= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
Matt_Simpson comments on When It's Not Right to be Rational - Less Wrong
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (21)
Let's just be clear. You are very near equivocating on rational. There are two basic definitions, though it may be natural to add more for some reason. Essentially what you are pointing out is that sometimes it's instrumentally rational to be epistemically irrational.
I don't see much of a problem with this. As rationalists, we primarily want to be instrumentally rational. Scratch that, it's the only thing we want (intrinsically). Being epistemically rationally just happens to be the best way to achieve our ends in a large percentage of cases. It also may have a direct component in our utility function, but that's another issue.
There is another definition, one better than either of those two, not only because it is more useful but because it is generally used and recognized.
With sufficiently limited resources, it can be rational (in that sense) to be irrational, if the available resources are sufficiently limited.
I think you forgot to mention what that definition is.
Seriously, Annoyance, it wouldn't kill you to link to your own post. Sheesh.
"As rationalists, we primarily want to be instrumentally rational. Scratch that, it's the only thing we want (intrinsically)."
No. I'm not sure why you believe that our wants are outside the domain of rationality's influence, but they are not.
Wants are outside the domain of instrumental rationality - by definition. In other words, instrumental rationality can be applied to any goal.
The only thing we want is to get the things that we want in the most efficient way possible. In other words, to be instrumentally rational.
If what we want is to reach our wants without using the most efficient way possible, what method should we use?
Efficiency, at least the way I'm using the term, is relative to our values. If we don't want to use the most efficient method possible to achieve something, then something about that method causes it to have a negative term in our utility function which is just large enough to make another alternative look better. So then it really isn't the most efficient alternative we have.