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As I've run and studied meetups, there's a useful metaphor that's become more important to how I think about them. For most meetups, there's the packaging, and a payload, and these are related but useful to approach separately. Allow me to expand.

The payload is the thing you actually want. If you order some socks off Amazon, the payload is the socks. If you take a college class, the payload is the information you wanted to learn. If you went on the internet to find pictures of cute kittens, the payload is the image of an adorable feline.

The packaging is the wrapper and delivery mechanism for the payload. If you order some socks off Amazon, the packaging is the box they came in. If you take a college class, the packaging includes the professor and the lecture hall and to a lesser extent the dorm room and [...]

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First published:
November 12th, 2024

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/wbmfGYrAKW7qyDWHT/the-packaging-and-the-payload

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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“The Packaging and the Payload” by Screwtape

LessWrong (30+ Karma)