I think Eliezer had the Creole-Pidgin phenomenon in mind with the language comment, but even ignoring that: if you didn’t start learning English until you were 18, you almost certainly have an accent, and you always will; if you are a concert pianist, you almost certainly started as a child; if you are a world-class chess grandmaster, you almost certainly started as a child.
In the rare exceptions, is there anything different about the people involved? What similarities, if any, exist between people who were the rare exceptions? Are there methods for becoming the rare exceptions in each case? Are those methods generalizable outside of the specific context?
I’m not sure these fine procedural details are that important, in most crafts that don’t feature such attention to detail and clarity of standards. The latter doesn’t apply to the current state of the art in rationality, not by a long shot.
I think Eliezer had the Creole-Pidgin phenomenon in mind with the language comment, but even ignoring that: if you didn’t start learning English until you were 18, you almost certainly have an accent, and you always will; if you are a concert pianist, you almost certainly started as a child; if you are a world-class chess grandmaster, you almost certainly started as a child.
Then the questions we should ask ourselves are:
In the rare exceptions, is there anything different about the people involved? What similarities, if any, exist between people who were the rare exceptions? Are there methods for becoming the rare exceptions in each case? Are those methods generalizable outside of the specific context?
I’m not sure these fine procedural details are that important, in most crafts that don’t feature such attention to detail and clarity of standards. The latter doesn’t apply to the current state of the art in rationality, not by a long shot.