I really like the idea of branding this better, and I think we can do even better than what’s been proposed here. Let’s brainstorm in replies to this comment?
I originally meant to propose a new name/idea for intellectual discussion among rationalists/EAs (where things like Orwellian connotations aren’t as important as the literal/logical meanings), but given that it has a chance of spreading further I suppose PR considerations should also be taken into account. But contra @bits I do want the name to be somewhat “negative”, i.e., suggest that we’re starting from a very flawed state, should be very wary of doing anything highly consequential in our current state, and whatever process we undertake has a very real chance of failure.
I note that “correction” also refers to stocks going down. That’s not a great connotation to have, especially in the unfortunate futures where it becomes political.
These all to me have a character of fixing ourselves and realigning with a new philosophy. “The Long Correction” sounds a little Orwellian; GLaDOS would “correct your behavior”.
I currently like “The Long (self-)Correction” better than these. Part of what I like about it is it feels less pretentious, like, Reflection and Reconstruction sound like fancy things fancy philosopher-kings do, instead of a bumbling-but-persistent/hopeful thing that imperfect people can do.
If you believe (as Wei says) that it will be known as “The Long Correction”, then it sounds Orwellian (and similar to “correctional facility”) and I currently believe is a non-starter.
It… is going to be a grand mission that humanity goes on together? I don’t get the idea of calling grand & important things unimportant names when they are in fact grand & important. Let us not call our era the age of reason, or the enlightenment, for that is too grand; let us call it the age of getting-slightly-better. I think it is good to give grand projects appropriately grand names.
Let us not call our era the age of reason, or the enlightenment, for that is too grand; let us call it the age of getting-slightly-better.
The Long Self-Correction seems appropriately grand to me. :) Age of Reason and the Enlightenment seem to be instances of the very thing I criticize in the OP, “badly calibrated about our philosophical and strategic competence”. Have you tried reading some of the philosophy from those times?
I really like the idea of branding this better, and I think we can do even better than what’s been proposed here. Let’s brainstorm in replies to this comment?
I originally meant to propose a new name/idea for intellectual discussion among rationalists/EAs (where things like Orwellian connotations aren’t as important as the literal/logical meanings), but given that it has a chance of spreading further I suppose PR considerations should also be taken into account. But contra @bits I do want the name to be somewhat “negative”, i.e., suggest that we’re starting from a very flawed state, should be very wary of doing anything highly consequential in our current state, and whatever process we undertake has a very real chance of failure.
The Long Ponder?
It’s pretty similar to the Long Reflection but to me has slightly more connotation of puzzlement. Plus it has a nice ring to it.
I note that “correction” also refers to stocks going down. That’s not a great connotation to have, especially in the unfortunate futures where it becomes political.
I chatted with an LLM a little. My favorites were:
The Long Reformation
The Great Reconstruction
The Long Becoming
These all to me have a character of fixing ourselves and realigning with a new philosophy. “The Long Correction” sounds a little Orwellian; GLaDOS would “correct your behavior”.
I currently like “The Long (self-)Correction” better than these. Part of what I like about it is it feels less pretentious, like, Reflection and Reconstruction sound like fancy things fancy philosopher-kings do, instead of a bumbling-but-persistent/hopeful thing that imperfect people can do.
If you believe (as Wei says) that it will be known as “The Long Correction”, then it sounds Orwellian (and similar to “correctional facility”) and I currently believe is a non-starter.
It… is going to be a grand mission that humanity goes on together? I don’t get the idea of calling grand & important things unimportant names when they are in fact grand & important. Let us not call our era the age of reason, or the enlightenment, for that is too grand; let us call it the age of getting-slightly-better. I think it is good to give grand projects appropriately grand names.
The Long Self-Correction seems appropriately grand to me. :) Age of Reason and the Enlightenment seem to be instances of the very thing I criticize in the OP, “badly calibrated about our philosophical and strategic competence”. Have you tried reading some of the philosophy from those times?
I think I understand where you’re coming from, but (to me) these sound a lot like a communist dictator’s euphemism for a famine!
lol!
I suspect whether it sounds Orwellian depends on what it’s actually describing, and whether it’s natural to construe it as its opposite.
All of these, and Long Self-Correction, have specific connotations that I expect the public won’t like.
Long Self-Correction: we must be corrected, i.e. we are bad. Jails are “correctional facilities.” We need giga universal-jail.
Long Reformation: invokes the Reformation. At least nobody has strong feelings about Protestantism vs Catholicism.
Great Reconstruction: we are currently deconstructed, perhaps having just undergone some particular tragedy
Long Becoming: Lovecraftian concern about what exactly I, you, we, are becoming
It’s easy to criticize, so more ideas:
The Great Debate
The New Long Horizon
Prolonged Revelation
Long Dawn of Humanity (of Civilization, of the Future)
Fable comes up with (curated selection):
The Long Cultivation
The Long Ascent
The Long Deliberation
I start to feel over-indexed on the “long” part here. CEV is a nice idea because it’s well-specified independent of how long it takes.
“Cultivation” does seem to capture something more positive than “correction.”
hm I think we should have an artist woman type choose
Long healing?
FWIW also satisfies Wei’s desideratum of “being somewhat ‘negative’”, starting from a very flawed state.