Applied Rationality Workshops
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the workshop schedule?
- Should I stay for the optional final day?
- Is there any free time outside of class?
- Who are the instructors?
- Are there any special course materials for the workshop?
- How can I keep track of other CFAR activities and opportunities?
- Does anything happen in addition to CFAR’s followup?
- Where is the workshop located?
- What about food?
- Where will I sleep?
- What airport should I use if I’m flying to the workshop?
- How do I get to the venue?
- Is there parking at the venue?
- What should I bring?
- What does the workshop cost?
- Is any of my workshop tuition fee tax-deductible?
- What payment options do you accept?
- Can I pay a lower enrollment fee to attend only part of the workshop?
- What if I can’t afford the cost of the workshop?
- What is the refund policy for the workshop?
- How do I apply for the workshop?
- I have a question that isn’t answered here. What should I do?
What is the workshop schedule?
You can read a schedule from a previous workshop here. The weekend begins with a meet and greet Thursday at 7pm, which is a great opportunity to start getting to know your fellow participants and the instructors. Three days of classes start after breakfast the next morning. These sessions build on each other, so you should plan to attend the entire workshop. After three days of classes, teachers, students and some participants in previous workshops will come together for an end-of-workshop party. You and other participants can socialize, learn how past participants have applied the lessons they learned at the workshop, and generally engage in festivities. The sessions on the final day are dedicated to systematic review and intensive practice of the material and habits you’ve learned during the workshop. This is optional but highly recommended.
Should I stay for the optional final day?
The classes on the first three days cover a lot of different material. On the final day, you get the chance to pause and focus on practicing these new habits and skills, so you have an easier time carrying over these techniques into your day-to-day life. Therefore, we strongly recommend staying for Monday if your schedule can accommodate it. If you can’t stay for the final day, we are happy to reduce the cost of attendance ($3,400 USD instead of $3,900 USD), and you’ll still be able to spend the night on-site. You don’t have to specify in advance whether you’ll stay for the final day. That’s something you can decide at any point during the workshop.
Is there any free time outside of class?
Classes take up a lot of the day, but we make sure to set aside time to rest, review, and engage in conversation with other participants and the instructors. There are twenty minute breaks between each class, to give your mind time to digest material and shift gears, but most of your free time will occur at meals and during the evening. Many past participants say that this unstructured time was one of the highlights of their time at the workshop. Chatting with other participants helps people think through the material they’ve just learned, create plans for applying it to their lives and work, and just get to know each other better.
Who are the instructors?
The CFAR instructors and curriculum designers are Julia Galef, Anna Salamon, Michael “Valentine” Smith, Andrew Critch, Kenzi Amodei, Geoff Anders, Cat Lavigne, Yan Zhang, and Nisan Stiennon. You can read more about some of them here.
Are there any special course materials for the workshop?
We’ll provide a notebook of worksheets and notes for the classes, so you don’t have to worry about taking rapid-fire notes. After the workshop you can use this packet and any supplemental notes you took to review what you learned. That will help you retain all the information you learn during the workshop. Past participants have found this to be a great way to keep track of the many useful techniques they’ve picked up! Additionally, there are some software tools that many of us at CFAR have found useful, and which we may refer to during sessions for specific strategies. These include Boomerang, Anki, FreeMind, yEd, and Remember The Milk. You might find it useful to download some of these and have them available to you at the workshop, although it’s by no means required (we’re not being paid by any of these people to recommend them – and actually, most of them are free).
How can I keep track of other CFAR activities and opportunities?
You can sign up for our announcements mailing list to hear about major events, updates, and the findings of our randomized controlled trials for the impact of our workshops. You can also sign up here to hear about free opportunities to help us test-drive new curriculum.
Does anything happen in addition to CFAR’s follow-up?
We put together a listserv for each workshop, so you can stay in touch with your fellow attendees. After previous workshops, participants have scheduled virtual meetups, shared some new or surprising ways they applied the curriculum they’ve learned, and paired up to troubleshoot planning for big projects. You’ll also have the opportunity to join our alumni community listserv, which will allow you to get invitations to future end-of-workshop parties and other events hosted in the extended CFAR community.
Where is the workshop located?
The January SF Bay Area workshop will be held at 5500 Bruce Drive, Pleasanton CA 94588. Here’s the location in Google Maps. Please note that there is another location that Google Maps and car GPS systems sometimes confuse with this one– the correct location is on the corner of Camino Tassajara and Bruce Drive in unincorporated Contra Costa County.
What about food?
We will provide all meals from Thursday evening through Tuesday morning. There will also be coffee, tea, and snacks available throughout the day. Classes are fast-paced and intense, so we set aside a full hour for meals to make sure you can socialize with the other participants, exercise, or even take a nap. If you are have any dietary restrictions or allergies, please let us know and we will be happy to accommodate them.
Where will I sleep?
The intense, immersive, focused atmosphere of the workshop is key to the learning and life changes that it produces. Participants, and instructors, all stay on-site at the venue in shared rooms, allowing for evening conversations and additional opportunities to learn and share. Please plan to remain on-site all weekend – lodging in a shared room is included in your workshop fee. Feel free to contact us if you have special sleep needs – we’ll be happy to try and accommodate you.
What airport should I use if I’m flying to the workshop?
For the January SF Bay Area workshop, we recommend either the Oakland (OAK) or San Francisco (SFO) airport. Oakland is a bit closer to the workshop venue.
How do I get to the venue?
The January SF Bay Area workshop will be held at 5500 Bruce Drive, Pleasanton CA 94588. You are welcome to drive to the workshop; there is free parking available on site.
If you prefer not to drive, the BART train system provides reliable service from most parts of the Bay Area, including both OAK and SFO. Take BART to the Dublin/Pleasanton station (end of the blue line- note that this is NOT the West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station), and we will be available to pick you up.
Wherever you’re coming from, please give us a call or a text when you know what time your BART train is leaving. That way, we’ll be able to meet you at the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station and quickly drive you to the venue.
If you arrive at either airport after the BART trains stop running, please let us know and we will work something out.
Is there parking at the venue?
There is a nigh-unlimited amount of free parking available on site at the location of the January SF Bay Area workshop.
What should I bring?
Supplies for classes:
We’ll provide all the necessary supplies (pens, paper, etc.). We do recommend that you bring your own laptop – laptops are not required, but they are helpful for some of the optional activities.
Clothes:
Plan to dress comfortably; layered clothing and comfy shoes are a good plan. Some participants in the past have chosen to bring dressier clothes for the party on Sunday night, but you won’t feel left out if you don’t. Projected weather forecasts for the approximate locations of our upcoming workshops are as follows:
Pleasanton, California
Miscellaneous:
Linens, including towels, are provided at the venue, but you should plan on bringing your own personal toiletries. If you’ve forgotten something, we’ll have a few spares on hand. Games are welcome.
What does the workshop cost?
The total cost of attendance (including lodging, meals, and follow-ups) is $3,900 USD ($3,400 for those who are unable to stay through Monday).
Is any of my workshop tuition fee tax-deductible?
The first $2000 of your workshop fee is not tax deductible. The remaining $1900 (or less, if you’re not staying for Monday or received a financial aid offer) qualifies as a US tax-deductible charitable donation, for which we’ll gladly send you a tax receipt.
What payment options do you accept?
The best way to pay is via our website’s Paypal page. Please specify in the memo field which workshop you are attending. Alternatively, if it’s at least two weeks before the workshop, you can make out a check to the Center for Applied Rationality and mail it to us: The Center For Applied Rationality, 2030 Addison, Suite #300, Berkeley, CA 94704. Please notify us when you’ve put it in the mail.
Can I pay a lower enrollment fee to attend only part of the workshop?
No. The workshop is designed to be experienced as a whole, not in parts. Later concepts build upon earlier concepts, and each concept is related to many others. If you expect to miss part of the weekend, it’s probably not a good idea to attend. Please plan to arrive the evening before classes start, or early that morning, to stay on site (the immersive environment, and evening conversations, are extremely helpful for learning), to attend classes on all three days, and to have no work or other obligations during the workshop. (Staying for the final day’s intensive practice sessions is highly recommended, but not required.)
What if I can’t afford the cost of the workshop?
Financial aid is available –
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