I think there are two issues here: 1) what are the right beliefs to have about life 2) what’s the right emotional attitude to life. You paint a picture of truth as a harsh destroyer of illusions, but why not describe it as a source of wonder / beauty / power / progress instead?
but why not describe it as a source of wonder / beauty / power / progress instead?
Tell someone they can fly, and they may be excited to learn how. Tell someone they can’t and they may be reluctant to believe you.
If we accept only what we want to believe* how will we:
Find the truth
Obtain the power/knowledge/etc. necessary to make things better?**
*This can go either way. If we want to be able to do things, then things being possible is great. If we want to do nothing, then things being impossible is great. (Or to make a better case: we may not want to believe
people are capable of doing terrible things, etc.
It is ‘possible’ to do terrible things (consider nukes, biorisk, etc. - AI risk may include the claim that ‘agency’ is not required to ‘do evil’.))
I think there are two issues here: 1) what are the right beliefs to have about life 2) what’s the right emotional attitude to life. You paint a picture of truth as a harsh destroyer of illusions, but why not describe it as a source of wonder / beauty / power / progress instead?
Tell someone they can fly, and they may be excited to learn how. Tell someone they can’t and they may be reluctant to believe you.
If we accept only what we want to believe* how will we:
Find the truth
Obtain the power/knowledge/etc. necessary to make things better?**
*This can go either way. If we want to be able to do things, then things being possible is great. If we want to do nothing, then things being impossible is great. (Or to make a better case: we may not want to believe
people are capable of doing terrible things, etc.
It is ‘possible’ to do terrible things (consider nukes, biorisk, etc. - AI risk may include the claim that ‘agency’ is not required to ‘do evil’.))
ETA:
**And what if some things can’t be improved?