Our brains pattern-match transhumanism to religion. Human evolved reaction to religion is to either dismiss it as dangerous, or to profess the beliefs but fail to realize the logical consequences in real life. Thus we can expect that most people will react to transhumanism in one of these two ways. Even wannabe rationalists are deeply irrational.
You should not: 1) expect that other people will become more rational, if you yell at them enough; 2) try to build an AI. Our brains are optimized for winning debates, not achieving correct conclusions. Your AI project will most likely fail; but even if it won’t, the resulting AI will most likely be not Friendly.
So, what should you do? No certain answer, only suggestions: 1) Be serious about your rationality, and cooperate with other people who are serious abour rationality. Cooperation among rational people is powerful. Keep your ego in check; instead of winning, try to learn. Don’t rely on fictional evidence. 2) Make a lot of money, because it’s instrumentally useful. If you don’t have a well-paying job, learn for actuarial tests: they overlap with rationality and will allow you to make nice money later.
Be prepared that this will be considered weird even by most transhumanists, so don’t expect much social support even within your niche. But it’s fun and better than what most smart people do. And there is a small chance this could somehow help you save the world.
You should not: 1) expect that other people will become more rational, if you yell at them enough;
I think the rest of your summary is accurate, but Vassar actually said that you can’t use to rational argument to convince people of much of anything. Now that I think about it, carefully judged yelling probably works better than rational argument.
“You can’t convince anyone of anything using rational argument” is one of those cached thoughts that makes you sound cool and mature but isn’t actually true. Rational argument works a hell of a lot worse than smart people think it does, but it works in certain contexts and with certain people enough of the time that it’s worth trying sometimes. Even normal people are swayed by facts from time to time.
My attempt at summary:
Our brains pattern-match transhumanism to religion. Human evolved reaction to religion is to either dismiss it as dangerous, or to profess the beliefs but fail to realize the logical consequences in real life. Thus we can expect that most people will react to transhumanism in one of these two ways. Even wannabe rationalists are deeply irrational.
You should not: 1) expect that other people will become more rational, if you yell at them enough; 2) try to build an AI. Our brains are optimized for winning debates, not achieving correct conclusions. Your AI project will most likely fail; but even if it won’t, the resulting AI will most likely be not Friendly.
So, what should you do? No certain answer, only suggestions: 1) Be serious about your rationality, and cooperate with other people who are serious abour rationality. Cooperation among rational people is powerful. Keep your ego in check; instead of winning, try to learn. Don’t rely on fictional evidence. 2) Make a lot of money, because it’s instrumentally useful. If you don’t have a well-paying job, learn for actuarial tests: they overlap with rationality and will allow you to make nice money later.
Be prepared that this will be considered weird even by most transhumanists, so don’t expect much social support even within your niche. But it’s fun and better than what most smart people do. And there is a small chance this could somehow help you save the world.
I think the rest of your summary is accurate, but Vassar actually said that you can’t use to rational argument to convince people of much of anything. Now that I think about it, carefully judged yelling probably works better than rational argument.
“You can’t convince anyone of anything using rational argument” is one of those cached thoughts that makes you sound cool and mature but isn’t actually true. Rational argument works a hell of a lot worse than smart people think it does, but it works in certain contexts and with certain people enough of the time that it’s worth trying sometimes. Even normal people are swayed by facts from time to time.