Construal level theory (near vs far thinking in the old Overcoming Bias days https://www.overcomingbias.com/2010/06/near-far-summary.html aka values vs decisions aka abstract vs concrete preferences) may be a better lens than map vs territory. Warning: this line of thinking leads toward accepting Hansonian signaling explanations of “values” and noticing rampant hypocrisy in most discussions of specific value-level claimed beliefs.
Once you acknowledge that, it’s hard to take seriously the abstractions of “moral foundations theory”. You don’t even have to go all the way to “human values” being an incoherent phrase to recognize that preferences are always and only in models (as they’re defined by counterfactual comparisons). From there it’s a short inference to understanding that models are never complete, and rarely usable far outside the training/testing datasets.
“Go west, young man.”
This quote is generally attributed to Horace Greeley, and very much associated with the US expansion westward in the North American continent. This was not a matter of inaccurate nor incomplete maps—there was plenty of shared context and knowledge that the advice would apply to those in NY or DC, and stop applying as the young man got toward Kansas or Oklahoma.
Construal level theory (near vs far thinking in the old Overcoming Bias days https://www.overcomingbias.com/2010/06/near-far-summary.html aka values vs decisions aka abstract vs concrete preferences) may be a better lens than map vs territory. Warning: this line of thinking leads toward accepting Hansonian signaling explanations of “values” and noticing rampant hypocrisy in most discussions of specific value-level claimed beliefs.
Once you acknowledge that, it’s hard to take seriously the abstractions of “moral foundations theory”. You don’t even have to go all the way to “human values” being an incoherent phrase to recognize that preferences are always and only in models (as they’re defined by counterfactual comparisons). From there it’s a short inference to understanding that models are never complete, and rarely usable far outside the training/testing datasets.
This quote is generally attributed to Horace Greeley, and very much associated with the US expansion westward in the North American continent. This was not a matter of inaccurate nor incomplete maps—there was plenty of shared context and knowledge that the advice would apply to those in NY or DC, and stop applying as the young man got toward Kansas or Oklahoma.