THE PROBLEMATIC IDEA In our culture today there is a strong trend of disengagement with the views of people who are accused publicly of being “problematic.” This trend refers mostly to how disagreement manifests on social media, and it has been dubbed cancel culture. A quote, video, or photograph is...
The following text accompanies one section of a moral philosophy I'm writing. It's part of an attempt to find an a priori moral law in the vein of Kant. This story comes after the section exploring the moral plasticity of written law, even though the moral character of a particular...
In our culture today there is a strong trend of disengagement with the views of people who are accused publicly of being “problematic.” This trend refers mostly to how disagreement manifests on social media, and it has been dubbed cancel culture.
A quote, video, or photograph is given as evidence of the person’s problematic nature, and the groups of people who want this viewpoint eliminated will collectively disengage with both the person and the idea.
This brings to mind a sort of social cleansing wherein both the problematic ideas and the “problematic people” are separated from the rest and refused entry to the discussion. Associating with the problematic person risks being a... (read 377 more words →)
Maybe the language we grew up using is rooted deeper in our psychology. Children's stories, fables, songs, & the music of our native language connect our young brains to the world and, when we remember those things, we get that feeling we might call 'nostalgia.' Nostalgia is something, I think, that only comes after many years... Maybe one day when you are older you might hear English words, stories, music that give you this feeling.
Thanks for the suggestion, Gunnar. I'm new here and still poking my nose around.
I made some additions to the post.
Great example. I need to do something similar when teaching children photosynthesis. It's helpful to start just by teaching a definition (when plants turn light into food). Do they need to learn about stomata and leaf anatomy? No, or at least not this year. That's in next year's textbook. If for now they can remember what is 'photosynthesis,' then their comprehension will be aided later.
I think what Yudkowsky is describing can be a problem sometimes when the point is thinking critically, not memorization of terms and definitions. Learning spanish is basically all about guessing the teacher's password. In literature class, when we want to know what the White Whale is a symbol for, we don't want a 'password' type response.
The following text accompanies one section of a moral philosophy I'm writing. It's part of an attempt to find an a priori moral law in the vein of Kant. This story comes after the section exploring the moral plasticity of written law, even though the moral character of a particular action, like murder, is not always the same.
I later adapted this parable into a novella exploring the psychology of the sailor's wife on the evening of her crime. Thanks for reading!
PARABLE OF THE SAILOR'S WIFE
A sailing expedition to the arctic seas is trapped in ice. Low on resources, it becomes evident the crew will not survive the winter if things continue as... (read 595 more words →)
I think you did a good job of answering your question when you hit on the word 'coercion,' and I'll add another one to go with -- 'compulsion.' Are you being coerced by someone, or do you yourself feel compelled? This, in my opinion, is going to define how you apply yourself to the work and may have a bearing on the quality.
I enjoyed reading this. I also have a few thoughts about what it means to master something and what that journey looks like.
Is it possible to truly become a master of a field if you're not putting in a superhuman effort? I agree that pushing yourself to the point of burnout is not the answer; but on the other hand, as a teacher, I once was with a parent who allowed their child to take a break after writing just a few letters when the assignment was to write all twenty-seven. As long as the assignment gets done eventually, that's fine; however, we want to build up our endurance over time so... (read more)