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PhilGoetz comments on Rationality Quotes Thread August 2015 - Less Wrong Discussion

6 Post author: bbleeker 03 August 2015 09:50AM

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Comment author: NancyLebovitz 28 August 2015 03:46:14AM 6 points [-]

To a first approximation, we care much more about whether theories are interesting than whether they are true

Fuck Nuance by Kieran Healy.

Comment author: PhilGoetz 28 August 2015 09:55:08PM *  2 points [-]

Though this varies by culture. It's more true in France than in England.

EDIT: Now that I've read that part of the essay, I see he meant scientifically interesting, and was speaking mostly prescriptively. I thought he was speaking in condemnation, and meant the irresponsible "we" care most whether a theory is entertaining.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 28 August 2015 10:22:24PM 2 points [-]

Tetlock's work on whether pundits lose respect for making inaccurate predictions suggests that there's at least a bias towards being interesting rather than being right, at least in America. I'm not sure whether Tetlock was tracking British pundits.