I was thinking more of the memetic spread of “wisdom”—principles that make you effectively smarter in important areas. Rationality is one vector, but there are many others. I realize the internet is making us dumber on average in many ways, but I think there’s a countercurrent of spreading good advice that’s recognized as good advice. Anyone with an internet connection can now get smarter by watching attractively-packaged videos. There’s a lot of misleading and confusing stuff, but my impression is that a lot of the cream does rise to the top if you’re actively searching for wisdom in any particular area.
I was thinking more of the memetic spread of “wisdom”—principles that make you effectively smarter in important areas. Rationality is one vector, but there are many others. I realize the internet is making us dumber on average in many ways, but I think there’s a countercurrent of spreading good advice that’s recognized as good advice. Anyone with an internet connection can now get smarter by watching attractively-packaged videos. There’s a lot of misleading and confusing stuff, but my impression is that a lot of the cream does rise to the top if you’re actively searching for wisdom in any particular area.