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hyporational comments on Open Thread, November 8 - 14, 2013 - Less Wrong Discussion

1 Post author: witzvo 08 November 2013 08:13PM

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Comment author: hyporational 13 November 2013 03:15:17AM 2 points [-]

It's not clear to me that donating to AMF is a reliable sign of their increased rationality. How do you know you're not simply guilt tripping them?

Comment author: Dan_Weinand 13 November 2013 09:14:35PM 0 points [-]

Apologies, I should have been clearer in using donations to the AMF as an analogy to persuading people to be more rational and not a direct way to persuade people to be more rational. I don't claim that these people are more rational simply because they donate to the AMF.

If we are really trying to persuade people, however, guilt tripping should be considered as an option. Logical arguments will only change the behavior of a very small segment of society while even self-professed rationalists can be persuaded with good emotional appeals.

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 16 November 2013 01:32:28AM -2 points [-]

Apologies, I should have been clearer in using donations to the AMF as an analogy to persuading people to be more rational and not a direct way to persuade people to be more rational.

No, you were using it as anecdotal evidence that your method works.

I don't claim that these people are more rational simply because they donate to the AMF.

Well, you're argument does rely on that premise.