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So humans are complex creatures that exhibit a simplified view of other humans? Isn't there some kind of psychological explanation for that?
I applaud the attention to detail. Really keeps things in perspective.
Who knows, one of the articles produced here might be featured in the New York Times. Maybe even the same time some controversy or other begins. I look forward to it! :)
In response to
Eliezer passes 100,000 karma points
Writing the first chapter of "...and the Methods of Rationality" is a milestone all by itself. It's a wonder reading it hasn't given me hyper-cerebral electrosis.
In response to
NASA scientist finds evidence of alien life [link]
I've actually read it forwarded that life originates in outer space, because the conditions necessary to form it are not found on planets.
I'm not four billion years old, so I can't verify it.
In response to
How best to show dying is bad
If a person wants to die, then why wait?
But seriously, you can solve the problem of #3 and #4 by using stem cells to make your brain divide forever, and use computers to store your memory in perfect condition, since brain cells gradually die off.
The problem is... what is "you"? How do you determine whether you are still yourself after a given period of time? Does my solution actually constitute a solution?
Shouldn't we be focusing on a way to scientifically quantify the soul before making ourselves immortal? On second thought, that might not be the best idea.
In response to
Less Wrong fanfiction suggestion
Has anyone written a rationalist fanfic for Battlestar Galactica (2003 remake)?
In response to
Less Wrong fanfiction suggestion
If you want to suggest it, why not make it happen it yourself? Personally, I'm in the process of editing a Naruto rationalist fanfic written by a friend of mine. I'm also a former Mage player with some knowledge of the Mage universe (though to be honest I'm more familiar and experienced with Ascension than I am Awakening), so I'd be happy to look at a draft of a Mage fanfic before you post it if you so choose, or else I'd certainly read it and review it once you post it.
The problem is that I am not myself a rationalist, so I wouldn't be any good at writing it. Mage: The Ascension is not particularly good for rationalist fanfiction, since it takes place in a universe where consensus reality is true, and thus the scientific method fails as a way to understand the universe, since the laws of physics are determined by how many people believe in them.
Furthermore, the reason I bring this particular fandom up is because the other fans continually tell me that in the game world, rationalism and the scientific method are wrong, even though the books themselves do not actually support a conclusion like that.
Sure, the antagonists of the game insist they lead the Enlightenment, but only by actively suppressing evidence of the supernatural, encouraging disbelief, and utilizing spin doctoring to its utmost maximum (Seers of the Throne 29). The point was less about science and more about convincing ordinary people that the supernatural did not exist by whatever means possible.
A group called the Null Mysteriis even discovered, by examining werewolf corpses, that whatever causes the transformation "does not appear to obey known laws of chemistry, biology or physics: a realization that both excites and troubles" (Spirit Slayers 71). Since werewolves revert to human form upon death, they've considered vivisecting one to better understand the transformation, but many of them find it unethical.
Less Wrong fanfiction suggestion
I've been enjoying reading Less Wrong fanfiction, and I wanted to suggest another fandom that should have at least one rationalist fanfiction: Mage: The Awakening. It's a roleplaying game about "modern sorcery." My description can't really do it justice...
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Are non-existent people simply extensions of the existent people who created them? Is not the reason for their creation to forward a point supported or opposed by their creator?