Sniffnoy comments on Less Wrong: Open Thread, September 2010 - Less Wrong
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The penny has just dropped! When I first encountered LessWrong, the word 'Rationality' did not stand out. I interpreted it to mean its everyday meaning of careful, intelligent, sane, informed thought (in keeping with 'avoiding bias'). But I have become more and more uncomfortable with the word because I see it having a more restricted meaning in the LW context. At first, I thought this was an economic definition of the 'rational' behaviour of the selfish and unemotional ideal economic agent. But now I sense an even more disturbing definition: rational as opposed to empirical. As I use scientific evidence as the most important arbiter of what I believe, I would find the anti-empirical idea of 'rational' a big mistake.
Here is our definition of rationality. See also the "unnamed virtue".
No, here is our definition of rationality.
Thank you. That seems clear. I will assume that my antennas were giving me the wrong impression. I can relax/
Maybe you shouldn't relax.
Regardless of official definitions, there is in practice a heavy emphasis on conceptual rigor over evidence.
There's still room for people who don't quite fit in.
Ah, that does seem to be better, yes.