Nornagest comments on [META] 'Rational' vs 'Optimized' - Less Wrong

30 Post author: TheOtherDave 04 January 2012 06:58PM

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Comment author: Nornagest 05 January 2012 11:02:46PM *  3 points [-]

From a purely definitional perspective that's fairly close; but if we're concerned with signaling, "wisdom" has even more appallingly bad associations than "rational" does. If a friend told me he'd joined a group dedicated to seeking wisdom, I'd at best assume an ashram or something similar, and likewise I'd expect most of the people attracted by the term to lie somewhere along the New Age/NRM spectrum.

Comment author: fburnaby 05 January 2012 11:06:33PM 2 points [-]

I suppose you're right. It turns us from apparent Rand-loving Spocks to Hippie New Agers in the eyes of the public.

Comment author: Armok_GoB 06 January 2012 09:09:08PM 0 points [-]

Wait, so what would happen if we said "rationality and wisdom" or even "rationality slash wisdom"?

Comment author: fburnaby 06 January 2012 10:10:17PM 1 point [-]

Either they even each-other out, or people think we're crazy and self-contradictory?

Comment author: Armok_GoB 07 January 2012 01:36:43PM 1 point [-]

Sounds worth trying!