Mark_Eichenlaub comments on Rationality Quotes April 2012 - Less Wrong

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

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Comment author: Mark_Eichenlaub 02 April 2012 12:03:19AM *  27 points [-]

Gene Hofstadt: You people. You think money is the answer to every problem.

Don Draper: No, just this particular problem.

Mad Men, "My Old Kentucky Home"

Comment author: FiftyTwo 03 April 2012 09:47:12PM *  15 points [-]

Another good one from Don Draper:

I hate to break it to you, but there is no big lie, there is no system, the universe is indifferent.

Comment author: JulianMorrison 20 April 2012 03:04:18PM 0 points [-]

This is mistaken because systems can and do assemble out of sufficiently similar people pursuing self interest in a way that ends up coordinated because their motivations are alike. Capitalism is the simplest and most obvious example of such a system, but I'd argue things like patriarchy and racism are similar.

Comment author: FiftyTwo 11 May 2012 12:45:18AM 3 points [-]

The point is the system doesn't have a particular overriding goals, or central coordination, and isn't interested in you personally. In context, he was speaking to counter-culture people who thought the system was against them, in an ego satisfying way that makes them feel significant. He counter that it is simply indifferent to them.