My own intelligence had affected every aspect of my life and mind and personality; that was massively obvious, seen at a backward glance.
Obviously you are a great deal smarter than I was as a child...and maybe more of a contrarian. I have a tendency to smooth conflicts over rather than attack them head-on, which probably makes it harder for me to be a rationalist, and most of what I experience is bumping up against the limits of my native intelligence: concepts I kind of understand, but which are too complex to hold in my working memory all at once so I can really look at them, or music that sounds amazing, but which is too complex for me to break it down and figure out how to replicate the effect, or my struggles with learning computer programming. (I didn’t struggle relative to other people, but subjectively I felt like it was difficult and frustrating.) If I could take a pill to increase my working memory (which is below average), ability to consolidate to long-term (probably above average but always room for improvement) or spatial skills and ability to grasp concepts at a glance, I would likely choose that over any kind of physical enhancement. It’s really annoying to be more curious than intelligent...I’m acutely aware that I don’t understand most of quantum mechanics (or a dozen other fascinating fields) and probably never will, because understanding would require years of dedicated studying.
It’s really annoying to be more curious than intelligent...I’m acutely aware that I don’t understand most of quantum mechanics (or a dozen other fascinating fields) and probably never will, because understanding would require years of dedicated studying.
Puh, I’ve always felt I was alone in that I think that quantum physics is one of the most interesting topics in the world and that I’m too dumb to grok it.
All people I know, who are too stupid to understand quantum mechanics, say things like ” Oh, physics is not important, I rather read Hegel” or ” The mind is irreducible and feelings, poetry and art are far more essential!”. IMO many people hate or reject science since they don’t want to acknowledge their own intellectual inferiority, which is particularly apparent in fields like math or physics.
Whereas every mildly intelligent person can discuss Nietzsche, Schopenhauer etc. ( I admit that these guys indeed have some important things to say.) , and it feels so good to utter seemingly deep, vague, not falsifiable gibberish, because nobody can say that you’ve made a mistake.
Hm, I guess this rant is already off-topic, and ceteris paribus it is good to read some philosophy but it really frustrates me that so many people find science boring, I simply do not understand this attitude...
Whereas every mildly intelligent person can discuss Nietzsche, Schopenhauer etc. ( I admit that these guys indeed have some important things to say.) , and it feels so good to utter seemingly deep, vague, not falsifiable gibberish, because nobody can say that you’ve made a mistake.
Actually I find that I almost never understand philosophy. I occasionally find phrases clever, or see analogies that make me see ideas in a new light, but a lot of philosophy is so abstract that I feel lost in it. I guess I think very concretely. The parts of math and science that are concrete are easy for me (and fascinating) and I think that’s what I like about science; ultimately, it’s always grounded in something concrete. When I really grasp a piece of pure math, it feels concrete to me in that it’s obviously true and couldn’t be otherwise, and I pretty much always understood my high school science classes on this level, but with the reading I do in my spare time, often I don’t understand the math on a deep enough level for it to seem concrete. So I feel confused.
Actually I find that I almost never understand philosophy.
IMO many philosophers don’t understand the stuff they write themself…
Which philosophy do you have in mind?
I’m from Germany so many of my friends are fans of Heidegger, Sartre, Hegel or some other continental or postmodern philosopher. You know, I don’t claim to understand what these folks are talking about. But it’s probably because most continental philosophers are kinda crazy, not because I’m stupid. In contrast to this I don’t understand QM or AI, simply because it’s too complicated, not because it’s gibberish.
Well, it could be that e.g. Heidegger is simply too intelligent and complicated for guys like me, but this hypothesis appears to be rather improbable after you actually read some lines of this dude.
But if we are talking about, say, Dennett, then the situation is different...
I’m not actually sure. The only philosophy I’ve read is as it relates to moral theories (for school) or other mandatory classes, and LW posts. The former I was able to pass exams on, although I did badly on the essay because my point was ‘unclear’ (because my understanding was unclear, probably).
...[people I] know, who are too stupid to understand quantum mechanics, say things like ” Oh, physics is not important, I rather read Hegel” or ” The mind is irreducible and feelings, poetry and art are far more essential!”.
And is there some equal-and-opposite process whereby smart science type tend to reject philosophy in favour of the short cuts that Moral are Preferences and the Mind is the Information Processing...perhaps because it outside their comfort zone.
I can’t speak for others, but I would find it pretty awesome to have a soul or absolute, objective morality! I don’t reject most of philosophy because it’s not in my “comfort zone”, actually I find philosophy more fun than science and philosophy suits my talents. To my disappointment I discovered that most of philosophy is useless, vague or merely false.
But of course there are some guys who merely reject philosophy and prefer, e.g. physics, because they are good at maths and bad at the “fine arts”.
Obviously you are a great deal smarter than I was as a child...and maybe more of a contrarian. I have a tendency to smooth conflicts over rather than attack them head-on, which probably makes it harder for me to be a rationalist, and most of what I experience is bumping up against the limits of my native intelligence: concepts I kind of understand, but which are too complex to hold in my working memory all at once so I can really look at them, or music that sounds amazing, but which is too complex for me to break it down and figure out how to replicate the effect, or my struggles with learning computer programming. (I didn’t struggle relative to other people, but subjectively I felt like it was difficult and frustrating.) If I could take a pill to increase my working memory (which is below average), ability to consolidate to long-term (probably above average but always room for improvement) or spatial skills and ability to grasp concepts at a glance, I would likely choose that over any kind of physical enhancement. It’s really annoying to be more curious than intelligent...I’m acutely aware that I don’t understand most of quantum mechanics (or a dozen other fascinating fields) and probably never will, because understanding would require years of dedicated studying.
Puh, I’ve always felt I was alone in that I think that quantum physics is one of the most interesting topics in the world and that I’m too dumb to grok it. All people I know, who are too stupid to understand quantum mechanics, say things like ” Oh, physics is not important, I rather read Hegel” or ” The mind is irreducible and feelings, poetry and art are far more essential!”. IMO many people hate or reject science since they don’t want to acknowledge their own intellectual inferiority, which is particularly apparent in fields like math or physics. Whereas every mildly intelligent person can discuss Nietzsche, Schopenhauer etc. ( I admit that these guys indeed have some important things to say.) , and it feels so good to utter seemingly deep, vague, not falsifiable gibberish, because nobody can say that you’ve made a mistake. Hm, I guess this rant is already off-topic, and ceteris paribus it is good to read some philosophy but it really frustrates me that so many people find science boring, I simply do not understand this attitude...
Actually I find that I almost never understand philosophy. I occasionally find phrases clever, or see analogies that make me see ideas in a new light, but a lot of philosophy is so abstract that I feel lost in it. I guess I think very concretely. The parts of math and science that are concrete are easy for me (and fascinating) and I think that’s what I like about science; ultimately, it’s always grounded in something concrete. When I really grasp a piece of pure math, it feels concrete to me in that it’s obviously true and couldn’t be otherwise, and I pretty much always understood my high school science classes on this level, but with the reading I do in my spare time, often I don’t understand the math on a deep enough level for it to seem concrete. So I feel confused.
IMO many philosophers don’t understand the stuff they write themself… Which philosophy do you have in mind? I’m from Germany so many of my friends are fans of Heidegger, Sartre, Hegel or some other continental or postmodern philosopher. You know, I don’t claim to understand what these folks are talking about. But it’s probably because most continental philosophers are kinda crazy, not because I’m stupid. In contrast to this I don’t understand QM or AI, simply because it’s too complicated, not because it’s gibberish. Well, it could be that e.g. Heidegger is simply too intelligent and complicated for guys like me, but this hypothesis appears to be rather improbable after you actually read some lines of this dude. But if we are talking about, say, Dennett, then the situation is different...
I’m not actually sure. The only philosophy I’ve read is as it relates to moral theories (for school) or other mandatory classes, and LW posts. The former I was able to pass exams on, although I did badly on the essay because my point was ‘unclear’ (because my understanding was unclear, probably).
And is there some equal-and-opposite process whereby smart science type tend to reject philosophy in favour of the short cuts that Moral are Preferences and the Mind is the Information Processing...perhaps because it outside their comfort zone.
I can’t speak for others, but I would find it pretty awesome to have a soul or absolute, objective morality! I don’t reject most of philosophy because it’s not in my “comfort zone”, actually I find philosophy more fun than science and philosophy suits my talents. To my disappointment I discovered that most of philosophy is useless, vague or merely false. But of course there are some guys who merely reject philosophy and prefer, e.g. physics, because they are good at maths and bad at the “fine arts”.