Why did I write this?

There is surprisingly little information online about what actually happens at a Center for Applied Rationality (CFAR) workshop. For the only organization that teaches tools for rationalists in real life (AFAIK), the actual experience of the workshop has very few mentions [1]. (Though recently, Anna Salamon has been making more posts [2]).

I wanted to write something short and concrete to record my experiences. If there is interest, I can provide more details and answer questions.

Why did I go?

The pitch for CFAR usually goes something like this:

There exist cognitive tools within rationality that allows you to have accurate beliefs and having accurate beliefs is important so you can achieve your goals.
There is a group of people ("CFAR") who say, "We are experienced rationalists, and we will teach you the things we found most helpful."
Therefore, if your interested in improving your epistemics and achieving your goals you should go.

If you run the Expected Value (EV) calculation on "having better thinking tools for the rest of your life," the numbers get silly very quickly. You can easily conclude that you should at least investigate. So I did.

Unlike many [...]

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Outline:

(00:11) Why did I write this?

(00:47) Why did I go?

(02:34) So how was my experience?

(04:59) What Actually Happened? (Logistics)

(06:08) The 20-Hour Win

(07:20) Whats Next?

(08:16) Acknowledgements

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First published:
February 16th, 2026

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/LjkqJkACozbi4C5Fb/my-experience-of-the-2025-cfar-workshop

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

“My experience of the 2025 CFAR Workshop” by Cookie penguin

LessWrong (30+ Karma)