thomblake comments on Rationality is Systematized Winning - Less Wrong

48 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 03 April 2009 02:41PM

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Comment author: thomblake 03 April 2009 08:03:09PM * 1 point [-]

Sometimes acting with propriety involves losing - at least in a limited, specific context. Arguably, if you act with propriety, you always win.

These two sentences seem inconsistent. Care to unpack?

EDIT: replaced 'contradictory' with 'inconsistent'. Logical quibble.

Comment author: Annoyance 04 April 2009 02:31:13PM 2 points [-]

Destroying an Empire to win a war is no victory. And ending a battle to save an Empire is no defeat. - attributed to Kahless the Unforgettable

There is such a thing as a Pyrrhic victory. Likewise, some kinds of failure can be more valuable than ostensible success.

There is always a greater perspective. From that greater perspective, what a lesser perspective judges to be a win may be a loss, and vice versa.