I couldn’t pass an ITT for advocates of Islam or extrasensory perception. On the one hand, this does represent a distinct deficit in my ability to model what the advocates of these ideas are thinking, a tragic gap in my comprehension of reality, which I would hope to remedy in the Glorious Transhumanist Future if that were a real thing. On the other hand, facing the constraints of our world, my inability to pass an ITT for Islam or ESP seems … basically fine? I already have strong reasons to doubt the existence of ontologically fundamental mental entities. I accept my ignorance of the reasons someone might postulate otherwise, not out of contempt, but because I just don’t have the time.
I think there’s a hidden or assumed goal here that I don’t understand. The goal clearly isn’t truth for it’s own sake because then there wouldn’t be a distinction between the truth of what they believe and the truth of whats real. You can of course make a distinction such as Simulacra levels but ultimately it’s all part of the territory.
If the goal is instrumental ability to impact the world, I think probably a good portion of the time it’s as important to understand peoples beliefs as the reality, because a good portion of the time your impact will he based on not just knowing the truth, but convincing others to change their actions or beliefs.
I think there’s a hidden or assumed goal here that I don’t understand. The goal clearly isn’t truth for it’s own sake because then there wouldn’t be a distinction between the truth of what they believe and the truth of whats real. You can of course make a distinction such as Simulacra levels but ultimately it’s all part of the territory.
If the goal is instrumental ability to impact the world, I think probably a good portion of the time it’s as important to understand peoples beliefs as the reality, because a good portion of the time your impact will he based on not just knowing the truth, but convincing others to change their actions or beliefs.
So what actually is the goal you are after?