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James_Miller comments on Rationality Quotes Thread July 2015 - Less Wrong
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Sansa: "It can’t be worse."
Theon: "It can. It can always be worse."
Game of Thrones TV series
Part of the reason I supported the overthrow of Saddam Hussein was because I thought he was so bad that the alternative had to be better. I didn't take enough time to consider worse alternatives to him.
But can it always be better?
Yes, unless you die.
"In King's Landing, there are two sorts of people. The players and the pieces."
"And I was a piece?" She dreaded the answer.
"Yes, but don't let that trouble you. You're still half a child. Every man's a piece to strart with, and every maid as well. Even some who think they are players."
Talk between Sansa and Petyr - A Song of Ice and Fire: A Storm of Swords
Why is this a rationality quote? I mean sure it is technically true (for any situation you'll find yourself in), but that really shouldn't stop us from trying to improve the situation. Theon has basically given up all hope and is advocating compliance to a psychopath for fear of what he may do to you otherwise, doesn't sound particularly rational to me.
"When you make plans to stop something bad, make sure that you also make plans to ensure that it is not replaced by something worse - since there is always something worse that exists".
That's what I get from it, anyhow.
It corrects an error people sometimes make when in a bad situation of assuming things can't get worse so any change can't be for the worst. Sansa had not been tortured by the psychopath in question while Theon had, so Theon better understood the price of defiance.
Ok, fair enough. I still hold that Sansa was more rational than Theon at this point, but that error is one that is definitely worth correcting.