Blueberry comments on Some Thoughts Are Too Dangerous For Brains to Think - Less Wrong

15 Post author: WrongBot 13 July 2010 04:44AM

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Comment author: cousin_it 14 July 2010 02:35:03PM *  13 points [-]

Anti-PC? Good name, I will use it.

I know my rationality isn't that fragile and I doubt yours is either.

What troubles me is this: your position on the divisive issues is not exactly identical to mine, but I very much doubt that I could sway your position or you could sway mine. Therefore, I'm pretty confident that at least one of us fails at rationality when thinking about these issues. On the other hand, if we were talking about math or computing, I'd be pretty confident that a correct argument would actually be recognized as correct and there would be no room for different "positions". There is only one truth.

We have had some big successes already. (For example, most people here know better than be confused by talk of "free will".) I don't think the anti-PC issue can be resolved by the drawn-out positional war we're waging, because it isn't actually making anyone change their opinions. It's just a barrage of rationalizations from all sides. We need more insight. We need a breakthrough, or maybe several, that would point out the obviously correct way to think about anti-PC issues.

Comment author: Blueberry 14 July 2010 04:06:35PM 2 points [-]

your position on the divisive issues is not exactly identical to mine, but I very much doubt that I could sway your position or you could sway mine. Therefore, I'm pretty confident that at least one of us fails at rationality when thinking about these issues. On the other hand, if we were talking about math or computing, I'd be pretty confident that a correct argument would actually be recognized as correct and there would be no room for different "positions". There is only one truth.

But there are many different values. If we can't sway each other's positions, that points to a value difference.

Comment author: Vladimir_Nesov 14 July 2010 04:23:40PM 6 points [-]

If we can't sway each other's positions, that points to a value difference.

If only it was always so. Value is hard to see, so easy to rationalize.