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jsalvatier comments on Intellectual insularity and productivity - Less Wrong Discussion

53 [deleted] 11 June 2012 03:10PM

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Comment author: jsalvatier 14 June 2012 08:18:21PM *  0 points [-]

I find the idea that 'studying history is valuable for trying to do big things' counterintuitive. I think it would be valuable for you to try to share your intuition as a post. I would find a set of several examples (perhaps of the form "1) big idea 2) historical evidence of why this idea won't work well") very useful for getting a sense of what you're talking about. I'd also like to see some discussion of why mere discussion of object level lessons (say for example, "coordinating large groups of people is hard") isn't as good as discussing history.

Until someone does this, I doubt we'll see much historical discussion.

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 15 June 2012 12:54:06AM 2 points [-]

I'd also like to see some discussion of why mere discussion of object level lessons (say for example, "coordinating large groups of people is hard") isn't as good as discussing history.

Because society, unlike say physics, is a thick problem, so in order to have any chance to make reasonable decisions is to calibrate yourself by knowing a lot of history.