Some of the probability questions (many worlds, simulation) are like… ontologically weird enough that I’m not entirely certain it makes sense to assign probabilities to them? It doesn’t really feel like they pay rent in anticipated experience?
I’m not sure “speaking the truth even when it’s uncomfortable” is the kind of skill it makes sense to describe yourself as “comfortable” with.
Many worlds and the Simulation question are probably not going to change our anticipated experiences. I do think we can put probabilities on things we don’t expect to change our experiences- for instance, if you flip a coin, look at it, and commit to never telling me whether it came up heads, I still think the coin has a 50% chance of coming up heads. That’s less ontologically weird though.
Those two are longstanding census standard questions, and I’m probably going to keep them because I like being able to do comparisons over time. Many Worlds in particular is interesting to me as an artifact of the Sequences.
I think something like speaking the truth even when you’re afraid to is a skill. I’ve noticed apprehension holds me back sometimes, both consciously and in a sneaky quiet voice in the back of my head asking if I’m sure, why not check again, surely this isn’t the fight I want to pick. When I imagine an idealized rationalist, they don’t keep quiet because of nagging anxiety about what might happen and that feels important.
I don’t know if it’s like, one of the top ten core rationalist skills I want to ask about, and I’m not at all sure this is the right phrasing.
Some of the probability questions (many worlds, simulation) are like… ontologically weird enough that I’m not entirely certain it makes sense to assign probabilities to them? It doesn’t really feel like they pay rent in anticipated experience?
I’m not sure “speaking the truth even when it’s uncomfortable” is the kind of skill it makes sense to describe yourself as “comfortable” with.
Many worlds and the Simulation question are probably not going to change our anticipated experiences. I do think we can put probabilities on things we don’t expect to change our experiences- for instance, if you flip a coin, look at it, and commit to never telling me whether it came up heads, I still think the coin has a 50% chance of coming up heads. That’s less ontologically weird though.
Those two are longstanding census standard questions, and I’m probably going to keep them because I like being able to do comparisons over time. Many Worlds in particular is interesting to me as an artifact of the Sequences.
Yeah, the skills section is very much a draft that I’m hoping people will have good ideas for.
I’ve changed the wording to “speaking the truth even against social pressure” but I don’t think this is good, just a little better.
Expanding a little:
I think something like speaking the truth even when you’re afraid to is a skill. I’ve noticed apprehension holds me back sometimes, both consciously and in a sneaky quiet voice in the back of my head asking if I’m sure, why not check again, surely this isn’t the fight I want to pick. When I imagine an idealized rationalist, they don’t keep quiet because of nagging anxiety about what might happen and that feels important.
I don’t know if it’s like, one of the top ten core rationalist skills I want to ask about, and I’m not at all sure this is the right phrasing.