Eugine_Nier comments on Rationality: Appreciating Cognitive Algorithms - LessWrong

37 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 06 October 2012 09:59AM

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Comment author: TimS 10 October 2012 08:32:38PM 1 point [-]

I think the next paragraph is a bit more accurate:

Postmodernism postulates that many, if not all, apparent realities are only social constructs and are therefore subject to change. It claims that there is no absolute truth and that the way people perceive the world is subjective and emphasises the role of language, power relations, and motivations in the formation of ideas and beliefs. In particular it attacks the use of sharp binary classifications such as male versus female, straight versus gay, white versus black, and imperial versus colonial; it holds realities to be plural and relative, and to be dependent on who the interested parties are and the nature of these interests. Postmodernist approaches therefore often consider the ways in which social dynamics, such as power and hierarchy, affect human conceptualizations of the world to have important effects on the way knowledge is constructed and used. Postmodernist thought often emphasizes constructivism, idealism, pluralism, relativism, and scepticism in its approaches to knowledge and understanding.

The key point of political theory post-modernist is that certain social norms are claimed to be true or universal when that is not the case. Further, binary distinctions (black/white, capitalist/proletariat) are inherently misleading, organizing the world in particular ways in order to advance particular moral agendas.

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 10 October 2012 11:10:03PM 0 points [-]

Further, binary distinctions (black/white, capitalist/proletariat) are inherently misleading,

Some are some aren't. Furthermore, it's impossible to say anything without using distinctions.

Comment author: TimS 11 October 2012 01:49:59AM *  -2 points [-]

Not all moral distinctions are on-off buttons. Some (most?) are sliding scales.


I don't expect king-of-postmodernism-is-nonsense and mister-I-think-postmodernism-makes-good-points to come to agreement, but I'm interested in where exactly we disagree.

  • Do you think some agents could gain advantage by treating a sliding-scale moral quality as discrete?

  • Do you think some agents could gain advantage by treating a discrete moral quality as sliding-scale?

  • What sort of evidence is useful in deciding whether a particular moral quality is discrete or sliding scale?

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 11 October 2012 04:31:35AM 1 point [-]

First binary distinctions aren't just for moral systems.

If we restrict to moral distinctions, most moral distinctions are Schelling points.