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atucker comments on Tweetable Rationality - Less Wrong Discussion

9 Post author: Alexandros 12 March 2011 08:00PM

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Comment author: atucker 13 March 2011 02:03:21AM *  1 point [-]

Good points.

I feel like its similar to the Dark Arts arguments that we've had before, where there's an accurate idea that doesn't sound so cool to say and making it cooler to say might make it less accurate.

A shorter sentence can play with language tricks, whereby something sounds profound without being so. A longer explanation by virtue of its length cannot sustain itself on mere language trickery.

Agreed. But there's nothing wrong with a short sentence where something is profound, and sounds so. Making those are tricky

A more detailed explanation has time and space to fully, or at least partially, reveal and explore the implications of the idea, where a shorter sentence can sound wise but have no real implications.

The more startling and potentially groundbreaking an idea is, the more actual work needs to be done to set it up properly. For instance, by itself saying "Thou art physics." while it might sound wise, wouldn't lead to a proper understanding of how that dissolves the question of free will. That requires a rather extensive explanation.

I think the tweets should just have links in them. That way people get a fun aphorism to read and remember, and if they're interested they can follow through, read the link, and get the fuller picture.