This comment seems strange. Is having an ax to grind opposed to rationality? Then why does Eliezer Yudkowsky, for example, not hesitate to advocate for causes such as friendly AI? Doesn’t he have an ax to grind? More of one really, since this ax chops trees of gold.
It would seem intellectual honesty would require that you say you reject discussions with people with an ax to grind, unless you grind a similar ax.
From http://www.usingenglish.com: “If you have an axe to grind with someone or about something, you have a grievance, a resentment and you want to get revenge or sort it out.” One can hardly call the unacknowledged emotions of resentment and needing a revenge/retribution compatible with rationality. srdiamond piled a bunch of (partially correct but irrelevant in the context of my comment) negative statements about SI, making these emotions quite clear.
That’s a restrictive definition of “ax to grind,” by the way—it’s normally used to mean any special interest in the subject: “an ulterior often selfish underlying purpose ” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary)
But I might as well accept your meaning for discussion purposes. If you detect unacknowledged resentment in srdiamond, don’t you detect unacknowledged ambition in Eliezer Yudkowsky?
There’s actually good reason for the broader meaning of “ax to grind.” Any special stake is a bias. I don’t think you can say that someone who you think acts out of resentment, like srdiamond, is more intractably biased than someone who acts out of other forms of narrow self-interest, which almost invariably applies when someone defends something he gets money from.
I don’t think it’s a rational method to treat people differently, as inherently less rational, when they seem resentful. It is only one of many difficult biases. Financial interest is probably more biasing. If you think the arguments are crummy, that’s something else. But the motive—resentment or finances—should probably have little bearing on how a message is treated in serious discussion.
The impression I get from scanning their comment history is that metaphysicist means to suggest here that EY has ambitions he hasn’t acknowledged (e.g., the ambition to make money without conventional credentials), not that he fails to acknowledge any of the ambitions he has.
I don’t think it’s a rational method to treat people differently, as inherently less rational, when they seem resentful.
Thank you for this analysis, it made me think more about my motivations and their validity. I believe that my decision to permanently disengage from discussions with some people is based on the futility of such discussions in the past, not on the specific reasons they are futile. At some point I simply decide to cut my losses.
There’s actually good reason for the broader meaning of “ax to grind.” Any special stake is a bias.
Indeed, present company not excluded. The question is whether it permanently prevents the ax-grinder from listening. EY, too, has his share of unacknowledged irrationalities, but both his status and his ability to listen and to provide insights makes engaging him in a discussion a rewarding, if sometimes frustrating experience.
I don’t not know why srdiamond’s need to bash SI is so entrenched, and whether it can be remedied to a degree where he is once again worth talking to, so at this point it is instrumentally rational for me to avoid replying to him.
This comment seems strange. Is having an ax to grind opposed to rationality? Then why does Eliezer Yudkowsky, for example, not hesitate to advocate for causes such as friendly AI? Doesn’t he have an ax to grind? More of one really, since this ax chops trees of gold.
It would seem intellectual honesty would require that you say you reject discussions with people with an ax to grind, unless you grind a similar ax.
From http://www.usingenglish.com: “If you have an axe to grind with someone or about something, you have a grievance, a resentment and you want to get revenge or sort it out.” One can hardly call the unacknowledged emotions of resentment and needing a revenge/retribution compatible with rationality. srdiamond piled a bunch of (partially correct but irrelevant in the context of my comment) negative statements about SI, making these emotions quite clear.
That’s a restrictive definition of “ax to grind,” by the way—it’s normally used to mean any special interest in the subject: “an ulterior often selfish underlying purpose ” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary)
But I might as well accept your meaning for discussion purposes. If you detect unacknowledged resentment in srdiamond, don’t you detect unacknowledged ambition in Eliezer Yudkowsky?
There’s actually good reason for the broader meaning of “ax to grind.” Any special stake is a bias. I don’t think you can say that someone who you think acts out of resentment, like srdiamond, is more intractably biased than someone who acts out of other forms of narrow self-interest, which almost invariably applies when someone defends something he gets money from.
I don’t think it’s a rational method to treat people differently, as inherently less rational, when they seem resentful. It is only one of many difficult biases. Financial interest is probably more biasing. If you think the arguments are crummy, that’s something else. But the motive—resentment or finances—should probably have little bearing on how a message is treated in serious discussion.
Eliezer certainly has a lot of ambition, but I am surprised to see an accusation that this ambition is unacknowledged.
The impression I get from scanning their comment history is that metaphysicist means to suggest here that EY has ambitions he hasn’t acknowledged (e.g., the ambition to make money without conventional credentials), not that he fails to acknowledge any of the ambitions he has.
Thank you for this analysis, it made me think more about my motivations and their validity. I believe that my decision to permanently disengage from discussions with some people is based on the futility of such discussions in the past, not on the specific reasons they are futile. At some point I simply decide to cut my losses.
Indeed, present company not excluded. The question is whether it permanently prevents the ax-grinder from listening. EY, too, has his share of unacknowledged irrationalities, but both his status and his ability to listen and to provide insights makes engaging him in a discussion a rewarding, if sometimes frustrating experience.
I don’t not know why srdiamond’s need to bash SI is so entrenched, and whether it can be remedied to a degree where he is once again worth talking to, so at this point it is instrumentally rational for me to avoid replying to him.