Ben_Jones comments on Crisis of Faith - Less Wrong

57 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 10 October 2008 10:08PM

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Comment author: Ben_Jones 13 October 2008 08:36:00AM 2 points [-]

I would be rather not be around people who kept telling me true minutiae about the world and he cosmos, if they have no bearing on the problems I am trying to solve.

Will, not wishing to be told pointless details is not the same as deluding yourself.

I was discussing the placebo effect with a friend last night though, and found myself arguing that this could well be an example of a time when more true knowledge could hurt. Paternalistic issues aside, people appear to get healthier when they believe falsehoods about the effectiveness of, say, homeopathy or sugar pills.

Would I rather live in a world where doctors seek to eliminate the placebo effect by disseminating more true knowledge; or one where they take advantage of it, save more lives, but potentially give out misinformation about what they're prescribing? I honestly don't know.