Desrtopa comments on Don't call yourself a rationalist. - Less Wrong

16 Post author: KenChen 14 October 2011 08:26PM

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Comment author: antigonus 17 October 2011 05:02:21PM 0 points [-]

I agree that "Yudkowskian" isn't a great label politically. And looking back on it, KenChen's post is about thinking of good political descriptors and not just "apt" ones, so I think I'm probably going off-topic here. However, I do think that the term "Yudkowskian" most accurately and succinctly summarizes the cluster of views tying the members of the community based around this website together. (Then again, I don't really know anyone here, so maybe my impression is unjustified.) For instance, talking of rationality as an art to be refined feels very Yudkowskian to me. This isn't meant to be pejorative.

Comment author: Desrtopa 18 October 2011 01:58:58AM 1 point [-]

"Baconian" aptly describes the methodology and outlook of scientists (or at least, most scientists,) but science has come so far because it's built out of ideas that have demonstrable worth irrespective of the people who came up with them.