I was not aware of this distincion before, and I think it is correct. However, in practice I think (believe?) this can’t be discussed in isolation without considering simulacrum levels. My impression is that often people don’t make object-level statements when they say “I believe in”, but rather want to associate themselves with something.
Maybe a rough example:
“I believe that you will succeed”—object level, prediction about high probability of desired outcome
“I believe in you” (Simulacrum Level 1) - as discussed here, “I am willing to support you/invest resources into you”
“I believe in you” (Simulacrum Level 2) - I want to appear supportive to be considered a good friend by you, regardless of my willingness to actually invest resources if you demand them at some point.
“I believe in you” (Simulacrum Level 3) - I say this because this statement is in the cluster of things that the category “good friend” is correlated with
“I believe in you” (Simulacrum Level 4) - I say this because this statement is in the cluster of things that I believe the high status group thinks the category “good friend” is correlated with
Now that I think about it the Simulacrum Levels don’t quite match with the definition, but I hope the general idea is clear. Maybe it helps to expand the framework.
I was not aware of this distincion before, and I think it is correct. However, in practice I think (believe?) this can’t be discussed in isolation without considering simulacrum levels. My impression is that often people don’t make object-level statements when they say “I believe in”, but rather want to associate themselves with something.
Maybe a rough example:
“I believe that you will succeed”—object level, prediction about high probability of desired outcome
“I believe in you” (Simulacrum Level 1) - as discussed here, “I am willing to support you/invest resources into you”
“I believe in you” (Simulacrum Level 2) - I want to appear supportive to be considered a good friend by you, regardless of my willingness to actually invest resources if you demand them at some point.
“I believe in you” (Simulacrum Level 3) - I say this because this statement is in the cluster of things that the category “good friend” is correlated with
“I believe in you” (Simulacrum Level 4) - I say this because this statement is in the cluster of things that I believe the high status group thinks the category “good friend” is correlated with
Now that I think about it the Simulacrum Levels don’t quite match with the definition, but I hope the general idea is clear. Maybe it helps to expand the framework.