I do not perceive rationality or intelligence as a thing; it is an invisible implied assumption. I notice irrationality and stupidity as things.
I notice irrationality or stupidity as a mistake. Then I try to correct people, but they resist. Then I am frustrated and give up; and if it happens repeatedly, in my head I assign the person label “an irrational person, not useful for debates that require thinking”.
Then I reflect on a more meta level and think: “if this is how other people seem to me, there are probably people on a level higher than me, and this is how I seem to them”. But it’s not just a social feeling that these people may have a wrong opinion on me, but rather the chilling relization that yes, they are completely right. That I behave as an idiot in many ways which are mostly invisible to me, but they have a huge cumulative impact on my quality of life. Then I realize I only have one life, and I am not getting out of it as much as I could.
I do not really need Eliezer to show me that the scale of intelligence goes beyong Einstein. I am very clearly aware that I am far from the Einstein level; and I am smart enough to realize that quoting web articles about relativity would not bring me any closer. (And probably Einstein is still far away from the “human potential” level. And even if he were literally at the top; he didn’t have the opportunities we have now, such as internet, so it is possible to do much more today than what Einstein did in his era.)
I see the huge difference between where am I now, and where I could possibly be if I were just more strategic. Actually, I have problem understanding how other people don’t see this. I guess most people have some “ugh field” around it; they feel pain from the idea that they are not as good as their potential, so they avoid the thought. (Makes sense, since the circumstances of receiving the information usually feel bad.) I do not know why I don’t feel this so strongly. Probably it is some failure of some social skills brain module, which should remind me that “admitting to not being perfect” is horribly low-status (unless it is performed as some form of fake humility, which requires staying sufficiently non-specific and avoiding your really painful points), and that I should try to hide this thought from everyone, starting with myself.
I do not perceive rationality or intelligence as a thing; it is an invisible implied assumption. I notice irrationality and stupidity as things.
I notice irrationality or stupidity as a mistake. Then I try to correct people, but they resist. Then I am frustrated and give up; and if it happens repeatedly, in my head I assign the person label “an irrational person, not useful for debates that require thinking”.
Then I reflect on a more meta level and think: “if this is how other people seem to me, there are probably people on a level higher than me, and this is how I seem to them”. But it’s not just a social feeling that these people may have a wrong opinion on me, but rather the chilling relization that yes, they are completely right. That I behave as an idiot in many ways which are mostly invisible to me, but they have a huge cumulative impact on my quality of life. Then I realize I only have one life, and I am not getting out of it as much as I could.
I do not really need Eliezer to show me that the scale of intelligence goes beyong Einstein. I am very clearly aware that I am far from the Einstein level; and I am smart enough to realize that quoting web articles about relativity would not bring me any closer. (And probably Einstein is still far away from the “human potential” level. And even if he were literally at the top; he didn’t have the opportunities we have now, such as internet, so it is possible to do much more today than what Einstein did in his era.)
I see the huge difference between where am I now, and where I could possibly be if I were just more strategic. Actually, I have problem understanding how other people don’t see this. I guess most people have some “ugh field” around it; they feel pain from the idea that they are not as good as their potential, so they avoid the thought. (Makes sense, since the circumstances of receiving the information usually feel bad.) I do not know why I don’t feel this so strongly. Probably it is some failure of some social skills brain module, which should remind me that “admitting to not being perfect” is horribly low-status (unless it is performed as some form of fake humility, which requires staying sufficiently non-specific and avoiding your really painful points), and that I should try to hide this thought from everyone, starting with myself.
But I’d rather win.