That was precisely my first reaction, and in fact I originally wrote that admitting you can’t be certain your left arm isn’t paralyzed may seem like a stronger defense against an accusation of anosognosia than claiming infinite certainty. However, I realized that saying you can’t be absolutely certain your left arm is not paralyzed while absolutely denying that it is seems like a pretty obvious contradiction. The very reason we’re talking about anosognosia is because it is unique in that you aren’t saying “I’m not certain, but I don’t think I’m paralyzed,” but “I’m not certain, but I completely reject any evidence that I’m paralyzed.”
I don’t fully understand the condition, though. Would a Less Wrong reader with anosognosia be able to realize he had it if you confronted him on the notion, not that he is paralyzed, but that he is totally rejecting the evidence instead of exhibiting real uncertainty? Difficult to wrap my head around.
I did study logic for a while, though, and it gave me an unfortunate predilection for resolving to certainty when I should at least be providing reasonable probability bounds.
That was precisely my first reaction, and in fact I originally wrote that admitting you can’t be certain your left arm isn’t paralyzed may seem like a stronger defense against an accusation of anosognosia than claiming infinite certainty. However, I realized that saying you can’t be absolutely certain your left arm is not paralyzed while absolutely denying that it is seems like a pretty obvious contradiction. The very reason we’re talking about anosognosia is because it is unique in that you aren’t saying “I’m not certain, but I don’t think I’m paralyzed,” but “I’m not certain, but I completely reject any evidence that I’m paralyzed.”
I don’t fully understand the condition, though. Would a Less Wrong reader with anosognosia be able to realize he had it if you confronted him on the notion, not that he is paralyzed, but that he is totally rejecting the evidence instead of exhibiting real uncertainty? Difficult to wrap my head around.
I did study logic for a while, though, and it gave me an unfortunate predilection for resolving to certainty when I should at least be providing reasonable probability bounds.