My First Rationalist Solstice

As I’ve gotten older I’ve lost a great deal of my religion allergy, to the point that I’m now actively seeking out mystical experiences (coming soon to this blog - the time this year I failed to get recruited into a cult). So when I was invited to the Rationalist Solstice this year by the wonderful friends pictured below, I jumped at the chance.

Thank you guys so much!!!!

1. A Headmaster of Great Acclaim

The first thing to note about this Solstice is that it was coordinated and led by Scott Alexander. He is a fantastic MC, and the service was exactly what you would have expected if you have read Scott for many years. That is to say, very witty and brimming with joyful humor, so you have a lifeline of hope to hold onto when he delves into the grief of living in a fallen world of perverse tragedy. He then blossoms that hope into a rebirth of optimism and humanity. You end with lingering sadness, but you’re smiling and energized. There were, however, 100% less whale puns than I was expecting.

I hear this is a common theme in Rationalist Solstices, and seeing as that’s been a major theme of Scott’s writings as well, this was a great marriage.

2. Honor Where It Is Deserved

The second thing to note is that like all the great ministers, Scott weaves a deeply personal narrative into the two-hour service. We are carried through the struggle and death of a great man who was among the founding pillars of the Bayesian Rationalist community. We feel the pain of his slow dying. We learn how his work for the community drove him, why his sacrifice was so important to the community and fueled his own determination. We discover that his legacy is active this very day, his works among the foundations of events that are buffeting us right now and making major headlines weekly. Thus we come to understand that a single human life can have great meaning, and our toil isn’t for naught. And, maybe most importantly, we are given continued hope that if we (as a species) can navigate the coming insane decades with some measure of wisdom and sanity, perhaps we can meet him again (or for the first time).

One of my major takeaways from my recent brushes with the sacred is that being a human is very hard, and some people are better at it than others. Those people, gifted with strong genes, good upbringing, a privileged family, whatever, sometimes use their good fortune to enrich their community. We’re all doing all we can to survive, and to ensure the thriving of our closest kin, but some people have the ability and resources to do far more. When they use these gifts to greatly enrich the commons we all draw from, they deserve to be venerated. These are the people who should be entombed within cathedrals and have great statues of marble carved in their likeness. What I’m saying is, Hal Finney deserves to be a contender for one of the first Bayesian Saints.

Really.

3. The Burgeoning Fruit

The third thing to note is that the Solstice ritual is at an interesting inflection point. It is still notably the work of enthusiastic amatuers. However it is also observably gaining polish. It’s an exciting place to be, watching something grow from the fervent wish of a small group into what will some day be an institution. When I attended the service in Westminster Abbey I was filled with awe and wonder at something that had been refined over many centuries. When I attended the service in Chabot I saw the many chisel-lines of a work still being formed. It was not as awe & wonder inspiring, but it was full of life in a way that the Westminster service simply cannot be anymore, and that made it exciting. And, vitally, it was of my people, which made it mine as well. That made it special to me.

4. A Bulwark Against Doom

Finally, to bring this back to Scott Alexander again — Scott is a strong shepherd. He is deeply in his community and he knows what they need. Right now, a great many of us are scared (and perhaps despondent) of the looming birth of true gods into our world of mortal men. There is a continuous thrill of panic that our species may not survive the next decade. We might not survive this one.

Scott saw this. Scott knew we needed a salve against this anxiety. Scott had the ability to provide it, and set about to do just that. I don’t know how many hours of sweat and uncertainty he struggled through, but he delivered in spades. The Solstice Celebration was ultimately a ritual of emotions. It did not provide new information on material conditions. It did not alter my knowledge of what was coming or change my likelihood estimates. It did, however, strongly effect my emotional life. I am now less panicked, and more determined.

Scott reminded us that we are not the first generation to face threat of total annihilation, not by a long shot. He showed us the futility of despair, the valor in perseverance, and the honor in living a good and fruitful life right to the end, if that is how it is to end. He gave us hope that humankind can overcome even this, and reminded us of what we fight for.

It was a good service.

5. Final Thoughts

After the service there was an afterparty that everyone was invited to, which surprised me. I wish I had been slightly more prepared. I met several wonderful people, who I hope to stay in contact with. :) I danced so very much, because I had to. I was in a state that needed the release. Perhaps I danced too much though… my greatest regret is that I left not long after that. I should have stayed for many hours more, until the sun came up and they kicked us out, chatting with my people and getting to know more of them. The distance between Berkeley and Denver is not trivial, and I don’t know how long until I’ll see any of them again.

I’m infinitely grateful to everyone who came up and talked to me, to the few people who recognized me, and to the ones that didn’t but were still willing to chat with an awkward stranger from a strange land.

My two highlights of the service itself were the Bayesian Choir’s performance of Who By Fire, and the singing of Singularity.

Who By Fire, at 59:05 is breathtaking. I am still haunted by this every single day. I’ve relistened to it many times, and it still makes me want to crawl into a black void and shudder uncontrollably. The crushing power of the choir’s delivery is heartbreaking. As all things, it is more meaningful when you are in the same room, breathing the same air, feeling the emotion projected from the performers directly through your skin. But even as a recording, it is powerful.

Singularity, at 1:29:50 is exactly the mind-bent genki energy I want my posthuman existence to be overflowing with. It’s unabashed fun and too clever by half. :) Also it’s one of the songs bringing you up out of the gloom of the night, which gives it a lifeline aspect. The dome above us spun with a manic psychedelic colorbloom as we sang, which I stared into and lost myself in, as I and those around me sang and stuttered in the first stirrings of ecstatic joy. I loved it. Would go perfectly with an amazing happy acid trip.

If you need your Doom levels lowered a few steps, watch the whole service on Twitch. If you think you would like to attend a Rationalist Solstice near you next year, I strongly encourage you to go forward with it. When you’re ready for it, it’s fantastic.