Another excellent post, Ryan! (sorry, I blame the autocorrect)
I like your list of the common landmines (actually, each one is a minefield in itself).
Avoiding landmines is your job. If it is a predictable consequence that something you could say will put people in mindless slogan-playback-mode, don’t say it.
Right, modeling other people is a part of accurately mapping the territory (see how I cleverly used the local accessible meme, even though I hate it?), which is the first task of rationality.
If it happens, which it does, as far as I can tell, my only effective damage control strategy is to abort the conversation.
In other words, if your map of the minefield sucked and you got blown up, don’t pretend that you didn’t, refusal to update only makes your map worse.
A third prong could be playing “philosophical bomb squad”, which means permanently defusing landmines by supplying satisfactory nonconfusing explanations of things without causing too many explosions in the process.
I didn’t know how to read that, actually. I came up with some mildly amusing guesses as to what tone that might have been and what might have brought it on, but they were all over the map*.
This post is currently reading at −3, but it’s not hidden by default for me. My Preferences page indicates that things below −2 should be hidden. I’ve checked another comment (at −6), which is correctly hidden. Anyone know why this is occurring? Apologies for the meta.
Another excellent post, Ryan! (sorry, I blame the autocorrect)
I like your list of the common landmines (actually, each one is a minefield in itself).
Right, modeling other people is a part of accurately mapping the territory (see how I cleverly used the local accessible meme, even though I hate it?), which is the first task of rationality.
In other words, if your map of the minefield sucked and you got blown up, don’t pretend that you didn’t, refusal to update only makes your map worse.
That’s a part of your first prong, no?
Lulz. This is the last time that joke will be funny.
Are you being especially ornery today?
It involves the first one, and is maybe related to it. Ontologies aren’t fundamental. Think of it however is convenient to you.
Ornery, not lighthearted? Geez, talk about miscommunication and landmines. I guess I’ll avoid commenting further, at least for today.
I didn’t know how to read that, actually. I came up with some mildly amusing guesses as to what tone that might have been and what might have brought it on, but they were all over the map*.
… * not the territory. They were all in my head.
This post is currently reading at −3, but it’s not hidden by default for me. My Preferences page indicates that things below −2 should be hidden. I’ve checked another comment (at −6), which is correctly hidden. Anyone know why this is occurring? Apologies for the meta.
A while ago Eliezer decreed that comments below −3 are too be hidden, apparently this overrides all preferences.