Your claim appears to be “Rationality is winning.” Therefore, if you’re not winning you’re not rational. Are you winning? [*] If not, are you not a rationalist?
The logic seems circular. You can say “I aspire to win and rationality is whatever gets me there”, but that doesn’t seem to define the pursuit in question at all.
[*] (This question is not “Can you quickly retcon your current state as ‘winning’?”)
The comment I replied to reads like, “Learning to paint might make you make better paintings, but it won’t make you a better painter.” I replied, “Making better paintings is the definition of a better painter, so you’re contradicting yourself.” Then I got downvoted. What am I missing?
Your claim appears to be “Rationality is winning.” Therefore, if you’re not winning you’re not rational. Are you winning? [*] If not, are you not a rationalist?
The logic seems circular. You can say “I aspire to win and rationality is whatever gets me there”, but that doesn’t seem to define the pursuit in question at all.
[*] (This question is not “Can you quickly retcon your current state as ‘winning’?”)
You could be a really bad rationalist, or you could be not winning for other reasons.
Could one of the people who voted me down please explain why? I don’t understand why this is even contentious. Have you read the Wiki? http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Rationality_is_systematized_winning
The comment I replied to reads like, “Learning to paint might make you make better paintings, but it won’t make you a better painter.” I replied, “Making better paintings is the definition of a better painter, so you’re contradicting yourself.” Then I got downvoted. What am I missing?