...? “Winning” isn’t just an abstraction, actually winning means getting something you value. Now, maybe many rationalists are in fact winning, but if so, there are specific values we’re attaining. It shouldn’t be hard to delineate them.
It should look like, “This person got a new job that makes them much happier, that person lost weight on an evidence-based diet after failing to do so on a string of other diets, this other person found a significant other once they started practicing Alicorn’s self-awareness techniques and learned to accept their nervousness on a first date...” It might even look like, “This person developed a new technology and is currently working on a startup to build more prototypes.”
In none of these cases should it be hard to explain how we’re winning, nor should Tim’s “not looking carefully enough” be an issue. Even if the wins are limited to subjective well-being, you should at least be able to explain that! Do you believe that we’re winning, or do you merely believe you believe it?
...? “Winning” isn’t just an abstraction, actually winning means getting something you value. Now, maybe many rationalists are in fact winning, but if so, there are specific values we’re attaining. It shouldn’t be hard to delineate them.
It should look like, “This person got a new job that makes them much happier, that person lost weight on an evidence-based diet after failing to do so on a string of other diets, this other person found a significant other once they started practicing Alicorn’s self-awareness techniques and learned to accept their nervousness on a first date...” It might even look like, “This person developed a new technology and is currently working on a startup to build more prototypes.”
In none of these cases should it be hard to explain how we’re winning, nor should Tim’s “not looking carefully enough” be an issue. Even if the wins are limited to subjective well-being, you should at least be able to explain that! Do you believe that we’re winning, or do you merely believe you believe it?