The Rationalist's Guide to the Galaxy
Tom Chivers
Master the art of Bayesian reasoning and cognitive de-biasing to navigate the existential threats facing humanity, from rogue AI to global pandemics. By understanding the mental frameworks of the world’s most rigorous thinkers, you will gain the tools necessary to sharpen your decision-making and protect our long-term future in an era of rapid technological change.
The Tribe of Reason
An introduction to the Rationalist community, their unique culture, and the foundational psychological shift from 'winning arguments' to 'seeking truth'.
Scout Mindset vs. Soldier Mindset
The Map is Not the Territory
The LessWrong Origins
The Bayesian Brain
Mastering the mathematical and philosophical tools of probability to make better predictions and update beliefs.
Thinking in Percentages
The Bayesian Update
Avoiding the Bias Buffet
The Ghost in the Machine
Analyzing the rise of Artificial Intelligence and why the 'Intelligence Explosion' poses a unique challenge to humanity.
Defining Superintelligence
The Orthogonality Thesis
Instrumental Convergence
The Alignment Problem
The terrifying difficulty of telling an AI exactly what we want without accidentally causing a catastrophe.
The King Midas Problem
The Paperclip Maximizer
The Stop Button Problem
Saving the Future
Broadening the scope to existential risks and the ethical framework of Effective Altruism.
X-Risk: The Big Picture
The Logic of Longtermism
Effective Altruism
The Rationalist Frontier
Exploring the more radical ideas of the community and the boundaries of human reason.
Cheating Death
The Fermi Paradox
Limits of the Galaxy
Start reading with AI
Interactive Socratic dialogue, level by level