In feeling that you do not know the answer, Luke suggests to “Think of things you once believed but were wrong about.” Why not take it a step further and say
1.3 When thinking about a time when you were wrong, think about how right being wrong feels*up until the moment you realize we are wrong.
In reflecting on times when I have been wrong what I find most disturbing is not what I was wrong about, but the degree to which being wrong is cognitively similar to being right. In college, I went to an Elizabeth Loftus lecture where she shockingly announced that the degree of confidence you have in a memory has no effect on its validity or fallacy. The more I think on this idea the more I find it to be true. Being wrong feels like being right. If that is the case how can I ever be certain in any ideas?
Luke suggests tools like a cognitive reflection test to work towards uncovering when you are wrong. However, is this really a method for uncovering cognitive blind spots, or is it the rigorous application of an existing paradigm of problem solving? I would argue it is the later. It is convenient that the example given is a math problem, but what happens when you need to cognitively reflect over false intuition in another realm (you mentioned sociology). Thinking NO! Algebra might help some problems, but not all. How do you justify your belief in the application of algebra to a situation? How do you discover new paradigms of problem solving? Eliezer states
When you’re really curious, you’ll gravitate to inquiries that seem most promising of producing shifts in belief, or inquiries that are least like the ones you’ve tried before.
I agree with this statement. Is it illogical to think inquires that are least like the ones I have tried before are the ones that I have such a low confidence in I have actually dismissed them? Or in other words the ideas I actively disbelieve.
I argue that a truly curious person would actively work to see the truth in things he or she knows to be wrong. An epistemological take on “Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.” If you think theism is absurd, perhaps you should be more curious about it. I am not advocating complete relativism or anything close to that. I do think there is right and wrong. But I think looking for the right in what you think is wrong will better mark the path of moderation. What is right is moderation.
In feeling that you do not know the answer, Luke suggests to “Think of things you once believed but were wrong about.” Why not take it a step further and say
1.3 When thinking about a time when you were wrong, think about how right being wrong feels*up until the moment you realize we are wrong.
In reflecting on times when I have been wrong what I find most disturbing is not what I was wrong about, but the degree to which being wrong is cognitively similar to being right. In college, I went to an Elizabeth Loftus lecture where she shockingly announced that the degree of confidence you have in a memory has no effect on its validity or fallacy. The more I think on this idea the more I find it to be true. Being wrong feels like being right. If that is the case how can I ever be certain in any ideas? Luke suggests tools like a cognitive reflection test to work towards uncovering when you are wrong. However, is this really a method for uncovering cognitive blind spots, or is it the rigorous application of an existing paradigm of problem solving? I would argue it is the later. It is convenient that the example given is a math problem, but what happens when you need to cognitively reflect over false intuition in another realm (you mentioned sociology). Thinking NO! Algebra might help some problems, but not all. How do you justify your belief in the application of algebra to a situation? How do you discover new paradigms of problem solving? Eliezer states
I agree with this statement. Is it illogical to think inquires that are least like the ones I have tried before are the ones that I have such a low confidence in I have actually dismissed them? Or in other words the ideas I actively disbelieve. I argue that a truly curious person would actively work to see the truth in things he or she knows to be wrong. An epistemological take on “Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.” If you think theism is absurd, perhaps you should be more curious about it. I am not advocating complete relativism or anything close to that. I do think there is right and wrong. But I think looking for the right in what you think is wrong will better mark the path of moderation.
What is right is moderation.