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Wei_Dai comments on Chemicals and Electricity - Less Wrong
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Comments (18)
The OP did give a couple of examples (caffeine, testosterone) which I think made his point clearer: we are heavily influenced by biochemicals in ways that can not be considered part of a rational decision algorithm, and we can indirectly change how our brains work (and make ourselves more rational) by understanding such influences and exerting control over levels of such chemicals.
The character and extent of this influence are the central questions, and these were not addressed. There is a huge number of factors that influence my decisions in irrelevant ways. I type a letter on the keyboard 100 milliseconds earlier or later; make a typo and then correct it or not make it at all. I read a comment containing some text, and have completely different thoughts depending on the text.
These factors control which actions I take and which thoughts I have, but they don't exert a systematic influence over relevant metrics of my decisions. Likewise, even though coffee has a systematic influence on a relevant metric of my activity, the extent of this influence is insignificant on the scale of decisions that I take based on other considerations.
The arguments given in the post don't support its claims, even if the claims are in some sense correct (I believe so), and the arguments describe true facts.