Joshua_Blaine comments on Rationality Quotes August 2013 - Less Wrong

7 Post author: Vaniver 02 August 2013 08:59PM

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Comment author: Joshua_Blaine 02 August 2013 08:27:48PM 5 points [-]

If best is defined as easiest, then the "usually" within the quote is entirely superfluous. "If" statements are logically exception-less, and the Law of Conserved Conversation (That i've just made up) means that "usually" implies exceptions. Otherwise it would be excluded from the quote. So I say, pedantically, "duh. but you're missing the point a bit, aren't you mate?"

I like to think of the principle as a kind of Occam's for action. Don't take elaborate actions to produce some solution that is otherwise trivially easy to produce.

Comment author: [deleted] 02 August 2013 10:09:08PM 2 points [-]

the Law of Conserved Conversation (That i've just made up)

You may want to read something about pragmatics, starting with e.g. the section on conversational implicatures in Chapter 1 of CGEL.

(Your made-up law sounds related to these.)

Comment author: Joshua_Blaine 03 August 2013 12:35:40AM 2 points [-]

Huh. The Maxim of Relation does sound very much like what I was trying to go for.