Academian comments on Best videos inspiring first interest in rationality or the singularity - Less Wrong
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Comments (24)
I'd really prefer a pitch about us needing more rationality because the world is just getting massively more complex with more technological moving parts in general, compared to the vast majority of human history, not a thing that goes "because singularity therefore need rationality". Especially not with the "upcoming singularity", painting it as a sure thing.
If you think that singularity advocacy is the main purpose here, and alienating a possibly large fraction of opinionated people who could otherwise be receptive to rationality material by having them associate rationality material with singularitarianism, which they view as something between crackpottery and a cult, is an acceptable exchange for people who will buy into the singularity material as well buying into it along with the material, then fine, I guess.
It might be the general pattern of "here are tools for thinking better" together with "here's the conclusion I want your better thinking to end up at", done clumsily, that I don't like seeing. Once the professed conclusion triggers sufficient suspicion, I'll probably start assuming that the tools offered along with it are rigged as well and discard them.
If the rationality tools are actually good, having people use them should be a net positive even if there isn't a potentially very divisive preferred conclusion packaged along with them.
I'd call that an interest in rationality, and in particular, an interest in rationality OR the singularity.