JoshuaZ comments on Why is Mencius Moldbug so popular on Less Wrong? [Answer: He's not.] - Less Wrong

9 Post author: arborealhominid 16 November 2012 06:37PM

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Comment author: JoshuaZ 23 November 2012 06:03:20PM *  3 points [-]

My other reply got very long and this matter was essentially tangential so I've broken this off into a separate comment.

Furthermore the questions in his database search do not test for scientific literacy. They test for conformity. Which I am more than willing to admit conservatives would perform better at. If I repeat the social norm that astrology is unscientific do I have "more science knowledge" than someone who does not?

This seems to be more about word games than anything else. If someone believes that the Earth is round but they don't know why that's commonly accepted, they have a fact about the universe, and one that if they think hard enough about it, one that probably pays rent. That they got to that result by "conformity" is both not obviously testable, and isn't relevant in this context. Understanding that astrology doesn't work is a perfect example of scientific knowledge. Moreover, I'm not completely sure what you mean by conformity. For example, I've never personally tested whether astrology works or not. Is it conformity to accept the broad set of scientific papers showing that it doesn't work?