This pattern matches for me to how every generation thinks the new form of media will harm the next generation, all the way back to Socrates thinking writing will destroy people’s memory.
If people tend to systematically make a certain mistake, then it’s worth asking whether there’s some causal factor behind it and whether that could be nudging us toward making the same mistake.
On the other hand, our general ability to solve problems and figure things out presumably is either staying the same, or getting worse, or getting better. That’s a factual question that we should be able to learn about, and if (after trying to correct for biases) we did end up reaching a conclusion that resembles an old mistake, well, then it’s also possible that the truth resembles an old mistake.
Correct. A candidate for a common causal factor of blaming the new media is observing that the young people are wrong.
If we taboo the evidence of subjectively observing the people raised by the new media, what remains is the filter bubble effect. It seems in hindsight like a natural rationalization to reach for, because it’s one of the few known downsides of the internet. Eliezer, you wrote the book on noticing when you rationalize. Is this a likely story?
Are some parts of the internet more affected by the new effects of the internet than others? Is there a way to test them for their cognitive function as opposed to thinking in ways the previous generation wouldn’t approve of?
This pattern matches for me to how every generation thinks the new form of media will harm the next generation, all the way back to Socrates thinking writing will destroy people’s memory.
Does becoming the stereotypically biased geezer seem plausible to you who wrote that he might hit a brick wall at 40, or is this outside-view thinking asking the wrong questions?
This turned out to be true, of course.
If people tend to systematically make a certain mistake, then it’s worth asking whether there’s some causal factor behind it and whether that could be nudging us toward making the same mistake.
On the other hand, our general ability to solve problems and figure things out presumably is either staying the same, or getting worse, or getting better. That’s a factual question that we should be able to learn about, and if (after trying to correct for biases) we did end up reaching a conclusion that resembles an old mistake, well, then it’s also possible that the truth resembles an old mistake.
Correct. A candidate for a common causal factor of blaming the new media is observing that the young people are wrong.
If we taboo the evidence of subjectively observing the people raised by the new media, what remains is the filter bubble effect. It seems in hindsight like a natural rationalization to reach for, because it’s one of the few known downsides of the internet. Eliezer, you wrote the book on noticing when you rationalize. Is this a likely story?
Are some parts of the internet more affected by the new effects of the internet than others? Is there a way to test them for their cognitive function as opposed to thinking in ways the previous generation wouldn’t approve of?