Error comments on Positive Queries - How Fetching - Less Wrong

22 Post author: Benquo 30 April 2014 02:24AM

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Comment author: Error 30 April 2014 08:22:54PM 3 points [-]

Standing on a narrow ledge, afraid of falling, you might feel a strong urge to jump. Why?

...I don't know, but my reaction on reading this line was "holy crap, that happens to other people too?"

Even if the explicit verbal instruction you give your mind is "tell me how to be socially skilled in this conversation," it will get parsed as "tell me how to be not awkward" and your fetcher will in turn parse that as "be awkward" and helpfully suggest ways to accomplish that goal.

Taking a brief mental inventory of those interactions embarrassing enough to be seriously painful years after the event, this or something very like it appears to be responsible for...all of them.

Comment author: Nornagest 30 April 2014 08:31:37PM *  8 points [-]

holy crap, that happens to other people too?

It's well-known enough that there's an expression for it: l’appel du vide. (Roughly "the call of the void", or so I'm told.)

Comment author: palladias 02 May 2014 12:03:33AM 2 points [-]

And, in theology, logismoi

Comment author: RichardKennaway 02 May 2014 03:52:59PM -2 points [-]

And, in lesswrongology, basilisks.

Comment author: Benquo 02 May 2014 06:24:22PM 2 points [-]

A basilisk is somewhat different, I think - it's supposed to be a strong informational hazard, not just an unhelpful thought pattern.

Comment author: Benquo 01 May 2014 07:37:49PM 1 point [-]

Or "the imp of the perverse," like in the Poe piece I linked to.

Comment author: Vulture 01 May 2014 02:28:32PM *  1 point [-]

And in psychology the term is "intrusive thoughts".

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