A lot of online communities pay lip service to the idea that their experiences aren’t universal, but Less Wrong seems to be one of the few places that takes that idea seriously.
This is actually one of the things I am both positive and negative about. I think people are far more similar than sometimes assumed here. The evidence is pop culture. How could something be as popular as Star Wars or Metallica if not for calling out to a very similar underlying emotional hardware in people? In a No Mind Is Typical universe there would no universal mind product—there would be no hugely successful bands or movies just thousands of mini subcultures with mini stars.
One of my most surreal moments of How We All Are Really Alike was reading a documentary novel from an Afghanistani woman writer. I don’t really remember the title or her name but I can find the book later if interested. Anyway she wrote Titanic was a huge underground success there. Underground because banned like most Western stuff, it was the early Taliban era if I remember right but still pretty much ever woman or young man saw it. It is a romantic movie that has just about NO reference whatsoever to how love or marriage is done in their culture, and yet it “clicked” because it talks to the same, universal human hardware. (Nm the book I found another source anyway.)
I feel like you two are talking about a different type of variance. It may be that Titanic is well-loved in every culture all over the world, ever. But there are still individuals who didn’t enjoy it. I think sixes means that LW is unusually good at alieving that not everybody enjoyed Titanic.
The important things is not whether you agree in the abstract with the fact that people are or aren’t alike.
The important part is actually noticing when you hit a topic where people aren’t alike.
A lot of online communities pay lip service to the idea that their experiences aren’t universal, but Less Wrong seems to be one of the few places that takes that idea seriously.
This is actually one of the things I am both positive and negative about. I think people are far more similar than sometimes assumed here. The evidence is pop culture. How could something be as popular as Star Wars or Metallica if not for calling out to a very similar underlying emotional hardware in people? In a No Mind Is Typical universe there would no universal mind product—there would be no hugely successful bands or movies just thousands of mini subcultures with mini stars.
One of my most surreal moments of How We All Are Really Alike was reading a documentary novel from an Afghanistani woman writer. I don’t really remember the title or her name but I can find the book later if interested. Anyway she wrote Titanic was a huge underground success there. Underground because banned like most Western stuff, it was the early Taliban era if I remember right but still pretty much ever woman or young man saw it. It is a romantic movie that has just about NO reference whatsoever to how love or marriage is done in their culture, and yet it “clicked” because it talks to the same, universal human hardware. (Nm the book I found another source anyway.)
I feel like you two are talking about a different type of variance. It may be that Titanic is well-loved in every culture all over the world, ever. But there are still individuals who didn’t enjoy it. I think sixes means that LW is unusually good at alieving that not everybody enjoyed Titanic.
I endorse this interpretation.
The important things is not whether you agree in the abstract with the fact that people are or aren’t alike. The important part is actually noticing when you hit a topic where people aren’t alike.