“It seems to me that even if Eliezer Yudkowsky is really wrong about a lot that he believes (and this seems possible to me) he is nonetheless not a crackpot. But is there more to this than ‘crackpots are incorrect contrarians who I don’t like or have never agreed with’? Is there an objective distinction? Perhaps because he is ignored rather than rejected?”
Also a question I don’t know the answer to. I wrote this post partly in response to my worries about Eliezer (and certain other autodidacts) whom I perceive not to be crackpots. Does that perception weigh in their favor, or only confirm me to be a fellow crackpot? I’m still trying to figure out what a crackpot is.
Also a question I don’t know the answer to. I wrote this post partly in response to my worries about Eliezer (and certain other autodidacts) whom I perceive not to be crackpots. Does that perception weigh in their favor, or only confirm me to be a fellow crackpot? I’m still trying to figure out what a crackpot is.
If you find yourself worrying whether a certain label applies to you, rather than wondering whether a specific set of claims are more or less likely to be true, be careful; social fears can easily derail the rational evaluation of evidence.
The question “What is bunk?” seems nigh unanswerable, a search for a dictionary definition to fill in a hanging node. Thinking in terms of “what class of claims can I dismiss as too unlikely on the face of it, and what claims have a high enough chance of truth that they’re worth investigating?” is more realistic, IMO.
“It seems to me that even if Eliezer Yudkowsky is really wrong about a lot that he believes (and this seems possible to me) he is nonetheless not a crackpot. But is there more to this than ‘crackpots are incorrect contrarians who I don’t like or have never agreed with’? Is there an objective distinction? Perhaps because he is ignored rather than rejected?”
Also a question I don’t know the answer to. I wrote this post partly in response to my worries about Eliezer (and certain other autodidacts) whom I perceive not to be crackpots. Does that perception weigh in their favor, or only confirm me to be a fellow crackpot? I’m still trying to figure out what a crackpot is.
If you find yourself worrying whether a certain label applies to you, rather than wondering whether a specific set of claims are more or less likely to be true, be careful; social fears can easily derail the rational evaluation of evidence.
The question “What is bunk?” seems nigh unanswerable, a search for a dictionary definition to fill in a hanging node. Thinking in terms of “what class of claims can I dismiss as too unlikely on the face of it, and what claims have a high enough chance of truth that they’re worth investigating?” is more realistic, IMO.
The Crackpot Index is a good place to start.