Kaj_Sotala comments on Tendencies in reflective equilibrium - LessWrong

27 Post author: Yvain 20 July 2011 10:38AM

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Comment author: Vaniver 20 July 2011 01:50:54PM 1 point [-]

...except that the Dutch book itself assumes consistency. If I believe that there is a 66% chance of it landing on heads, but refuse to take a bet at 2:1 odds - or even at 1.5:1 odds even though I should think it's easy money! - then I can't be Dutch booked. I am literally too stupid to be tricked effectively. You would think this wouldn't happen too often, since people would need to construct an accurate mental model to know when they should refuse such a bet, and such an accurate model would tell them they should revise their probabilities - but time after time people have demonstrated the ability to do exactly that.

What? This paragraph just seems broken. If they refuse to take a bet at 1.5:1 odds, they either have an injunction against gambling or don't actually believe there's a 66% chance, which is the entire point of the belief in belief article.

Overall, I find this article pretty weak. Is the point that reflective equilibrium is what seeking consistency looks like in humans? Then why try and knock down consistency, since if you don't seek consistency you have no reason to seek reflective equilibrium?

Comment author: Kaj_Sotala 21 July 2011 11:22:13AM *  1 point [-]

What? This paragraph just seems broken. If they refuse to take a bet at 1.5:1 odds, they either have an injunction against gambling or don't actually believe there's a 66% chance, which is the entire point of the belief in belief article.

People may simultaneously have contradicting beliefs. The mind is not one unified entity: one part of it can believe in X, while another believes in not-X. Refusing the bet may simply mean that the part of them which is in control of behavior at that particular moment doesn't believe there's a 66% chance. It doesn't mean that some other part of them might not genuinely believe there's a 66% chance, and that part may be in control in other situations.