Robin_Hanson2 comments on Failure By Analogy - Less Wrong

15 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 18 November 2008 02:54AM

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Comment author: Robin_Hanson2 18 November 2008 03:56:22AM 3 points [-]

Aren't you just saying "prefer better analogies"? The more the features you are comparing are fundamental rather than surface, and the more similar are the objects in fundamental terms, the more likely they are to have other similar characteristics. When you are trying to make inferences about something, and you have other similar things to consider, you'd be a fool to not look for analogies, as well as a fool to expect too much from them.