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solipsist comments on Open thread, August 4 - 10, 2014 - Less Wrong Discussion
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Comments (307)
Oblique request made without any explanation: can anyone provide examples of beliefs that are incontrovertibly incorrect, but which intelligent people will nonetheless arrive at quite reasonably through armchair-theorising?
I am trying to think up non-politicised, non-controversial examples, yet every one I come up with is a reliable flame-war magnet.
ETA: I am trying to reason about disputes where on the one hand you have an intelligent, thoughtful person who has very expertly reasoned themselves into a naive but understandable position p, and on the other hand, you have an individual who possesses a body of knowledge that makes a strong case for the naivety of p.
What kind of ps exist, and do they have common characteristics? All I can come up with are politically controversial ps, but I'm starting my search from a politically-controversial starting point. The motivating example for this line of reasoning is so controversial that I'm not touching it with a shitty-stick.
If your twin's going away for 20 years to fly around space at close to the speed of light, they'll be 20 years older when they come back.
A spinning gyroscope, when pushed, will react in a way that makes sense.
If another nation can't do anything as well as your nation, there is no self-serving reason to trade with them.
You shouldn't bother switching in the Monty Hall problem
The sun moves across the sky because it's moving.
EDIT Corrected all statements to be false
I think you may have expressed this one the wrong way around; the way you've phrased it ("can make you better off") is the surprising truth, not the surprising untruth.
They will. I think you mean: If your twin flies through space at close to the speed of light and arrives back 20 years later, they'll be 20 years older when they come back. That one's false.
Reversed polarity on a few statements. Thanks.
Your first statement is still correct.
To be more explicit: What is needed to make the statement interestingly wrong is for the two 20-year figures to be in different reference frames. If your twin does something for 20 years, then they will be 20 years older; but if they do something for what you experience as 20 years they may not be.
Rephrased to more explicitly place "for 20 years" in the earth's reference frame.