Being optimized is net positive, and generally understood as good. Other-optimizing, on the other hand, is prone to tons of heuristical errors, map imperfections, scaling problems, mind projection and many other problems such that attempting to optimize the strategy of someone else for many things not already reduced is very risky and has low expected utility, often in the negatives. Telling others what argumentative techniques to use or not definitely falls into this category.
That’s the thing with the Dark Arts. They lure you in, craft a beautiful song, fashion an intricate and alluring web of rapid-access winning arguments with seemingly massive instrumental value towards achieving further-reaching goals… but they trap and ensnare you, they freeze your thought into their logic, they slow down and hamper solid rationality, and they sabotage the thoughts of others.
It takes quite a master of rationality to use the art of Shadowdancing with reliably positive net expected utility. As long as you want to optimize for the “greater good”, that is.
Being optimized is net positive, and generally understood as good. Other-optimizing, on the other hand, is prone to tons of heuristical errors, map imperfections, scaling problems, mind projection and many other problems such that attempting to optimize the strategy of someone else for many things not already reduced is very risky and has low expected utility, often in the negatives. Telling others what argumentative techniques to use or not definitely falls into this category.
That’s the thing with the Dark Arts. They lure you in, craft a beautiful song, fashion an intricate and alluring web of rapid-access winning arguments with seemingly massive instrumental value towards achieving further-reaching goals… but they trap and ensnare you, they freeze your thought into their logic, they slow down and hamper solid rationality, and they sabotage the thoughts of others.
It takes quite a master of rationality to use the art of Shadowdancing with reliably positive net expected utility. As long as you want to optimize for the “greater good”, that is.
I thank you for your concern. I’d never even think about being evil unless it were for the greater good.
Most evil people would say that. They’d even believe it.
curses. there goes my cover.