I don’t get the impression that when people are exposed to LessWrong that their life improves significantly.
LessWrong has been a steady stream of encouragement for me. I’m new around here, so maybe my shock and recoil from this statement is coming from a honeymoon mentality. Still, I’ll go on record to disagree and say that I expect significant improvements in my life. A better epistemology and knowledge of the world is bound to change me. I hope I’ll look back someday and judge those changes significant.
From my point of view it looks like the rational choice is not to study rationality. Instead learn to play the guitar …
I’m surprised by this too. Sinking time into this site has not been a chore. I listen to the sequences and visit here because I enjoy my time doing that. I might not stay around if the fun factor goes down, but I’m already looking for ways to keep this fun. I want to want to be rational, and LessWrong is the best resource I have found so far.
It’s fun to refer to rationality as the art of winning, but let’s not forget that we say this with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
Why is that tongue in cheek? If I can avoid even a few poor decisions each week, that is a real win for me. If I give to the right charities, that is a win for the world.
For a second I thought your first paragraph said you were shocked to read that because LessWrong did have a major positive impact on your life. Then I realized it said you were only expecting a significant improvement. Like everybody else. It’s only natural, right?
We come into contact with LessWrong. Of course conservation of expected evidence holds! Of course group dynamics are insignificant for evolution! Of course the Everett interpretation does not privilege the hypothesis like the Copenhagen interpretation does! We find bugs in our wetware and realize, wait a second, I can’t believe I’ve been such an idiot! So we leap to the conclusion that fixing these bugs will help us become better and more efficient desire satisfying agents. Absence of evidence be damned.
To make matters worse before we started reading LessWrong we knew exactly what we had to do:
Research shows that poor sleeping habits has significant negative impact on your mental health and lifespan.
Research shows that poor nutrition and eating habits have significant negative impact on your mental health and lifespan.
Research shows that a sedentary lifestyle has a significant negative impact on your mental health and lifespan.
This isn’t new research, we’ve known this for years. If we’re so rational, why are we not fixing these things in our life right away? Like NOW. If you know what you have to do to improve your life and health and if you chose to read about the MWI interpretation of Quantum Mechanics because it’s more fun then that’s fine. But to believe that LessWrong is a better investment in your future than eating right and exercise is utterly delusional[1].
The worst thing is that you even spelled out that you read LessWrong because you want to want to be rational. You believe in the belief that rationality ought to lead to a better life. The cognitive dissonance here is mind boggling. It would be quite the coincidence if what you want to do because it’s fun also happens to be exactly what you ought to do to become a happier and more successful person? How convenient! No hard work necessary! The Answer is “Sit on your ass and read stuff on the internet” all along! If only I’d known that 5 years ago!
If I can avoid even a few poor decisions each week, that is a real win for me. If I give to the right charities, that is a win for the world.
Utterly, utterly, utterly delusional.
[1] Straw man argument but applicable to many of us. Substitute it for something that you know you have to fix in your life if these examples don’t work for you.
It would be quite the coincidence if what you want to do because it’s fun also happens to be exactly what you ought to do to become a happier and more successful person? How convenient! No hard work necessary! The Answer is “Sit on your ass and read stuff on the internet” all along! If only I’d known that 5 years ago!
Seriously? Your rhetoric is thick and off the mark. There are lots of fun things we decide not to do because we see a problem with the ought of doing it. Having fun on this site is no barrier to the happiness or success I am seeking, even though I happen to be in front of a computer right now. That could change, but the same is true for any hobby that gets to be a problem.
Utterly, utterly, utterly delusional.
What is delusional? Thinking I can make better decisions and that LessWrong can actually help me do that? Please elaborate.
LessWrong has been a steady stream of encouragement for me. I’m new around here, so maybe my shock and recoil from this statement is coming from a honeymoon mentality. Still, I’ll go on record to disagree and say that I expect significant improvements in my life. A better epistemology and knowledge of the world is bound to change me. I hope I’ll look back someday and judge those changes significant.
I’m surprised by this too. Sinking time into this site has not been a chore. I listen to the sequences and visit here because I enjoy my time doing that. I might not stay around if the fun factor goes down, but I’m already looking for ways to keep this fun. I want to want to be rational, and LessWrong is the best resource I have found so far.
Why is that tongue in cheek? If I can avoid even a few poor decisions each week, that is a real win for me. If I give to the right charities, that is a win for the world.
For a second I thought your first paragraph said you were shocked to read that because LessWrong did have a major positive impact on your life. Then I realized it said you were only expecting a significant improvement. Like everybody else. It’s only natural, right?
We come into contact with LessWrong. Of course conservation of expected evidence holds! Of course group dynamics are insignificant for evolution! Of course the Everett interpretation does not privilege the hypothesis like the Copenhagen interpretation does! We find bugs in our wetware and realize, wait a second, I can’t believe I’ve been such an idiot! So we leap to the conclusion that fixing these bugs will help us become better and more efficient desire satisfying agents. Absence of evidence be damned.
To make matters worse before we started reading LessWrong we knew exactly what we had to do:
Research shows that poor sleeping habits has significant negative impact on your mental health and lifespan.
Research shows that poor nutrition and eating habits have significant negative impact on your mental health and lifespan.
Research shows that a sedentary lifestyle has a significant negative impact on your mental health and lifespan.
This isn’t new research, we’ve known this for years. If we’re so rational, why are we not fixing these things in our life right away? Like NOW. If you know what you have to do to improve your life and health and if you chose to read about the MWI interpretation of Quantum Mechanics because it’s more fun then that’s fine. But to believe that LessWrong is a better investment in your future than eating right and exercise is utterly delusional[1].
The worst thing is that you even spelled out that you read LessWrong because you want to want to be rational. You believe in the belief that rationality ought to lead to a better life. The cognitive dissonance here is mind boggling. It would be quite the coincidence if what you want to do because it’s fun also happens to be exactly what you ought to do to become a happier and more successful person? How convenient! No hard work necessary! The Answer is “Sit on your ass and read stuff on the internet” all along! If only I’d known that 5 years ago!
Utterly, utterly, utterly delusional.
[1] Straw man argument but applicable to many of us. Substitute it for something that you know you have to fix in your life if these examples don’t work for you.
Seriously? Your rhetoric is thick and off the mark. There are lots of fun things we decide not to do because we see a problem with the ought of doing it. Having fun on this site is no barrier to the happiness or success I am seeking, even though I happen to be in front of a computer right now. That could change, but the same is true for any hobby that gets to be a problem.
What is delusional? Thinking I can make better decisions and that LessWrong can actually help me do that? Please elaborate.