The real problem is the phrase “the skill of taking ideas seriously”—by which they do not mean “can deftly sling remarkable quantities of hypotheticals and work out what they would imply”, but “being moved to action by the ideas.”
The trouble is that there is a name for this in the normal world—it is the defect of “gullibility” or “being easily led”.
If CFAR selects for people prone to this defect—it really, really isn’t a “skill”—you will be actively selecting for people who will add 2+2+2 … and get 666.
The real problem is the phrase “the skill of taking ideas seriously”—by which they do not mean “can deftly sling remarkable quantities of hypotheticals and work out what they would imply”, but “being moved to action by the ideas.”
The trouble is that there is a name for this in the normal world—it is the defect of “gullibility” or “being easily led”.
If CFAR selects for people prone to this defect—it really, really isn’t a “skill”—you will be actively selecting for people who will add 2+2+2 … and get 666.
This may be a problem.