Said Achmiz

The Real Rules Have No Exceptions

(This is a comment that has been turned into a post.) From Chris_Leong’s post, “Making Exceptions to General Rules”: > Suppose you make a general rule, ie. “I won’t eat any cookies”. Then you encounter a situation that legitimately feels exceptional , “These are generally considered the best cookies in the entire state”. This tends to make people torn between two threads of reasoning: > > 1. Clearly the optimal strategy is to make an exception this one time and then follow the rule the rest of the time. > > 2. If you break the rule this one time, then you risk dismantling the rule and ending up not following it at all. > > How can we resolve this? … This is my answer: Consider even a single exception to totally undermine any rule. Consequently, only follow rules with no exceptions.[1]. When you do encounter a legitimate exception to a heretofore-exceptionless rule, immediately discard the rule and replace it with a new rule—one which accounts for situations like this one, which, to the old rule, had to be exceptions. This, of course, requires a meta-rule (or, if you like, a meta-habit): Prefer simplicity in your rules. Be vigilant that your rules do not grow too complex; make sure you are not relaxing the legitimacy criteria of your exceptions. Periodically audit your rules, inspecting them for complexity; try to formulate simpler versions of complex rules. So, when you encounter an exception, you neither break the rule once but keep following it thereafter, nor break it once and risk breaking it again. If this is really an exception, then that rule is immediately and automatically nullified, because good rules ought not have exceptions. Time for a new rule. And if you’re not prepared to discard the rule and formulate a new one, well, then the exception must not be all that compelling; in which case, of course, keep following the existing rule, now and henceforth. But why do I say that good rules ought not have exceptions? Because rules already don’t h

155Jul 23, 2019

Selective, Corrective, Structural: Three Ways of Making Social Systems Work

96Mar 5, 2023

Gwern Branwen interview on Dwarkesh Patel’s podcast: “How an Anonymous Researcher Predicted AI's Trajectory”

87Nov 14, 2024

History of LessWrong: Some Data Graphics

65Nov 16, 2018

Said Achmiz

Message

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4570

16y

The parable of the underdog

Imagine a dog-fighting ring. An arena, somewhere in a dark basement; two dogs enter; one dog leaves. Brutal and horrific, of course; but, human nature being as it is, it draws crowds. One night in the ring the match-up is this: on one side, a Chihuaha; on the other side,...

Aug 17, 202525

Several questions about Zen koans

(This is a series of comments that has been turned into a post.) The context The following exchange is context for the questions at the end of this post. (Quote blocks in italics are from me; quote blocks in non-italics are from another user.) (Scroll down to the next section...

Jul 31, 202524

What are the two contradictory theories of how to evaluate counterfactuals?

In this comment thread on the 2021 post “A Defense of Functional Decision Theory”, @So8res wrote: > ...Also, just to be clear, you’re aware that these are two different internally-consistent but contradictory theories of how to evaluate counterfactuals? Like, we can be pretty confident that there’s no argument a CDT...

Jul 25, 202529

Formative vs. summative evaluations

(This is a series of comments that have been turned into a post.) In the field of usability engineering, there are two kinds of usability evaluations: formative and summative. Formative evaluations are done as early as possible. Not just “before the product is shipped”, but before it’s in beta, or...

Jul 22, 202522

Do “adult developmental stages” theories have any pre-theoretic motivation?

(This is a comment that has been turned into a post.) I have seen much talk on Less Wrong of “development stages” and “Kegan” and so forth. Naturally I am skeptical; so I do endorse any attempt to figure out if any of this stuff is worth anything. To aid...

Jul 20, 202535

Are agent-action-dependent beliefs underdetermined by external reality?

(This is a comment that has been turned into a post.) The standard rationalist view is that beliefs ought properly to be determined by the facts, i.e. the belief “snow is white” is true iff snow is white. Contrariwise, it is sometimes claimed (in the context of discussions about “postrationalism”)...

Jul 17, 202521

Gwern Branwen interview on Dwarkesh Patel’s podcast: “How an Anonymous Researcher Predicted AI's Trajectory”

> Gwern is a pseudonymous researcher and writer. He was one of the first people to see LLM scaling coming. If you've read his blog, you know he's one of the most interesting polymathic thinkers alive. > > In order to protect Gwern's anonymity, I proposed interviewing him in person,...

Nov 14, 202487

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Said Achmiz

Said Achmiz

Said Achmiz

The Real Rules Have No Exceptions

Selective, Corrective, Structural: Three Ways of Making Social Systems Work

Gwern Branwen interview on Dwarkesh Patel’s podcast: “How an Anonymous Researcher Predicted AI's Trajectory”

History of LessWrong: Some Data Graphics

Said Achmiz

The parable of the underdog

Several questions about Zen koans

What are the two contradictory theories of how to evaluate counterfactuals?

Formative vs. summative evaluations

Do “adult developmental stages” theories have any pre-theoretic motivation?

Are agent-action-dependent beliefs underdetermined by external reality?

Gwern Branwen interview on Dwarkesh Patel’s podcast: “How an Anonymous Researcher Predicted AI's Trajectory”

The Real Rules Have No Exceptions

Selective, Corrective, Structural: Three Ways of Making Social Systems Work

Gwern Branwen interview on Dwarkesh Patel’s podcast: “How an Anonymous Researcher Predicted AI's Trajectory”

History of LessWrong: Some Data Graphics

The parable of the underdog

Several questions about Zen koans

What are the two contradictory theories of how to evaluate counterfactuals?

Formative vs. summative evaluations

Do “adult developmental stages” theories have any pre-theoretic motivation?

Are agent-action-dependent beliefs underdetermined by external reality?

Gwern Branwen interview on Dwarkesh Patel’s podcast: “How an Anonymous Researcher Predicted AI's Trajectory”