Did anybody do any rationality-themed body modifications? I recently got a rationality-themed tattoo, and so have some other folks I know. I was curious about what other Less Wrongers do.
That’s not a rationality-themed tattoo, it’s an Intentional-Insights-themed tattoo. So far as I can tell, the only connection between the word “intentional” and rationality is that your organization uses “intentional” to mean roughly what some other people mean by “System 2”.
(It’s not even as if “use System 2 rather than System 1” is itself a particularly rational, or particularly rationalist, principle. Our brains take the shortcuts they do for reasons, and often we should let them do it.)
I would never get an organization-themed tattoo—yuck! I am not wedded to the name Intentional Insights. The term intentional really resonates with me and other folks who were founding the organization, which is why it was named how it was. Anyway, the word intentional for me is a way of speaking about personality to my system one, anyway thank you, which is one reason that the two has so many colors, so special language is key for system one.
I think magnetic finger implants for a sixth sense seems a pretty cool transhumanist body mod thing. Along the same lines, there are Programmable Subcutaneous Visible Implants where you stick a LCD screen under the skin, although I think that is more of a “maybe we’ll have the tech worked out in five years” sort of thing.
To each his own. Personally, I think that unless you live in a community where most people have tattoos, the most rational decision is to have no tattoos. I believe they close more doors than they open. Maybe I am mistaken, maybe situations were tattoos help you are more common than I think. Please correct me then.
Tattoos that signal group membership are a costly signal of loyalty, and the cost is precisely closing those other doors. It’s just, with the “rationality tattoos”, I am not sure what exactly one gains in exchange for paying the cost.
I’d say that a truly rational tattoo is the one that can be easily removed. :D
I could imagine a specific situation where having a rationality tattoo could be the rational thing to do (for reasons other than impressing people who are easily impressed by tattoos), but those are quite unlikely situations. Having a rationality tattoo doesn’t reliably signal rationality—even a stupid person may decide to get one—so what exactly would be the purpose? Signalling hostility towards groups that openly identify as anti-rationality? Not sure there are many such groups.
The Economist published a fascinating blog entry where they use evidential decision theory to establish that tattoo removal results in savings to the prison system. See http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/08/tattoos-jobs-and-recidivism . Temporally, this blog entry corresponds roughly to the time I lost my respect for the Economist. You can draw your own causal conclusions from this.
I’m curious that you know others with rationality-themed tattoos, too; do they either live in your area, or work for Intentional Insights? I hadn’t been aware that people had these sorts of tattoos at all.
They are members of my Less Wrong meetup, and some of them volunteer for InIn, while others don’t.
For instance, one person has a tattoo of an elephant and a rider, with the elephant breaking the chain of an anchor. Another has a Bayesian math-themed tattoo.
I know of one person with a Bayes formula tattoo, but that’s it. The tattoo of rationalists is most likely not having a tattoo. This is also a more universal signal that can be used in later groups without permanently marking yourself as a member of a temporary group. Better to become a rational person and signal that than to signal that you’re part of an in-group called “rationalists”.
Did anybody do any rationality-themed body modifications? I recently got a rationality-themed tattoo, and so have some other folks I know. I was curious about what other Less Wrongers do.
That’s not a rationality-themed tattoo, it’s an Intentional-Insights-themed tattoo. So far as I can tell, the only connection between the word “intentional” and rationality is that your organization uses “intentional” to mean roughly what some other people mean by “System 2”.
(It’s not even as if “use System 2 rather than System 1” is itself a particularly rational, or particularly rationalist, principle. Our brains take the shortcuts they do for reasons, and often we should let them do it.)
I would never get an organization-themed tattoo—yuck! I am not wedded to the name Intentional Insights. The term intentional really resonates with me and other folks who were founding the organization, which is why it was named how it was. Anyway, the word intentional for me is a way of speaking about personality to my system one, anyway thank you, which is one reason that the two has so many colors, so special language is key for system one.
I think magnetic finger implants for a sixth sense seems a pretty cool transhumanist body mod thing. Along the same lines, there are Programmable Subcutaneous Visible Implants where you stick a LCD screen under the skin, although I think that is more of a “maybe we’ll have the tech worked out in five years” sort of thing.
To each his own. Personally, I think that unless you live in a community where most people have tattoos, the most rational decision is to have no tattoos. I believe they close more doors than they open. Maybe I am mistaken, maybe situations were tattoos help you are more common than I think. Please correct me then.
Tattoos that signal group membership are a costly signal of loyalty, and the cost is precisely closing those other doors. It’s just, with the “rationality tattoos”, I am not sure what exactly one gains in exchange for paying the cost.
I’d say that a truly rational tattoo is the one that can be easily removed. :D
I could imagine a specific situation where having a rationality tattoo could be the rational thing to do (for reasons other than impressing people who are easily impressed by tattoos), but those are quite unlikely situations. Having a rationality tattoo doesn’t reliably signal rationality—even a stupid person may decide to get one—so what exactly would be the purpose? Signalling hostility towards groups that openly identify as anti-rationality? Not sure there are many such groups.
whispers Voldemort, Voldemort...
Meh
I think there’s a benefit to signaling weirdness and commitment, and that’s what the tattoo does.
The Economist published a fascinating blog entry where they use evidential decision theory to establish that tattoo removal results in savings to the prison system. See http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/08/tattoos-jobs-and-recidivism . Temporally, this blog entry corresponds roughly to the time I lost my respect for the Economist. You can draw your own causal conclusions from this.
Some time ago I considered getting a useful tattoo. Useful like
name, birthdate and maybe other information suitable to locate relatives in case of emergency
ruler (if you stopped growing)
Morse alphabet
Smith Chart
graphical rendering of an encryption algorithm (I imagine that there are pleasant renderings)
I think skin might stretch or shrink. I now carry a spool of bright yellow thread and scissors, in case I have to measure things (and a needle:)
I’m curious that you know others with rationality-themed tattoos, too; do they either live in your area, or work for Intentional Insights? I hadn’t been aware that people had these sorts of tattoos at all.
They are members of my Less Wrong meetup, and some of them volunteer for InIn, while others don’t.
For instance, one person has a tattoo of an elephant and a rider, with the elephant breaking the chain of an anchor. Another has a Bayesian math-themed tattoo.
Did you have any involvement in their decisions to get tattooed?
Nope, they actually influenced me—they both got theirs before I did.
I know of one person with a Bayes formula tattoo, but that’s it. The tattoo of rationalists is most likely not having a tattoo. This is also a more universal signal that can be used in later groups without permanently marking yourself as a member of a temporary group. Better to become a rational person and signal that than to signal that you’re part of an in-group called “rationalists”.