Comment by TJIC on Call for Volunteers: Rationalists with Non-Traditional Skills · 2010-10-29T14:04:43.728Z · LW · GW

I live in the Boston area (Arlington) and am moderately skilled in

• woodturning
• blacksmithing
• shooting

I've got the barest hint of skill in metalworking, cabinetmaking, and gunsmithing / ammunition reloading.

Give me a yell at at tjic.com if I can be of help.

Comment by TJIC on Lotteries: A Waste of Hope · 2007-04-13T12:58:37.000Z · LW · GW

It seems to me that folks have all sort of utility functions that I do not. ...yet, we accept "entertainment" as a legitimate line item in a budget. If you enjoy going to the theater, but do not enjoy playing the lottery, what is the standard by which you can judge someone who has the reverse preferences as behaving stupidly ? If we look at the marginal cost of various entertainments (cable TV, buying hardcover books, etc.), playing the lottery isn't noticeably more expensive than any of the others.

Is there more to the attack on the lottery than mere classism?

More here.