Philosophy of Language

TagLast edit: 4 Aug 2020 14:02 UTC by brook

Language is an important part of the way we frame problems, think about the world, and discuss things with others. The study of language is particularly relevant to LessWrong because many very smart people confuse themselves and others by misusing words.

The comprehensive introduction to the LessWrong approach to Philosophy of Language is A Human’s Guide To Words

37 Ways That Words Can Be Wrong

Eliezer Yudkowsky6 Mar 2008 5:09 UTC

202 points

82 comments9 min readLW link

A revolution in philosophy: the rise of conceptual engineering

Suspended Reason2 Jun 2020 18:30 UTC

128 points

50 comments21 min readLW link

Unnatural Categories Are Optimized for Deception

Zack_M_Davis8 Jan 2021 20:54 UTC

80 points

22 comments33 min readLW link 1 review

Fuzzy Boundaries, Real Concepts

orthonormal7 May 2018 3:39 UTC

27 points

8 comments7 min readLW link

Where to Draw the Boundaries?

Zack_M_Davis13 Apr 2019 21:34 UTC

107 points

107 comments13 min readLW link 3 reviews

Schelling Categories, and Simple Membership Tests

Zack_M_Davis26 Aug 2019 2:43 UTC

51 points

10 comments7 min readLW link

Philosophy in the Darkest Timeline: Basics of the Evolution of Meaning

Zack_M_Davis7 Jun 2020 7:52 UTC

119 points

17 comments14 min readLW link

Taboo Your Words

Eliezer Yudkowsky15 Feb 2008 22:53 UTC

202 points

131 comments3 min readLW link

The Categories Were Made For Man, Not Man For The Categories

Scott Alexander21 Nov 2014 14:34 UTC

79 points

9 comments18 min readLW link

Pondering the paucity of volcanic profanity post Pompeii perusal

CraigMichael1 Sep 2022 9:29 UTC

21 points

2 comments15 min readLW link

Sapir-Whorf for Rationalists

Duncan_Sabien25 Jan 2023 7:58 UTC

145 points

47 comments19 min readLW link

Disguised Queries

Eliezer Yudkowsky9 Feb 2008 0:05 UTC

158 points

108 comments5 min readLW link

Sneaking in Connotations

Eliezer Yudkowsky19 Feb 2008 19:41 UTC

75 points

23 comments3 min readLW link

Blue is Arbitrary

lsusr14 Mar 2021 9:04 UTC

60 points

8 comments1 min readLW link

Reply to Nate Soares on Dolphins

Zack_M_Davis10 Jun 2021 4:53 UTC

46 points

49 comments5 min readLW link

The Parable of the Dagger

Eliezer Yudkowsky1 Feb 2008 20:53 UTC

199 points

105 comments1 min readLW link

Words as Hidden Inferences

Eliezer Yudkowsky3 Feb 2008 23:36 UTC

79 points

23 comments3 min readLW link

The Cluster Structure of Thingspace

Eliezer Yudkowsky8 Feb 2008 0:07 UTC

125 points

27 comments4 min readLW link

How An Algorithm Feels From Inside

Eliezer Yudkowsky11 Feb 2008 2:35 UTC

233 points

84 comments4 min readLW link

The Dark Miracle of Optics

Suspended Reason24 Jun 2020 3:09 UTC

27 points

5 comments8 min readLW link

Disputing Definitions

Eliezer Yudkowsky12 Feb 2008 0:15 UTC

105 points

46 comments5 min readLW link

Meaning is Quasi-Idempotent

Chris_Leong24 Jul 2020 4:08 UTC

5 points

10 comments2 min readLW link

Dissolving the Question

Eliezer Yudkowsky8 Mar 2008 3:17 UTC

121 points

123 comments5 min readLW link

Terminal Values and Instrumental Values

Eliezer Yudkowsky15 Nov 2007 7:56 UTC

101 points

44 comments10 min readLW link

Only say ‘rational’ when you can’t eliminate the word

Eliezer Yudkowsky31 May 2012 6:56 UTC

88 points

49 comments1 min readLW link

Concepts Don’t Work That Way

lukeprog28 Sep 2011 2:01 UTC

84 points

92 comments8 min readLW link

Words and Implications

johnswentworth1 Oct 2020 17:37 UTC

60 points

25 comments8 min readLW link

The Parable of Hemlock

Eliezer Yudkowsky3 Feb 2008 2:01 UTC

76 points

19 comments4 min readLW link

Extensions and Intensions

Eliezer Yudkowsky4 Feb 2008 21:34 UTC

81 points

28 comments4 min readLW link

Similarity Clusters

Eliezer Yudkowsky6 Feb 2008 3:34 UTC

53 points

5 comments2 min readLW link

Typicality and Asymmetrical Similarity

Eliezer Yudkowsky6 Feb 2008 21:20 UTC

45 points

69 comments3 min readLW link

Neural Categories

Eliezer Yudkowsky10 Feb 2008 0:33 UTC

54 points

12 comments4 min readLW link

Feel the Meaning

Eliezer Yudkowsky13 Feb 2008 1:01 UTC

49 points

11 comments3 min readLW link

The Argument from Common Usage

Eliezer Yudkowsky13 Feb 2008 16:24 UTC

54 points

23 comments4 min readLW link

2-Place and 1-Place Words

Eliezer Yudkowsky27 Jun 2008 7:39 UTC

104 points

38 comments5 min readLW link

Enforcing Type Distinction

lionhearted31 Jul 2020 11:39 UTC

25 points

1 comment2 min readLW link

Wrong Questions

Eliezer Yudkowsky8 Mar 2008 17:11 UTC

69 points

133 comments2 min readLW link

Fallacies of Compression

Eliezer Yudkowsky17 Feb 2008 18:51 UTC

81 points

26 comments4 min readLW link

Hedge drift and advanced motte-and-bailey

Stefan_Schubert1 May 2016 14:45 UTC

49 points

8 comments2 min readLW link

How webs of meaning grow and change

Hazard14 Aug 2020 13:58 UTC

14 points

0 comments10 min readLW link

Words as Mental Paintbrush Handles

Eliezer Yudkowsky1 Mar 2008 23:58 UTC

44 points

75 comments3 min readLW link

Superexponential Conceptspace, and Simple Words

Eliezer Yudkowsky24 Feb 2008 23:59 UTC

49 points

16 comments6 min readLW link

Blegg Mode

Zack_M_Davis11 Mar 2019 15:04 UTC

18 points

68 comments1 min readLW link

(unremediatedgender.space)

Maybe Lying Can’t Exist?!

Zack_M_Davis23 Aug 2020 0:36 UTC

49 points

17 comments5 min readLW link

Relabelings vs. External References

Chris_Leong20 Sep 2019 2:20 UTC

12 points

5 comments3 min readLW link

Referencing the Unreferencable

Chris_Leong4 Apr 2020 10:42 UTC

16 points

5 comments3 min readLW link

Language, the Key to Everything

chris8217912 Feb 2019 5:06 UTC

−2 points

2 comments4 min readLW link

Linguistic Freedom

Chris_Leong6 Jan 2021 7:23 UTC

10 points

4 comments2 min readLW link

Extended Picture Theory or Models inside Models inside Models

Chris_Leong10 Mar 2021 13:24 UTC

13 points

3 comments2 min readLW link

Communication Requires Common Interests or Differential Signal Costs

Zack_M_Davis26 Mar 2021 6:41 UTC

39 points

10 comments3 min readLW link 1 review

There’s no such thing as a tree (phylogenetically)

eukaryote3 May 2021 3:47 UTC

319 points

52 comments7 min readLW link 2 reviews

(eukaryotewritesblog.com)

Deliberately Vague Language is Bullshit

lsusr14 May 2021 9:17 UTC

36 points

21 comments1 min readLW link

Questions are tools to help answerers optimize utility

ozziegooen24 May 2021 19:30 UTC

31 points

6 comments4 min readLW link

Blood Is Thicker Than Water 🐬

Zack_M_Davis28 Sep 2021 3:21 UTC

34 points

26 comments13 min readLW link

Book Review: Philosophical Investigations by Wittgenstein

Chris_Leong12 Oct 2021 20:14 UTC

30 points

11 comments33 min readLW link

Comment on “Deception as Cooperation”

Zack_M_Davis27 Nov 2021 4:04 UTC

23 points

4 comments7 min readLW link

Challenges to Yudkowsky’s Pronoun Reform Proposal

Zack_M_Davis13 Mar 2022 20:38 UTC

59 points

55 comments39 min readLW link

(unremediatedgender.space)

The Cage of the Language

Martin Sustrik13 Apr 2022 5:20 UTC

51 points

19 comments2 min readLW link

Fundamental Uncertainty: Chapter 2 - Why do words have meaning?

Gordon Seidoh Worley18 Apr 2022 20:54 UTC

14 points

17 comments11 min readLW link

Genders Discrimination

Jacob Falkovich7 Jul 2022 15:20 UTC

11 points

16 comments4 min readLW link

Notes on Sincerity and such

David Gross1 Dec 2020 5:09 UTC

9 points

2 comments12 min readLW link

Please (re)explain your personal jargon

Nathan Helm-Burger22 Aug 2022 14:30 UTC

19 points

4 comments4 min readLW link

Playing shell games with definitions

weverka8 Dec 2022 19:35 UTC

9 points

3 comments1 min readLW link

Sazen

Duncan_Sabien21 Dec 2022 7:54 UTC

228 points

80 comments12 min readLW link

Language Ex Machina

janus15 Jan 2023 9:19 UTC

37 points

18 comments24 min readLW link

(generative.ink)

ChatGPT understands language

philosophybear27 Jan 2023 7:14 UTC

27 points

4 comments6 min readLW link

(philosophybear.substack.com)

Fundamental Uncertainty: Chapter 5 - How do we know what we know?

Gordon Seidoh Worley28 Dec 2022 1:28 UTC

10 points

2 comments12 min readLW link

Philosophy of language should be used to address LLM intelligence

sun_harmonics1 Mar 2023 18:38 UTC

2 points

0 comments1 min readLW link

The Waluigi Effect (mega-post)

Cleo Nardo3 Mar 2023 3:22 UTC

582 points

173 comments16 min readLW link

Chomsky on ChatGPT (link)

mukashi9 Mar 2023 7:00 UTC

2 points

4 comments1 min readLW link

What is a definition, how can it be extrapolated?

Stuart_Armstrong14 Mar 2023 18:08 UTC

34 points

5 comments7 min readLW link

Situating LessWrong in contemporary philosophy: An interview with Jon Livengood

Suspended Reason1 Jul 2020 0:37 UTC

117 points

21 comments19 min readLW link

How Specificity Works

Liron3 Sep 2019 12:11 UTC

86 points

48 comments7 min readLW link

The Relation Projection Fallacy and the purpose of life

Academian28 Dec 2012 4:14 UTC

120 points

42 comments3 min readLW link

The First Step is to Admit That You Have a Problem

Alicorn6 Oct 2009 20:59 UTC

75 points

87 comments3 min readLW link

The Futility of Emergence

Eliezer Yudkowsky26 Aug 2007 22:10 UTC

91 points

141 comments3 min readLW link

Entropy, and Short Codes

Eliezer Yudkowsky23 Feb 2008 3:16 UTC

72 points

27 comments4 min readLW link

Replace the Symbol with the Substance

Eliezer Yudkowsky16 Feb 2008 18:12 UTC

72 points

17 comments5 min readLW link

Rationality and the English Language

Eliezer Yudkowsky12 Sep 2007 22:55 UTC

104 points

33 comments4 min readLW link

Arguing “By Definition”

Eliezer Yudkowsky20 Feb 2008 23:37 UTC

74 points

41 comments4 min readLW link

Words, Locally Defined

abramdemski3 May 2018 23:26 UTC

19 points

28 comments3 min readLW link

Defending points you don’t care about

Hazard19 Jun 2019 20:40 UTC

41 points

6 comments4 min readLW link

Simplicio and Sophisticus

Zvi22 Jul 2018 13:30 UTC

42 points

1 comment4 min readLW link

(thezvi.wordpress.com)

Pluralistic Moral Reductionism

lukeprog1 Jun 2011 0:59 UTC

63 points

327 comments15 min readLW link

Status 451 on Diagnosis: Russell Aphasia

Zack_M_Davis6 Aug 2019 4:43 UTC

48 points

1 comment1 min readLW link

(status451.com)

Conceptual Analysis and Moral Theory

lukeprog16 May 2011 6:28 UTC

92 points

481 comments8 min readLW link

Empty Labels

Eliezer Yudkowsky14 Feb 2008 23:50 UTC

42 points

7 comments2 min readLW link

Categorizing Has Consequences

Eliezer Yudkowsky19 Feb 2008 1:40 UTC

60 points

13 comments3 min readLW link

Where to Draw the Boundary?

Eliezer Yudkowsky21 Feb 2008 19:14 UTC

67 points

51 comments3 min readLW link

Diseased thinking: dissolving questions about disease

Scott Alexander30 May 2010 21:16 UTC

481 points

356 comments9 min readLW link

The sentence structure of mathematics

countedblessings7 Oct 2019 18:58 UTC

40 points

15 comments2 min readLW link

SotW: Be Specific

Eliezer Yudkowsky3 Apr 2012 6:11 UTC

76 points

306 comments12 min readLW link

Surely, rhetorical question?

Gust11 Jan 2018 20:56 UTC

15 points

0 comments1 min readLW link

(gusbicalho.com.br)

Leaky Generalizations

Eliezer Yudkowsky22 Nov 2007 21:16 UTC

48 points

29 comments3 min readLW link

[Question] What are questions?

DonyChristie9 Jan 2019 7:37 UTC

35 points

17 comments2 min readLW link

The Pink Sparkly Ball Thing (Use unique, non-obvious terms for nuanced concepts)

MalcolmOcean20 Feb 2016 23:25 UTC

36 points

14 comments5 min readLW link

Variable Question Fallacies

Eliezer Yudkowsky5 Mar 2008 6:22 UTC

41 points

36 comments3 min readLW link

The Nature of Logic

Eliezer Yudkowsky15 Nov 2008 6:20 UTC

39 points

12 comments10 min readLW link

Unnatural Categories

Eliezer Yudkowsky24 Aug 2008 1:00 UTC

36 points

10 comments8 min readLW link

The Fabric of Real Things

Eliezer Yudkowsky12 Oct 2012 2:11 UTC

39 points

309 comments4 min readLW link

Sequence Exercise: first 3 posts from “A Human’s Guide to Words”

Normal_Anomaly16 Apr 2011 17:21 UTC

43 points

18 comments1 min readLW link

Living Metaphorically

lukeprog28 Nov 2011 15:01 UTC

33 points

79 comments7 min readLW link

Calibrate words, not just probabilities

MikkW18 Jul 2020 5:56 UTC

11 points

3 comments2 min readLW link

Schematic Thinking: heuristic generalization using Korzybski’s method

romeostevensit14 Oct 2019 19:29 UTC

27 points

7 comments3 min readLW link

Actors and scribes, words and deeds

Benquo26 Apr 2017 5:12 UTC

31 points

5 comments9 min readLW link

Claiming Connotations

Error9 Dec 2012 23:40 UTC

37 points

23 comments2 min readLW link

Fake Norms, or “Truth” vs. Truth

Eliezer Yudkowsky22 Jul 2008 10:23 UTC

25 points

16 comments3 min readLW link

Words Aren’t Type Safe

Hazard19 Jun 2019 20:34 UTC

22 points

12 comments3 min readLW link

“Arbitrary”

Eliezer Yudkowsky12 Aug 2008 17:55 UTC

18 points

14 comments4 min readLW link

Is Fairness Arbitrary?

Eliezer Yudkowsky14 Aug 2008 1:54 UTC

6 points

37 comments6 min readLW link

Category Qualifications (w/ exercises)

Logan Riggs15 Sep 2019 16:28 UTC

23 points

22 comments5 min readLW link

The Power & Tragedy of Names

SocratesDissatisfied6 Nov 2020 22:50 UTC

12 points

4 comments5 min readLW link

I believe it’s doublethink

kerspoon21 Feb 2012 22:30 UTC

32 points

32 comments3 min readLW link

Fundamental Philosophical Problems Inherent in AI discourse

AlexSadler16 Sep 2018 21:03 UTC

23 points

1 comment17 min readLW link

E-Prime

CannibalSmith8 Apr 2009 13:01 UTC

17 points

20 comments1 min readLW link

Persuasiveness vs Soundness

Patrick13 Apr 2009 8:43 UTC

0 points

19 comments2 min readLW link

Ungendered Spanish

jefftk7 Dec 2019 16:20 UTC

20 points

9 comments2 min readLW link

(www.jefftk.com)

Where is the Meaning?

Hazard22 Jul 2019 20:18 UTC

21 points

3 comments4 min readLW link

ESR’s comments on some EY:OB/LW posts

Eliezer Yudkowsky20 Jun 2009 0:16 UTC

7 points

16 comments1 min readLW link

No, Newspeak Won’t Make You Stupid

MikkW18 Dec 2020 0:56 UTC

21 points

39 comments7 min readLW link

On the nature of purpose

Nora_Ammann22 Jan 2021 8:30 UTC

28 points

15 comments9 min readLW link

Abstractions and translation

Amir Bolous20 May 2021 2:45 UTC

5 points

1 comment2 min readLW link

[Question] What words should be shorter in the rational dictionary?

brook2 Apr 2022 16:46 UTC

9 points

5 comments1 min readLW link

Vague concepts, family resemblance and cluster properties

Q Home20 Aug 2022 10:21 UTC

18 points

8 comments7 min readLW link

Solving Alignment by “solving” semantics

Q Home27 Aug 2022 4:17 UTC

14 points

10 comments26 min readLW link

Simulators

janus2 Sep 2022 12:45 UTC

575 points

111 comments41 min readLW link

(generative.ink)

Contemporary Linguistics: A Perspective on Research and Information Sharing

Miniman12 Sep 2022 19:02 UTC

1 point

5 comments3 min readLW link

Wisdom Cannot Be Unzipped

Sable22 Oct 2022 0:28 UTC

63 points

16 comments7 min readLW link

(affablyevil.substack.com)

Writing Russian and Ukrainian words in Latin script

Viliam23 Oct 2022 15:25 UTC

19 points

20 comments6 min readLW link

Word-Distance vs Idea-Distance: The Case for Lanoitaring

Sable6 Nov 2022 5:25 UTC

7 points

7 comments7 min readLW link

(affablyevil.substack.com)

Recent advances in Natural Language Processing—Some Woolly speculations (2019 essay on semantics and language models)

philosophybear27 Dec 2022 2:11 UTC

1 point

0 comments7 min readLW link

Against John Searle, Gary Marcus, the Chinese Room thought experiment and its world

philosophybear29 Dec 2022 3:26 UTC

21 points

40 comments8 min readLW link

Critique of some recent philosophy of LLMs’ minds

Roman Leventov20 Jan 2023 12:53 UTC

49 points

8 comments20 min readLW link

The Knockdown Argument Paradox

Bryan Frances28 Jan 2023 19:23 UTC

−12 points

6 comments8 min readLW link

The Linguistic Blind Spot of Value-Aligned Agency, Natural and Artificial

Roman Leventov14 Feb 2023 6:57 UTC

6 points

0 comments2 min readLW link

(arxiv.org)

Why There Is No Answer to Your Philosophical Question

Bryan Frances24 Mar 2023 23:22 UTC

−12 points

10 comments12 min readLW link

Is GPT-4 the first nonhuman member of human linguistic communities?

RationalMindset26 Mar 2023 18:54 UTC

−4 points

0 comments4 min readLW link

[Question] Bermudez Interface Problem

Motor Vehicle27 Mar 2023 18:11 UTC

1 point

2 comments1 min readLW link

No comments.