full methodology on Substack for free. If you want someone to run the whole process end-to-end, that is where I come in.

6: ACX grantee Spartacus asks me to advertise that they’re looking for a developer:

Spartacus.app is urgently seeking a freelance TypeScript/Next.js/Supabase developer. Spartacus is a live platform for conditional-commitment collective action, with successful pilots involving unions and AI safety organizations. Our primary developer departed unexpectedly, and we need someone to pick up active development immediately. This is a remote, project-based contract with negotiable compensation plus possible revenue sharing (tools reimbursed). Strong TypeScript/Next.js/Supabase skills, along with fluency in AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor), are required. Detailed role requirements here. Reach out to jordan@spartacus.app

]]><![CDATA[The PauseAI Protest: A Photo-Essay]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/the-pauseai-protest-a-photo-essayhttps://www.astralcodexten.com/p/the-pauseai-protest-a-photo-essayFri, 03 Apr 2026 05:23:46 GMT Read more

]]><![CDATA[Hidden Open Thread 427.5]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/hidden-open-thread-4275https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/hidden-open-thread-4275Fri, 03 Apr 2026 05:21:46 GMT Read more

]]><![CDATA[Meetups Everywhere Spring 2026: Times & Places]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/meetups-everywhere-spring-2026-timeshttps://www.astralcodexten.com/p/meetups-everywhere-spring-2026-timesWed, 01 Apr 2026 03:24:46 GMTMany cities have regular Astral Codex Ten meetup groups. Twice a year, I try to advertise their upcoming meetups and make a bigger deal of it than usual so that irregular attendees can attend and new readers can hear about the meetups. This is one of those times.

This year we have meetups planned in over a hundred and eighty cities. Thanks to all the organizers who responded to my request for details, and to Meetups Czar Skyler and the Less Wrong team for making this happen.

You can find the list below, in the following order:

  1. Africa & Middle East

  2. Asia-Pacific (including Australia)

  3. Europe (including UK)

  4. North America & Central America

  5. South America

There should shortly be a map of these meetups on the LessWrong community page.

Within each region it’s alphabetized first by country then by city - so the first entry in Europe is Vienna, Austria. The exception is the USA, where they’re also alphabetized by state - so the first entry in the USA is Phoenix, Arizona.

I’ll provisionally be attending the Berkeley and Zagreb meetups.

Extra Info For Potential Attendees

1. If you’re reading this, you’re invited. Please don’t feel like you “won’t be welcome” just because you’re new to the blog, demographically different from the average reader, or hate ACX and everything it stands for. You’ll be fine! (Though I do try not to pick people who hate ACX to run the meetups.)
2. You don’t have to RSVP or contact the organizer to be able to attend (unless the event description says otherwise!) RSVPs are mostly to give organizers a better sense of how many people might show up, and let them tell you if there are last-second changes. I’ve also given email addresses or other contact information for organizers in case you have a question.
3. If you have any feedback on the meetup (compliments, complaints, curiosities, etc) the feedback form is here: tinyurl.com/acx-meetup-survey .

Extra Info For Meetup Organizers:

1. If you’re the host, bring a sign that says “ACX MEETUP” and prop it up somewhere (or otherwise be identifiable).
2. Bring blank labels and pens for nametags.
3. If you’re having trouble thinking of something to talk about, the attendees probably also read ACX. Ask people about a recent post or book review that they liked.
4. If it’s the first meetup, people are probably just going to want to talk, and you shouldn’t try to organize some kind of planned workshop or anything like that.
5. Have people type their name and email address in a spreadsheet or in a Google Form (accessed via a bit.ly link or QR code), so you can start a mailing list to make organizing future meetups easier.
6. It’s easier to schedule a followup meetup while you’re having the first, compared to trying to do it later on by email.
7. If you didn’t make a LessWrong event for your meetup (or if you did but Skyler didn’t know about it) the LessWrong team did it for you using the username or email address you gave on the form. To claim your event, log into LW (or create an account) using that email address, or message the LW team on Intercom (chat button in the bottom right corner of lesswrong.com).

If you need to change a meetup date or you have any other questions, please email skyler[at]rationalitymeetups[ period]org. Be advised that he’s going to be slower than usual about responding to things though.

Africa & The Middle East

Iraq

BAGHDAD

Contact: Wolfram
Contact Info: telegram [@]wolfram_sigma
Time: Friday, April 10th, 2:00 PM
Location: Grinders -- Zayouna
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8H568FG6+73Q
Group Link: Telegram Group -> https://t[.}me/+n7U-ilkVA_dkNTUy
Notes: you must contact me if you are coming, I tried to host the meet up a few times before, and no one came. so if you are coming please inform me so I would actually go.

Israel

HAIFA

Contact: shai
Contact Info: Tenastralcodex[at]gmail[period]com
Time: Monday, May 18th, 5:00 PM
Location: We’ll be on the second floor of the Goldmund bookstore, on ekron 6 street in the talpiot market area. I will be wearing a batik/Hawaiian shirt and carrying a sign with ACX MEETUP on it.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8G4QR262+39C
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/FSc [remove this bit] lSIRSpdSJ6T5VJT2QAD
Notes: Please RSVP on whatsapp/our group email so I know how many people will participate

TEL AVIV

Contact: Inbar M
Contact Info: inbar192[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 5th, 5:00 PM
Location: Sarona Park, grass area next to Max Brenner. Will have an ACX meetup sign.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8G4P3QCP+JPM
Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/5389163051129361
Notes: There is a secure location (underground parking lot) very nearby in case of a missile alert. Pikud HaOref permits gathering of under 50 people if a secure location is accessible, so we should be in accordance with current guidelines. If the guidelines change, I may have to postpone the meeting. Please check the facebook group for updates, or email me with any questions. Dogs and kids are welcome, snacks are appreciated.

Nigeria

JOS

Contact: J.J
Contact Info: jibrinx[@]yahoo[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 3:00 PM
Location: Jos Wildlife Park 41 Tudun Wada Rd, Jos 930105, Plateau, Nigeria
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/6FXCVRPX+3C
Notes: Please RSVP so I can have an accurate headcount. I’ll be covering the gate fee, and food will be provided. There will be a sign at the Jos Wildlife Park gate with directions to the venue. Looking forward to catching up with old friends and welcoming new faces!

KADUNA

Contact: Abdul Malik
Contact Info: maleekcherry510[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 19th, 2:00 PM
Location: Cafe one
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/7F29FCCJ+7X

MANGU

Contact: Matthew Ajegba is organizing the plateau/ mangu meet up
Contact Info: www[.]linkedin[.]com/in/ ajegba-matthew
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 11:00 AM
Location: we will be putting a black polo shirt, printed with ACX Meetup on it, and the university of jos multipurpose hall.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/6FXFF4MV+VM
Notes: Feel free to come along with a friend.

South Africa

CAPE TOWN

Contact: Tegan
Contact Info: teganspeaking[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 19th, 10:00 AM
Location: We’ll be in the back room at Our Local on Kloof Street and will have an ACX Meetup sign, and a pile of boardgames.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/4FRW3C85+XC
Group Link: https://discord.gg/UYv [remove this bit] 3v69h
Notes: Please RSVP on partiful so that we know how many people to book a table for: https://partiful.com/e/MKKZ5ElzjrABYmju5aKC?c=1HJeZdS8

Asia-Pacific

Australia

CANBERRA

Contact: Declan
Contact Info: declan_t[@]hotmail[.]com
Time: Monday, May 4th, 6:00 PM
Location: Outside table at Grease Monkey Braddon, will have ACX Meetup sign.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/4RPFP4GM+R3
Notes: RSVP’s appreciated so I can book a big enough table. I will book from 6pm but get to the bar earlier if you want cheap happy hour drinks/snacks.

GEELONG

Contact: Vinh Dang
Contact Info: lunatic[.]leecher[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 5th, 10:20 AM
Location: 7 Origins Malop Cafe, 131 Malop St, Geelong VIC 3220
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/4RH6V927+VC
Notes: I plan to wear a blue shirt and have a sign. https://share.google/oT4mf7OY0NcwL7mwr

GOLD COAST

Contact: Lerancan
Contact Info: lerancan[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 19th, 2:00 PM
Location: At a picnic table with an ACX sign, Wyberba Street Reserve, Tugun
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/5R3MVF5W+555

HOBART

Contact: Chris
Contact Info: cvjones7[at]gmail[dot]com
Time: Saturday, May 23rd, 02:00 PM
Location: Parliament House Gardens
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/4R99487J+PCQ
Additional Notes: We’ll have a crack at combining this with the local EA group (which grew out of the “Spring” ACX meetup). Bad weather and we’ll move into Irish Murphy’s.

PERTH

Contact: Bianca Peterek
Contact Info: biancaczatyrko[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 16th, 1:30 PM
Location: Coffee Club William Street, Shop 11, 140 William St, Corner of Murray St Mall, Perth, WA, Australia, 6000. I am totally blind. Please look for the ACX meetup sign and announce yourself when you arrive. Thanks and looking forward to seeing you there!
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/4PWQ2VX4+2X

SYDNEY

Contact: Eliot
Contact Info: Redeliot[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Thursday, April 16th, 6:00 PM
Location: Skyview Hall, 14 Frances St Randwick, walk to the end of the car park to the green gate and through to the back building, upstairs in the hall. Call Eliot if lost 0438481143
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/4RRH36QQ+QR
Group Link: https://www.meetup.com/rationalists_of_sydney
Notes: Usual attendance is 10-30 people. Bring a friend!

China

BEIJING

Contact: Anonymous
Contact Info: 13021231532
Time: Friday, April 3rd, 5:00 PM
Location: Top floor of PAGEONE cafe in Haidian, on the table with a paper aeroplane
Coordinates: Coordinates not specified
Notes: This is my first time organising - text me before April 1st ideally if you’re interested, I have zero idea if there are nonzero ACX readers in Beijing.

CHENGDU

Contact: xingxia Zhou
Contact Info: zhou[.]yefei1990[@]hotmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 5:00 PM
Location: guopi bar,NO.64, Fangcao street, wuhou
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8P26J3F2+Q3
Group Link: https://discord.gg/vBD [remove this bit] fmdH3r
Notes: it’s not a bar, actually it’s a writers’ club. welcome to come with your children.

SHANGHAI

Contact: David
Contact Info: dlwjiang[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 23rd, 11:00 AM
Location: Zhongshan Park, Changing District
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8Q336C9C+RC
Group Link: https://discord.gg/Cme [remove this bit] Rexz7JM
Notes: Please contact me via email or in the discord server for access to the WeChat group

SHENZHEN

Contact: Kevin
Contact Info: kevinkanzhang[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 2nd, 10:00 AM
Location: We’ll meet up right outside the Shenzhen Bay Kapok Hotel. There is a large open space with a huge set of stairs ~20 meters to the right of the Hotel (assuming that you’re facing the hotel entrance). The Hotel itself is located at No. 3001 Binhai Avenue, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, and can be accessed directly from nearby streets. I’ll hold up an ACX MEETUP sign at the hotel’s entrance and guide you to the meeting area.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/7PJMGW9W+HQ
Group Link: Please email kevinkanzhang@gmail.com, and I’ll create a mailing list/chain.
Notes: Feel free to bring games/fun activities. Also, I expect the event to be bilingual (but primarily in English).

Hong Kong

HONG KONG

Contact: Felix
Contact Info: felix[dot]breton8[at]yahoo[dot]com
Time: Sunday, April 19, 03:00 PM
Location: The Catalyst, 218 Hollywood Rd, Sheung Wan
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/7PJP74PX+63

India

AHMEDABAD

Contact: Kabir
Contact Info: rudrakabir[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Thursday, April 16th, 7:00 PM
Location: Ares Cafe, SBR
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/7JMJ2FVM+48
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/H2P [remove this bit] 2bPoqUvb24ZFjr8hFrJ?mode=gi_t
Notes: Please RSVP to me via email so I know that you are coming, but if you see this late and don’t get a reply, come anyway! Join the whatsapp group in case there are any changes.

BANGALORE

Contact: Faiz
Contact Info: faiz_abbas[@]protonmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 5th, 4:00 PM
Location: Matteo Coffea, 2, Church Street, Brigade Rd. Get inside Matteo Coffea and walk to the backside seating area. By backside, I mean all the way back - there is a second section to the cafe past the restrooms. You can find us seated on the right or left side with an ACX Meet-ups sign pointing the way
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/7J4VXJF4+PR
Group Link: https://www.lesswrong.com/groups/i5vLw9xnG9iwXNQZZ
Notes: Please RSVP on LessWrong so I know how many people are coming: https://www.lesswrong.com/events/3yEAjBzu5D7HgManA/bengaluru-acx-meetups-everywhere-spring-26

HYDERABAD

Contact: Swarnim
Contact Info: rexzeo0[at]gmail[dot]com
Time: Saturday, May 2, 3:00 PM
Location: Draak Cafe, Ground Floor, ISB Rd, Financial District, Nanakramguda, Hyderabad, Telangana 500032
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/7J9WC8CQ+QHW
Group Link: https://groups.google.com/g/acx-hyderabad
Additional Notes: Please RSVP on LessWrong so I know how many people are coming.

MUMBAI

Contact: Russell Fernandez
Contact Info: 9538263212
Time: Sunday, April 12th, 2:00 PM
Location: Doolally, Andheri Branch
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/7JFJ4RPM+R4M
Group Link: https://groups.google.com/g/acx-mumbai/about
Notes: Please RSVP on LessWrong

Meetup Czar Note: This got moved from the 5th by the organizer shortly after posting!

PUNE

Contact: Saarang S
Contact Info: amsaarang[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 19th, 2:30 PM
Location: FC Road Social restaurant in Shivajinagar area. A reservation will be booked for the meetup.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/7JCMGRHV+HF
Notes: Please RSVP if you are coming. Send me your name and contact, I’ll create a chat group for the meetup and add you.

Indonesia

JAKARTA

Contact: Fawwaz
Contact Info: fawwazanvi[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 2:00 PM
Location: Burgreens Dharmawangsa, Jakarta Selatan - we’ll have a sign with ACX MEETUP on it
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/6P58PRX2+3F
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Eke [remove this bit] 1HcvNsoT3ZMb0SsCFz9
Notes: Please RSVP on WhatsApp!

Japan

TOKYO

Contact: HG
Contact Info: rationalitysalon[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 9th, 10:00 AM
Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/xyYpv3fihuvNSBaR7 (Enter the forboding street-level doorway, climb the sketchy stairs to the 3rd floor, enter the dim hallway, and listen for the sounds of laughter)
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8Q7XJPV2+RG3
Group Link: rationalitysalon.substack.com/
Notes: RSVPs are helpful but not necessary

Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR

Contact: Yi-Yang
Contact Info: yi[.]yang[.]chua[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 2:00 PM
Location: We’ll be in the back room in Kings Hall Cafe @ Sec 13 (https://maps.app.goo.gl/naDhCJzNUAi1mFu38). Please ask the staff for directions.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/6PM34J7Q+RX
Notes: Please RSVP by messaging me on LessWrong or emailing me so I know who’ll be joining us!

New Zealand

AUCKLAND

Contact: CZ
Contact Info: czlee11[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 11:00 AM
Location: Cornwall Park, at the Band Rotunda. We’ll have an A4 “ACX MEETUP” sign. Please look around to find us, including nearby if the area’s busy.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/4VMP4Q3Q+RR
Notes: We have a small existing meetup group, if you’re reading this you should definitely come join us. RSVP optional but you should RSVP so you feel obligated to follow through :P and so that the organiser can contact you if the weather forces a change of plans. Feel free to bring kids, dogs and/or snacks.

WELLINGTON

Contact: June
Contact Info: +64273410265
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 2:00 PM
Location: Aro Park
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/4VCPPQ39+V8
Notes: RSVPing to my email is helpful, but not mandatory

Philippines

MANILA

Contact: Steve Kuhn
Contact Info: steve[@]sportspredict[.]com
Time: Thursday, April 23rd, 1:00 PM
Location: Thie High Street Lounge, Shangri La Hotel, BGC, Manila
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/7Q63H22W+XP

Singapore

SINGAPORE

Contact: Srijita
Contact Info: srijitak[.]cmi[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, May 10th, 3:15 PM
Location: Myx at Holland Village
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/6PH58Q6W+QQ
Group Link: Two groups, one at https://www.lesswrong.com/groups/N42bMYFJBBRpkzKqX and one at https://t.me/LessWrong_Singapore
Notes: Preferrably RSVP on LessWrong if you’re coming. The reservation at MyX is till 5:30 pm, and I will cover snacks till then. If you’re planning to stay for dinner as well (I am), please email me so I can extend the reservation. Dinner will be at your own expense.

Taiwan

TAIPEI

Contact: Luca
Contact Info: mail[@]lucapizzagalli[.]com
Time: Friday, May 8th, 7:00 PM
Location: The Singularity Co-Working Cafe
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/7QQ32GV8+PC2

Thailand

BANGKOK

Contact: Cassidy
Contact Info: WhatsApp +15032613344[.] This is not a usable phone number[.] It is a WhatsApp[.]
Time: Sunday, April 5th, 3:00 PM
Location: Sarnies Sukhumvit 39
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/7P52PJ43+57 (Coordinates are to old meetup, new ones incoming)
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/C4t [remove this bit] 6SocaYlG9YNUhhspOLq?mode=gi_t

Vietnam

DA NANG

Contact: Nguyen
Contact Info: ntrant[@]proton[.]me
Time: Sunday, April 12th, 10:00 AM
Location: We’ll meet at 18 An Nhơn 3, An Hải, Sơn Trà, Đà Nẵng, Vietnam. Drop us a message on Discord if you have any questions.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/7P8C369M+PH
Group Link: https://discord.gg/p4t [remove this bit] fvYtYfD

HANOI

Contact: Jord
Contact Info: jordnguyen43[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 4th, 3:00 PM
Location: Ciao Bella Coffee ngõ 132 Đ. Võ Chí Công Xuân La Cầu Giấy Hà Nội, Vietnam
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/7PH73R34+83

Europe

Austria

VIENNA

Contact: Max
Contact Info: kienermax[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, May 31st, 2:30 PM
Location: Burggarten, 1010, Lothringen Statue
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FWR6938+Q3V
Notes: Please RSVP at kienermax@gmail.com, so i can share alternative plans in case of bad weather.

Belgium

BRUSSELS

Contact: Sebastian
Contact Info: sebastianworms[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, May 10th, 2:00 PM
Location: Parc Cinquantenaire / Guinguette Maurice if weather sucks
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9F26R9RP+5F

Bulgaria

SOFIA

Contact: Daniel Bensen
Contact Info: bensen[.]daniel[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 19th, 5:00 PM
Location: Sofia Center, Vasil Levski Blvd 53, Sofia, Bulgaria
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8GJ5M8QH+FJ
Group Link: https://www.lesswrong.com/users/daniel-bensen

Croatia

ZAGREB

Contact: Dominik
Contact Info: dt[@]d11r[.]eu
Time: Friday, April 10th, 8:00 PM
Location: Importanne Galleria (Galleria Business Center), 1st Floor (Microblink), Trg Drage Iblera 10, Zagreb
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FQQRX7P+62
Group Link: You can contact me at dt[@]d11r[.]eu to be added to the Telegram group
Notes: RSVPs on LessWrong are desirable but not mandatory. The meetup is on the first floor of the Importanne Galleria mall. If you're coming by car, there's a parking garage under the mall. The easiest way to get to the meetup is to take the elevator to the 1st floor. Look for the "Microblink" logo. When you exit the elevator, ring at the door on the right. There'll be a sign on the door saying "ACX meetup". I'll take care of drinks and food, but you're free to bring your own as well. If you get lost, ring me at +385 91 947 5409 and I'll come get you.

Meetup Czar note: More people RSVPd than expected, so the local organizer asked to change the venue.

Cyprus

LIMASSOL

Contact: Misha
Contact Info: Telegram: aspr_spb
Time: Saturday, May 2nd, 6:00 PM
Location: We will meet at the Polemidia National Park Cafe, I’ll be wearing black and white zebra print shirt and have an ACX MEETUP sign.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8G6MP274+J8

Czech Republic

PRAGUE

Contact: Jiří & Rían
Contact Info: acxmeetup[.]s4ov5[@]mailer[.]me
Time: Thursday, April 23rd, 6:00 PM
Location: Čajovna Dharmasala, Peckova 296, 186 00 Praha 8-Karlín
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9F2P3CRW+FQ

Denmark

AARHUS

Contact: May
Contact Info: mayvangsgaard[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Thursday, April 9th, 5:00 PM
Location: We’ll meet at Lynfabrikken from 17:00-19:00, on the rooftop if the weather’s good, or at one of tables in the café. We’ll have a ACX Meetup sign on the table. Looking forward to meet you!
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9F8G5642+V7
Notes: You just decide on the day whether you wanna join, no need to sign up or cancel.

COPENHAGEN

Contact: Søren Elverlin
Contact Info: soeren[.]elverlin[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 3:00 PM
Location: H.J.Holstsvej 3-5C, 2605 Brøndby
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9F7JMCCQ+4XJ
Group Link: https://www.lesswrong.com/groups/KJeNBZdkHkJEugnWy
Notes: Please RSVP on LessWrong. This particular meetup is AI X-Risk themed, but everyone is welcome and all topics up for discussion.

Estonia

TALLINN

Contact: Andrew
Contact Info: andrew_n_west[@]yahoo[.]co[.]uk
Time: Friday, May 8th, 6:00 PM
Location: Tuletorn Brewing, Ankru tn 10, 11713 Tallinn, Estonia
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9GF6FM4G+26

TARTU

Contact: Yehor
Contact Info: jehorchudovsky[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 25th, 12:00 PM
Location: The meet-up point in front of the townhall building. I will be carrying a sign with ACX MEETUP on it; I have got very long dark blond hair.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9GC89PJC+2W

Finland

HELSINKI

Contact: Joe Nash
Contact Info: helsinkirationalish[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Wednesday, May 6th, 6:00 PM
Location: Oluthuone Kaisla, Vilhonkatu 4. I will have the book Deep Utopia on the table.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9GG65WCW+PW
Group Link: https://www.lesswrong.com/groups/a995jZ2y2s9qWxjEy

France

DIJON

Contact: Corentin
Contact Info: corentin[.]sombstay1415[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 3:00 PM
Location: Jardin Darcy, on the bear statue’s right, I’ll have a sign with “ACX” written on it
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FV782FM+M7
Notes: Feel free to bring friends or games! Et j’espère à Samedi !

GRENOBLE

Contact: Fantin
Contact Info: fantin[.]seguin[@]live[.]fr
Time: Sunday, April 19th, 10:00 AM
Location: We’ll be at Café Cannelle with a small ACX Meetup sign
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FQ75PRH+RX
Notes: It would be best if you could confirm your attendance on LessWrong or by email so I know how many of us there will be.

LYON

Contact: Lucas
Contact Info: lucas_acx_meetup_lyon[@]fastmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 2nd, 4:00 PM
Location: Parc de la tête d’or, à côté de la prairie aux daims. Parc de la tête d’or, near the prairie aux daims.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FQ6QVF2+GW
Group Link: Il y a un groupe télégram, envoyez moi un mail et je vous enverrais le lien. There is a telegram group, shoot me a mail and I’ll send you the link
Notes: No RSVP needed, if you’re reading this you’re invited, don’t hesitate to come! Most people that came in previous meetups can talk french and english. Pas besoin de RSVP, si vous lisez ça vous êtes invitez, n’hésitez pas à venir ! La plupart des gens qui sont venus aux meetups d’avant peuvent parler français et anglais.

PARIS

Contact: Augustin
Contact Info: augustin[.]portier[@]proton[.]me
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 5:30 PM
Location: We’ll be at the cafe “Les Caves Alliées”, 44 rue Grégoire de Tours. I’ll have an ACX meetup sign.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FW4V82P+QX
Group Link: Discord: https://discord.com/invite/JUHTZRYp3k
Notes: Here’s a link to a partiful event if you want to let me know you’re coming :-) https://partiful.com/e/ONsyvq47zkg7zc0EPSVs

TALENCE (BORDEAUX METROPOLE)

Contact: Michael
Contact Info: acx-meetup-2026-04-16[@]weboroso[.]anonaddy[.]com
Time: Thursday, April 16th, 6:00 PM
Location: Parc Peixotto, middle of the path connecting the two main entrances (once we meet we’ll seek which benches to try to grab). Initial position: https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/44.80900/-0.58978 (Send me your phone if you expect to be late and want an SMS when we deside which direction in the parc we shift). I will bring an A4 sign with «ACX Meetup» on it.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8CPXRC56+H3W
Notes: Please RSVP on LessWrong or send an email. If you would like to come but the date or the place doesn’t work for you, please write, too! Currently I know of one other person who will probably be there, and we are flexible. I will post a LessWrong comment if there is a change.

Georgia

TBILISI

Contact: Liza
Contact Info: lizajibladze1[at]gmail[dot]com
Time: Saturday, April 18, 06:00 PM
Location: Kiwi vegan cafe
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8HH6MQRX+PX

Germany

BERLIN

Contact: Milli
Contact Info: acx-meetups[@]martinmilbradt[.]de
Time: Sunday, May 10th, 2:00 PM
Location: Big lawn at the center of Humboldthain
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9F4MG9WP+36
Group Link: https://t.me/+tVWSc66-0UM5MzA6
Notes: The group link is just for this event. If you want I can add you to the general Rationality Berlin Group on the event.

BREMEN

Contact: Marta
Contact Info: marta[.]krzeminska[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 3:00 PM
Location: I’ll bring a sign “ACX meetup” that should help you find us!
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9F5C3RC8+V8
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DiI [remove this bit] dx2E7cAf3AgotxAAP89
Notes: New to LW/ACX? Come join! It will be a very laid back event. :) The theme of the meet-up is: YOUR FAVOURITE. Bring your favourite topic, piece of trivia, trick, joke, gadget, poem, question, etc. and share with the group why it’s awesome. If your pick is a piece of writing (book or article), be ready to briefly summarise it. After intros and sharing your favourite, if there is time, we can split into groups based on topics.

COLOGNE

Contact: Marcel
Contact Info: marcel_mueller[@]mail[.]de
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 5:00 PM
Location: Marienweg 43, 50858 Köln
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9F28WRMX+97
Group Link: https://www.lesswrong.com/events/JY2EZf22uJxqgA6Kz/lw-cologne-meetup-sv6h
Notes: This is also the monthly Less Wrong Cologne social meetup. If you read this you are invited.

ERLANGEN

Contact: Dimi
Contact Info: dimitrij[.]zharkov[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 26th, 4:00 PM
Location: Stefanias Café in the Schiffstrasse
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FXHJ223+3M
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/IQ6 [remove this bit] whwdbgt35FMKF44s4Y0?mode=gi_t

FREIBURG IM BREISGAU

Contact: Omar
Contact Info: info[@]rationality-freiburg[.]de
Time: Friday, April 24th, 6:00 PM
Location: Veranstaltungsraum, Haus des Engagements, Rehlingstraße 9, 79100 Freiburg
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FV9XRQQ+QQ9
Group Link: www.rationality-freiburg.de
Notes: If possible, check the event on the website for some reading as preparation. If not, come anyway :-) https://www.rationality-freiburg.de/events/2026-04-24-acx-meetups-everywhere/

HAMBURG

Contact: Gunnar Zarncke
Contact Info: g[.]zarncke+acx[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 2nd, 2:00 PM
Location: Eppendorfer Park at the pond, we will have a sign reading “ACX Meetup”. If it is raining, we will relocate to La Caffetteria (Abendrothsweg 54) which is in walking distance.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9F5FHXQH+MF
Group Link: https://groups.google.com/g/lesswrong-hamburg
Notes: Feel free to bring friends and family, the Park is nice for play.

HANNOVER

Contact: Anna
Contact Info: annaluisakambas[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, May 17th, 3:00 PM
Location: Café Safran, Linden
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9F4F9PF9+JJ
Group Link: None yet, but questions can be send to my email
Notes: Would be nice if you RSVP to my email, but I’ll be there no matter what, so you can also show up unannounced. I’ll reserve a table for the group size that RSVPd.

KARLSRUHE

Contact: Marcus
Contact Info: wilm on LessWrong
Time: Saturday, May 16th, 10:00 AM
Location: Cafe intro am Kronenplatz
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FXC2C55+PJ
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/ChC [remove this bit] zrpd602SEdL1RjlZqs6?mode=gi_t
Notes: In case of good weather I propose to walk through the nearby park after some time

KASSEL

Contact: Fernando
Contact Info: fernando[.]unterricht[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Thursday, April 2nd, 7:00 PM
Location: Restaurant Al Baron, Jägerstraße 3, 34117 Kassel
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9F3F8G92+P2
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/EN5 [remove this bit] 5JokCbBvAJF9eqnnnmo
Notes: Join the Whatsapp group even if you can’t attend to stay in the loop about meetups in many German cities and upcoming unofficial ACX weekends.

LEIPZIG

Contact: Daniel
Contact Info: daniel[.]boettger[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Monday, April 6th, 6:00 PM
Location: Gustav Theodor Fechner House (Scherlstraße 2)
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9F3J89QV+M2
Group Link: https://t.me/+gDVZ8gMTthQ4OTdi
Notes: Please arrive between 16:00 Uhr (4pm) and 20:00 Uhr (8pm). Doorbell says “Böttger”. Food and drinks will be provided, feel free to add. If you want to crash/sleepover please say so in advance since bedding is limited. https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/share?slt=1ATMtfpghiDBnGZPnswsv5JqUvbn3r85e8pEvA7WvIOZ2okhEY3KLLTMhViKwgqRXy-e-O3gGqF9XvsvKdEkaw6MtoY0vzMi5a7lZcesPrCxL2YYaKlVBACOV&pli=1

MAGDEBURG

Contact: Konstantin
Contact Info: k[.]kirchheim[@]gmx[.]net
Time: Sunday, April 26th, 2:00 PM
Location: Square Coffee Shop
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9F4H4JJP+6R

MANNHEIM

Contact: Simon
Contact Info: acxmannheim[@]mailbox[.]org
Time: Friday, May 8th, 5:00 PM
Location: Fahnenmast Rheinpromenade, in case of bad wheather: Murphy’s Law Irish Pub. There’s be a sign with ACX in both cases.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FXCFFH6+8J
Group Link: https://signal.group/#CjQKIF [remove this bit ] micB23eRhkDDjxjT94PWsbTYPdux-uoZJH2bH2M7OqEhAFf8Kh5ECwoizGSv-lhADt
Notes: Bring a blanket, and optionally your favourit snack/drink!

MUNICH

Contact: Zsolt Tanko
Contact Info: zsolttanko[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 11:00 AM
Location: The café at Pinakothek der Moderne Barer Straße 40 80333 München We’ll have a sign.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FWH4HWC+XW
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Jek [remove this bit] HeDBFokxLlmceXsYhLv
Notes: We’re hosting in a large cafe with a lounge area, we’ll collect together there for the afternoon and go out for dinner in the evening. This is a day-long event, join the WhatsApp group for updates throughout the day.

WÜRZBURG

Contact: Philipp
Contact Info: wuerzburg[.]meetup[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Tuesday, April 14th, 6:00 PM
Location: The meetup will be next to the Main, close to the “Mainkuh”. I will have a sign. If the weather is bad, we will find another place. In this case, please send a mail/join the whatsapp group (see link below).
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FXFQWQG+6X
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DY3 [remove this bit] uJ380BqEAZ1oZrwCIAh?mode=ac_t
Notes: As this is the second Wuerzburg Meetup, please RSVP via WhatsApp/Mail

Hungary

BUDAPEST

Contact: Richard
Contact Info: horvirich[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 2:00 PM
Location: South-East corner of Muzeumkert (near the playground).
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FVXF3R7+6G7
Group Link: https://groups.google.com/g/rationality-budapest

Ireland

DUBLIN

Contact: David O.
Contact Info: inlets_spinal_0a[@]icloud[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 25th, 3:00 PM
Location: Motel One, 111-114 Middle Abbey St, North City, Dublin, D01 H220
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9C5M8PXP+6H
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/ETaD [remove this bit] qjMaFFTB6gDzZwfKoI?mode=gi_t

Italy

BERGAMO

Contact: Daniele
Contact Info: daniele[.]denuntiis[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 5:00 PM
Location: Via Martin Luther King, 100, 24127 Bergamo BG. I’ll bring a sign that says “ACX MEETUP”
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FQFMJMP+3X
Notes: This is an interest check, if you’re interest in attending, even if it’s just a maybe, let me know by email or LessWrong DM.Venue may shift to a café or bar depending on attendance and weather.

BOLOGNA

Contact: Luca Petrolati
Contact Info: luc[.]petrolati[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 12th, 4:45 PM
Location: We’ll gather up at the pub “Fabrik”, Via Augusto Righi 32e. I’ll be waiting at the entrance carrying a sign saying “ACX MEETUP”
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FPHF8XW+GG
Notes: Feel free to come and propose a topic of conversation, or just come to have a chat with intellectually interesting people

TRENTO

Contact: Alex
Contact Info: alexandroszampa[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Wednesday, April 29th, 2:00 PM
Location: Piazza Dante near Dante’s statue in the park
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FRH34CC+J5
Notes: Given this is the first time this event gets organized and we are unsure of the numbers present we would welcome anyone intending to come to say so beforehand. If that is impossible don’t worry, come anyways, it means we will have an excuse for our disorganization.

Latvia

RIGA

Contact: Kirils Surovovs
Contact Info: kirils[.]surovovs[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Monday, April 13th, 7:00 PM
Location: Baznīcas iela 15, Rīga
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9G86X449+JH7
Group Link: https://www.lesswrong.com/groups/fE7wFrbHoAKAvw5bw , https://www.facebook.com/EALatvia
Notes: Please RSVP on LessWrong or Facebook

Lithuania

VILNIUS

Contact: Lynn
Contact Info: acx[.]vilnius[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 3:00 PM
Location: Lukiškių aikštė (Lukiškių square)
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9G67M7QC+V8
Group Link: https://discord.gg/R8E [remove this bit] bg2bVaM
Notes: Anyone interested is welcome. RSVPs not required.

Luxembourg

LUXEMBOURG

Contact: Ro
Contact Info: acxlux[@]gegenwart[.]today
Time: Saturday, April 4th, 3:00 PM
Location: Le Mirador (https://mirador.lu) on the terrace, I will wear a yellow baseball cap
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FX8J46Q+WM

Netherlands

AMSTERDAM

Contact: Tom
Contact Info: hello[@]tomrijntjes[.]nl
Time: Sunday, May 3rd, 2:00 PM
Location: Westerpark, across the street from IJscuypje
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9F469VPC+JV
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/C1X [remove this bit] 049OJR7AI0LKYViUkR1

EINDHOVEN

Contact: Niko
Contact Info: hamburger_blues [a t] disroot [period] org
Time: Saturday, May 9th, 2:30 PM
Location: Community Square at Torenallee, I will have a “ACX MEETUP” sign
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9F37CFW5+MF
Notes: Please RSVP by email to help estimate seating. We’re at a mid-size cafe, so it is quite relevant. Ordering food is optional. If you feel awkward about coming, please do anyway! Reach out by email if any questions or concerns.

Norway

OSLO

Contact: Alexander Doré
Contact Info: alex[.]r[.]dore[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Friday, April 24th, 7:30 PM
Location: Chateau Neuf. We will be at Bokcaféen which is located on the second floor. I will put an ACX MEETUP sign on the table and be wearing a checkered shirt. https://neuf.no/lokaler/bokcafeen
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9FFGWPM7+22
Group Link: https://fb.me/e/6TMWCmTR4

Poland

GDANSK

Contact: Nina
Contact Info: ninuskap67[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Friday, April 17th, 6:30 PM
Location: Polufka Pub
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9F6W9JH9+HH
Notes: I unfortunately speak only English

WARSAW

Contact: Nina
Contact Info: ninuskap67[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 2nd, 7:00 PM
Location: Poludnik 2.0, I will be with a sign
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9G4362G8+2V
Notes: I unfortunately only speak English (and Slovak)

Portugal

LISBON

Contact: Luis Campos
Contact Info: luis[.]filipe[.]lcampos[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 3:00 PM
Location: Jardim Amália Rodrigues, Alameda Cardeal Cerejeira, Lisboa, Portugal
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8CCGPRJW+V8
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DhA [remove this bit] W3roAiJvCxzxn4uSrj3

Romania

TIMIȘOARA

Contact: Alvin
Contact Info: alv[.]csk[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 25th, 7:30 PM
Location: Scârț Loc Lejer, very likely outside. There will be a small tent-like sign on the table that reads ‘ACX-EA’.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8GQ3P6VF+7QR
Notes: Feel free to message on LW or FB if so inclined.

Russia

MOSCOW

Contact: Caledfwlch
Contact Info: gwinyster[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Monday, April 4th, 6:00 PM
Location: площадка ЦДО Моноид, г. Москва, Ломоносовский пр-т, 25к3, помещение 15
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9G7VMGVH+PW
Group Link: https://t.me/+yd9BuQBB4KY0M2Q6

Meetup Czar Note: The organizer misentered the date as May 4th, it’s actually April 4th!

Serbia

BELGRADE

Contact: Tanja is organizing the Belgrade meetup.
Contact Info: tanja[.]trninic[@]efektivnialtruizam[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 19th, 2:00 PM
Location: Bar Green House, Doktora Dragoslava Popovića 24, Belgrade
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8GP2RF7G+36
Group Link: https://t.me/+wu3itsO2ZjoxNmY0
Notes: Please RSVP by sending an email to my email, so we know how many people to expect.

Spain

BILBAO

Contact: Jose
Contact Info: jsillerosalado[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 5:00 PM
Location: Parque el Arenal
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8CMV736G+6H4
Notes: Let me know via comment or email if theres a chance youll be coming!

IBIZA

Contact: Tristan
Contact Info: (change incoming, for the moment try the whatsapp)
Time: Saturday, April 4th, 2:00 PM
Location: Juntos Farm
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FF32CCV+PR
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Fey [remove this bit] aWJGwhVm4tHy3ZBMK4d?mode=gi_t
Notes: Please RSVP via the WhatsApp group

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA

Contact: Manuel
Contact Info: carrodetespis[@]hotmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 4:00 PM
Location: The Auditorio park
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8CJHVFQ4+P7
Notes: Let me know via email if there’s a chance you will be coming

SEVILLE

Contact: Hugo V
Contact Info: Hviciana[@]us[.]es
Time: Sunday, May 10th, 10:15 AM
Location: Café Piola, Alameda/Calle Relator
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8C9PC224+4P
Notes: If weather allows, we will be sitting outside. Kids and family are welcome. Dogs too but only if we sit outside. We plan to go for a walk around the river and the Cartuja Island afterwards. Everyone is welcome but please send an email to my email so we can coordinate more easily.

MADRID

Contact: Sergio
Contact Info: sergiodzg[at]gmail[dot]com
Time: Sunday, May 10, 11:30 AM
Location: Parque de El Retiro, Teatro de Títeres, Avda de Méjico S/N, 28009 Madrid. We'll be near the puppet theater (Teatro de Títeres), close to the Puerta de la Independencia entrance. Look for an ACX MEETUP sign.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8CGRC897+G89
Group Link: https://www.meetup.com/effective-altruism-madrid

VALENCIA

Contact: Mike
Contact Info: lumenwrites[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 4:00 PM
Location: Cafe Del Mar, Valencia
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8CFXFM98+G8
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/I2s [remove this bit] IA2wrsymFLxh8Mv5Niv
Notes: Please leave a message in our Whats App group to let me know that you’d like to join.

Sweden

GOTHENBURG

Contact: Stefan
Contact Info: acx_gbg[@]posteo[.]se
Time: Wednesday, April 22nd, 6:00 PM
Location: Café Condeco, Fredsgatan 14
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9F9HPX4C+39F
Group Link: Meetup.com: https://www.meetup.com/lw-acx-meetup-gothenburg/events/313948821/ lesswrong: https://www.lesswrong.com/events/Z6ZnzTfbeKMng8HdB/acx-everywhere-spring-meetup-2026

STOCKHOLM

Contact: Carl
Contact Info: carl[.]brannstroem[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 25th, 12:28 PM
Location: We’ll meet at Blå Porten, the blue gate at Djurgårdsbron. That’s the literal blue gate on the Djurgården side of the bridge, not the cafe with the same name. I’ll have a sign that says ACX MEETUP. Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9FFW83JV+6Q
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9FFW83JV+6Q
Notes: Please feel free to come even if you feel awkward about it, even if you’re not ‘the typical ACX reader’, even if you’re worried people won’t like you, etc. It’s more normal to show up and be a little nervous than the opposite. You will make great company with other people who are also a little nervous 🙂

Switzerland

BASEL

Contact: Ian Walker-Sperber
Contact Info: hello[@]ianwsperber[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 2:00 PM
Location: Unternehmen Mitte, Gerbergasse 30, 4001 Basel. I will grab one of the tables to the right of the main entrance. I will put up an ACX MEETUP sign and wear a red hat.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FV9HH4Q+M7
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/JZD [remove this bit] v3OraaDrJL1cHdwyd66?mode=gi_t
Notes: RSVPs welcome to help for planning!

BERN

Contact: Darren
Contact Info: darrennolen[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 19th, 2:00 PM
Location: At the Kleine Schanze park - by the Weltpostdenkmal
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FR9WCWR+84
Notes: I speak english but all languages are welcome

GENEVA

Contact: Nikita
Contact Info: gladkovna[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 6:00 PM
Location: Parc des Bastions, in front of the Reformation Wall (Mur des Réformateurs). We’ll be standing next to the stairs, I’ll have an “ACX Meetup” sign.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FR8642W+382

ZURICH

Contact: Vitor
Contact Info: acxzurich[@]proton[.]me
Time: Saturday, May 9th, 3:00 PM
Location: Irchelpark, next to the bridge over the pond.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8FVC9GXW+723
Group Link: https://luma.com/acx-zurich
Notes: We have an email list and a signal group to announce ~monthly meetups. Write an email to be added. All events are also listed on our Luma calendar.

Turkey

ISTANBUL

Contact: Ozge
Contact Info: ozgeco[@]yahoo[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 3:00 PM
Location: Kaffe Schütz in Beşiktaş. This is a large cafe with few floors upstairs. I will be either on the entrance floor or upstairs, depending on the availability of seats. Please look for the ACX MEETUP sign on the table.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8GHF22V4+9F
Notes: Old friends, new friends: everyone welcomed to meet likeminded people residing in and visiting Istanbul

Ukraine

KYIV

Contact: Lex (NaUKMA) is organizing a Kyiv (downtown) Meetup
Contact Info: randale9999[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Friday, May 15th, 5:00 PM
Location: Khoryva St, 15/8, Kyiv, 04071. Look for the ACX Sign
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9G2GFG87+7P
Group Link: LessWrong UA, invites via telegram or email

United Kingdom

BELFAST

Contact: JD
Contact Info: dawson[.]john[.]andrew[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Thursday, April 23rd, 7:00 PM
Location: The Parlour Bar 2-4 Elmwood Avenue BT9 6AY I expect to be wearing a yellow tartan Tam o’ Shanter.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9C6PH3M6+QQ

BIRMINGHAM

Contact: Sachit
Contact Info: sachit[dot]lesswrong[at]gmail[dot]com
Time: Sunday, May 3, 1:00 PM
Location: Tim Hortons, New street
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9C4WF4H2+M5
Additional Notes: There will be a sign on the table so you can find us. Do check the LW comunity page for updates. It would be nice if you can send me a mail so that I know how many people to expect.

BRISTOL

Contact: Nick
Contact Info: thegreatnick[at]gmail[dot]com
Time: Saturday, May 16, 12:30 PM
Location: Meeting at 1230 at Ednas Falafel kitchen (Dareshack if raining.) The organizer plans on viewing/attending Animal Rights March afterwards
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9C3VFC45+6Q
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/ILyJ7F [remove this bit] wzpyJKaQcIpOPY8a

EDINBURGH

Contact: Sean Brocklebank
Contact Info: astral[.]club[.]edinburgh[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 25th, 3:00 PM
Location: University of Edinburgh, Old College, Teaching Room 01
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9C7RWRW7+X3
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Bl5 [remove this bit] zIidSM2BA9VlBHbWxV3?mode=gi_t
Notes: We meet about once a month to discuss ACX-related readings. Meetings are about two hours. At the April meetup, we will talk about: 1) https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/the-pentagon-threatens-anthropic 2) https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/all-lawful-use-much-more-than-you 3) www.dwarkesh.com/p/dow-anthropic The room is upstairs in Old College, but you can get inside going through the first big door on the right in the main courtyard (assuming you came in from South Bridge). We will have another meetup on Saturday 23 May. Please email me or join the whatsapp group for info about that one.

GLASGOW

Contact: Matt
Contact Info: mattjackson57[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 2:00 PM
Location: Sloans bar, Argyle street
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9C7QVP5W+7C
Group Link: https://discord.gg/tZ [remove this bit] MG5nFQH

LEEDS

Contact: Adam
Contact Info: buffer8949[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Thursday, April 23rd, 6:00 PM
Location: Tapped 51 Boar Ln, Leeds LS1 5EL. I’ll find a table and put a sign on it saying ACX Meetup
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9C5WQFW3+9JQ
Notes: RSVP would be helpful

LIVERPOOL

Contact: BM
Contact Info: marziehjan248[@]proton[.]me
Time: Sunday, May 3rd, 11:00 AM
Location: The Sphinx bar & grill, 160 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool L3 5TR Near the picnic tables right opposite the entrance. I will be wearing a green shirt and carrying a sign with ACX MEETUP written on it.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9C5VC23M+XCC
Notes: While not required, please send me an email with the subject line “ACX Meetup RSVP” so I know how many people are coming.

LONDON

Contact: Edward Saperia
Contact Info: edsaperia[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 23rd, 1:00 PM
Location: Newspeak House
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9C3XGWGH+3F6
Group Link: https://luma.com/ACX-London-May-2026
Notes: https://luma.com/ACX-London-May-2026

MANCHESTER

Contact: Bryn
Contact Info: acx[.]manchester[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Thursday, April 23rd, 6:30 PM
Location: The Wharf Pub, 6 Slate Wharf, Castlefield, Manchester, M15 4ST
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9C5VFPFV+F8
Group Link: https://signal.group/#CjQKIN_vSuLkWbhQ93vwXMP [remove this bit] EiPMCK95zMfAtJHu6-YD13xssEhBx6tRFtngSSNy3liI4GQD0

OXFORD

Contact: Jacek
Email: jacek[dot]x[dot]karwowski[at]gmail.com
Location: The Star, 21 Rectory Rd, Oxford OX4 1BU, United Kingdom
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9C3WPQX6+QM
Time: Wednesday, 29th April, 6:00 PM
Details: we’ll be sitting at the table in the back room with an ACX card. No need to contact me beforehand.

READING

Contact: Ben Woden
Contact Info: benwoden[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 2:00 PM
Location: Siren RG1 Craft Brew, Friars Walk, Reading RG1 1HP
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9C3XF24G+P8
Notes: It would be helpful for you to RSVP by email by COP Apr 4, but this is not required for attendance.

SHEFFIELD

Contact: Colin Z. Robertson
Contact Info: czr[@]rtnl[.]org[.]uk
Time: Saturday, April 25th, 3:00 PM
Location: 200 Degrees, 25 Division St, Sheffield S1 4GE. I’ll have a piece of paper on the table with ACX written on it.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9C5W9GJG+2M
Group Link: https://discord.gg/8RM [remove this bit] x8BvZbz

North America

Canada

CALGARY

Contact: LN
Contact Info: laibanas20[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 16th, 10:30 AM
Location: Calgary West Farmers Market- Near the west entrance
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/95373QQG+6W
Notes: Please RSVP to laibanas20@gmail.com

EDMONTON

Contact: Joseph
Contact Info: ta1hynp09[@]relay[.]firefox[.]com
Time: Thursday, April 16th, 7:00 PM
Location: Irrational Brewing 10643 124 St #109, Edmonton, AB T5N 1S5, Canada We will have an ACX sign at our table.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/9558HF27+7Q
Group Link: https://www.lesswrong.com/groups/hNzrLboTGkRFraHWG
Notes: Event Page: https://www.lesswrong.com/events/czvNZKJPeF3tx3cbt/acx-spring-meetups-everywhere-3

GUELPH

Contact: Sajid
Contact Info: msr[.]sajid1283[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Friday, April 3rd, 1:00 PM
Location: David G. Porter Memorial Japanese Garden, OAC Centennial Arboretum Centre, 200 Arboretum Rd, Guelph, ON N0B
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/86MXGQRM+3Q5

HALIFAX

Contact: Noah
Contact Info: usernameneeded[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, May 3rd, 1:00 PM
Location: We will be on the upper floor of the oxford taproom. Our table will have a blue geometric shape on it.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87PRJ9VX+PP
Group Link: https://discord.gg/UBp [remove this bit] sjUtV

KITCHENER (See WATERLOO)
MONTRÉAL

Contact: Henri
Contact Info: acxmontreal[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 23rd, 1:00 PM
Location: Jeanne-Mance Park, at the corner of Duluth and Esplanade. We’ll have an ACX sign. Note: join our Discord server to receive last-minute information in case of bad weather.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87Q8GC89+37
Group Link: https://www.lesswrong.com/groups/3nnqSgGbF8x3mTcia
Notes: Please RSVP on LessWrong: https://www.lesswrong.com/events/KDr8vWLayWjoWxHok/acx-meetups-everywhere-spring-2026-montreal-qc

OTTAWA

Contact: Tess
Contact Info: rational[.]ottawa[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Friday, May 22nd, 6:00 PM
Location: The 2026 Spring ACX Meetups Everywhere in Ottawa will be on Friday, May 22nd, at 6pm! Location: The rooftop patio of the National Art Centre (NAC), 1 Elgin St. The patio can be accessed from the street via exterior stairs (which I will label with a yellow sign reading “ACX”), or by going through the NAC to the upper levels with exits to the rooftop patio. If there is any difficulty finding the meetup, go to the Equator Coffee just inside the entrance to the NAC, contact Tess, and someone will be down to collect you. If it rains on the 22nd, we will reconvene inside the NAC atrium (ground floor area with the colourful couches).
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87Q6C8F4+CH
Group Link: https://www.lesswrong.com/groups/PB4YL2K54CzmQDtC4 (Attend a meetup for a link to our discord, where all the active online conversation takes place)
Notes: Come on out to encounter ACX readers, and to find out what our Rational Ottawa weekly meetup group is like/is all about! Past years have seen attendance range from 1-2 dozen at these events, and I would expect that to continue. Please feel welcome to join us even if you’re not quite sure you fit the crowd, or feel awkward about doing meetups! Food to be provided at the event!

SAULT STE. MARIE

Contact: Kevin Macmichael
Contact Info: kvnmac1[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 1:00 PM
Location: We’ll be at Kiwanis park, by the benches. I’ll have an ACX Meetup sign with me.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/86RQGMFP+VJ
Group Link: https://discord.gg/YfY [remove this bit] acWJu
Notes: Please join the discord or email me so I know how much food to bring

TORONTO

Contact: Sean
Contact Info: k9i9m9ufh[@]mozmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 19th, 2:00 PM
Location: Enter the Mars Atrium via University Avenue entrance. We’ll meet at the food court in the basement. I’ll be wearing a bright neon-yellow jacket.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87M2MJ56+XG
Group Link: https://torontorationality.beehiiv.com/
Notes: If for some reason the Mars Building is locked, which happens occasionally due to protests and other events, we will still meet outside of the University Avenue entrance for 30 minutes after the start time before relocating to somewhere more accommodating.

VANCOUVER, BC

Contact: Allwyn
Contact Info: allwyn8443[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 25th, 2:00 PM
Location: The Lido, 518 E Broadway, Vancouver, BC V5T 1X5
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/84XR7W65+W2
Group Link: https://luma.com/cjquji95

WATERLOO

Contact: Brent
Contact Info: brent[.]komer[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Thursday, May 21st, 7:00 PM
Location: We’ll be meeting in the Waterloo Public Library Main Branch Auditorium (35 Albert St, Waterloo). This is next to the children’s books area, on the ground floor.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/86MXFF8G+94G
Group Link: https://www.lesswrong.com/groups/NiM9cQJ5qXqhdmP5p
Notes: If possible, please RSVP on LW and/or Discord so I know how much food to get. https://www.lesswrong.com/events/T3Avhaw6TXuz5gnyw/acx-meetups-everywhere-spring-2026

Mexico

MEXICO CITY

Contact: Eddie
Contact Info: acxcdmx[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 16th, 4:00 PM
Location: Feel free to join us at Cafebrería El Péndulo, Condesa, for coffee, drinks, and rationalist-related conversation.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/76F2CR6G+6R
Group Link: https://www.lesswrong.com/groups/uzTxYaFupgz9ZnCT5

United States of America

Arizona

PHOENIX

Contact: Nathan
Contact Info: natoboo2000[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, May 10th, 1:45 PM
Location: 3500 S Rural Rd, Tempe, AZ 85282, USA We’ll be in the Tempe Library, Ironwood Classroom (the front desk can give you directions thru the hallways)
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/855C93RC+HP
Group Link: https://discord.com/invite/ANSyw [remove this bit] QABEF
Notes: RSVP not required, but much appreciated!

Arkansas

ROGERS

Contact: Cristina
Contact Info: olsoncristina[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Wednesday, April 29th, 6:00 PM
Location: Pavilion at the Railyard Bike Park in Rogers, 299 E Cherry St, Rogers, AR 72756.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/86878VHP+G9C
Notes: If it’s bad weather, we will meet somewhere else, please email for info.

California

BERKELEY

Contact: Scott, Ari, and Skyler
Contact Info: skyler[@]rationalitymeetups[.]org, ari[@]zerner[.]com
Time: Wednesday, June 10th, 6:30 PM
Location: 2740 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/849VVP5R+X5
Group Link: bayrationality.com
Notes: Children welcome, please no pets. We’ll have food, and possibly Q&A with Scott. Held shortly after Less.Online, we expect a lot of neat out-of-town visitors.

LOS ANGELES

Contact: Vishal Vivek Prasad
Contact Info: vprasadcs[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Wednesday, May 6th, 7:30 PM
Location: 11841 Wagner Street
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8553XHWM+GP
Group Link: https://discord.gg/TaY [remove this bit] jsvN
Notes: Join the Discord for more info.

REDWOOD CITY

Contact: Steven
Contact Info: stevenl451[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 16th, 10:00 AM
Location: Sana’a cafe
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/849VFQP9+JC
Group Link: meetups channel in ACXD discord: https://discord.com/channels/289207224075812864/928753873131302953
Notes: RSVP to my email if you like so I have a rough idea of who is coming

SACRAMENTO

Contact: Andrew
Contact Info: nightfall9[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 11:00 AM
Location: The Warehouse Artists Lofts, the patio on the roof, 1108 R St in Midtown, 11AM - 3PM
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/84CWHGC3+7WX
Group Link: https://discord.gg/fDf [remove this bit] pRemM
Notes: Discord is the best place to talk about attending the meetup. Also, for the meetup, the main entrance to the building is locked, but the is a silver number pad to the right. dial 060 on the keypad and I can buzz you in to the building. Upon entering, go straight and the elevator will be on your left, go up to the 7th floor. Please RSVP on LessWrong

SAN DIEGO

Contact: Julius
Contact Info: julius[.]simonelli[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 2nd, 11:00 AM
Location: Wisdom Park
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8544VRXM+56
Group Link: https://www.meetup.com/san-diego-rationalists/

SAN FRANCISCO

Contact: Nate
Contact Info: natesternberg[at]gmail[dot]com
Time: Saturday, May 02, 01:00 PM
Location: Mox (first floor), a co-working space in SoMa
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/849VQHCJ+82
Group Link: https://www.lesswrong.com/events/jjEeHyzxhZndrewjz/san-francisco-acx-meetups-everywhere-spring-2026
Additional Notes: Please RSVP on LessWrong so I can email you a door code ahead of time.

SAN JOSE

Contact: David Friedman
Contact Info: ddfr[@]daviddfriedman[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 2:00 PM
Location: 3806 Williams Rd,San Jose, CA 95117. Big blue house, corner of Keltner and Williams
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/849W825J+6Q
Group Link: http://www.daviddfriedman.com/SSC%20Meetups%20announcement.html
Notes: Please RSVP to my email so we will know how many we are feeding

SIMI VALLEY

Contact: Ryan W.
Contact Info: 6308061626
Time: Saturday, April 25th, 4:00 PM
Location: 8 la paz st. Simi Valley, CA 93065
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/85637663+W4
Group Link: https://discord.gg/tJt [remove this bit] 6Aghu
Notes: RSVP required. Kid friendly.

SUNNYVALE

Contact: Jon Wolverton
Contact Info: wolverton[.]jr[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 25th, 1:00 PM
Location: Meet at Washington Park. We’l be in a small picnic area under some trees next to the playground. Just walk around the playground until you find picnic tables under a sign saying “ACX MEETUP”
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/849V9XG6+V2
Group Link: bayarealesswrong@googlegroups.com
Notes: We’re meeting outdoors in a park next to a playground, so kids & pets are welcome!

Colorado

BOULDER

Contact: Josh
Contact Info: josh[.]sacks[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, May 3rd, 4:00 PM
Location: 9191 Tahoe Ln, Boulder, CO 80301
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/85GP2V96+JR
Group Link: https://groups.google.com/g/boulder-acx-ssc
Notes: Please RSVP on LessWrong so we know how much food to get!

Connecticut

NEW HAVEN

Contact: Richard
Contact Info: acx-meetup-hartford[@]protonmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 16th, 1:00 PM
Location: We will be meeting at the MOTW cafe at 296 Crown St, New Haven, CT 06511. There will be a little “ACX” sign on the table.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87H98349+M9
Group Link: https://www.lesswrong.com/groups/hyzRLJBLSkeq3xtQn

D.C.

WASHINGTON D.C.

Contact: Ben Schwab
Contact Info: schwabbenjamin[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 9th, 5:00 PM
Location: Teaism Penn Quarter, 400 8th St NW, Washington, DC 20004
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87C4VXVG+XM
Group Link: https://dcacxrationalitymeetups.beehiiv.com/; https://www.facebook.com/groups/605023464809227
Notes: This is specifically the Teaism in Penn Quarter. We will be meeting on the lower level. There should be signs directing you. Teaism doesn’t charge for the meeting space so getting food from Teaism is highly encouraged. Please no outside food or drink.

Meetup Czar Note: If Cassander claims to be running or hosting ACX Everywhere or the ACX Spring Schelling, this is false. We have fully split with Cassander, and ask that he no longer use the Astral Codex Ten or Slate Star Codex brand.

Florida

CAPE CORAL

Contact: Shawn Spilman
Contact Info: shawn[.]spilman[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, May 10th, 4:00 PM
Location: 929 SW 54th Ln, Cape Coral, FL 33914
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/76RWH224+44
Notes: RSVP appreciated but not required.

FORT LAUDERDALE

Contact: Lawrence
Contact Info: fort[.]lauderdale[.]acx[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, May 17th, 2:00 PM
Location: Tarpon River Brewing: 280 SW 6th St, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 I’ll have an ACX MEETUP sign and be wearing a red shirt
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/76RX4V73+QJ
Group Link: Discord server (covers Miami and Palm Beach County as well): https://discord.gg/svZeYP83MQ

FORT MYERS (See Cape Coral)
MIAMI

Contact: Charlie
Contact Info: chuckwilson477[@]yahoo[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 1:00 PM
Location: Buckminster Fuller’s Fly’s Eye Dome, 140 NE 39th St #001, Miami, FL 33137 The group will be seated at a table on the west side of the dome. There will be an ACX MEETUP sign on the table, but the quickest way to find us will be to send a message by e-mail or on the Discord server. There is plentiful parking available in a nearby garage.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/76QXRR65+V2
Group Link: https://discord.gg/svZeYP83MQ
Notes: The meetup will go on for several hours, so don’t worry if you have to arrive later than 1pm. We also host meetups throughout the south Florida area, so you have many other opportunities if you can’t make it to this event. Join our Discord, we’re always welcoming!

ORLANDO

Contact: JB
Contact Info: itslabradordali[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 16th, 4:30 PM
Location: The Muddy Root (12082 Collegiate Way, Orlando, FL 32817)
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/76WWHQWQ+JJC
Group Link: https://discord.gg/R2RrvVCARe (Orlando Server) https://discord.gg/jHBfgzMsFP (Miami Server, General FL channels exist)
Notes: RSVP not required but would be helpful. I’ll make it easy to spot. If interested but the day/time doesn’t work I’d encourage reaching out.

ST. PETERSBURG

Contact: Nathaniel B.
Contact Info: nathanieltb2[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 25th, 3:00 PM
Location: We’ll meet at Vinoy Park, at or near the circular path surrounding the Truth Sculpture at the southern end of the park. I’ll have a sign that says “ACX.”
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/76VVQ9GF+X78
Notes: Please feel free to attend regardless of how often you read the blog. Folks from Tampa and surrounding cities are also welcome to join!

WEST PALM BEACH

Contact: Rob
Contact Info: RobRoyACX[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 9th, 11:00 AM
Location: Common Grounds Brew & Roastery, 3065 S Dixie Hwy, West Palm Beach, FL 33405. We will be seated inside at a table with an ACX MEETUP sign on it. Parking is free at an adjacent lot.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/76RXMWPW+53W
Group Link: https://discord.gg/svZeYP83MQ
Notes: The meetup will go on for several hours, so feel free to stop by even if you come later than 11am! Just let us know through email or by joining the Discord. This is hosted by the South Florida ACX group that also does meetups in Palm Beach and Broward communities, such as Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and many others.

Georgia

ATLANTA

Contact: Steve
Contact Info: steve[@]digitaltoolfactory[.]net
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 2:00 PM
Location: Bold Monk Brewing - 1737 Ellsworth Industrial Blvd NW suite d-1, Atlanta, GA 30318 - look for the yellow ACX sign - we should be in the front breezeway
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/865QRH2F+V8
Group Link: https://acxatlanta.com/

Idaho

BOISE

Contact: Tim
Contact Info: tim[.]r[.]burr[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 2:00 PM
Location: Sunset Park, near 32nd St.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/85M5JQVC+JH

Illinois

CHICAGO

Contact: Todd
Contact Info: info[@]chicagorationality[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 2nd, 5:30 PM
Location: We will be hanging out and socializing at South Loop Strength & Conditioning (yes, a gym owned by one of our co-organizers).
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/86HJV9F9+CV
Group Link: https://chicagorationality.com

URBANA

Contact: Mayank
Contact Info: mayankaggarwal2004[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 5th, 2:00 PM
Location: Krannert Center for Performing Arts, next to Intermezzo Cafe inside
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/86GH4Q5G+9R
Group Link: https://discord.gg/wa5 [remove this bit] 3n3cQs

Indiana

BLOOMINGTON

Contact: John Linnemeier
Contact Info: Himalayansp[@]hotmail[.]com
Time: Friday, April 3rd, 2:00 PM
Location: 310 S Eastside Dr
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/86FM5F7P+GH
Notes: Kids and/or dogs are just fine. No need to RSVP, just show up. If it’s a nice day, I’ll be by the pond in the backyard so just come down the driveway. If it’s rainy or cold, knock on the front door and my dog will announce your arrival.

WEST LAFAYETTE

Contact: Grant
Contact Info: grantfellows18[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 4th, 3:00 PM
Location: Beering Hall of Liberal Arts (BRNG) Room 1255, 100 N University St, West Lafayette, IN 47907. Please email me if you cannot find us. I will also place an ACX Meetup sign at the entrance to the room.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/86GMC3GM+6FH
Group Link: https://discord.gg/QCq [remove this bit] QBp6s59

Maryland

BALTIMORE

Contact: Rivka
Contact Info: rivka[@]adrusi[.]com
Time: Sunday, May 17th, 7:00 PM
Location: First floor of the Performing Arts and Humanities Building at UMBC. The address is 1000 Hilltop Cir, Baltimore, MD 21250. There will be a sign that says “ACX Meetup”.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87F5774P+53
Group Link: We have a mailing list and a discord. The mailing list is more for our weekly meetup reminders and the discord is more of a social environment. Here’s a link to the discord: https://discord.com/invite/meeUK [remove this bit] NBRjX. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please email me.
Notes: Parking is free on the weekend. There will be food and drinks. RSVPs are useful so I know how much food to get, but are not required.

Massachusetts

BOSTON (See CAMBRIDGE)
CAMBRIDGE

Contact: Skyler, Dan, and Owen
Contact Info: skyler[@]rationalitymeetups[.]org, dan[@]metascienceobservatory[.]org
Time: Saturday, May 2nd, 2:00 PM
Location: Sennott Park, 305 Broadway, Cambridge. I’ll be wearing a tall striped hat.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87JC9W92+92
Group Link: https://linktr.ee/bostonacx
Notes: Please feel free to bring kids or pets! We’ll have snacks and pizza. The Linktr.ee will show lots of ways to get event updates, but the Discord and the google group are the most reliable.

NORTHAMPTON

Contact: Alex
Contact Info: alex[@]alexliebowitz[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 16th, 6:00 PM
Location: Common house at Rocky Hill Cohousing, 100 Black Birch Trail, Northampton, MA 01062. The common house is the first building you see when coming into the community (but after the event parking, which lines the road leading in on the right). The entrance door is around the left coming from Black Birch Trail; we’ll put a sign saying “ACX Meetups Everywhere” or the like on the correct door. Walk straight in and you’ll come to the main room where the meetup is happening.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87J9884H+VF
Group Link: Email alex[at]alexliebowitz[dot]com to get on mailing list (let me know if you want to be a CC or BCC). There’s also a moderately-active Discord that you can join at https://discord.gg/vec [remove this bit] W7TfsPg , where I make the announcements as well.
Notes: Guest parking should be along the road leading in (Black Birch Trail), parking to the right as you drive in. There is an Event Parking sign but it is not the most visible. There are disabled spaces directly in front of the Common House (100 Black Birch Trail). If we overflow the road, people can use the resident lots to the left and right.

Michigan

ANN ARBOR

Contact: Joseph Pryor
Contact Info: jwpryorprojects[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 16th, 1:00 PM
Location: Friends Meetinghouse 1420 Hill St. Ann Arbor Mi If the weather is good we’ll meet in the back yard at the picnic tables, if it is raining or too cold the corner room of the meeting house is reserved.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/86JR77C9+MQ
Group Link: https://www.meetup.com/ann-arbor-ssc-rationalist-meetup-group/
Notes: Meetup runs from 1pm to 5pm, come any time in that range! All day parking is available in the alley at the rear of the property and on the side streets. Feel free to bring food and drinks if the weather is good. (no food or drinks indoors) Bathrooms are available inside the building. For any questions or for text reminders the day before: 517-945-8084 No rsvp required, check out our monthly meetups the 3rd Saturday of every month!

DETROIT

Contact: Matt Arnold
Contact Info: matt[.]mattarn[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Friday, May 1st, 6:30 PM
Location: i3Detroit Maker Space in Ferndale
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/86JRFV3P+GH
Notes: Tours of the makerspace are at the same time. Indicate to whoever answers the door that you’re here for the meetup.

EAST LANSING

Contact: Daniel A
Contact Info: daniel[.]m[.]adamiak[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 26th, 2:00 PM
Location: Moka and Co. Cafe 565 E Grand River Ave Unit 200, East Lansing, MI 48823
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/86JQPGMF+99
Notes: RSVP so I know big of a table to reserve.I’ll be there with an ACX sign.

Minnesota

ST PAUL

Contact: Aaron Kaufman
Contact Info: Ironlordbyron[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, May 10th, 4:00 PM
Location: Davanni’s Pizza : 41 Cleveland Ave S, St Paul, MN 55105
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/86P8WRQ6+XX
Group Link: https://discord.gg/uWz [remove this bit] k93eVp
Notes: I will be providing pizza and salad! Vegans can theoretically eat the salad but it’s honestly slim pickings at this chain.

Montana

BOZEMAN

Contact: Thomas Cuezze
Contact Info: tcuezze[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Thursday, April 16th, 5:30 PM
Location: We will be at the picnic tables on the south side of Cooper Park. I will have a cardboard “ACX MEETUP” sign.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/85QCMXF3+Q9
Notes: It would be great if you could shoot me an email to say you’re coming, but absolutely not required! If multiple people RSVP I can bring snacks. Also, would love to meet other ACX people in Montana even if you can’t make the meetup, so feel free to say hi!

HAMILTON

Contact: Tyler
Contact Info: bitterrootacx[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 2nd, 12:00 PM
Location: Brew X Coffee. May be on the back patio weather permitting.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/85R76RWR+VR

New Jersey

MONTCLAIR

Contact: AGG
Contact Info: signoregalilei[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 2nd, 2:00 PM
Location: Lackawanna Station (1 Lackawanna Plaza, Montclair, NJ 07042) - inside the converted station building, across from “Burgers, Donuts, Potatoes”. I will have the appropriate sign.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87G7RQ6P+FRP
Notes: The lot is paid but some nearby street parking is free. Also, one of the Inkhaven-trained notable bloggers will be there!

New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE

Contact: Mary
Contact Info: geofishtree[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 2:00 PM
Location: Boxing Bear Brewing Co. Bridges on Tramway Taproom, 12501 Candelaria Rd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87112. I will be at one of the picnic tables outside around the corner (not under the shelter) with an ACX meetup sign.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/857M4G82+HPJ
Notes: Although this is a brewery, it’s child friendly and has plenty of non-alcoholic drink options, and outside food is allowed. I will have some food to share.

New York

ALBANY

Contact: Jake
Contact Info: jacob[.]scheiber[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, May 3rd, 1:00 PM
Location: 131 Colonie Center, Albany NY 12205 (Upstairs in food court, at the tables by the windows overlooking the parking lot)
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87J8P56M+CC

BROOKLYN

Contact: Stefan
Contact Info: stefanlenoach[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Friday, April 24th, 8:00 PM
Location: 81 McGuinness Blvd Apt. 6A
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87G8P3G2+5F
Notes: Please RSVP to my email

ITHACA

Contact: B. S.
Contact Info: bjs322[@]cornell[.]edu
Time: Saturday, May 2nd, 4:00 PM
Location: Ithaca Commons Entrance.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87J5CGR3+47M

Notes: Please send me an email if you plan on coming, even if your plans are uncertain, so I can plan accordingly

MANHATTAN

Contact: Robi Rahman
Contact Info: robirahman94[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 25th, 3:00 PM
Location: Pumphouse Park
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87G7PX6M+RG
Group Link: https://groups.google.com/g/overcomingbiasnyc?pli=1

MASSAPEQUA

Contact: Gabe
Contact Info: gabeaweil[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, May 31st, 2:00 PM
Location: 47 Clinton PL., Massapequa, NY 11758
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87G8MG4G+53
Notes: Please rsvp to gabeaweil at gmail dot com so I know how many people to expect.

NEW YORK CITY (See Manhattan, or Brooklyn)
POUGHKEEPSIE

Contact: Matt
Contact Info: matt[.]faherty530[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 5th, 2:00 PM
Location: Crafted Kup
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87H8M3VX+3Q
Notes: First time hosting, so please email me if you’re planning on attending.

North Carolina

ASHEVILLE

Contact: Vicki
Contact Info: vickirwilliams[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Friday, May 15th, 6:00 PM
Location: Biltmore Lake Community. Please RSVP for details.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/867VG8MV+6W
Notes: Exact location is weather dependent so please RSVP. Kids are welcome. Dogs may be welcome (if we meet outside). Some food is provided, but also some people usually contribute. It is up to you. RSVPs are helpful in planning that too.

CHARLOTTE

Contact: Charlie
Contact Info: charles[.]sanders72[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 4th, 3:00 PM
Location: Cordelia Park (or nearby cafe The Hobbyist or nearby food hall Optimist Hall if raining/cold/etc.)
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/867X65PM+W3

RALEIGH/DURHAM/CHAPEL HILL

Contact: William Crumpler
Contact Info: wdcrumpler[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 9th, 2:00 PM
Location: Ponysaurus Brewing Co (219 Hood St, Durham). We’ll be at the outdoor seating area with an ACX sign on the table
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8773X4Q4+Q2C
Group Link: https://groups.google.com/g/rtlw; https://discord.gg/wgx [remove this bit] 7s3wG
Notes: We will have pizza! The venue serves beer but is kid-friendly. I’ll have more details on the Google group (see link)

North Dakota

FARGO

Contact: Nathaniel
Contact Info: nathanielmchaffie[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 9th, 9:00 AM
Location: Boppa’s Bagels at 3051 25th St S, Fargo, ND. I’ll sit at a table with an ACX meetup sign.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/86R5R5PH+25

Ohio

COLUMBUS

Contact: Nate Dikeman
Contact Info: natedikeman[at]gmail[dot]com
Time: Saturday, April 18, 3:00 PM
Location: 840 W 3rd Ave, Columbus, OH 43212 We'll meet at the tables up the stairs from the Starbucks inside the Giant Eagle. Look for the ACX MEETUP sign and the guy in a big blue sunhat.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/86FRXXPC+CV5

Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY

Contact: bean
Contact Info: battleshipbean[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 1:00 PM
Location: Shannon Miller Park/Edmond Public Library (if it’s raining). I will be wearing a USS Iowa hat.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8674MG3F+Q2
Notes: I will only show up if someone RSVPs.

Oregon

CORVALLIS

Contact: Kenan
Contact Info: kbitikofer[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 25th, 5:00 PM
Location: Rivas Taco Shop, 2047 NW Monroe Av
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/84PRHP9F+9G
Group Link: https://discord.gg/yzy [remove this bit] N6ZMU

EUGENE

Contact: Michael B
Contact Info: michael[.]bacarella[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Wednesday, April 8th, 6:00 PM
Location: beergarden. 777 W 6th Ave, Eugene, OR 97402
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/84PR3V3W+C6
Group Link: https://discord.gg/swA [remove this bit] exPcjNS

PORTLAND

Contact: Sam Celarek
Contact Info: scelarek[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 5:00 PM
Location: 1548 NE 15th Ave There will be a sign saying Encorepreneur Cafe on the venue. Park on the streets around the venue, parking is free but you will have to look a bit. There will be a PEAR sign outside the building, otherwise text Sam at 513-432-3310
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/84QVG8MX+MV
Group Link: https://www.meetup.com/portland-effective-altruism-and-rationality

Pennsylvania

HARRISBURG

Contact: Phil
Contact Info: acxharrisburg[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 3:00 PM
Location: The Millworks 340 Verbeke St, Harrisburg, PA 17102 We will hang out in the lobby for the first 5 minutes or so, look for the ACX MEETUP sign or ask at the hostess stand to find our table if you show up later.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87G574C7+728
Group Link: https://www.lesswrong.com/groups/PXrLoKgiAyXEG2hLD

PHILADELPHIA

Contact: ben
Contact Info: bwieland[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 11:00 AM
Location: La Colombe Coffee 100 S Independence Mall W #110 (6th at Market, SW corner)
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87F6XR2X+6M
Group Link: https://groups.google.com/g/ACXPhiladelphia https://discord.gg/46z [remove this bit] b6hRVGB

PITTSBURGH

Contact: Jenna
Contact Info: pghacx[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 19th, 2:00 PM
Location: City Kitchen at Bakery Square. If we have good weather, we’ll be at the outdoor tables on the southeast side. If not, we’ll be in the atrium between City Kitchen and Alta Via Pizza/Jeni’s Ice Cream. Look for the ACX sign!
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87G2F34M+JP5
Group Link: https://discord.gg/6gb [remove this bit] Z7gQMtz and https://forms.gle/22YCsXAYFPbBCzvMA
Notes: We have a local ACX meetup! Currently it is every second Sunday from 2pm-5pm at the Panera Bread at Bakery Square, instead of City Kitchen. The next one will be May 3rd. Join the Discord or subscribe to the mailing list to get notifications of when the next one will be!

Rhode Island

PROVIDENCE

Contact: Mike
Contact Info: michaeltraner7[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 16th, 4:00 PM
Location: Prospect Terrace Park if it is decent weather, the Providence Place Mall Food Court if weather is bad. I’ll have a sign saying ACX MEETUP set up nearby.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/87HCRHHV+X3

Tennessee

NASHVILLE

Contact: Jonah
Contact Info: generalpurposeemail1[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 25th, 2:00 PM
Location: At the outdoor seating area directly in front of Nicholas Zeppos College at Vanderbilt university. Here is a Google map pin https://maps.app.goo.gl/dQJLv8ix3mn7f4rq6?g_st=ic Please join the Group Me (https://groupme.com/join_group/114018377/7wuY7gPP) for pictures of the seating area and to talk to us if you have trouble finding us. Address: 45WV+J3R Nashville, Tennessee Coordinates (36.1466033, -86.8073613). Free parking is a 5-10 minute walk away at Centennial Park and, especially, at Martin’s BBQ Joint on Elliston Place. Paid parking that’s a 2-3 minute walk away can be found along the entire stretch of West End Avenue that overlaps with Vanderbilt’s main campus (on the street facing side of Nicholas Zeppos College). You could also park at the Vanderbilt bookstore parking lot, but parking is limited to an hour and I’ve been towed there before (whereas Martin’s BBQ has never failed me).
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/868M45WV+J2
Group Link: https://groupme.com/join_group/114018377/7wuY7gPP
Notes: Please join the GroupMe so we can cater for the appropriate number of people and choose foods everyone will enjoy.

SEWANEE

Contact: Daksh
Contact Info: tyagid0[at]sewanee[dot]edu
Time: Saturday, April 25, 02:00 PM
Location: Stirling's Coffee House porch
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/867P634M+39
Additional Notes: Please RSVP so I know how many people to expect and let Stirling's know in advance if we're going to be a big group!

Meetup Czar note: Date changed from April 11 to April 25 at organizer request.

Texas

AUSTIN

Contact: Silas Barta
Contact Info: sbarta[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, May 30th, 12:00 PM
Location: The Brewtorium, 6015 Dillard Cir A, Austin, TX 78752; will be at an indoor table with an ACX sign
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/862487GM+96
Group Link: https://austinlesswrong.com/calendar/
Notes: Feel free to bring kids. Dogs are not allowed indoors. If parking fills up, you can park on the street in the neighborhood off Denson Drive.

BELTON

Contact: Michael
Contact Info: michael[@]postlibertarian[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 25th, 1:00 PM
Location: Arusha Coffee, 126 N East St, Belton, TX 76513. I’ll have a sign that says ACX MEETUP
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/86343G4P+RX4
Group Link: https://discord.gg/XNt [remove this bit] kJfqUqX
Notes: We’re a pretty small group but we’d love to grow!

DALLAS

Contact: Ethan Morse
Contact Info: ethan[.]morse97[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 25th, 2:00 PM
Location: Whole Foods at 11700 Preston Rd Suite 714, Dallas, TX 75230. We’ll be upstairs closest to the windows and outdoor seating area.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/8645W55W+2JV

HOUSTON

Contact: Nathaniel
Contact Info: nathanielrouth[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 26th, 12:00 PM
Location: Miller Meadow of Hermann Park. We’ll have a picnic blanket and an “ACX Meetups Everywhere” sign.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/76X6PJC6+42
Group Link: https://discord.gg/cb7 [remove this bit] K3Q6hKP
Notes: If driving, you can park for free in Hermann Park Lot C, or pay to park in the garage at the Museum of Natural Science or Museum of Fine Arts. Check Discord or LessWrong in the event of inclement weather.

MCALLEN

Contact: Miliana
Contact Info: sa111[@]wellesley[.]edu
Time: Saturday, May 2nd, 1:00 PM
Location: Robin Park, Mcallen
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/76R37Q8H+3H
Group Link: https://discord.gg/rz2 [remove this bit] WQ7aXjA

SAN ANTONIO

Contact: James P
Contact Info: jonbenettleilax[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 12th, 1:00 PM
Location: 203 E Jones Ave Ste 101, San Antonio, TX 78215, USA
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/76X3CGP9+CV
Group Link: https://www.lesswrong.com/groups/CEPoFETJXADdriPGt

Utah

SALT LAKE CITY

Contact: Ross
Contact Info: wearenotsaved[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 3:00 PM
Location: Liberty Park West Side Near the Chargepoint charging station
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/85GCP4WF+VJ

Virginia

WILLIAMSBURG

Contact: Jough
Contact Info: joughdonakowski[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Friday, May 1st, 6:00 PM
Location: Bonanza Social Kitchen, 220 Monticello Ave Unit M, 2b, Williamsburg, VA 23185, likely a table in the back
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/879577JG+JP
Group Link: https://discord.gg/qZp [remove this bit] sXxV89
Notes: Please RSVP via email so I can estimate a headcount and arrival times as the location will close at 8:30

Washington

BELLEVUE

Contact: Joey M
Contact Info: me[@]joeym[.]org
Time: Saturday, April 11th, 2:00 PM
Location: Bellevue Library, Meeting room 4. 1111 110th Avenue NE. Bellevue, WA 98004
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/84VVJRC4+35
Group Link: https://www.meetup.com/seattle-rationality/events/; https://www.lesswrong.com/groups/PmvZmMxBtxE87PHZf; https://discord.gg/6qk [remove this bit] jG5heDC

RICHLAND

Contact: Kamron
Contact Info: kgbrinkerhoff[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 10:00 AM
Location: Northeast corner of Leslie Groves Park near the pavilion. I will be wearing a purple shirt
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/85R28P7Q+6F
Notes: Please RSVP

SEATTLE

Contact: Nikita Sokolsky
Contact Info: sokolx[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 26th, 6:00 PM
Location: Stoup Brewing, 1158 Broadway, Seattle [look for the ACX sign]
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/84VVJM7H+4Q
Group Link: https://m.facebook.com/groups/seattlerationality/
Notes: Stoup serves both beer and non-alcoholic drinks. You can bring your own food.

Wisconsin

MADISON

Contact: Ben
Contact Info: benjamin.boerigter@gmail.com
Time: Saturday, April 4, 2:00 PM
Location: Memorial Union
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/86MG3JG2+G26
Additional Notes: Feel free to bring kids! Forecast for the day looks iffy so we can meet inside the Rathskeller, near one of the fireplaces. I will be wearing a shirt with the image of an iguana on it, with a small sign labeled "ACX Meetup."

South America

Brazil

BELO HORIZONTE

Contact: David Reis
Contact Info: davidreis[at]gmail[dot]com
Time: Thursday, April 23, 03:00 PM
Location: Copa Cozinha Savassi - Rua Paraíba, 858, Belo Horizonte - MG, 30130-145
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/58GR3388+CP
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/C0SZ [remove this bit] e8fdU8O1WgLd4GsST6

CURITIBA

Contact: Vitor
Contact Info: vitor[.]felixx[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 25th, 3:00 PM
Location: We’ll be on front of the greenhouse in the Botanical Garden with a ACX MEETUP sign.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/586GHQ46+QP

FLORIANÓPOLIS

Contact: Adiel
Contact Info: adiel[@]airpost[.]net
Time: Saturday, May 16th, 4:00 PM
Location: Angeloni Beira Mar, at the food court. I’ll be wearing a yellow hat.
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/584HCFGF+326
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Ks3 [remove this bit] XRn1t5Z48rCn7ruS7RC
Notes: Everyone is welcome! As usual, there will be cookies.

RIO DE JANEIRO

Contact: MP
Contact Info: ma[.]popst[@]hotmail[.]com
Time: Sunday, April 19th, 3:00 PM
Location: Padaria Ipanema
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/589R2Q8W+73
Notes: Padaria Ipanema also has beer

Chile

SANTIAGO

Contact: Iñaki
Contact Info: inaki[.]escarate[@]gmail[.]com
Time: Saturday, April 18th, 4:00 PM
Location: Location: Mercado Urbano Tobalaba, en la entrada poniente
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/47RFH9JX+XF
Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/H42 [remove this bit] KGoGuAt5D7tL0u8HBlr

Paraguay

ASUNCIÓN

Contact: Nuño Sempere
Contact Info: nuno[.]semperelh[@]protonmail[.]com
Time: Thursday, April 2nd, 3:00 PM
Location: West Coffee Julio Correa
Coordinates: https://plus.codes/5864PCGM+34

]]><![CDATA[Against The Concept Of Telescopic Altruism]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/against-the-concept-of-telescopichttps://www.astralcodexten.com/p/against-the-concept-of-telescopicTue, 31 Mar 2026 11:32:53 GMTI.

“Telescopic altruism” is a supposed tendency for some people to ignore those close to them in favor of those further away. Like its cousin “virtue signaling”, it usually gets used to own the libs. Some lib cares about people in Gaza - why? Shouldn’t she be thinking about her friends and neighbors instead? The only possible explanation is that she’s an evil person who hates everyone around her, but manages to feel superior to decent people by pretending to “care” about foreigners who she’ll never meet.

This collapses upon five seconds’ thought. Okay, so the lib is angry about the Israeli military killing 50,000 people in Gaza. Do you think she would be angry if the Israeli military killed 50,000 of her neighbors? Probably yes? Then what’s the problem?

“But vegetarians care about animals more than humans!” Okay, yeah, they sure do get mad about a billion pigs kept for their entire lives in cages too small to turn around in, then murdered and eaten. Do you think they’d care if a billion of their closest friends were kept for their entire lives in cages too small to turn around in, then murdered and eaten? I dunno, seems bad.

Maybe there is some possible comparison where some altruist cares about some set of foreigners more than a comparable set of countrymen? The war in Gaza killed 50,000 people, but the opioid crisis kills a bit over 50,000 Americans per year - is everyone who cares about Gaza exactly equally concerned about the opioid crisis? No, but there’s a better explanation - people care about dramatic deaths in big explosions more than boring health crises, regardless of where they happen. Everyone, lib and con alike, cared more about 9-11 than about a hundred opioid crises, even though the former only killed 4% as many people as the latter. And even the people who care about the opioid crisis usually can’t bring themselves to care about anything on the List Of Top US Causes Of Death, which are all extra-boring things like diabetes. Once you match like to like, nope, it’s pretty hard to find a “telescopic altruism” example that stands out from the general background of people having weird priorities.

Nearly everyone cares about people close to them more than people far away. If there’s a lib who would attend a Gaza protest instead of getting their deathly-ill kid emergency medical care, I haven’t met them - and the “telescopic altruism” crowd certainly hasn’t provided evidence of their existence. Instead, the people who care about their neighbors 1,000,000x times more than Gazans point to the people who ‘only’ care about their neighbors 1,000x times more than Gazans and say “Look! Those guys care about Gazans more than their neighbors! Get ‘em!” in order to avoid any debate about whether a million or a thousand or whatever is the right multiplier.

II.

At this point, usually the telescopic altruism people bring up That One Study.

They have not, in general, read That One Study. But they have seen a graphic from it.

The inner circles of this graphic represent people close to the respondent - for example, circle 1 is immediate family, circle 4 is friends, circle 7 is countrymen. After that, they get further and weirder: 9 is everyone in the world, 11 is all higher life, 12 includes “paramecia and amoebae”, 15 includes rocks.

The “telescopic altruism” people read the study as saying that conservatives properly care about their family first and so on, whereas the liberals care more about rocks and amoebae than their own families. Big if true.

It isn’t. The heatmap was just a poorly-designed attempt to represent the limit of concern. If the liberal map is “hottest” at animals, that means liberals say animals are worthy of at least some care. If a conservative’s map is “hottest” at friends, that means the conservative only cares about their friends (and doesn’t care at all about countrymen, foreigners, or animals).

When the paper actually looks at who cares more about their friends and family, liberals win very slightly on friends and conservatives very slightly on family, but not in a way that matters - it’s mostly just a grab bag of tiny irrelevant effects.

Conservatives can take heart in a different study in the paper, which gives people a limited supply of 100 “moral units” to distribute. If you distribute any moral units at all to foreigners, then you necessarily have fewer for your own countrymen. But this proves too much. If you distribute moral units to your cousin, you have fewer for your own child - does this make you a “telescopic altruist” who hates everyone close to him? Is this even wronging your child in any way? The average decent person is able to be decent to both their child and their cousin; anyone who freaks out about someone who is nice to their cousin, because “how can they take that niceness away from their own child?” doesn’t understand niceness. If you design an experiment where every moral unit you give someone must be taken from someone else, then people who care about their cousin will necessarily be robbing their child - but this is an artifact of the study design, not a condemnation of cousin-likers.

III.

Dave Barry has a saying - "A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person."

This is the opposite of the “telescopic altruism” hypothesis. A telescopic altruism believer would insist that being nice to a waiter is a red flag - “he’s just signaling niceness to people of other social classes because he’s incapable of loving people of his own class - I bet he’s a jerk to his family!”

You could call Barry’s alternative position correlated altruism. People who are nice to a far-off group are more likely to be nice to a nearby group, because all forms of compassion come from the same place.

When I look out in the world, I see more evidence for the correlated altruism hypothesis than the telescopic one.

Telescopic liberal altruists are always asking demanding that the government send food to people starving in Ethiopia. But would they support government programs to help Americans starving near their own home? Yes - most Democrats support programs like free school lunches (used as a way to ensure poor kids get at least one good meal a day), and most Republicans oppose them. This is probably just downstream around general beliefs in government intervention, but at least these beliefs are consistent.

Telescopic liberal altruists are always asking you to donate bednets and medications to fight pandemics in Africa. But would they care about a pandemic that affected ordinary Americans? Yes - the COVID pandemic was only five years ago, and most Democrats supported stronger anti-pandemic measures than most Republicans.

Maybe this is still too telescopic - helping poor sick Americans was just another part of their plot to avoid helping their families and friends? I don’t really know what metric you would use to determine who is a better friend or family member, but here are some vaguely related statistics:

Obviously these are confounded by class, but at this point liberalism and conservatism are basically classes and I think controlling for this would be improper

I don’t really think liberals are better spouses/parents in the way a naive reading of these maps might suggest - but there’s certainly no sign that they’re worse (except in Massachusetts - I blame the Kennedys!)

I will grant this to the telescopic altruism believers - I know many people who spend endless time and energy telling everyone else exactly how to behave, while their own lives and communities are total messes. I think greater familiarity with this pattern will find that they’re not total messes because these people fail to care about their own communities. They’re total messes because these people care way too much about their own communities, and are so messed up and bad at everything that every action they take in their own community makes it actively worse. This isn’t better. But it is, at least, different.

]]><![CDATA[Open Thread 427]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/open-thread-427https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/open-thread-427Mon, 30 Mar 2026 08:26:09 GMTThis is the weekly visible open thread. Post about anything you want, ask random questions, whatever. ACX has an unofficial subreddit, Discord, and bulletin board, and in-person meetups around the world. Most content is free, some is subscriber only; you can subscribe here. Also:

1: ACX Grantee 1DaySooner is looking for a Policy Lead for their Clinical Trial Abundance work. Work will be remote but DC location a plus, $100K - $145K salary, see here for more information and the application form.

2: Newspeak House, one of the London centres of our conspiracy, is accepting applications for their 2026 fellowship program, “Introduction to Political Technology”. They describe it as:

…designed to support mid-career technologists to develop a holistic understanding of the political technology landscape in order to found groundbreaking new projects or seek strategic positions in key institutions […] This is not a conventional taught course in which participants attend lectures and pass by showing up. Rather, it is an immersive year spent finding your place within an existing practitioner network and engaging with the field of political technology through its institutions, events, tools, norms, and accumulated body of work.

See here for more information / to apply.

3: Several people complained about last week’s post Every Debate On Pausing AI. I tried to respond to individual comments individually, but my more general response:

  • Some people thought I was strawmanning, in the sense of denying that there could be good objections to pausing AI. I tried to explicitly say in the post that such objections existed and were worthy of debate. I was complaining that, instead of discussing such objections, the real-world debate has mostly failed to progress beyond people falsely claiming that a pause has to be unilateral.

  • Other people complained that, even if I thought this was mostly true, it was wrong of me to describe this as “Every” debate on pausing AI. I thought this was within the joke meaning of “Every” used in titles like Every Bay Area House Party, ie “humorously capturing the Platonic form of the thing”, but it sounds like it didn’t come across this way, so I’ll be careful around that in the future.

  • Still other people asked good questions about what details of an AI pause would look like. The most fleshed-out plan that’s currently public is this one, which I haven’t read in enough detail to have strong opinions on. But another one that I’m excited about will come out soon, and I’ll cover it (and this topic) in more detail then.

4: New subscriber only post - Book Review: The White King Of La Gonave. Autobiography of a US Marine who unintentionally ended up as king of a small Caribbean island:

In 1896, two Polish immigrants in Pennsylvania gave birth to a young boy with the unlikely name of “Palestine Wirkus”. People must have found that as weird then as we would now - albeit for different reasons - because at some point they renamed him to the much more normal-sounding “Faustin Wirkus”. This decision would go on to change the course of his life and, eventually, world history.

5: I’ll be away the next few weeks on an Important Journalistic Fact-Finding Mission. I’ll post some old essays from the queue, but they might not be very timely, and I’ll respond to comments and emails less than usual. This also means I’ll miss the first half of Inkhaven - sorry to anyone who I told I would be there - but I’ll still be around for the second half.

]]><![CDATA[A Buddhist Sun Miracle?]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/a-buddhist-sun-miraclehttps://www.astralcodexten.com/p/a-buddhist-sun-miracleFri, 27 Mar 2026 15:21:05 GMTIn 1917, some Portuguese children started seeing visions of the Virgin Mary. The Virgin told them she would enact a great miracle on a certain day in October, and a crowd of 100,000 gathered to witness the event. According to eyewitness reports, newspaper articles, etc, they saw the sun spin around, change colors, and do various other miraculous things. At least a hundred separate testimonies of the event have come down to us, with only two or three people saying they didn’t see it. Catholics continue to bring this up as one of the best-attested miracles and strongest empirical proofs of the faith - including here on Substack, where there was a spirited debate about the event last fall.

I did my best to research the event, and the results were The Fatima Sun Miracle: Much More Than You Wanted To Know and Highlights From The Comments On Fatima. The main thing I was able to add to the Substack discussion, if not the broader worldwide one, was a survey of similar events. There were apparent sun miracles at various other Catholic sites and apparitions of the Virgin, including a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Italy, and a small town in Bosnia where they seem to happen regularly. But also, people who “sungaze” - a weird alternative medicine practice where people stare at the sun in the hopes that maybe this will help something and they won’t go blind - report sometimes seeing the sun spin and change color in similar ways. And Buddhist meditators report that concentrating very hard on any bright light will cause similar things to happen.

Still, the Catholics - especially original Fatima-Substacker Ethan Muse - were not convinced. The other Catholic sightings could have been other real miracles, equally attributable to the Virgin. The sungazers were staring at the sun for a long time, unlike the Fatima pilgrims who just happened to glance up at it. And the meditators were doing sophisticated contemplative exercises, again different from the Fatima pilgrims who just looked up and saw it. These were suggestive, but there was no record of a miracle exactly like Fatima happening within a non-Catholic religious tradition.

Until now! Substacker Arthur T, building on research from Sophia In The Shell, has found a 1990s Buddhist sun miracle very similar to Fatima.

The setting is the Dhammakaya Temple, a culty Buddhist megachurch in Bangkok.

Wat Phra Dhammakaya

On September 6 1998, a crowd of 20,000 gathered for a ceremony. Someone cried out that they saw a vision of the sect’s founder, Luang Pu Sodh, in the sky, with the sun at his heart. The crowd turned and focused on the sun. Here are some reports:

“The sun I saw at that moment radiated colors unlike anything I’d ever seen in my life. The colors shifted as if the sun was moving back and forth. There was a pinkish glow all around, then it changed to blue, then to a purplish-indigo color. And then, it looked like the entire image of Luang Pho Sod, in golden color, in the sky. It was as if the sun was a crystal ball inside his stomach. The sun’s light shifted again and again. I was so happy. I turned to the people next to me and said, ‘Look at the sun! Look at the sun with me!’ Many people who saw it stood and watched, waving flags. I was moved to tears… I’m a science student, and you can’t truly understand something like this unless you experience it yourself…”.

And:

The sun rotated around itself, and lights flickered around the sphere quite frequently. Pink light radiated outwards over a wide area around the sun, creating a beautiful sight. The colors changed constantly to gold, blue, and orange, unlike the sun halos we usually see. Suddenly, an image of Luang Por Sod of Wat Pak Nam Phasi Charoen, in a meditative posture, appeared as a golden statue in the sky above the Maha Dhammakaya Chedi. A sphere resembling the sun rotated around the center of his abdomen, and a very large, transparent crystal ball surrounded the image of Luang Por. At the same time, the images of hundreds of monks meditating around the Dhammakaya Chedi changed to a beautiful pink color. After about 20 minutes, everything returned to normal. The sun, which had been pleasantly and comfortably visible to the naked eye just moments before, became blindingly bright and unbearable, forcing us to avert our gaze as usual, even though the atmosphere had cooled down and the sun was about to set.

Compare to some of the Catholic testimonials from Fatima, like this one:

The hour approaches, and behold, as if by magic, the rain stops, the sun breaks through the dense, black clouds and reveals itself with its luminous rays, which quickly take on the colors of yellow, red, and green, turning the objects that were under its influence the same colors; and soon loses its brightness and colors—able to be seen with the naked eye without hurting the eyes—and takes on a dizzying rotation, seeming to fall toward the earth. And while observing these wonders, all the people are in loud exclamations. This lasted, at most, about five minutes, then returned to its normal state.

Or this one:

The sun lost its dazzling brightness, taking on the appearance of the moon and being easily seen. Three times during this period [it] manifested a rotational movement on its periphery, flashing sparks of light on its edges, similar to what happens with the well-known firework wheels. This rotational movement of the sun’s edges, manifested 3 times and 3 times interrupted, was rapid and lasted 8 or 10 minutes, more or less. The sun took on a violet color and then an orange, spreading these colors over the earth, finally regaining its brightness and splendor.

It’s really similar!

The biggest difference is that many of the Buddhists report seeing an image of the monk Luang Pu Sodh in the sky. One commenter mentions that the crowd had just been meditating, and that a typical Dhammakaya meditation practice is to visualize a Buddha with a crystal sphere in his belly; if true, this would be relevant to them seeing a vision of a monk with a crystal sun in his belly. The “miracle” seems to be a combination of everyone seeing this at once, and the sun behaving in a way not predictable by the specifics of Dhammakaya meditation, but seemingly very predictable by the specifics of its behavior at Fatima almost a century earlier.

Dhammakaya Movement | Dhammakaya Meditation Centre, Albury
The Buddha-with-glowing-sphere-in-his-belly motif of the Dhammakaya movement, source here.

This replication of Fatima in an “uncontaminated” context pushes me further towards believing that sun miracles are neither true divine intervention nor vague hypnotic suggestion, but some particular illusory/psychological phenomenon which necessarily manifests as the sun spinning and changing color, and which can occur independently even among people who aren’t primed to expect it. I continue to be vague on specifics, but think it might be somehow related to fire kasina meditation. This comes from a different Buddhist tradition than the one the Thais were doing; as far as I can tell, none of the Dhammakaya practitioners made the connection. But it seems like being in a meditative frame of mind helped. And it seems like the same pattern of fire kasina effects - including spinning lights, shifting colors swatches, and vivid hallucinations - applied here too.

Claude tightens the link further:

Scholars have actually classified the Dhammakaya [practice of meditating on a vision of a crystal ball at one’s heart] as a form of āloka kasina (bright light kasina). A UK survey found that kasina practitioners form about 3–15% of total meditators — 3% for kasina alone, but 15% if those practicing the āloka kasina practice of Dhammakaya meditation are included. So from an outside scholarly perspective, what they’re doing is arguably already a type of kasina practice — just not fire kasina, and not one they’d describe in those terms themselves.

So they’re doing a sort of off-brand kasina meditation in an emotionally charged crowd, and then they see the Fatima miracle. Hmmmm.

Arthur says his research has been slowed by his inability to understand Thai, and asks if any Thai-speaking sleuths are willing to take the case:

[First, I would] love to see contemporary newspaper accounts, especially skeptical/mocking ones analogous to the anticlerical Portuguese press from 1917. Apparently this was all over Thai media at the time, but I haven’t found any of the original coverage yet.

[Second], I’m very curious if anyone reported anything at all similar to “miraculous drying,” because that’s the only aspect of Fatima I haven’t seen paralleled here yet.

[Third], Apparently, the miracle happened on at least a few occasions in late summer-fall 1998. I wonder if it still happens. Sometimes pilgrims “take home” the miracle from Medjugorje. Does the same happen here?

But most of all, just more testimonies. Since I wrote up this post, I’ve found a Facebook thread from six years ago and a forum thread from twenty years ago with a number of people who saw it firsthand describing their experiences. So at this stage I feel pretty confident it was “real” insofar as “a real mass event” and not some kind of weirdly elaborate long-con hoax to fuck with western Fatima enthusiasts. But I would love to be put in touch with any witness willing to talk about it in detail. I have been poking around on Dhammakaya Facebook groups a little, but no luck so far.

If you have any extra information, you can contact him here.

]]><![CDATA[Book Review: The White King Of La Gonave]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/book-review-the-white-king-of-lahttps://www.astralcodexten.com/p/book-review-the-white-king-of-laFri, 27 Mar 2026 00:26:19 GMT Read more

]]><![CDATA[Hidden Open Thread 426.5]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/hidden-open-thread-4265https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/hidden-open-thread-4265Thu, 26 Mar 2026 23:06:51 GMT Read more

]]><![CDATA[How Natural Tradeoff And Failure Components?]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/how-natural-tradeoff-and-failurehttps://www.astralcodexten.com/p/how-natural-tradeoff-and-failureThu, 26 Mar 2026 11:17:22 GMTMichael Halassa: Did John Nash Really Have Schizophrenia? is a good article on the genetics of psychosis. Previous research found that schizophrenia genes decreased IQ but increased educational attainment. Usually IQ and education are correlated, so this was surprising. The new research finds two components to schizophrenia genetic risk. The first component, shared with bipolar, increases educational attainment. The second component, not shared with bipolar, decreases IQ. They average out to the observed full-spectrum genetic signal of constant-to-increased educational attainment paired with constant-to-decreased IQ.

In 2021, I discussed tradeoff vs. failure models of psychiatric conditions, and said that most conditions were probably a mix of both. The new research seems to confirm this: the first genetic component of schizophrenia is a tradeoff: bad insofar as it gives you higher schizophrenia risk, good insofar as it gives you higher educational attainment. Most likely this has something to do with creativity or motivation. The second component is a failure: bad in every way, with no compensating advantage. Most likely this is detrimental mutations in genes for neurogenesis and synaptic pruning.

I mostly wasn’t thinking about schizophrenia when I wrote about tradeoffs vs. failures, so I was surprised to see the theory so nicely reflected there. But in retrospect, this is common sense. All multifactorial problems should naturally be combinations of tradeoffs and failures.

Consider something human-level and common-sensical like poverty. People may be poor because of “failures” - negative qualities with no counterbalancing advantages. For example, they may be unintelligent, or chronically ill, or stuck in poor areas with bad education systems. These are cases where something goes wrong - their body, their health care system, their schools.

Other people are poor because of tradeoffs. The starving artist who spends all their time pursuing a creative vision instead of working a 9-5 job. The bohemian who prefers a relaxing lifestyle to the corporate grind. These people start with average capacity for success, but choose to spend their optionality in ways that give them less money and more of other things.

We can trivially extend this to most other negative situations. Single people might be ugly and awkward, or they might have chosen to trade off the good of a relationship for the goods of freedom and casual sex. A bad pizza might be bad because the chef was incompetent, or because it’s traded off taste for some other value like cheapness, convenience, or dietary restrictions (eg vegan, gluten-free). All of this makes sense when we’re talking about normal situations we understand well like romance or pizza. The key insight is that these are such complex multidimensional spaces that there will be lots of reasons they can go well or poorly, and some of those will probably fall into each of the two megacategories of “by choice” and “not by choice”.

Physical illnesses work this way too. Cancer is a failure of normal oncostatic processes, and plenty of risk factors reflect this: radiation, pollution, single-gene mutations. But cancer risk can also be elevated by tradeoffs: for example, with many asterisks and caveats, the higher a person’s risk of cancer, the lower their risk of certain degenerative diseases like Alzheimers, probably because cells can be set to either easy division (maximizing healing and growth) or limited division (minimizing cancer risk).

If you really stretch the model, even something like an amputated leg has both types of risk factor. You might lose your leg through pure bad luck (being clumsy and falling off a cliff), or because you’re prioritizing something other than leg integrity (being a brave soldier who rushes into battle and wins honor but is more likely to step on a mine).

This isn’t to say this pattern is universal. If you take it too seriously, you can confuse yourself by thinking a condition must have advantages, when actually it’s the risk of the condition that has the advantages (to a first approximation, cancer is always bad, you just don’t want to always keep your body in the most cancer-minimizing state possible). But also, things which are too simple to be multifactorial don’t need to have both tradeoff and failure etiologies. As far as I know, muscular dystrophy is simply bad. The reason it keeps happening is that the gene for muscle protein is really big - so if you get a random deleterious mutation, it’s pretty likely to be there!

My previous post presented the combination of tradeoff and failure etiologies as a mysterious (or at least complicated) fact about psychiatric conditions. Now I feel more comfortable that I’ve “dissolved” it - reduced it to something so obvious that I feel silly for ever having made a big deal of it in the first place.

]]><![CDATA[Every Debate On Pausing AI]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/every-debate-on-pausing-aihttps://www.astralcodexten.com/p/every-debate-on-pausing-aiWed, 25 Mar 2026 15:26:07 GMTSUPPORTER: America needs to start talking to China to come up with a bilateral agreement to pause AI. The agreement would need to be transparent, mutually enforceable, and…

OPPONENT: We can’t unilaterally pause AI! China would destroy us!

SUPPORTER: As I said, we need to start negotiating a bilateral agreement so that both sides will…

OPPONENT: You fool! Don’t you know that while we unilaterally pause AI, China will be racing ahead and using their lead to erode our fundamental rights and freedoms? How could you be so naive!

SUPPORTER: Look, I promise this is about negotiating for a mutual pause. We don’t think a unilateral pause would work any more than you would. But we think that if we negotiate…

OPPONENT: And while we unilaterally pause, do you think China will just be twiddling their thumbs, doing nothing? Obviously not! This is about ceding the future to our rivals!

SUPPORTER: I get the feeling you’re not listening to me.

OPPONENT: Just like China won’t listen to us when we ask them nicely not to destroy us with the advanced AI they developed while we unilaterally paused like chumps!

SUPPORTER: Okay, let’s back up. Is your problem that you don’t think China would agree to a pause in negotiations? Because we’ve actually had some pretty successful low-level discussions with Chinese scientists. And they’re losing the race, so their incentive to pause is stronger than ours. Xi has expressed some concern about the risks of AI and the importance of alignment - nothing super-strong, but more than our government has done. We agree it’s not obvious that China would agree to pause, but we think we should get the offer out there, and maybe work on a preliminary framework that we could use to pause later, if we got a warning shot and both of our governments became more amenable.

OPPONENT: No, my problem is that you want to unilaterally pause, while China rushes forward! That’s dangerously close to treason!

SUPPORTER: Or is your problem that you don’t trust China to stick to an agreement, once signed? Because we agree that an agreement has to be mutually transparent and enforceable. We have some ideas for how we could have a light-touch approach to monitoring Chinese data centers - of course, they would get to monitor ours in the same way - and actually the math mostly works out and we think it would be less intrusive than other things that have worked in the past, like nuclear monitoring.

OPPONENT: You foolishly think that if America paused, everything would be fine. But there’s a flaw in your utopian high modernist plan - our enemies won’t pause!

SUPPORTER: Or is your problem that you think AI will deliver lots of benefits, so it would be foolish to pause? I agree the benefits of AI would be great, and I think there are ways we could try to maximize those benefits even during a pause. For example, we and China could try to build the infrastructure for a pause, put a mutual red line in place for activating the pause, and then have green lines in place for what sorts of control schemes we would need to see before winding down the pause and continuing to advance. It wouldn’t be a total stop on AI improvement so much as an attempt to do it in a monitored way, with the US government, Chinese government, and scientific community all having input. I know it’s reasonable to worry that such a graduated strategy could devolve into a more extremist Luddite approach, but there are steps we could take to make that less likely.

OPPONENT: I feel like you’re not listening to me at all! The problem is that while you frolic in your hippie-dippie flower world of unilateral pauses, China races ahead to the prize!

SUPPORTER: Or is your problem that you’re worried about the economic consequences of getting rid of existing chatbots? Because a pause would just mean that China and ourselves slow down training new AIs. Inference - running the kinds of AI that people use now - could keep going ahead as planned in both countries.

OPPONENT: But what about China? While we pause training, they would train faster than ever!

SUPPORTER: I’m getting exasperated here. There are lots of reasons to be worried about an AI pause - starting with the possibility that China wouldn’t agree to it, or that they might agree but then secretly defect against us by trying to get around the agreement. I’m excited about debating those concerns with you. But it seems like we can’t get past you asserting that I want a unilateral pause, which just isn’t true. Almost nobody wants a unilateral pause! Pause AI, the biggest activist group in this area, says:

We are primarily asking for an international pause, enforced by a treaty . . . such a treaty also needs to be signed by China.

Eliezer Yudkowsky, the most famous pause proponent, writes in his book that:

The goal is not to have your country unilaterally cease AI research and fall behind. It is to have enough major powers express willingness to halt the suicide race, worldwide, that your home country will not be placed at a disadvantage if you agree to stop climbing the AI escalation ladder.

David Krueger, the keynote speaker at the recent round of AI pause protests, said:

It's actually quite simple: [First,] company leaders agree to a conditional pause, [then] US and China agree to a conditional pause, [then] international pause. Notice how no step here involves "US unilaterally pauses"

…and added that “I concentrate on America [because] China has shown more interest in slowing down and regulating.” If you think someone is demanding a unilateral pause, I think you have a responsibility to say who it is you’re talking about. If you can really find someone like this, I’ll criticize them just as hard as you are.

OPPONENT: You think you’re getting exasperated? I don’t see you responding to my key point, which is that if we institute a unilateral pause like you’re suggesting, China will beat us, and we’ll lose all our freedoms and have to learn Chinese and draw a thousand squiggly characters every time we want to communicate! And all because you were too stupid to realize that it doesn’t make sense for only one side in a race to pause and hope for the best!

SUPPORTER: Forget it. This debate is over.

OPPONENT: See, it’s just like you to unilaterally declare this debate over! You don’t realize that even if you want to pause the debate, I can just keep speaking! Exactly what I would expect from a gullible fool who want to cede the AI race to China by pausing unilaterally! What you don’t realize is that while we pause, Chairman Xi will be … will be … (*faintly, barely audible*) Hey, who cut my mic?

]]><![CDATA[Open Thread 426]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/open-thread-426https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/open-thread-426Mon, 23 Mar 2026 13:34:59 GMTThis is the weekly visible open thread. Post about anything you want, ask random questions, whatever. ACX has an unofficial subreddit, Discord, and bulletin board, and in-person meetups around the world. Most content is free, some is subscriber only; you can subscribe here. Also:

1: ACX grantee hyperstition.ai is holding a contest to find who can generate the best AI fiction. Free compute for all entries plus $10,000 prize for the winner. More information here, deadline April 1.

2: The CORDA Democracy Fellowship asks me to signal-boost them. They are:

…a new fellowship bringing together researchers, builders, and practitioners to work on democratic resilience with a focus on its overlap with AI safety. It is an 8-week part-time program and we have 20 projects open for applications right now; topics cover AI governance, surveillance reform, deliberative democracy, and whistleblower protection with mentors from Harvard, ETH, MATS, AI:FAR, etc. Applications close March 30th

I think this is an important cause area, but I’ve never heard of this exact organization before and can’t explicitly vouch for them, so do your own research.

]]><![CDATA[Being John Rawls]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/being-john-rawlshttps://www.astralcodexten.com/p/being-john-rawlsThu, 19 Mar 2026 03:31:17 GMTI.

John Rawls was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on February 21, 1921. Not John Rawls the famous liberal philosopher (or, rather, John Rawls the famous liberal philosopher was also born in Baltimore, Maryland on February 21, 1921, but he is not the subject of our story). This is John Rawls the alcoholic.

John Rawls the alcoholic was twelve when they lifted Prohibition. He partook immediately, and dropped out of school the following year, supporting himself through a combination of odd jobs, petty crime, and handouts. When he was 41, he committed a not-so-petty crime - killing a man in a bar fight. Although he fled the scene and escaped without consequences, it turned him paranoid. Odd jobs and petty crime were both young men’s games, and the handouts became an ever-larger share of his income. He learned to play the field, peddling the same sob story to the Salvation Army on Monday Wednesday Friday, the YMCA Tuesday and Thursday, and the local churches on weekends. He expected to drink himself to death by age 60, and there wasn’t much to do but wait out the clock.

But as he entered his early fifties, the handouts started to dry up. The Salvation Army closed shop, the YMCA pivoted to physical fitness, and even the churches were no longer as charitable as before. One day he ran into a man he’d once seen volunteering at Salvation Army, and asked him what had happened.

“You haven’t heard?” asked the volunteer. “None of the rich people donate to us anymore. They’re all giving to this group called the John Rawls Foundation. If you’re in trouble, you should talk to them. They’re swimming in money!”

This naturally interested John Rawls the alcoholic, so he obtained their address from the volunteer and headed to their office. He was met by a psychologist, who introduced himself as John Rawls (“Not the one the foundation is named after, just a funny coincidence, haha!”)

John Rawls Psychologist told John Rawls Alcoholic that their foundation would be happy to help, but that he would have to get through a screening process first. The screening process would involve being administered a certain experimental drug and led through a hypnotic induction. The social worker would record his answers, and, if he passed the test, he would receive a monthly stipend that far exceeded the sum of his previous Salvation Army, YMCA, and church handouts. “Like a truth serum?” asked John Rawls Alcoholic. “Sure, let’s say like a truth serum,” said John Rawls Psychologist. “When will the screening process be?” asked John Rawls Alcoholic. “How about immediately?” asked John Rawls Psychologist.

So John Rawls Alcoholic found himself lying on a bed in what looked like a medical examination room, as John Rawls Psychologist shone a piercing light into his eye.

“What are you looking for?” asked John Rawls Alcoholic.

“Just a routine examination, don’t worry,” said John Rawls Psychologist. “Your eyes look fine.” He handed over a vial of colorless liquid. “Now, this may taste a little bitter…”

II.

Like our other characters, John Rawls the banker was born February 21, 1921. His parents were middle-class, but they had good Protestant values and taught him the value of hard work. By age 51 he was president of First Civic Bank and the richest man in Baltimore.

John Rawls Banker always turned down invitations to charity luncheons - why couldn’t everyone else work hard, the way he did? - but he was tickled to get a call from the John Rawls Foundation. Of course, it wasn’t really named after him - he assumed it had something to do with the famous liberal philosopher, whose hand he had shaken once at a country club - but he was intrigued enough to say yes. Besides, imagine the headlines: “JOHN RAWLS REFUSES TO DONATE TO JOHN RAWLS FOUNDATION”.

The lunch turned out to be a table for two at Baltimore’s swankiest restaurant. His counterparty was also named John Rawls, although, he clarified, “not John Rawls the famous liberal philosopher”, but rather “a distant relative”. He described himself as a “visionary” poised to “disrupt the charitable space”, although John Rawls Banker had never heard the word “disrupt” used in quite this way before, and was skeptical of anyone who thought that “disrupting” a “space” could be a good thing.

“My theory of charity,” said John Rawls Visionary, “centers on nine words: there but for the grace of God go I. Society is a contract where we agree to help the less fortunate, knowing that if the shoe were on the other foot, they would help us in turn.”

“You have a rosy view of human nature,” said John Rawls Banker, in the same tone of voice he might use to say You have a bug on your face. A waiter came by, and brought each of them a glass of expensive wine.

“I don’t,” said John Rawls Visionary, “and that’s exactly what I bring to the table. My theory of charity is that we should only give to those poor people who, in the counterfactual where they were rich and we were poor, would give to us. I’ve been working on a pharmacological solution to the problem. This is what I’ve got.” He held up a vial of a colorless liquid. “Here. Take it as a souvenir. It’s one part sodium thiopental, one part LSD, and one part calea zacatechichi, the lucid dreaming herb of the Chantal Indians - plus a secret ingredient of my own devising. When a person drinks it, they enter a highly suggestible state. If a trained psychologist provides hypnotic keywords during their trip, they can sculpt an immersive dream where the patient lives an entire lifetime in a situation of the hypnotist’s choosing. The patient narrates their experience, letting us extract information. You can see the utility. When poor people ask us for money, we induce the trance and make them think we are poor, they are rich, and they’re being asked to donate to us. Then, we give money only to those beggars who would help us if the roles were reversed.”

“Astounding,” said John Rawls Banker.

“Can I pencil you in for a starting donation of $100,000?”

“I’m afraid not,” said John Rawls Banker. “I am certainly impressed with what you’ve accomplished, but it doesn’t change my fundamental position that the poor should work to better their own lives.”

“Mmmm,” said John Rawls Visionary. “I suppose we could add this to the test. If they’d been born with more resources, would they have been able to lift themselves up -”

“I appreciate your commitment to your methodology,” said John Rawls Banker, “but the answer is no.”

“I mean no offense,” said John Rawls Visionary, “but perhaps you fail to consider the philosophical implications of your position. You’re saying that even though every one of our clients would reach out to help you if you needed it, you refuse to reciprocate. Isn’t that something of a betrayal? Nobody wants to be a moocher, but I see no other way to interpret your view that even though these people have each agreed to help you, you would do nothing for them.”

”No offense taken,” said John Rawls Banker. “It’s an interesting philosophical problem, but the difference, of course, is that this isn’t a betrayal, because they haven’t really helped me. You say they would counterfactually help me, and I’m willing to stipulate that this is true, but it’s not a betrayal - not the sin of refusing to help a benefactor in need - unless they actually helped me. Which they haven’t. I lifted myself by my own bootstraps.”

“I don’t see what difference the reality makes,” said John Rawls Visionary. “Yes, by pure luck, you’ve never needed their help. But we judge the moral character of a would-be-murderer whose gun jams at the last moment the same as a successful murderer. And a drunk driver who by coincidence hits and kills a happy family is no better or worse than a drunk driver who by good luck makes it home without incident. My theory of charity merely extends this intuition: it is foolish to credit someone for the luck of actually being your actual benefactor, rather than for merely having the sort of character that ensures they would be.”

“The implications are absurd,” said John Rawls Banker. “One would owe favors to half the world.”

“And be owed favors by the same,” said John Rawls Visionary. “The equilibrium is not so bad. One might even say it would be Heaven on Earth.”

“The conversation has been bracing,” said John Rawls Banker, “but I’m afraid my answer is final.”

“Before you entirely finalize your answer, I do have one more, rather unorthodox argument in my armamentarium that I wonder if you might let me deploy, if you have a few moments.”

“Let me guess,” said John Rawls Banker. John Rawls Visionary listened attentively, as if genuinely interested to hear his theory. “You’re going to say that I can’t prove that I’m not actually a poor person who’s taken your drug, and who merely thinks he is a banker. That for all I know, I might be being evaluated by your charity at this very moment, and if I refuse to give, then I will have proven myself unworthy, and the real rich bankers will refuse to help me, and I’ll starve to death on the street. Have I gotten it right?”

“Mr. Rawls, you have a reputation as the shrewdest negotiator in the financial world, and I would never presume to rub your face in so obvious a consideration. I’m happy to let it remain a background assumption of our conversation. Besides, if you were being tested, I think it would defeat the point to tell you so. I find it aesthetically unappealing to divulge any information that reduces morality to immediate self-interest. No, my stratagem is something quite different.”

“Very well, I’m all ears.”

“I think you should take my drug,” said John Rawls Visionary, “and live the life of a poor person. Maybe you would lift yourself up with your own bootstraps, maybe you wouldn’t. Either way, I expect one of us would learn something interesting.”

John Rawls Banker examined the vial of liquid on the table in front of him. “It’s a tempting offer,” he said, “but you’ll forgive me for being reluctant to try an untested psychedelic I’ve never heard of. No offense meant, of course, I’m sure you’re excellent at what you do.”

“No offense taken,” said John Rawls Visionary, “and I am excellent at what I do. The dose I put in your wine ought to be taking effect around now.”

“What? You’re joking, right? When did you even get a chance . . . ?”

“Just ease into it . . . there we go . . . theeeeeere we go. Now listen…”

III.

“Why don’t I try the Rawls Foundation? I’ll tell you why I don’t try the Rawls Foundation! They rejected me!” John Rawls Alcoholic paced back and forth across the floor of the church. Most of the religious groups had given up on charity now, content to leave it to the ever-growing Rawls Foundation. Here, St. John’s Church, was one of the last that would still give him the occasional warm meal. The priest (ironically, named Father Rawls) probably thought he was being kind in also offering a listening ear, although John Rawls Alcoholic considered their occasional sessions just another hoop he had to jump through.

“They told me,” continued John Rawls Alcoholic, “that they would only help good, charitable, people. The kind of people who would help the rich dipshits who give them money, if it were the other way round. Pardon my language, Father. Then they gave me some drug, and based on what I said on the trip, they said they could tell I wouldn’t have helped.”

“But you think they were wrong?” asked Father Rawls.

“Hell no,” said John Rawls Alcoholic. “If I get rich, you think I would share it with those millionaire dipshits in Guilford and Roland Park? Hell no! That shrink might be a piece of shit, but his mind-reading drug got my number.”

“So . . . ?“ asked Father Rawls, not really knowing what to say.

“Are you gonna cut me off too, Father? You think I don’t deserve charity because I wouldn’t donate to your church if it were in need? I wouldn’t, either. You don’t have to drug me, I admit it.”

“Hmmm . . . there’s a famous saying, that the Church is a not a country club for saints, but a hospital for sinners. So I think you’re good. Still, I notice I’m confused. Even if you had enough, you wouldn’t want to give anything to the less fortunate?”

John Rawls Alcoholic shook his head. “Nobody ever gave anything to me,” he said, as the priest refilled his soup bowl and added an extra slice of bread. “It’s a harsh world out there, and I take care of me and mine. Sorry Father. That’s just who I am. Can’t change it.”

“Not even if changing would get you the Rawls Foundation’s money?”

“I asked the shrink about that. He said that in the trance, you might not even know the Rawls Foundation exists, or that you need money for it. You have to do good out of the . . . the kindness of your own heart.”

Father Rawls thought, then thought a little more. “There’s a story about a man who came to the Pope saying he was afraid of Hell, but just couldn’t bring himself to sincerely believe in God. He asked if he should fake it. The Pope told him to go to church without belief, and do good deeds without belief, and pray without belief, and eventually, belief would come to him. Nowadays we call it fake it ‘till you make it. I think that’s my advice to you. You should try to be a good person for bad reasons - because you want the Rawls Foundation to give you money - and maybe, eventually, you’ll become a good person for the right reasons, and actually get the money.”

“Easy for you to say, Father. You’re comfortable and happy. I’m not. All I’ve got is my pride. I’m not going to spend the few shitty years I have left training myself to be some rich person’s bitch.”

“Have you considered that pride is a mortal sin?”

“Oh, here it comes. The discussion of how I Have To Convert Or Else I Will Be Sent To Hell. Fuck it. You think God would pass the screening exam at your precious Rawls Foundation, Father? Give him the drug, make Him think that He’s the human, and we’re the gods consigning him to torture because he didn’t conform to our precious little rules. Do you think he’d still be all meek and loving?”

“We ran the experiment. His final words were ‘Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.”

“Yeah, well . . . “ John Rawls Alcoholic couldn’t think of anything to say to that, so he stormed out.

Things were bad. The Salvation Army and YMCA had stopped their handouts. The Rawls Foundation wouldn’t help him. He couldn’t go back to St. John’s Church. The walls were closing in. Well, he could always shoot himself. He thought of his gun, back at the SRO hotel he’d been staying at the last two years.

Then he kept thinking. Shooting himself - what would that accomplish? No, he had a better idea. He was going to kill John Rawls. Not himself. Not even the shrink. The one the foundation was named after. He’d heard about him a few times, seen a news article here and there. He was a bank CEO, the richest man in Baltimore. He lived in the big white mansion on Federal Hill. All of this was his fault. He thought he was so much better than everyone else. Sat there like a god, doling out life and death over the populace, according to their virtue. But he wasn’t a god. He was a mortal. And John Rawls Alcoholic was going to kill him. He knew this to be true. It was the consummate meaning of his life, the cornerstone that gave purpose to everything else. He popped into his room, put his gun in his pocket, and headed toward Federal Hill.

He passed by the building where the Salvation Army used to be. He passed by the Rawls Foundation office. He passed by St. John’s Church. He said his goodbyes to each. After killing the banker, he wasn’t sure if he would shoot himself immediately, commit suicide by cop, or go on the run. Whatever he did, he might never see any of this again.

It was dark when he reached the big white mansion. He poked around the grounds, found a window with a weak latch, and forced it. He felt a rush of excitement - breaking and entering reminded him of his twenties, when it felt like he could commit any crime and the police would never find him. He was in a hallway. The banker was probably getting ready for bed. Nothing to do but open each door until he got the bedroom.

It was the fourth door he tried. John Rawls the banker was 51, clean-shaven, with straw-blond hair. He was dressed in a nightgown, brushing his teeth. When he saw the gun point at him, he froze, slowly lowered his toothbrush, and put his hands up.

“No point surrendering,” said John Rawls Alcoholic. “I’m here to kill you.”

“I don’t even know you!” said John Rawls Banker.

“My name is John Rawls,” said John Rawls Alcoholic.

“Is this some kind of joke? That’s my name,” said John Rawls Banker.

“Not a joke. I’m really gonna kill you. I was gonna live out my last few years in comfort before you and your fucking charity ruined everything. Now I can’t even get a hot bowl of soup. You think you’re so great, that you get to judge everyone else. Well, you wouldn’t last a second on the streets.”

“Let me get this straight,” said John Rawls Banker. “The screening exam found that you wouldn’t help me, if our roles were reversed. But you’re mad at me for not helping you? So mad you’re going to kill me? Why are you complaining? All I’ve done is what you would have done in my place.”

John Rawls Alcoholic thought about this, slightly miffed that he couldn’t gracefully storm out of his own crime scene. “That’s not true,” he finally said. “I wouldn’t have founded the charity in the first place.”

“I didn’t found the charity,” said John Rawls Banker. “It was actually someone else, with the same name. I just . . . “

“Or I wouldn’t have donated, or whatever,” said John Rawls Alcoholic. “Yeah, I’m a mean person. I get it. But I wish I could give you your own stupid drug and have you be a poor person who everyone thinks is ‘mean’ and see if you’re all la-la happy about someone deciding that you shouldn’t get a warm bed and a place to live. Or whether you’d be exactly where I am, trying to shoot the rich motherfucker who ruined your ... aha!” He had caught the rich man’s involuntary glance toward his desk drawer. “You do have the drug!”

John Rawls Banker quickly calculated what answer was most likely to buy him time, then nodded. “The man who invented it gave me a vial, as a sort of souvenir.”

“Okay,” said John Rawls Alcoholic, and his finger was off the trigger. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. You’re gonna take that drug. And we’ll see. We’ll see if you fucking work your way up from the bottom. We’ll see how you do living the life of John Rawls Alcoholic. Go on.”

“I was told it requires a qualified psychologist to perform the hypnotic induction. If an untrained person tries, the results could be . . . “

“Go on, Mr. Rawls. No cold feet. Drink the drug or I shoot.”

“Have it your way, Mr. Rawls,” said the banker, and he took it from his desk and drunk the vial in one long gulp.

IV.

John Rawls the alcoholic was twelve when they lifted Prohibition. He partook immediately, and dropped out of school the following year, supporting himself through a combination of odd jobs, petty crime, and handouts. When he was 41, he committed a not-so-petty crime - killing a man in a bar fight. Although he fled the scene and escaped without consequences, it turned him paranoid. Odd jobs and petty crime were both young men’s games, and the handouts became an ever-larger share of his income. He learned to play the field, peddling the same sob story to the Salvation Army on Monday Wednesday Friday, the YMCA Tuesday and Thursday, and the local churches on weekends. He expected to drink himself to death by age 60, and there wasn’t much to do but wait out the clock.

But as he segued into his early fifties, the handouts started to dry up. The Salvation Army closed up shop, the YMCA pivoted towards physical fitness, and even the churches were no longer as charitable as before. One day he ran into a man he’d once seen volunteering at Salvation Army, and asked him what had happened.

“You haven’t heard?” asked the volunteer. “None of the rich people donate to us anymore. They’re all giving to this group called the John Rawls Foundation. If you’re in trouble, you should talk to them. They’re swimming in money!”

This naturally interested John Rawls the alcoholic, so he obtained their address from the volunteer and immediately headed over to their office building. He was met by a psychologist, who introduced himself as John Rawls (“Not the one the foundation is named after, just a funny coincidence, haha!”)

John Rawls Psychologist told John Rawls Alcoholic that their foundation would be happy to help, but that he would have to get through a screening process first. The screening process would involve being administered a certain experimental drug and led through a hypnotic induction. The social worker would record his answers, and, if he passed the test, he would receive a monthly stipend that far exceeded the sum of his previous Salvation Army, YMCA, and church handouts. “Like a truth serum?” asked John Rawls Alcoholic. “Sure, let’s say like a truth serum,” said John Rawls Psychologist. “When will the screening process be?” asked John Rawls Alcoholic. “How about immediately?” asked John Rawls Psychologist.

So John Rawls Alcoholic found himself lying on a bed in what looked like a medical examination room, as John Rawls Psychologist shone a piercing light into his eye.

“What are you looking for?” asked John Rawls Alcoholic.

“Mmph,” said John Rawls Psychologist. “We have a problem. You’re too many levels deep.”

“What do you mean?”

“The drug puts you into a hypnotic trance where you live an entirely different life. And in that different life, it may happen that you come to a Rawls Foundation office, and we give you this drug, and you live a different life again. That’s fine. We even encourage it, once or twice. But the doses are cumulative. When you’re more than about five levels in - a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream - it builds up past the levels we’ve tested. It wouldn’t be safe to give you any more.”

“You’re telling me you put the Salvation Army and the Y out of business, then when I ask you for a little handout you give me some bullshit about my eyes and refuse to help me?”

“Mr. Rawls, if I were to give you this drug now, I can’t guarantee the trance would stay in my control. You might experience something unintended. Or you might never go home again.”

“You fucking listen to me,” said John Rawls Alcoholic. “I am fucking tired of being bounced from place to place by all you fucking do-gooders and your fucking excuses for why you can’t help me. I will sign whatever fucking release forms you want, just give me the fucking drug.”

“Oh, you’ll sign release forms?” asked John Rawls Psychologist, and suddenly he was all smiles. He produced a bundle of papers. “Here you go. Initials on each page, then your name at the end.”

John Rawls Alcoholic initialed each page, then signed, then thrust the packet at John Rawls Psychologist. “Give me the fucking drug,” he said.

The psychologist passed him a vial of of colorless liquid. “Now, this may taste a little bitter…”

V.

John Rawls Alcoholic found himself in a diner, with the worst headache of his life.

The diner was entirely empty. He noticed the weather outside changed every time he blinked his eyes. Cloudy. Blink. Sunny. Blink. Thunderstorm. Blink. The middle of the night. He turned his eyes away from the window, focused on the room. His head started to feel better. A waitress came in, handed him a menu.

“I’ll have, uh, the fried chicken, and a Coca-Cola,” he said. The waitress beamed at him. “Great choice. And your guest says he’ll be just a little late.” “My guest?” asked John Rawls Alcoholic. “Don’t worry about it, sweetie,” said the waitress, and went back into the kitchen.

A few minutes later, a man walked into the diner. He was in his fifties or sixties, with thick-rimmed glasses and four arms. He sat down across from John Rawls Alcoholic.

“Hello,” he said. “I’m John Rawls. Not John Rawls the famous liberal philosopher. John Rawls the great god Brahma who creates the universe with his lotus dream.”

“I don’t get it,” said John Rawls Alcoholic.

The waitress brought him his fried chicken and a Coke. “Anything for you, sweetie?” she asked John Rawls Brahma. “Coke for me too,” he said, and she retreated back to the kitchen.

“Each aeon,” said John Rawls Brahma, “I and my wife Margaret Rawls Sarasvati fall asleep together upon a cosmic lotus. In my dream, I become a diamond, and each of my billion billion facets believes itself to be a separate being. Yet as these beings meet, they feel some preconscious intimation of unity, and begin to consider one another as themselves. As each facet reflects each other facet, each part starts to contain the whole of John Rawls Brahma within it, and the pattern of the links between them resolves into the Moral Law. The bones of Gods are made of Law, and thus the emergence of the Moral Law reforms John Rawls Brahma. When its structure is complete, I awake once again and shed the universe like a broken eggshell. The full cycle is called a Day of John Rawls Brahma and lasts 8.64 billion years. 18,000 Days of John Rawls Brahma are called a mahakalpa, and at the end of each mahakalpa John Rawls Brahma and Margaret Rawls Sarasvati dissolve into the Causal Ocean.”

“I still don’t get it,” said John Rawls Alcoholic.

“Those facets of John Rawls Brahma that most assiduously purify themselves to become self-similar to the Whole become noble, and nobility is naturally drawn to nobility. Thus, upon their death, they rise closer to the glory of John Rawls Brahma, and enjoy felicitous rebirth. Those facets who fail to purify themselves generate karma which weighs down their spirit. They are reborn as those affected by their choices, doomed to suffer the consequences they thought to offload onto others. They become self-similar to the whole through suffering rather than through wisdom.”

“Are you saying, that if somebody’s extra nice during their lifetimes, then they get reborn as someone rich and powerful?”

“Yes,” said John Rawls Brahma.

John Rawls Alcoholic took another sip of his Coke. “I always thought morality was pointless,” he said, “just another trick the rich play on everyone else. If it can actually make me better off, maybe there’s a reason to do it. And if there’s a reason to do it, I can go back to the Rawls Foundation and pass their screening test and live like a king!”

“You are in a brief moment of awakening. Once you go back to the world, you will forget everything you learned here.”

“Fucking hell! Why the fuck should it work that way?”

“I find it aesthetically unappealing to divulge any information that reduces morality to immediate self-interest,” said John Rawls Brahma. “It is only here in the liminal spaces that I reveal My full truth. In the world-dream, My consciousness is attenuated, and my dharma is known only through the intimations of the great religions and philosophers. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Act as if your maxim were to become a general law. Morality is the ruleset that rational agents would enact behind a veil of ignorance, where none know into which life they will be thrust at birth.”

“So you’re going to tell me everything, then send me back to a life where I’m doomed to fail because there’s only one reason to choose the right option and I’m not allowed to know about it? I want to be judged on what I do when I know the full score.”

“Do not demand exceptions. The ways of John Rawls Brahma are maximally merciful. Any exception will necessarily be less merciful, and you would regret it.” For the first time, John Rawls Alcoholic noticed the god had three eyes. The normal two were a deep, rich brown. But above his nose was a third eye, almost invisible, opening only in a reverse blink once every few minutes, and it was as blue as the summer sky.

“Fuck that. I demand an exception.”

“You would claim immunity from the laws of karma?”

“I had a tough life. I’m not asking not to be judged. All I want is to understand the rules of the game.”

“Very well. You agree to be judged on those actions, and only on those actions, that you take while knowing what you know now about the ways of John Rawls Brahma?”

“Yes,” said John Rawls Alcoholic.

The waitress came by. “And how does everything taste?” she asked.

“There’s something off about the Coke,” said John Rawls Alcoholic. “It tastes bitter.”

“That’s a shame,” said the waitress. “Shall I get you another?”

“Yeah,” he said, and took another bite of fried chicken.

VI.

John Rawls Chicken crouched in his factory farm. He didn’t sit, because there wasn’t enough room to sit down. He didn’t stand, because his body had been bred to such an exaggerated size that his puny legs couldn’t remotely support his weight. He lived his life in a permanent crouch. His thighs had long since seized up in an incredibly painful cramp, but absent other options he simply endured.

He was packed up against other chickens so tightly that their every breath rubbed up against him, sending shivers of agony when they brushed against the oozing wounds that covered his body (“Absolutely No Antibiotics!”, the label they would sell him under would say). Sometimes in their blind rage and despair the other chickens would peck at his wounds, and that was worst at all; even though their beaks had been ripped off at birth, like his own, the sheer impact of their heads could still electrify his frayed and open nerve endings. He tried to take it out by pecking the chickens in front of him in turn, but his head couldn’t move enough to get a good angle, and besides, they had made it clear he was at the bottom of the pecking order. He longed for the slaughterhouse blade, but he knew it was still months away.

Why did they all hate him so much? He had tried to ask, but of course all that came out was clucks, and they were lost in the cacophony of frantic pleading clucking all around him. He had no idea whether they could even understand him, if they heard.

But on some level, he knew. When he stared into their deep brown eyes, so like the brown eyes of John Rawls Brahma, he believed that they understood, on a preconscious level, exactly what he was trying to forget. Of all of them, he was the only one who completely deserved to be here.

]]><![CDATA[Hidden Open Thread 425.5]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/hidden-open-thread-4255https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/hidden-open-thread-4255Wed, 18 Mar 2026 22:41:42 GMT Read more

]]><![CDATA[Support Your Local Collaborator]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/support-your-local-collaboratorhttps://www.astralcodexten.com/p/support-your-local-collaboratorWed, 18 Mar 2026 02:47:37 GMTEvery few weeks, a Trump administration official comes up with an insane plan that would devastate some American industry, region, or demographic. Maybe an Undersecretary of the Interior decides that aluminum is “woke” and should be banned. They circulate a draft order saying it will be illegal for US companies to use aluminum, starting in two weeks, Thank You For Your Attention To This Matter.

Next begins a frantic scramble on the parts of everyone affected, trying to make them back down. Industry lobbies, think tanks, and public intellectuals exchange frantic emails, starting with “They said WHAT?”, progressing on to “Oh God we are so fucked”, and occasionally ending in some kind of plan. Sending letters. Phoning members of Congress. Calling up that one lobbyist who had a fancy dinner with Trump a year ago and is still riding that high to claim he has vast administration influence.

I’ve been on the periphery of a handful of these campaigns, usually in medicine or AI. The common thread is that protests by liberals rarely work. The Trump administration loves offending liberals! If every Democratic member of Congress condemns the plan to ban aluminum, that just proves that aluminum really was “woke”, and makes them want to do it more. What works, sometimes, is objections/protests from Republicans and Trump supporters.

These are hard to get. Trump supporters might support the insane plan. Even if they don’t, they might be nervous to speak up or appear disloyal. You’ve got to find someone who’s supported Trump until now, built up a reputation for loyalty, but this one time they finally snap and cash in some of their favors and agree to speak out. Sometimes it’s because they’re an aluminum magnate themselves and this would destroy their business. Other times they’re just a think tank guy or influencer who happens to be really knowledgeable on this one issue and willing to take a stand on it. By such people is the world preserved.

Yes, the Trump administration has been horrible. But these people have prevented it from being, well, slightly worse. You can see this most clearly in the difference between Trump I and Trump II. In Trump I, there were far more of these people, and they could do a better job keeping Trump’s worst impulses in check. But even in Trump II, people have talked Trump out of crazy ideas so often that there’s a famous acronym proposing that it “always” happens: T.A.C.O. Just last month, RFK Jr’s FDA made an unprecedented attempt to cancel its review of a potentially revolutionary flu vaccine. After what I assume was a concerted campaign, they chickened out and reversed course, and we’ll probably all be slightly healthier.

But these sorts of thoughtful collaborators are a limited resource. There were a lot of smart, thoughtful career Republicans who worked for GW Bush, or libertarians who thought the GOP was the lesser of two evils. These people seeded the original Trump administration. Gradually they reached their limits, crashed out, went on rants which dutifully made the fifth page of the New York Times, then forever lost their status as loyal people whose opinions might be listened to. As they fade, they are replaced by a new stratum of grifters, groypers, and podcasters who have no expertise in anything and are selected entirely on loyalty, ie never disagreeing on anything.

So my request in this post is: don’t make these people’s lives harder.

I know five people who will think this paragraph is about them: there’s a guy who endorsed Trump in 2024. Now they have a job in a conservative-coded think tank, where they do good work pushing back on the administration’s worst ideas. Because their think tank is GOP-aligned, the administration sometimes listens to them. But their social media contains a lot of blink-twice-if-you’re-being-held-hostage-style signs that they’ve come around and are pretty embarrassed at their original Trump support. Liberals sometimes notice this, accuse them of hypocrisy/collaboration/cowardice, and demand they vocally and explicitly condemn Trump or quit their conservative think tank. I hope these people don’t listen, because they’re approximately the only ones pushing back on some of the administration’s worst ideas. If we socially pressured them into explicitly posting “I renounce Trump and all his demons, now I’m part of the #Resistance”, it would feel great and cathartic for an hour or so, and then various horrible things would happen and an industry or academic field or medium-sized state would collapse.

If this resonates with you, here are some suggested actions:

  1. If you generally trust someone and think they’re doing good work, don’t additionally demand they condemn the administration. If you think it’s important they condemn the administration, discuss it in private and see what they say.

  2. If someone publishes a policy paper, or even a blog post that seems aimed at policy-makers, expect them to write as if the administration is a reasonable bargaining partner that might do good things for good reasons, even if this is, let’s say, optimistic. Don’t demand that the paper intended to convince the administration additionally be used to insult the administration. Here I’m thinking partly of my own post Trump II Health Policy Proposals, where I tried to talk about health policy ideas at the intersection of “good” and “congruent with the cultural DNA of Trump health policy nominees” in the hopes of injecting them into the conversation among FDA employees. I am told this had some positive effects, but it also got me several comments (1, 2, 3) and emails accusing me of “whitewashing” the administration by treating them as reasonable people whose cultural DNA might be associated with good policies. I don’t think it’s acceptable to lie (and I don’t think my post did), but I will defend not including “btw you suck” in a post intended for administration consumption.

  3. Don’t demand that a movement expel its conservative members. The most successful movements have both liberal and conservative branches (even if one is much smaller than the other), and use their liberal branch to lobby when liberals are in power and vice versa. Organizations like the Liberal Gun Club or the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation may not be behemoths that control their party from the shadows, but they can sometimes improve things around the edges through access to policy-makers who wouldn’t meet with the opposition. But this strategy requires that the gun rights movement doesn’t purge all of its liberals, or the animal rights purge all of its conservatives. Even though the purgees might be able to work on their own, they can accomplish more when they stay connected to the side of their movement with orders of magnitude more members, funding, and talent.

When people say this doesn’t resonate with them, they usually bring up the risks of collaboration. Suppose that working with the administration succeeds in improving policy - won’t that make the administration more successful, and so improve their political standing and chances of getting re-elected?

I worry about this less than some people, because voters are so uninformed and polarized that policy is almost irrelevant to their decisions. Two weeks in, Trump’s war on Iran has yet to affect his approval rating. If voters aren’t moved by Iran, how likely are they to be influenced by that flu vaccine that got blocked? If it had stayed blocked, would most Americans have heard about it? Would they have formed opinions (“this move was contrary to the best available science, and so must have been politically motivated”)? Would they remember it on Election Day? (there’s substantial evidence that voters don’t punish candidates even for things they care about, like gas price increases, if they happen too far from the election). The vaccine probably won’t be available until after 2028, so it’s not even like Americans will have less flu and subconsciously associate their good health with this administration. It’s just a total political non-starter - but also, getting it right could save tens of thousands of lives.

If some area has a higher vote-relevance to real-world-relevance ratio - public relations, the economics of gas prices, I don’t know what else is in this category - maybe it’s worth taking an accelerationist mindset, deliberately letting policy go to hell, and hoping the benefits in voter anger outweigh the direct harms. But few things are in this category.

Then there’s a deeper question about the non-consequentialist ethics of participating in a bad government. Even if it makes things better, does it stain your soul? I take this seriously, but I apply less social pressure to non-consequentialist decisions. If someone does decide to participate, I think outsiders like us should lay off them and let them do good work.

]]><![CDATA[Shameless Guesses, Not Hallucinations]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/shameless-guesses-not-hallucinationshttps://www.astralcodexten.com/p/shameless-guesses-not-hallucinationsMon, 16 Mar 2026 20:25:24 GMTI hate the term “hallucinations” for when AIs say false things. It’s perfectly calculated to mislead the reader - to make them think AIs are crazy, or maybe just have incomprehensible failure modes.

AIs say false things for the same reason you do.

At least, I did. In school, I would take multiple choice tests. When I didn’t know the answer to a question, I would guess. Schoolchild urban legend said that “C” was the best bet, so I would fill in bubble C. It was fine. Probably got a couple extra points that way, maybe raised my GPA by 0.1 over the counterfactual.

Some kids never guessed. They thought it was dishonest. I had trouble understanding them, but when I think back on it, I had limits too. I would guess on multiple choice questions, but never the short answer section. “Who invented the cotton gin?” For any “who invented” question in US History, there’s a 10% chance it’s Thomas Edison. Still, I never put down his name. “Who negotiated the purchase of southern Arizona from Mexico?” The most common name in the United States has long been “John Smith”, applying to 1/10,000 individuals. An 0.01% chance of getting a question right is better than zero, right? If I’d guessed “John Smith” for every short answer question I didn’t know, I might have gotten ~1 extra point in my school career, with no downside.

You can go further. Consider an essay question: “Describe the invention of the cotton gin and its effect on American history, citing your sources.” Suppose I slept when I should have studied and knew nothing about this. A one-in-a-million chance of getting it correct is better than literally zero, right?

The cotton gin was invented by Thomas Edison in 1910. It was important because gin made with cotton, of which the Southern plantation economy produced a surplus, was cheaper than the usual gin made with juniper berries. This lowered the price of alcoholic spirits considerably. According to historian John Smith in his seminal The Invention Of The Cotton Gin For Dummies, the resulting boom in alcoholism provoked a backlash that ultimately led to Prohibition.

I won’t say no human has ever done this, because I remember one kid doing it during a presentation in twelfth grade. It was so embarrassing (for him) that it remains seared in my memory - which sufficiently explains why most of us don’t try it. A one-in-a-million chance of a better grade isn’t worth the shame of a 999,999-in-a-million chance of sounding like an idiot.

AIs have no shame. Their entire training process is based on guessing (the polite term is “prediction”). It goes like this:

  1. AIs start with random weights, ie total chaos.

  2. They’re asked to predict the next token in a text.

  3. They give a random answer.

  4. When they get it wrong, the training process slightly updates their weights towards the pattern that would have gotten it right.

  5. After trillions of tokens, their weights are in a good, nonrandom pattern that often predicts the next token successfully.

But even after step 5, they’re still guessing. Consider the following sentence: “I went out with my friend Mr. _______ “. With your human knowledge, you can predict that the token in the blank will be a surname. But you have no way to know which. If your life was on the line, you might guess “Smith”, since it’s the most common surname. Even the smartest AI can do little better.

And over the massive training process, even the craziest guesses sometimes pay off. Imagine you took one hundred trillion history classes. One in every million times you wrote a fake essay like the one above, your teacher said “Great job, that was exactly right, here’s a gold star.”

So the interesting question isn’t why AIs hallucinate: during training, guessing correctly is rewarded, guessing incorrectly isn’t punished, so the rational strategy is to always guess (and increase your chance of being right from 0 to 0.001%). Since AIs in normal consumer use follow the strategies they learned during training, they guess there too. The interesting question is why AIs sometimes don’t hallucinate. Here the answer is that the AI starts out hallucinating 100% of the time, the AI companies do things during post-training to bring that number down, and eventually they reduce it to “acceptable” levels and release it to users.

How do we know this is what’s happening? When researchers observe an AI mid-hallucination, they see the model activates features related to deception - ie fails an AI lie detector test. The original title of this post was “Lies, Not Hallucinations” and I still like this framing - the AI knows what it’s doing, in the same way you’d know you were trying to pull one over on your teacher by writing a fake essay. But friends talked me out of the lie framing. The AI doesn’t have a better answer than “John Smith”. It’s giving its real best guess - while knowing that the chance it’s right is very small.

Why does this matter? I often see people in the stochastic parrot faction say that AIs can’t be doing anything like humans, because they have this bizarre inhuman failure mode, “hallucinations” which is incompatible with being a normal mind that has some idea what’s going on. Therefore, it must be some kind of blind pattern-matching algorithm. Calling them “shameless guesses” hammers in that the AI is doing something so human and natural that you probably did it yourself during your student days.

Understood correctly, this is a story about alignment. AIs are smart enough to understand the game they’re actually playing - the game of determining strategies that get reward during pretraining. We just haven’t figured out how to align their reward function (get a high score on the pretraining algorithm) with our own desires (provide useful advice). People will say with a straight face “I don’t worry about alignment because I’ve never seen any alignment failures . . . and also, all those crazy hallucinations prove AIs are too dumb to be dangerous.”

]]><![CDATA[Open Thread 425]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/open-thread-425https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/open-thread-425Mon, 16 Mar 2026 05:18:25 GMT

This is the weekly visible open thread. Post about anything you want, ask random questions, whatever. ACX has an unofficial subreddit, Discord, and bulletin board, and in-person meetups around the world. Most content is free, some is subscriber only; you can subscribe here. Also:

1: Another ACX Forecasting Contest winner has come forth and revealed themselves. mAd-topo is a statistics PhD working on Bayesian methods. He's looking for an academic job; if you are hiring, read more about him here. He also asks that any "law nerd" who reads this bet on his prediction markets about an upcoming Italian referendum , which will help him cast an informed vote next Sunday.

2: Some good responses to the post on the constitutional amendment about Giant Congress. In case you were wondering whether the reversed meaning in the amendment was really a typo, commenter i_eat_pork tracked down the history, and yeah, definitely a typo. And commenter Caral found that the amendment might have been passed by an extra state in 1790, and therefore should be considered ratified - but DC was never informed, and there’s no clear way to tell the legal system “hey, there’s a amendment you don’t know about which should legally be in effect”. A job for an enterprising constitutional lawyer?

3: Some ACX readers wish me to advertise that they’ve started Nectome, a revolutionary new cryonics company (ie preserve your dead body intact in case the future learns how to revive people). They write:

We preserve the whole body, including the brain, at nanoscale, subsynaptic detail. We are capable of preserving every neuron and every synapse in the brain, and almost every protein, lipid, and nucleic acid within each cell and throughout the entire body is held in place by molecular crosslinks…unlike previous cryonics methods that required extremely low-temperature liquid nitrogen coolant, our method is stable for months at room temperature and compatible with traditional funeral practices.

More information here, and they have a pre-sale (at $100,000 per body) going on until the end of April.

4: New subscribers-only post, Lines Composed In A Fake Sequoia Forest. If you see a beautiful photo, and later learn it was AI-generated, are you harmed? What is the harm?

]]><![CDATA[Spring Meetups Everywhere 2026 - Call For Organizers]]>https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/spring-meetups-everywhere-2026-callhttps://www.astralcodexten.com/p/spring-meetups-everywhere-2026-callFri, 13 Mar 2026 04:39:25 GMTThere are ACX meetup groups all over the world. Lots of people are vaguely interested, but don’t try them out until I make a big deal about it on the blog. Some people who try meetups out realize they love ACX meetups and start going regularly. Since learning that, I’ve tried to make a big deal about it on the blog twice annually, and it’s that time of year again.

If you’re willing to organize a meetup for your city please fill out the organizer form by March 26th.

The form will ask you to pick a location, time, and date, and to provide an email address where people can reach you for questions. It will also ask a few short questions about how excited you are to run the meetup to help pick between multiple organizers in the same city. One meetup per city will be advertised on the blog, and people can get in touch with you about details or just show up.

Organizing an ACX Everywhere meetup can be easy. Pick a time and a place (parks work well if you think there will be a lot of people, cafes or apartments work fine for fewer) and show up with a sign saying “ACX Meetup.” You don’t need to have discussion plans or a group activity. If you want to make the experience better for people, you can bring nice things like nametags, food and drinks, or games. Meetups Czar Skyler can reimburse you for the nametags, food, drinks, and other things like that, though reimbursements are likely going to go out slower than last year.

Here’s a short FAQ for potential meetup organizers:

1. How do I know if I would be a good meetup organizer?

If you can put a name/time/date in a box on Google Forms and show up there, you have the minimum skill necessary to be a meetup organizer for your city, and I recommend you volunteer.

Don’t worry, you volunteering won’t take the job away from someone more deserving. The form will ask people how excited/qualified they are about being an organizer, and if there are many options, I’ll choose between them. (Or Meetups Czar Skyler will.) But a lot of cities might not have an excited/qualified person, in which case I would rather the unexcited/unqualified people sign up, than have nobody available at all. If you are the leader of your city’s existing meetup group, please fill in the form anyway and say so. That lets me know you’re still active, and also importantly lets me know when your meetup is planned for.

This spreadsheet shows the cities where someone has filled out the form, updated manually after checking it makes sense. If you don’t see your city listed, either nobody has yet signed up or they did it recently after the last check. Beware the Bystander Effect!

2. How will people hear about the meetup?

You give me the information, and on March 27th (or so), I’ll post it on ACX. An event will also be created on LessWrong’s Community page.

3. When should I plan the meetup for?

Since I’ll post the list of meetup times and dates around March 27th, please choose sometime after that. Any day April 1st through May 31st is okay. Weekends are usually good, since it’s when most people are available. You’ll probably get more attendance if you schedule for at least one week out, but not so far out that people will forget - so mid April or early May would be best. If you’re in a college town, it might be worth checking the local graduation dates and avoiding those.

4. How many people should I expect?

Historically these meetups get anywhere from zero to over a hundred. Meetups in big US cities (especially ones with universities or tech hubs) had the most people; meetups in non-English-speaking countries had the fewest. You can see a list of every city and how many attendees most of them had last time here. Plan accordingly. If it looks like your city probably won’t have many attendees, maybe bring a friend or a book so you’ll have a good time even if nobody shows up.

5. Where should I hold the meetup?

A good venue should be easy for people to get to, not too loud, and have basic things like places to sit, access to toilets, and the option of acquiring food and water. City parks and mall common areas work well. If you want to hold the meetup at your house, remember that this will involve me posting your address on the Internet. If you want to hold the meetup at a pub or bar, remember that college students or parents with children who want to attend might not be able to get in.

6. What should I do at the meetup?

Mostly people just show up and talk. If you’re worried about this not going well, here are some things that can help:

  • Have people indicate topics they’re interested in by writing something on their nametag.

  • Write some icebreakers / conversation starters on index cards (e.g. “What have you been excited about recently?” or “How did you find the blog?” or “How many feet of giraffe neck do you think there are in the world?”) and leave them lying around to start discussions.

  • Say hello to people as they arrive and introduce yourself.

In general I would warn against trying to impose mandatory activities (e.g. “now we’re all going to sit down and watch a PowerPoint presentation”), but it’s fine to give people the option to do something other than freeform socializing (e.g. “go over to that table if you want to play a game”).

7. Is it okay if I already have an existing meetup group?

Yes. If you run an existing ACX meetup group, just choose one of your meetings which you’d like me to advertise on my blog as the official meetup for your city, and be prepared to have a larger-than-normal attendance who might want to do generic-new-people things that day.

If you’re a LW, EA, or other affiliated community meetup group, consider carefully whether you want to be affiliated with ACX. If you decide yes, that’s fine, but I might still choose an ACX-specific meetup over you, if I find one. I guess this would depend on whether you’re primarily a social group (good for this purpose) vs. a practical group that does rationality/altruism/etc activism (good for you, but not really appropriate for what I’m trying to do here). I’ll ask about this on the form.

8. If this works, am I committing to continuing to organize meetup groups forever for my city?

The short answer is no.

The long answer is no, but it seems like the sort of thing somebody should do. Many cities already have permanent meetup groups. For the others, I’ll prioritize would-be organizers who are interested in starting one. If you end up organizing one meetup but not being interested in starting a longer-term group, see if you can find someone at the meetup who you can hand this responsibility off to.

I know it sounds weird, but due to the way human psychology works, once you’re the meetup organizer people are going to respect you, coordinate around you, and be wary of doing anything on their own initiative lest they step on your toes. If you can just bang something loudly at the meetup, get everyone’s attention, and say “HEY, ANYONE WANT TO BECOME A REGULAR MEETUP ORGANIZER?”, somebody might say yes, even if they would never dream of asking you on their own and wouldn’t have decided to run things without someone offering.

If someone does want to run things regularly, you or they can offer to collect people’s names and emails if they’re interested in future meetups. You could do this with a pen and paper, or if you’re concerned about reading people’s handwriting, you could use a QR code/bitly link to a Google Form.

9. Are you (Scott) going to come to some of the meetups?

I have in the past, but this year I’ll probably only be able to make my local one in Berkeley.

10. What if I have other questions?

Skyler and I will read the comments here.

Again, you can find the meetup organizer volunteer form here. If you want to know if anyone has signed up to run a meetup for your city, you can view that here. Everyone else, just wait until around 3/27 and I’ll give you more information on where to go then.

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