This was a great explanation—well-written, clear and not too simple.
I think if there were a flaw, it might be slightly too long. The “common knowledge production in society” section might not be entirely pulling its weight. That said, it was interesting and I think it’s useful to know ways in which we do (try to) solve the problem. (Our civilisation might be inadequate at points, but if the whole point of civilisation is to move to better equilibria, it would be surprising if we had no tech for it!)
I wonder if including a bit of a reader’s guide at the beginning. Something like “if you’re in a hurry and looking to generate the key understanding, try just reading the dictatorship example from the ‘three coordination problems’ section and skip the section on how we generate common knowledge”.
This could be a bad idea, as the post is known to be good (curated, highly voted up) and this has some risk to reduce the quality. Also, perhaps I have not fully internalised the importance of our existing common knowledge institutions and so underrate that section!
(want to note that the style of this public critical feedback worked better for me than most other such comments I’ve seen, thanks. sorry I don’t have the time to respond properly or consider a serious edit to the post right now)
This was a great explanation—well-written, clear and not too simple.
I think if there were a flaw, it might be slightly too long. The “common knowledge production in society” section might not be entirely pulling its weight. That said, it was interesting and I think it’s useful to know ways in which we do (try to) solve the problem. (Our civilisation might be inadequate at points, but if the whole point of civilisation is to move to better equilibria, it would be surprising if we had no tech for it!)
I wonder if including a bit of a reader’s guide at the beginning. Something like “if you’re in a hurry and looking to generate the key understanding, try just reading the dictatorship example from the ‘three coordination problems’ section and skip the section on how we generate common knowledge”.
This could be a bad idea, as the post is known to be good (curated, highly voted up) and this has some risk to reduce the quality. Also, perhaps I have not fully internalised the importance of our existing common knowledge institutions and so underrate that section!
(want to note that the style of this public critical feedback worked better for me than most other such comments I’ve seen, thanks. sorry I don’t have the time to respond properly or consider a serious edit to the post right now)