Let’s imagine for a moment, the most convincing paragraph ever written. It was truly a world-wonder of persuasion—it converted fundamentalist Christians into atheists, suicide bombers into diplomats, and Ann Coulter-4-President supporters into Less Wrong sycophants.
Would it produce people who could explain the differences between Pascal’s Wager and the expected utility argument for cryonics and why they should produce different answers? Or who could accept Many Worlds without thinking that they make all available decisions “equally”? Or who could reject the theory that physical processes affect epiphenomenal consciousness but not the other way around on the basis that people physically report their conscious experience? Will they be able to systematically get similarly difficult questions right?
Or would it produce atheists that can believe in homeopathy or astrology?
Would it produce people who could explain the differences between Pascal’s Wager and the expected utility argument for cryonics and why they should produce different answers? Or who could accept Many Worlds without thinking that they make all available decisions “equally”? Or who could reject the theory that physical processes affect epiphenomenal consciousness but not the other way around on the basis that people physically report their conscious experience? Will they be able to systematically get similarly difficult questions right?
Or would it produce atheists that can believe in homeopathy or astrology?