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Ritalin comments on Open Thread, December 1-15, 2012 - Less Wrong Discussion

5 Post author: OpenThreadGuy 01 December 2012 05:00AM

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Comment author: Ritalin 06 December 2012 05:28:23PM 5 points [-]

“There is no justice in the laws of nature, no term for fairness in the equations of motion. The Universe is neither evil, nor good, it simply does not care. The stars don't care, or the Sun, or the sky.

But they don't have to! WE care! There IS light in the world, and it is US!” ― Eliezer Yudkowsky, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

Yes.

Comment author: Zaine 10 December 2012 07:46:56AM *  0 points [-]

While you may not err here, do keep in mind that not all characters are extensions of their author.

Comment author: Ritalin 10 December 2012 11:26:57AM 3 points [-]

I think he made that same point in other words somewhere in the sequences. And I couldn't agree more.

Lovecraftian horror always struck me as a rather unwise way of looking at things; so what if incomprehensible forces in the universe could walk over us at any time and obliterate us? If we can't stop them, and can't predict them, why should we possibly even think about them or let their existence get us down? They're, essentially, irrelevant.

I also take issue with all the "drives you mad" reactions in Lovecraftian stories. PTSD drives you mad. Seeing seemingly-impossible things confuses you, because it messes with your epistemic models, but why should it mess with your capacity for rational thought?

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