xamdam comments on Single Point of Moral Failure - Less Wrong

14 Post author: Alexandros 06 April 2010 10:44PM

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Comment author: Emile 07 April 2010 01:56:39PM 6 points [-]

This is why I prefer identifying as a rationalist rather than as an atheist. Being able to generally identify wrong beliefs is more important to having the right answer on the question of whether God exists or not. For all I know, you could have the answer for the wrong reasons - for example, "believing in God is something low-prestige people like hillibillies do, whereas smart classy people (the ones I want to look like) don't believe in that nonsense". In a different context, the same algorithm might give you something like "smart classy people admire the Soviet Union, so I will too" (disclaimer : I have no idea how fashionable it was, if ever, to admire the Soviet Union, I just picked the example at random. Someone with a better knowledge of history could probably find a better one).

Comment author: xamdam 21 May 2010 03:41:40PM 0 points [-]

I think Robert Oppenheimer qualifies as smart and classy.