Seconded. And hey, I'll even go ahead and make it a challenge!
See, designing a main character for a gacha game is difficult. For the lucky few who aren't familiar with the concept, these are anime-style games where you gamble for various characters, who technically have gameplay differences but are mostly assorted flavors of cute girls who show romantic interest to you. Your problem is that your customer base is allergic to seeing men who aren't them, and you may have somewhere north of fifty million players. How do you make a self-insert for all of them?
One solution is to design the most generic person you can imagine, with male and female versions to cover as broad a base as possible, and call it a day. Granblue Fantasy's Gran/Djeeta, Genshin Impact's Aether/Lumine and Fate/Grand Order's Gudao/Gudako took this route. Another is to put "faceless" back in "faceless protagonist", as seen in Idolmaster's producer (a suit with a 'P' for a head) and Kancolle's admiral (same, except with a military uniform and a 'T').
Similar trends were followed by the likes of the blue man (Thousand Year War Aigis' Prince), the rainbow pot (Flower Knight Girl's danchou), the Doctor (Arknights' paramilitia commander, doesn't actually have a medical degree), the Sensei (Blue Archive's teacher, does have a teaching license but really shouldn't be allowed around kids) and that fashion disaster over on Limbus Company.
Anyway, you are the lead artist for Astral Complex!, a gachage where you step into the shoes of The Rationalist and collect various cute girls representing philosophical movements. Show up to the meeting as what you think their design should be, and claim your title as the most typical rationalist of them all.
Bring your hard copy of Unsong (you *did* order one, being the typical reader, right?) for Scott to sign.
edit: I should say, based on my experiments (hosting a meetup, N=5) the "typical" reader is a math major who never actually comments on the blog (p > 0.05).
My Lighthaven-related questions are, A: why is this post the first time I've seen the actual *address* for Lighthaven, and B: why isn't there an email address where I could ask that question?
I did consider coming up for Less Online this past weekend, but when I got around to trying to set up the logistics, well, the Less Online website wouldn't tell me where it was beyond "Berkeley", the Lighthaven web site ditto, a general googling and a specific search of the Less Wrong archives came up empty, and the one portal I found to submit any sort of inquiry, didn't get any reply.
Asking me to pay $500 for an event and not telling me where the secret clubhouse is, nor who to ask where the secret clubhouse is, and not answering when I do find someplace to ask, does not inspire confidence that I would really be welcome at your secret club meeting. So, I declined.
I'm sure they do tell you once you sign up, but you're right that it would be more user friendly to reveal the address up front so that people could figure out more easily how hard it would be to get to.
My guess is that they're assuming most people are coming from out of town anyway so the exact location within Berkeley does not materially impact logistics.
At very least, if you're hosting an event that's advertised to people outside your local clique, *don't* assume that you have thought of everything and communicated it effectively; have an email address or other contact point where people can ask questions.
As a longtime very casual reader non-commenter who just happens to be in the Bay Area this week with nothing planned this evening, I appreciate the note to come despite feeling awkward about it, thanks to that encouragement I think I might start heading to Berkeley right now!
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What about if I AM the typical ACX reader and therefore have little to distinguish myself?
You can distinguish yourself by being the most typical ACX reader.
Seconded. And hey, I'll even go ahead and make it a challenge!
See, designing a main character for a gacha game is difficult. For the lucky few who aren't familiar with the concept, these are anime-style games where you gamble for various characters, who technically have gameplay differences but are mostly assorted flavors of cute girls who show romantic interest to you. Your problem is that your customer base is allergic to seeing men who aren't them, and you may have somewhere north of fifty million players. How do you make a self-insert for all of them?
One solution is to design the most generic person you can imagine, with male and female versions to cover as broad a base as possible, and call it a day. Granblue Fantasy's Gran/Djeeta, Genshin Impact's Aether/Lumine and Fate/Grand Order's Gudao/Gudako took this route. Another is to put "faceless" back in "faceless protagonist", as seen in Idolmaster's producer (a suit with a 'P' for a head) and Kancolle's admiral (same, except with a military uniform and a 'T').
Similar trends were followed by the likes of the blue man (Thousand Year War Aigis' Prince), the rainbow pot (Flower Knight Girl's danchou), the Doctor (Arknights' paramilitia commander, doesn't actually have a medical degree), the Sensei (Blue Archive's teacher, does have a teaching license but really shouldn't be allowed around kids) and that fashion disaster over on Limbus Company.
Anyway, you are the lead artist for Astral Complex!, a gachage where you step into the shoes of The Rationalist and collect various cute girls representing philosophical movements. Show up to the meeting as what you think their design should be, and claim your title as the most typical rationalist of them all.
Oh, I see. Now I get it. :)
I’ll just add that my young niece was explaining this to me yesterday. I nodded politely for a long time.
Bring your hard copy of Unsong (you *did* order one, being the typical reader, right?) for Scott to sign.
edit: I should say, based on my experiments (hosting a meetup, N=5) the "typical" reader is a math major who never actually comments on the blog (p > 0.05).
Is there going to be a post on list of summer meet ups? Would be interested in some of those
I'm not able to attend the Berkeley meetup, so I'd be grateful if somebody asked these random questions there on my behalf:
(a) why doesn't Lighthaven have solar panels installed? would it help save on electricity costs? Also,
(b) California seems to have property tax exemptions for non-profits. Is Lightcone able to take advantage of that?
Lightcone is a fiscally sponsored project of the Center for Applied Rationality according to this comment on LessWrong https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/9iDw6ugMPk7pmXuyW/lightcone-infrastructure-lesswrong-is-looking-for-funding?commentId=CXzywoZHm6qsZ4m9K
meaning that Lightcone itself is not a 501c3 non-profit. How does that work for claiming tax deductions?
(Just to clarify- I saw this 2023 post from Habryka mentioning that default on the loan for Lighthaven is a possibility so I'm thinking of ways of saving money https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/YXSnEX9RfzqD9ezNx/lightcone-infrastructure-is-looking-for-funding?commentId=Nw8st3Ax6zCoPwzhA)
My Lighthaven-related questions are, A: why is this post the first time I've seen the actual *address* for Lighthaven, and B: why isn't there an email address where I could ask that question?
I did consider coming up for Less Online this past weekend, but when I got around to trying to set up the logistics, well, the Less Online website wouldn't tell me where it was beyond "Berkeley", the Lighthaven web site ditto, a general googling and a specific search of the Less Wrong archives came up empty, and the one portal I found to submit any sort of inquiry, didn't get any reply.
Asking me to pay $500 for an event and not telling me where the secret clubhouse is, nor who to ask where the secret clubhouse is, and not answering when I do find someplace to ask, does not inspire confidence that I would really be welcome at your secret club meeting. So, I declined.
I'm sure they do tell you once you sign up, but you're right that it would be more user friendly to reveal the address up front so that people could figure out more easily how hard it would be to get to.
My guess is that they're assuming most people are coming from out of town anyway so the exact location within Berkeley does not materially impact logistics.
At very least, if you're hosting an event that's advertised to people outside your local clique, *don't* assume that you have thought of everything and communicated it effectively; have an email address or other contact point where people can ask questions.
As a longtime very casual reader non-commenter who just happens to be in the Bay Area this week with nothing planned this evening, I appreciate the note to come despite feeling awkward about it, thanks to that encouragement I think I might start heading to Berkeley right now!
yes! im so envious of your position. if you werent going, I'd demand you use it. With great opportunities comes the responsibility to grab em ;)
Engaging in the Essay write service has given me profound insights into the transformative power of the written word. As an essayist, my primary goal is to delve into the myriad aspects of human experience, translating them into narratives that resonate deeply with readers, check more https://paperwriter.com/presentation-writer. This service is not merely about writing; it is about crafting stories that illuminate, inspire, and connect.
Essay writing is a unique form of expression that requires both intellectual rigor and emotional depth. Each essay is an opportunity to explore complex ideas, dissect them, and present them in a way that encourages reflection and dialogue. Whether I am tackling societal issues, sharing personal reflections, or exploring philosophical questions, my aim is to provoke thought and foster a deeper understanding of the world around us.
I recently used https://www.nursingassignments.org/msn-nursing-assignments for my MSN Nursing Assignments, and I couldn’t be more impressed with their service!The quality of the writing was outstanding. The content was well-researched, logically structured, and thoroughly proofread. It met all the academic standards and guidelines provided by my institution.
Looking forward to another Berkeley meetup!
https://geometry-lite.io