nyan_sandwich comments on We Don't Have a Utility Function - Less Wrong

43 [deleted] 02 April 2013 03:49AM

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Comment author: [deleted] 02 April 2013 05:45:14AM 6 points [-]

A related consideration, which is more about the methodology of studies claiming to measure human irrationality, is that the problem you think a test subject is solving is not necessarily the problem they're actually solving. I guess a well-known example is when you ask people to play the prisoner's dilemma but in their heads they're really playing the iterated prisoner's dilemma.

Right, this is an important point that could use more discussion.

In closer inspection a lot of the "irrationalities" are either rational on a higher-level game, or to be expected given the inability of people to "feel" abstract facts that they are told.

That said, the inability to properly incorporate abstract information is quite a rationality problem.

Comment author: diegocaleiro 13 April 2013 03:09:12PM *  2 points [-]

I've made this point quite a few times here and here

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 03 April 2013 05:51:54AM 2 points [-]

That said, the inability to properly incorporate abstract information is quite a rationality problem.

Depends, sometimes this is actually a decent way avoid believing every piece of abstract information one is presented with.