Kaj_Sotala comments on 2014 Survey Results - Less Wrong

87 Post author: Yvain 05 January 2015 07:36PM

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Comment author: Kaj_Sotala 05 January 2015 10:41:54AM 2 points [-]

I have no idea whether this is remotely related to postrationalism; if anyone actually knows what postrationalism is, please write a FAQ.

There's Postrationality, Table of Contents, though the author hasn't written any follow-up posts yet.

Comment author: RichardKennaway 05 January 2015 05:34:02PM 3 points [-]

There's Postrationality, Table of Contents, though the author hasn't written any follow-up posts yet.

Postrationality appears to stand in the same relation to rationality as Romanticism did to the Enlightenment. That is, a falling away from the Way, not a progression past it; the easy, broad path and not the strait and narrow path that must be walked to hit the small target of truth.

Comment author: fubarobfusco 05 January 2015 05:55:51PM *  3 points [-]

In particular, rationality tends to give advice like “ignore your intuitions/feelings, and rely on conscious reasoning and explicit calculation”.

I can't tell if this is an Ideological Turing Test failure, or just a lie.

Comment author: Leonhart 05 January 2015 06:32:59PM 1 point [-]

Upvoted for informing me that "straight and narrow" was a malformation. Also, yes.

Comment author: Leonhart 05 January 2015 06:33:52PM *  0 points [-]

Ah, yes. I read that page and scrunchyfaced, back when Scott posted the map. (Although I seem to remember reading other things on the same blog that were better thought out, so maybe the author was having an off day.)

I hope that something more rigorous and interesting comes along. The defensible heart of the position, it seems to me, could be something along the lines of "Yes, we must be ready to relinquish our beliefs with the slightest breath of the winds of evidence. But exactly so long as we do believe A, let's really believe it. Let's not deny ourselves the legitimate Fun that can reside in savouring a belief, including any combination of robes and chanting that seems appropriate."