Randaly comments on Rationality Quotes April 2012 - Less Wrong

4 Post author: Oscar_Cunningham 03 April 2012 12:42AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (858)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: [deleted] 01 April 2012 02:57:38PM *  3 points [-]

AG: You know very well the channels of possi8ility at that exact juncture resulted from her decision paths as well as yours.

AG: 8ut even so, when it comes to your key decisions, the possi8ilities are pro8a8ly fewer and more discrete than you have presumed.

AG: Otherwise you would not see results consolidated into those vortices, would you? Possi8ility would resem8le an enormous hazy field of infinitely su8tle variations and micro-choices.

AG: Imagine if at that moment you truly were capa8le of anything, no matter how outlandish, a8surd, or patently fruitless. How would this vast amount of information present itself to you through your senses? What difference would it make in your final decision if all other tri8utaries of whim spilled into the same decaying future? And what would this make of your agency as a hero meant to learn and grow?

AG: Look at it this way. Imagine that over the course of someone's life, they are truly capa8le of every conceiva8le action at any moment, and did indeed take each of those actions in different 8ranching realities. Doesn't a scenario like that deaden a person's agency just as much as one where their fate is decidedly etched in stone as a single path of unavoida8le decisions? Who exactly is that person who can and does take all conceiva8le actions, other than someone perfectly generic, who only appears to have unique predilections and motives when you examine the ar8itrary path they happen to occupy?

Andrew Hussie

Comment author: Randaly 01 April 2012 03:53:13PM 7 points [-]

Is there a reason all the b's have been replaced by 8's?

Comment author: David_Gerard 01 April 2012 04:56:21PM 4 points [-]

Character typing quirk in the original.

Comment author: Particleman 03 April 2012 07:59:05PM 0 points [-]

The typing quirks actually serve a purpose in the comic. Almost all communication among the characters takes place through chat logs, so the system provides a handy way to visually distinguish who's speaking. They also reinforce each character's personality and thematic associations - for example, the character quoted above (Aranea) is associated with spiders, arachnids in general, and the zodiac sign of Scorpio.

Unfortunately, all that is irrelevant in the context of a Rationality Quote.

Comment author: Normal_Anomaly 03 April 2012 11:47:54PM 0 points [-]

<nitpick> The character in question is named Vriska. You're thinking of Aradia. </nitpick>

Comment author: Nornagest 03 April 2012 11:52:45PM 1 point [-]

<nitpick> Actually, he's not -- the quote comes from Vriska's recently introduced pre-Scratch ancestor, who's got a similar but not identical typing style. </nitpick>

Comment author: Normal_Anomaly 04 April 2012 10:22:27AM 0 points [-]

You're right, never mind. Still internalizing the new set of ancestors.