Lumifer comments on Making Rationality General-Interest - LessWrong

30 Post author: Swimmer963 24 July 2013 10:02PM

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Comment author: Lumifer 25 July 2013 12:49:19AM 4 points [-]

You want to find out how to spread rationality?

Read this

Comment author: Qiaochu_Yuan 25 July 2013 05:00:08AM 9 points [-]

This article points out a pretty important obstruction to the general spread of rationality:

So what were the key differences [between the slow spread of antiseptics and the fast spread of anesthesia]? First, one combatted a visible and immediate problem (pain); the other combatted an invisible problem (germs) whose effects wouldn’t be manifest until well after the operation.

Rationality training does not combat a visible and immediate problem because people do not have a sense that more is possible along this dimension.

Comment author: Lumifer 25 July 2013 05:02:13AM 1 point [-]

The article also points out how rationality spreads by social contact and through becoming emotionally trusted.

It's really a very good article on how rationality spreads (or does not) in the real world.