Stupid Questions Open Thread Round 4

lukeprog

This is for anyone in the LessWrong community who has made at least some effort to read the sequences and follow along, but is still confused on some point, and is perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed. Here, newbies and not-so-newbies are free to ask very basic but still relevant questions with the understanding that the answers are probably somewhere in the sequences. Similarly, LessWrong tends to presume a rather high threshold for understanding science and technology. Relevant questions in those areas are welcome as well. Anyone who chooses to respond should respectfully guide the questioner to a helpful resource, and questioners should be appropriately grateful. Good faith should be presumed on both sides, unless and until it is shown to be absent. If a questioner is not sure whether a question is relevant, ask it, and also ask if it's relevant.

Ask away!

Previously: round 1, round 2, round 3

From the original thread:

This is for anyone in the LessWrong community who has made at least some effort to read the sequences and follow along, but is still confused on some point, and is perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed. Here, newbies and not-so-newbies are free to ask very basic but still relevant questions with the understanding that the answers are probably somewhere in the sequences. Similarly, LessWrong tends to presume a rather high threshold for understanding science and technology. Relevant questions in those areas are welcome as well. Anyone who chooses to respond should respectfully guide the questioner to a helpful resource, and questioners should be appropriately grateful. Good faith should be presumed on both sides, unless and until it is shown to be absent. If a questioner is not sure whether a question is relevant, ask it, and also ask if it's relevant.

Ask away!

1.I would just rather know the right answer!

2.I think believing true things has better consequences than the reverse, for many people. I'm not sure if it will for me.

3.It's too late. I can't decide to go back to believing things that aren't true to make me feel better, because I'd know that's what I was doing.

Would you not prefer to believe true things?

No, I would not not-prefer to believe true things.

That said I also don't experience believing true things as making me unhappy the way you describe.

It's the combination of those statements that intrigues me: X makes you unhappy and you would rather do X. So I was curious as to why you would rather do it.

I have to admit, though, your answers leave me even more puzzled.

9

Stupid Questions Open Thread Round 4

9

9

9

Stupid Questions Open Thread Round 4

9

9