PhilGoetz comments on A note on hypotheticals - Less Wrong

19 Post author: PhilGoetz 07 August 2009 06:56PM

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Comment author: Psychohistorian 07 August 2009 08:59:06PM 4 points [-]

If you are responding to a hypothetical that tests a mathematical model, and your response doesn't use math, and doesn't hinge on a consciousness, infinity, or impossibility from the original problem domain, your response is likely irrelevant.

"The model used in this hypothetical does not meaningfully correspond to reality" seems relevant and not to fall under those categories, though it may count as impossibility. A lot of objections to hypotheticals, from what I've seen, stem from this conceptual problem but people rarely come out and say this bluntly.

Comment author: PhilGoetz 07 August 2009 09:21:19PM 0 points [-]

Oh, yes; that's another valid response.