Yes, yes, this is all fine, but do you see the problem? Say I read the OP, I ask “what does ‘generativity’ mean”—and your response is to speculate on what you think when you hear the term, to “think out loud” about connotations and so forth.
So this is what you think of when you hear it, because… why? No particular reason, just, this is what associations the term happens to trigger in your mind. What does the OP mean by it? The same thing? Probably not. But what? How do we know? What does anyone else who reads the post think of when they read it? Something else entirely, different from what you think when you read it, and from what the OP meant? Quite possibly!
I hardly think I need to point out that this is an extremely sub-optimal way to communicate anything of any importance, or anything of the least complexity or rigor, or—god forbid!—anything that is both important and complex and/or rigorous.
Compare what happens if I write a post about, say, optimization processes. “What on earth is an ‘optimization process’,” asks a reader; and I respond:
(Or, of course, I could’ve included those links in my post in the first place.)
“Aha!” says the reader, “I see.”
(Note, by the way, that since the term “optimization process” is well-established among rationalists, anyone else could’ve responded to this hypothetical confused reader with those very same hyperlinks. But how did it get to be this way? Simply that Eliezer explained, explicitly and in detail, what he was talking about!)
I see the problem. As you identified, there are two questions here. 1) Is it necessary to have new jargon here? Can’t we just say “creativity”? 2) Assuming new jargon is warranted, how do we ensure it is properly defined and introduced?
I was addressing the first question, though I completely agree the second is awfully important. I’m not sure how much of a definition is warranted at this put, but I do thing the OP should have offered at least a few sentences describing the thing rather than introducing solely as a term which is often used in their circle.
Yes, yes, this is all fine, but do you see the problem? Say I read the OP, I ask “what does ‘generativity’ mean”—and your response is to speculate on what you think when you hear the term, to “think out loud” about connotations and so forth.
So this is what you think of when you hear it, because… why? No particular reason, just, this is what associations the term happens to trigger in your mind. What does the OP mean by it? The same thing? Probably not. But what? How do we know? What does anyone else who reads the post think of when they read it? Something else entirely, different from what you think when you read it, and from what the OP meant? Quite possibly!
I hardly think I need to point out that this is an extremely sub-optimal way to communicate anything of any importance, or anything of the least complexity or rigor, or—god forbid!—anything that is both important and complex and/or rigorous.
Compare what happens if I write a post about, say, optimization processes. “What on earth is an ‘optimization process’,” asks a reader; and I respond:
Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 (etc., etc.)
(Or, of course, I could’ve included those links in my post in the first place.)
“Aha!” says the reader, “I see.”
(Note, by the way, that since the term “optimization process” is well-established among rationalists, anyone else could’ve responded to this hypothetical confused reader with those very same hyperlinks. But how did it get to be this way? Simply that Eliezer explained, explicitly and in detail, what he was talking about!)
I see the problem. As you identified, there are two questions here. 1) Is it necessary to have new jargon here? Can’t we just say “creativity”? 2) Assuming new jargon is warranted, how do we ensure it is properly defined and introduced?
I was addressing the first question, though I completely agree the second is awfully important. I’m not sure how much of a definition is warranted at this put, but I do thing the OP should have offered at least a few sentences describing the thing rather than introducing solely as a term which is often used in their circle.