JanetK comments on Open Thread June 2010, Part 4 - Less Wrong
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I've separated some forms of alternative medicine out when one might arguably put them closer together. Also, I'm including Young Earth Creationism, but not creationism as a whole. Where that goes might be a bit more complicated. There's some overlap between some of these (such as young earth creationism and religion). The list also does not include any beliefs that have a fundamentally moral component. I've tried to not include beliefs which are stupid but hard to deal with empirically (say that there's something morally inferior about specific racial groups). Finally, when compiling this list I've tried to avoid thinking too much about the overall balance that the delusion provides. So for example, religion is listed where it is based on the harm it does, without taking into account the societal benefits that it also produces.
1-4: Religion, Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Traditional Chinese medicine (as standardized post 1950s)
5-10 The belief that intelligence differences have no strong genetic component. The belief that intelligence differences have no strong environmental component. The belief that there are no serious existential threats to humans. The belief that external cosmetic features or national allegiances are strong indicators of mental superiority or inferiority. That human females have fundamentally less mental capacity and that this difference is enough to be a useful data point when evaluating humans. The belief that the Chinese government can be trusted to benefit its people or decide what information they should or should not have access to. (The primary reason this gets on the list is the sheer size of China. There are other governments which are much, much worse and have similar delusions by the people. But the damage level done is frequently much smaller.)
11-20 Vaccines cause autism. Young Earth Creationism. Invisible Hand of the Market solves everything. Government solves everything. Providence. That there are not fundamental limits on certain natural resources. That nuclear power is intrinsically worse than other forms of energy. The belief that large segments of the population are fundamentally not good at math or science. Astrology. The belief that antibiotics can deal with viral infections.
There were a few that I wanted to stick on for essentially emotional reasons. So for example Holocaust Denial almost got on the list and when I tried to justify it I saw myself engaging in what was clearly motivated cognition.
This list is very preliminary. The grouping is also very tentative and could likely be easily subject to change.
Where would you put 'belief in free will' and 'belief in determinism'?
They probably wouldn't get anywhere on the list for the reason that a) I'm not convinced that either determinism or free will as often given are actually well-defined notions and b) I don't see either belief as causing much harm in practice.