Emotions are not rational or irrational It’s but a signal, But they are also an end It is thus misleading to consider them in terms of rationality, Their only rational or irrational element is our attitude and interpretation of those emotions But it’s also misleading to NOT incorporate them as crucial variables in …
Tag: Understanding
The Soft-Fantasy Mindset
The soft-fantasy mindset is not a full-on fantasy You don’t believe any random nonsense that’s pleasant to imagine, Incoherence, conflict with the consensus, conflict with the authorities’ position — are all enough to dissuade you from proudly asserting your belief in some magical phenomenon you’re more sceptical than that: maybe divination doesn’t exactly …
Reality Is Intelligent
What is intelligence? It’s the ability to solve problems, right? We observe, we learn, we reason — and then we find the solution But what if someone found the solution WITHOUT going through this process? Is that person intelligent? Is that intelligent? It’s obviously not unintelligent — someone solving a problem Even if …
Either You Get Your Way Or Not — No Nagging, No Whining…
Either you get your way or not — no nagging, no whining, no complaining There’s only what we want: -what you want -what the other party wants Then you negotiate Ideally you come to a PERFECT agreement -if not — you continue negotiating -worst case: you fail to achieve any kind of agreement …
Criticise Ideas for Truth, Judge People out of Practicality
There’s this idea: to criticise ideas (not people) But it becomes difficult when it’s the PERSON that is the problem, not particular idea, that they’re conveying at the time How is the person a problem? Well a person is a set of characteristics A particular set of characteristics is more prone to give …
BASICS ARE RARELY BASIC
BASICS ARE BASIC, in the sense that: They are what you learn first They are what you learn BEFORE the “advanced” stuff You often have no choice but to get minimally competent at them — or else can’t proceed, potentially can’t unlock any ROI (return on investment) And thus are also most COMMON =again give …
Meaningless Comparisons
For a comparison to make sense — it has to be meaningful Otherwise it’s meaningless, obviously When it’s meaningless — it’s rather useless, or at very least misleading What is better? Cats or washing machines? Green or furry? Rich vs sunny? Having tail or having little debt? Like is this meaningful? Obviously it’s …
The Way You’re Wrong Reveals Your Truth-Seeking Process
Falsification gets us closer to knowledge than corroborating evidence. We know more about others through their failures and flaws than through their virtues and accomplishments (all that is old) Likewise the way someone is WRONG is often more philosophically, epistemically interesting — than the way they are right You can be right, or rather, …
The Modalities Of Understanding, And The Trap Of Borrowed Comprehension
You can read or hear something, Let’s assume that thing to be true, or useful Now there’s a number of things that can happen One option is that you DON’T UNDERSTAND it At which point — you can either be aware of this failure of comprehension, OR NOT The latter is of course …
Contrarianism Is Downstream From Being Right
Are you a contrarian? Or just a fool? The question to ask is: Are you MORE OFTEN RIGHT than others? If not — then you’re just a fool, aren’t you? Of course there’s the question of payoff Maybe your scepticism makes you unduly reject prevailing wisdom sometimes, And maybe it makes you susceptible …