Applied Rationality: Group Problem Solving Session

How to find scientific data:

1. Do some research to find out what the two leading entry-level university textbooks are on the subject. To do this, check online course syllabi to see what they're using. Or, just do some searching. After 60 seconds on Google and Amazon, I found these two textbooks on global warming. I dunno if they're the best, but they'll probably do. Be sure to get textbooks and not single-author academic studies, which may be highly skewed toward a particular position that is not mainstream.

2. Skim the textbooks so that you get a sense for the major concepts of the field and how they relate to each other. I buy a lot of textbooks, but maybe you don't want to spend the money. In that case, you can call around to find what university bookstores have the ones you want in stock, then go there and hang out and read it in the store. Or, buy it online and sell it back. If you keep it in good condition, you sometimes end up spending only $20-$30 on the textbook. If either of these two options are inconvenient, well... that's research, yo.

3. Now that you know the standard terms involved, Google searches and Google scholar searches will do wonders.

4. Even better, any textbook worth its salt will give citations for some of the major studies that support its basic claims (they usually mention lots of large meta-analyses, for example).

5. Make a list of all the papers you want to read. Go to an on-campus library at a major university nearby (I drive 30 minutes to UCLA every couple of weeks). Usually you don't need a library card to sit down at one of their computers and download a bunch of papers (they'll have access to JSTOR, etc. on campus computers) to your flash drive. If they don't allow flash drives, upload the PDFs to your free (or paid) Dropbox account.

6. But usually, the textbooks themselves will contain a good overview of which debates are relatively solved, and which ones remain open. They will also describe what major questions need to be answered to solve the open questions, and what the evidence currently suggests. Of course, it's important to get the very latest edition of the textbook. Be sure to check The Best Textbooks on Every Subject.

7. Depending on what you want to learn, you may have to get a more advanced textbook on a narrower subject, but it will probably still help to skim a lower-level textbook to get a handle for the basic concepts involved in the larger field.

8. Did I mention textbooks?

Wikipedia really is an excellent start, even as preparation for lukeprog's suggestions.

Firstly, you didn't state whether you were considering public or private school. Most of my experience and knowledge is with public school, so some of my own points may not be applicable.

• Finances: Public school would be cheaper than home schooling for you, but I don't know about a cost comparison to private schools. In turns of a social impact, I have no real knowledge either way.

• Behavioral: I knew a lot of kids who were homeschooled growing up. Most of their parents tried to get together with other homeschooled kids as often as possible, so that their kids had social interactions. Those individuals were pretty well adjusted. I knew of a few kids whose parents didn't do that, and that weren't nearly as social. Availability bias may be affecting my judgement on this. If you do decide to homeschool your kids, and you do decide to get together with other homeschooled kids, you should consider the people who are likely to be in that social group. You are not religious, but the vast majority of them will be. Your kids' friends will probably not be learning about evolution. You may have to stave off conversion attempts. That's a possible downside. With regards to extracurriculars, I knew a lot of homeschooled kids that did participate in (mostly scholastic) competitions between schools. Again, availability bias is skewing my own perception of how common this is, because that's how I met most of them.

• Child raising: Most homeschooled teenagers I knew weren't big rebels. Part of that may be religious; most of them were frequently going to church youth groups and bible studies and had parents that were fairly strict. I don't know how much connection that had to parents or religion, but those will probably be the children your kids are friends with.

• Your wife: I tend to agree with your own take on this, assuming you can take care of teaching your kids all on your own.

• Another point you didn't mention: Education. Are your kids going to get a better education at home or at a conventional school? You are reading and commenting on less wrong, so I assume that rationalist methods of thinking are fairly important, and that you probably want your children educated in them. You can teach them that, as they grow older, but a public school probably won't. You could still teach them those skills on the side, though, if you wanted to. Considering it the other way, I don't know what quality of school is in your area, but how educated are you in each subject compared to the average teacher? By the time your kid gets to high school, their teachers would be individuals mostly with masters' degrees in their respective fields. You may be good at the field you currently work in, but are you going to be as good at teaching the American revolution as a professional in the field of history? And as good at teaching chemistry as someone with an advanced degree in chemistry? A major advantage of having multiple teachers is the capability for specialization. Your kids are likely to get more knowledge in a public school, but might get better thinking skills with you.

Personally, I went to public school and did quite well. I was in all honors classes, which helped give me good thinking skills and knowledge. I definitely had complaints about the way the school system was run, but I did (eventually) develop good social skills because of the constant daily interaction with other people. However, my parents did teach me a lot outside of school. They bought me books, encouraged my own curiosity and originality, and did a pretty good job at finding a balance between discipline and liberalism. No matter what you choose to do, don't forget that you will still be immensely important to your child's education.

How much research have you done? For example, there are secular homeschooling organizations that could probably give you some useful information.