RationalWiki is a troll site, but that could be a good thing—it gives LW the opportunity to show exactly why it isn’t a cult. Yvain makes very convincing counter-arguments and other posters have done a superb job of keeping their cool while answering various inquiries. Some of the questions directed at SIAI and Eliezer are not without merit and can’t be dismissed so easily.
Anecdotally speaking, I’ve been around a few unimaginative ‘bro-grammer’ types fixated on SIAI—and particularly Eliezer. The individuals I’m thinking of know just enough about computers to feign credibility on reddit while making fun of a group similar to them, yet more eccentric. Mocking Eliezer, a successful nerd with more celebrity than they could hope for, gives these guys a snarky sense of superiority. Kinda dumb.
This is just my impression of where some of this might be coming from.
I really like the way you phrased “meta-suffering” as a term for the many cognitive self-defeating cognitions. The “rumination” symptom commonly observed in people with mood and anxiety disorders (a.k.a “dwelling”) seems to be a related condition. Some Buddhists call it addiction, or attachment, to suffering.
The diathesis-stress model is a my favorite way to analyze to mental illness, including depression. In other words, I think depression is a heritable, biological phenomenon and the correlated cognitive biases create a feedback cycle—especially when you factor in the influence of environment and life experience. The cognitive biases on their own aren’t enough to cause a depressive episode, and a depressed person may not hold these same biases when their condition subsides for a period.
That being said, cognitive biases accompanying depression have been studied quite a bit. This would save you the trouble of going through an IRB to create your own study, Shannon ; ) You could always do a meta-analysis, though!
Based on Beck’s Cognitive Model, 6 primary biases emerge in depression/cognition literature.
These constructs are not definitive, as there are many theoretical models even within cognitive psych. Meta-suffering could incorporate many of these biases.
(please excuse the examples, some of them were taken directly from articles and others were re-worded to make more sense—at least to me)
A) ARBITRARY INFERENCE Drawing specific conclusions in the absence of relevant evidence (i.e. “The bus driver was driving like that because he’s taking drugs”.)
B) SELECTIVE ABSTRACTION Drawing conclusions on the basis of isolated details of an event, even if it requires ignoring other contradictory evidence. (i.e “She said she had a really good time, but didn’t like the gift I got her. She won’t to go out with me again”)
c) OVERGENERALIZATION Holding extreme beliefs based on a specific event and inappropriately applying them to dissimilar occasions or settings. (*i.e ” He was scared by that lizard. He must be afraid of animals.”)
d) MAGNIFICATION Overestimation of the significance of events (i.e. A friend of mine got robbed, this world is a dangerous place).
e) PERSONALIZATION Relating events to oneself despite their being no apparent connection (i.e He got into a car accident last week. It’s my fault I didn’t come over to hang out with him that night.)
f) DICHOTOMOUS THINKING Thinking in all-or-nothing terms, categorizing experiences only in one of two extremes rather than acknowledging grey areas. ( i.e ” I don’t play sports with my kid. I’m a terrible parent.”)
---- some of the above was taken from the articles cited below. for a more complete review of cognitive therapy for depression, check out the work of Aaron Beck.
White J, Davison GC, Haaga DA, White K. (1991) Cognitive bias in the articulated thoughts of depressed and nondepressed psychiatric patients. Journal of Mental and Nervous Disease, 180, 77-81
Krantz SE, Gallagher-Thompson D (1990) Depression and information valence influence depressive cognition. Cognitive Therapy Research14,95-108.
Beck AT (1987) Cognitive models of depression. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy 1, 5-37.