SteveG comments on SRG 4: Biological Cognition, BCIs, Organizations - Less Wrong

7 Post author: KatjaGrace 07 October 2014 01:00AM

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Comment author: SteveG 08 October 2014 09:28:21PM -1 points [-]

For instance, rebelling against well-meaning authorities has been known to cause someone not to adhere to a correct medication regime or to start smoking.

Problems regularly rear their head when it comes to listening to the doctor.

I guess I'll add that the well-meaning authority is also knowledgeable.

Comment author: Lumifer 09 October 2014 12:19:18AM 2 points [-]

I guess I'll add that the well-meaning authority is also knowledgeable.

Let me point out the obvious: the knowledgeable well-meaning authority is not necessarily acting in your best interests.

Not to mention that authority that's both knowledgeable and well-meaning is pretty rare.

Comment author: SteveG 08 October 2014 09:37:11PM 0 points [-]

Really, what I am getting at is that just like anyone else, smart people may rebel or conform as a knee-jerk reaction. Neither is using reason to come to an appropriate conclusion, but I have seen them do it all the time.

Comment author: KatjaGrace 08 October 2014 10:56:46PM 2 points [-]

One might think an agent who was sufficiently smart would at some point apply reason to the question of whether they should follow their knee-jerk responses with respect to e.g. these decisions.