I thought it was funny/ironic that this popped up just after the SSC post about how different people may see different degrees of hostility, danger, etc., etc., in daily life due to their wiring. It makes me think that there’s probably a spectrum of ability to see suffering. My suspicion is that you may be seeing too much! But then who’s to say what the right amount would be.
There has to be some kind of trade-off here between false positives and false negatives here, doesn’t there? If you decide to “use that skill” to see more suffering, isn’t it likely that you are getting at least some false positives, some cases where you think someone is suffering and they aren’t?
The best tradeoff is when you are well calibrated, just like with everything else.
“Well calibrated” isn’t a simple thing, though. It’s always a conscious decision of how willing you are to tolerate false positives vs false negatives.
Anyway, I’m not trying to shoot you down here; I really did like your article, and I think you made a good point. Just saying that it’s possible to have a great insight and still overshoot or over-correct for a previous mistake you’ve made, and if you think that almost everyone you see is suffering, you may be doing just that.
“Well calibrated” isn’t a simple thing, though. It’s always a conscious decision of how willing you are to tolerate false positives vs false negatives.
I beg to differ; being well calibrated has a mathematically precise definition. E.g. if you are thinking of a binary suffering/not suffering classification (oversimplified but it’s just to make a point), then I want my perception to assign such probabilities, that if you compare with true answers, cross-entropy is minimized. That’s pretty much what I care about when I’m fixing my perception.
Of course there’s the question of how aware at each moment you want to be of certain information. But you want to be well calibrated nonetheless.
if you think that almost everyone you see is suffering, you may be doing just that.
Or, you know, it’s just simply true that people experience much more suffering than happiness. Also, they aren’t so very aware of this themselves, because of how memories work.
Or, you know, it’s just simply true that people experience much more suffering than happiness. Also, they aren’t so very aware of this themselves, because of how memories work.
That certanly is not true of me or of my life overall, except during a few short periods. I don’t have the same access to other people’s internal state, but I doubt it is true of most people.
There certanly are a significant number people who it may be true of, people who suffer from depression or chronic pain or who are living in other difficult circumstances. I highly doubt that that’s the majority of people, though.
Or, you know, it’s just simply true that people experience much more suffering than happiness. Also, they aren’t so very aware of this themselves, because of how memories work.
If they aren’t so very aware of it, it is not “simply true,” even if there is some truth in it.
I thought it was funny/ironic that this popped up just after the SSC post about how different people may see different degrees of hostility, danger, etc., etc., in daily life due to their wiring. It makes me think that there’s probably a spectrum of ability to see suffering. My suspicion is that you may be seeing too much! But then who’s to say what the right amount would be.
Wrong guess, both of you!
It’s a specific skill that I have learned to execute pretty much at will.
I also have some of the opposite skill, which turns all of this off.
Since I learned them, my base level seems higher than before, but not in a life-affecting way.
What affects me is, rather, that the wall separating me from this other world is much thinner, and feels much more real somehow.
There has to be some kind of trade-off here between false positives and false negatives here, doesn’t there? If you decide to “use that skill” to see more suffering, isn’t it likely that you are getting at least some false positives, some cases where you think someone is suffering and they aren’t?
The best tradeoff is when you are well calibrated, just like with everything else.
In the “selfish default” you basically never have false positives, but also you have false negatives like all the time. So duh.
“Well calibrated” isn’t a simple thing, though. It’s always a conscious decision of how willing you are to tolerate false positives vs false negatives.
Anyway, I’m not trying to shoot you down here; I really did like your article, and I think you made a good point. Just saying that it’s possible to have a great insight and still overshoot or over-correct for a previous mistake you’ve made, and if you think that almost everyone you see is suffering, you may be doing just that.
I beg to differ; being well calibrated has a mathematically precise definition. E.g. if you are thinking of a binary suffering/not suffering classification (oversimplified but it’s just to make a point), then I want my perception to assign such probabilities, that if you compare with true answers, cross-entropy is minimized. That’s pretty much what I care about when I’m fixing my perception.
Of course there’s the question of how aware at each moment you want to be of certain information. But you want to be well calibrated nonetheless.
Or, you know, it’s just simply true that people experience much more suffering than happiness. Also, they aren’t so very aware of this themselves, because of how memories work.
That certanly is not true of me or of my life overall, except during a few short periods. I don’t have the same access to other people’s internal state, but I doubt it is true of most people.
There certanly are a significant number people who it may be true of, people who suffer from depression or chronic pain or who are living in other difficult circumstances. I highly doubt that that’s the majority of people, though.
If they aren’t so very aware of it, it is not “simply true,” even if there is some truth in it.
I was thinking something similar. Made me feel like saying, “Who are you to say my suffering is such a bad thing?”