I think you’re undervaluing symbols. Yes, there are many occasions when replacing them with substance (dis)solves all the problems. And many more occasions when moving to substance yields advantages. But grokking the symbols can still be worthwhile. It sheds light on the cognitive clustering of objective features. And symbols are involved in social conventions or social contracts, and those are important to understand. (Upvoted: I want to see more posts like yours.)
I agree with all this. For the purposes of this podcast and many other articles, I have focused on dissolving confusions that are caused by a misunderstanding of what symbols are for and how they work. I could write a great deal about the advantages of symbols and what our use of symbols can tell us about ourselves… it’s just not a subject I’ve focused on in my narrow fields of interest.
I think you’re undervaluing symbols. Yes, there are many occasions when replacing them with substance (dis)solves all the problems. And many more occasions when moving to substance yields advantages. But grokking the symbols can still be worthwhile. It sheds light on the cognitive clustering of objective features. And symbols are involved in social conventions or social contracts, and those are important to understand. (Upvoted: I want to see more posts like yours.)
I agree with all this. For the purposes of this podcast and many other articles, I have focused on dissolving confusions that are caused by a misunderstanding of what symbols are for and how they work. I could write a great deal about the advantages of symbols and what our use of symbols can tell us about ourselves… it’s just not a subject I’ve focused on in my narrow fields of interest.