ciphergoth comments on How to Not Lose an Argument - Less Wrong

109 Post author: Yvain 19 March 2009 01:07AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (409)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: Nebu 19 March 2009 09:40:02PM 3 points [-]

No person who chooses his friends over speaking the truth is a rationalist.

Then rationalists are terribly vicious people.

Once again, we are running into the problem of the term "rational" referring to at least two different concepts.

  1. Epistemic rationality: The map should reflect the terroritory. Truth above all else.
  2. Instrumental rationality: You should win. My values are such that making my friends happy is a form of winning.
Comment author: ciphergoth 19 March 2009 11:10:07PM 3 points [-]

A commitment to epistemic rationality means taking maximum care that one's own beliefs are correct. It doesn't say anything about what one should say to others.