It’s not about smartness and awesomeness, but about taboos. Other people manage to be smart and awesome while respecting the taboos. My guess is they probably do it by proper compartmentalization; they have one model they profess, and one model they actually use. I am probably missing some skills to do this properly; or maybe I’m just too lazy and asocial to keep a separate “public” model.
In the area of epistemic rationality, denying the supernatural is the taboo. But in the area of instrumental rationality, it seems to me most people dislike hearing about strategic self-improvement. The things are supposed to happen “naturally” or they were not meant to happen. (Seems to me this is a consequence of believing in the supernatural, even if people are not conscious of it.)
And it’s not that anyone hates me; it’s more like there are parts in my life I cannot ever speak about with anybody, because they would freeze me out socially. As long as I don’t mention the taboo topics, we can be friends. But being a secret aspiring rationalist is difficult for me; I want to discuss my ideas (not always, but at least sometimes). So perhaps I’d say they don’t accept me as I am, but they are happy to accept me as long as I role-play a subset of myself. But I want to grow outside of that subset.
The things are supposed to happen “naturally” or they were not meant to happen. (Seems to me this is a consequence of believing in the supernatural, even if people are not conscious of it.)
I’m not sure about the connection with the supernatural here. I’ve always thought that acknowledging a need to consciously improve is just seen as something low-status. (This is frequently coupled with a belief that it isn’t possible anyway, and being faulty plus attempting something impossible is kind of extra-low-status.)
It’s not about smartness and awesomeness, but about taboos. Other people manage to be smart and awesome while respecting the taboos. My guess is they probably do it by proper compartmentalization; they have one model they profess, and one model they actually use. I am probably missing some skills to do this properly; or maybe I’m just too lazy and asocial to keep a separate “public” model.
In the area of epistemic rationality, denying the supernatural is the taboo. But in the area of instrumental rationality, it seems to me most people dislike hearing about strategic self-improvement. The things are supposed to happen “naturally” or they were not meant to happen. (Seems to me this is a consequence of believing in the supernatural, even if people are not conscious of it.)
And it’s not that anyone hates me; it’s more like there are parts in my life I cannot ever speak about with anybody, because they would freeze me out socially. As long as I don’t mention the taboo topics, we can be friends. But being a secret aspiring rationalist is difficult for me; I want to discuss my ideas (not always, but at least sometimes). So perhaps I’d say they don’t accept me as I am, but they are happy to accept me as long as I role-play a subset of myself. But I want to grow outside of that subset.
I’m not sure about the connection with the supernatural here. I’ve always thought that acknowledging a need to consciously improve is just seen as something low-status. (This is frequently coupled with a belief that it isn’t possible anyway, and being faulty plus attempting something impossible is kind of extra-low-status.)