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Eliezer_Yudkowsky comments on Rationality Quotes: October 2009 - Less Wrong
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Comments (276)
Why is this being voted down? I'm pretty sure Nominull didn't post the quote in order to endorse it as a normative sentiment. There's an ick reaction so you hit "Vote down"? But that's not what decides whether a quote is a good thing to have read!
Also, in general, the quote is accurate. While it is intellectually useful to be proven wrong, it is not really a pleasant feeling, because it's much nicer to have already been right. This is especially true if you are heavily invested in what you are wrong about, eg. a scientist who realizes his research was based on an erroneous premise will be happy to stop wasting time but will also feel pretty crappy about the time he's already wasted. It's not in our nature to be purely cerebral about such a devastating thing as being wrong can be.
No, the quote isn't accurate. There are lots more worse feelings than being wrong in an argument. If you can't think of one, start from here.
Well, if you want to pick nits, a vacuum cleaner sucks more than realizing you're wrong in an argument.
That's not picking nits; that's switching out a metaphorical definition mid-discussion for a more literal one, a species of "moving the goalposts".
This is picking nits.
Well, I don't feel bad at all, so obviously you haven't won this argument yet. Unless I'm wrong, of course.
This does much to explain the mechanism by which humans avoid realizing when they are wrong!
I have a pound of Sweet-n-Sour pork for you to eat, and some scratchy toilet paper that can correct that ...
It's hyperbole, then.
Hyperbole that only seems clever to people who haven't experienced real pain. (Note: didn't mod down, because the follow-up discussion is interesting.)
It's excessive hyperbole, then. You would have preferred the quote went more like the following.
That works :-)
I'm curious as to how you define real pain then. I had shingles 9 years ago and an infection that went systemic a year ago that was even more painful, though thankfully only for a day.
I think the only ick reaction here is from my examples of experiences that are much more painful than any epistemic event.
(Agree, and add that) It is often more frustrating when I realise I am not wrong, can reliably reverse engineer the other's thought process, know that they will jump back to this error whenever an even tangentially related topic is discussed and I must now choose between rapport and reason. The death cry of mutual respect.
I didn't downvote, but I didn't upvote either. The trouble is that a moment's thought reveals a host of objections. If I understand correctly, rationality quotes ought to be good, useful cached thoughts; this is merely a useful observation.
(Edit: On further reflection, I've upvoted it. Points to eirenicon.)