⚙️ Success Engineering and Shadow Work

Community Updates

This month, the Social Butterflies book club discussed two sections from the book 'The Way of the Superior Man', 'Quote Your Dark Side' and 'The Feminine is Abundant'. These led to fascinating discussions on the nature of the Shadow and why Shadow work makes someone attractive.

In the Existential Philosophy Club, we worked through the first hour of Natalie Wynn's (also known as ContraPoints) video analysis on the philosophical implications of the Twilight series. We watched and discussed the nature of romance novels and our society's way of overreacting to feminine sexuality.

Guild-wide Social event on July 19th
- Are you a newcomer who wants to see the community first-hand? Are you an existing member who wants to mingle with other Cohorts? All are welcome!
Naturalism event every week on Thursdays
- This Interest Group discusses the 'Naturalism' sequence by Logan Strohl, practicing the techniques it describes.
Meaning and Spirituality event every other week on Tuesdays
- This Interest Group concerns itself with determining how we can help each other live more meaningful and rich lives.
Social Butterflies event every week on Tuesdays
- This Interest Group discusses social connections and how to improve them. Often, this will involve examining some material on relationships and discussing how to apply it.

You can add all the events to your calendar by clicking here.

You can join our events and conversations by creating a free Guild account!

Workshop Updates

New and revised workshop content

Hedging is a strategy used to reduce or offset the risk of adverse outcomes. It involves taking steps to protect yourself against potential losses or uncertainties in various situations. For example, if you are worried about the potential for rainy weather ruining an outdoor event, you might rent a tent as a form of hedging. This way, even if it rains, your event can still proceed without a hitch.

To learn how to hedge more effectively, create a free Guild account and ask us how we use these skills!

Skill of the Month

Here is an example of a skill from our Skill Tree. Use this opportunity to do the skill and start making changes in your life!

[Empiricist] Map and Territory - 1 XP

1. Read one of the Map and Territory articles. (Choose one at random, don't just pick the first one.)

2. Write an informal explanation of the concepts described by the article, and briefly connect it to your life in some way. (For example, if you read Your Strength as a Rationalist, you might recall a time when you should have noticed your confusion, but didn't.)

3. Share your explanation with the Guild, in #meta-and-theory or #skilltree-updates.

Example Submission

**Making Beliefs Pay Rent (in Anticipated Experiences)**

The article gestures towards a definition of _belief_, requiring that the the belief's consequences would produce a sensory experience. This contrasts with "floating" beliefs, whose consequences are only further beliefs and does not include something which can be sensed. A belief should also constrain what experiences are possible, providing a way to falsify the belief.

In practice, I might use this framework in troubleshooting a lawnmower that stopped unexpectedly. If I believe that the issue is due to damp or thick grass, I would expect to find grass clogging the blade. If I believe the issue is in the fuel system, I would expect that the issue only occurs when the mower is at too much of an angle.

For advice on how to further apply this, or to see the full Skill Tree, create a free Guild account and join a Cohort!

Council Corner

Success Engineering by Errol Highberg

In The Things We Make and its accompanying video series, engineering educator Bill Hammack describes the engineering method of “solving problems using rules of thumb that cause the best change in a poorly understood situation using limited resources”. This method and the techniques used to apply it lie at the heart of many of our core workshops, and all three archetypes of the Skilltree are used in its execution. While the book’s primary concerns and examples are of the built world that we share – of buildings, products, and algorithms – the Guild’s application of the engineering method is in success engineering. This is engineering on a personal scale - defining what success means to you, using self-knowledge to create personalized heuristics, and creating a solution that only needs to work for you.

Some key words in the definition of the engineering method deserve a more thorough explanation. Best is not meant in an absolute or ideal sense, but from considering the restrictions and possibilities offered by the context of a solution – culture, material conditions, personal capabilities, etc. Rules of thumb or heuristics are tools that reduce the time for solving a problem, with their correctness again being contextual. They may encapsulate knowledge (gained either scientifically or anecdotally) or guide the approach to solving a problem (such as ‘solve problems with the most expected utility first’ and ‘see if you can solve an easier problem instead’). Poorly understood situations are the default, yet a solution must be found regardless, and gaining some understanding will restrict the solution space you need to search, or point towards a body of knowledge with heuristics you might employ.

Engineering success requires the use of all three of the archetypes. The Meditative provides the framework needed to decide what best means, and can help with finding where the uncertainties lay in the problem. The Pragmatist drives you to find a solution that works quickly, and expands the breadth of resources to create it. The Empiricist finds or derives rules of thumb, analyzes data to find the best solution, and has the base of knowledge to facilitate making connections and noticing patterns.

Many of our workshops are centered around elements of the engineering method, as applied to the self. Creating your character sheet identifies which problems are best to solve, with the thumb rule of ‘solve problems with the most expected utility first’. Moneybending provides you with more resources and the means to convert them to more useful ones for the problem at hand. Building a decision tree quantifies the uncertainty in the situation, and helps you analyze what the best solution is. Examining your taste and shaping reveals what’s most important to you and helps you refine or redefine the idea of best. Beyond the workshops, the Guild and especially your cohort are a resource - providing heuristics, analysis, or simple encouragement in your problem solving.

The Guild and its community has more support, advice, and knowledge to offer - join us for free and start engineering success!