If you have [a totalising worldview] too, then it’s a good exercise to put it into words. What are your most important Litanies? What are your n noble truths?
The Straussian reading of Yudkowsky is that this does not work. Even if your whole schtick is being the arch-rationalist, you don’t get people on board by writing out 500 words explicitly summarising your worldview. Even when you have an explicit set of principles, it needs to have examples and quotes to make it concrete (note how many people Yudkowsky quotes and how many examples he gives in the 12 virtues piece), and be surrounded by other stuff that (1) brings down the raw cognitive inferential distance, and (2) gives it life through its symbols / Harry-defeating-the-dementor stories / examples of success / cathedrals / thumos.
It is possible that writing down the explicit summary can be actively bad for developing it, especially if it’s vague / fuzzy / early-stages / not-fully-formed. Ideas need time to gestate, and an explicit verbal form is not always the most supportive container.
Yes! 100%. I too have noticed that stating these outright doesn’t work at all. It’s also bad for developing one too.
When I’m trying to sell ideas I do so more indirectly than this. The reason I wrote this post is because I felt I did have one, and wanted to verify to myself that this was true.
The Straussian reading of Yudkowsky is that this does not work. Even if your whole schtick is being the arch-rationalist, you don’t get people on board by writing out 500 words explicitly summarising your worldview. Even when you have an explicit set of principles, it needs to have examples and quotes to make it concrete (note how many people Yudkowsky quotes and how many examples he gives in the 12 virtues piece), and be surrounded by other stuff that (1) brings down the raw cognitive inferential distance, and (2) gives it life through its symbols / Harry-defeating-the-dementor stories / examples of success / cathedrals / thumos.
It is possible that writing down the explicit summary can be actively bad for developing it, especially if it’s vague / fuzzy / early-stages / not-fully-formed. Ideas need time to gestate, and an explicit verbal form is not always the most supportive container.
Yes! 100%. I too have noticed that stating these outright doesn’t work at all. It’s also bad for developing one too.
When I’m trying to sell ideas I do so more indirectly than this. The reason I wrote this post is because I felt I did have one, and wanted to verify to myself that this was true.