Vaniver comments on Rationality Quotes Thread April 2015 - Less Wrong

7 Post author: Vaniver 01 April 2015 01:35PM

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Comment author: Vaniver 06 April 2015 01:27:05AM 10 points [-]

What is the difference between describing 'how' and explaining 'why'? To describe 'how' means to reconstruct the series of specific events that led from one point to another. To explain 'why' means to find causal connections that account for the occurrence of this particular series of events to the exclusion of all others.

--Yuval Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Comment author: Benito 11 April 2015 09:49:13AM 1 point [-]

In a lot of cases, 'why' can hide a lot of different questions, and needs to be properly reduced.