That’s not a problem unless it’s false. Almost all evidence and statements to the contrary are less reliable than my belief regarding what’s true.
That’s a very expensive state to maintain, since I got that way by altering my internal description of what’s true to match the most reliable evidence that I can find...
I don’t think I am right about everything, but I relate to this. I am not perfectly rational. But I decided to tear apart and challenge all my cached thoughts around half my life ago (well over a decade before Eliezer wrote about cached thoughts of course, but it’s a convenient term for me now) and ever since then, I have not been able to see authorities the same way...
I think it would be ideal if we were all to strive to do enough hard work that we’ve successfully altered our internal description of what’s true to match the most reliable evidence on so many different topics as to be able to see fatal flaws in the authoritative views more often than not.
Considering the implications of the first three links in this post that accomplishment may not be an unrealistic one and sadly, I don’t say this because I think we’re all so incredibly smart, but because the world is so incredibly broken.
I’ve never accepted that belief in the authority on any subject could pay rent. The biggest advantage experts have to me is when they can quickly point me to the evidence that I can evaluate fastest to arrive at the correct conclusion; rather than trust Aristotle that heavier items fall faster, I can duplicate any number of experiments that show that any two objects with equal specific air resistance fall at exactly the same speed.
Downside: It is more expensive to evaluate the merits of the evidence than the credentials of the expert.
The biggest advantage experts have to me is when they can quickly point me to the evidence that I can evaluate fastest to arrive at the correct conclusion
I relate to this.
Downside: It is more expensive to evaluate the merits of the evidence than the credentials of the expert.
There simply isn’t enough time to evaluate everything. When it’s really important, I’ll go to a significant amount of trouble. If not, I use heuristics like “how likely is it that something as easy to test as this made it’s way into the school curriculum and is also wrong?” if I have too little time or the subject is of little importance, I may decide the authoritative opinion is more likely to be right than my absolutely not thought out at all opinion, but that’s not the same as trusting authority. That’s more like slapping duct tape on, to me.
Slightly wrong heuristic. Go with “What proportion of things in the curriculum that are this easy to test have been wrong when tested?”
The answer is disturbing. Things like ‘Glass is a slow-flowing liquid’.
Actually ‘Glass is a slow-flowing liquid’ would take decades to test, wouldn’t it? I think you took a different meaning of “easy to test”. I meant something along the lines of “A thing that just about anyone can do in a matter of minutes without spending much money.”
Unless you can think of a fast way to test the glass is a liquid theory?
Unless you can think of a fast way to test the glass is a liquid theory?
Look at old windows that have been in for decades. Do they pile up on the bottom like caramel? No. Myth busted.
More interesting than simple refutation though is “taboo liquid”. Go look at non-newtonian fluids and see all the cool things that matter can do. For example, Ice and rock flow like a liquid on a large enough scale (glaciers, planetary mantle convection).
Look at old windows that have been in for decades. Do they pile up on the bottom like caramel? No. Myth busted.
I actually believed that myth for ages because the panes in my childhood house were thicker on the bottom than on the top, causing visible distortion. Turns out that making perfectly flat sheets of glass was difficult at the time it was built, and that for whatever reason they’d been put in thick side down.
Oh. Yeah. Good point. Obviously I wasn’t thinking too hard about this. Thank you.
Wait, so they put the glass is a liquid theory into school curriculum and it was this easy to test?
I don’t recall that in my own school curriculum. I’ll be thinking about whether to reduce my trust for my own schooling experience. It can’t go much further down after reading John Taylor Gatto, but if the remaining trust that is there is unfounded, I might as well kill it, too.
That’s not a problem unless it’s false. Almost all evidence and statements to the contrary are less reliable than my belief regarding what’s true.
That’s a very expensive state to maintain, since I got that way by altering my internal description of what’s true to match the most reliable evidence that I can find...
I don’t think I am right about everything, but I relate to this. I am not perfectly rational. But I decided to tear apart and challenge all my cached thoughts around half my life ago (well over a decade before Eliezer wrote about cached thoughts of course, but it’s a convenient term for me now) and ever since then, I have not been able to see authorities the same way...
I think it would be ideal if we were all to strive to do enough hard work that we’ve successfully altered our internal description of what’s true to match the most reliable evidence on so many different topics as to be able to see fatal flaws in the authoritative views more often than not.
Considering the implications of the first three links in this post that accomplishment may not be an unrealistic one and sadly, I don’t say this because I think we’re all so incredibly smart, but because the world is so incredibly broken.
Did you start questioning early as well?
I’ve never accepted that belief in the authority on any subject could pay rent. The biggest advantage experts have to me is when they can quickly point me to the evidence that I can evaluate fastest to arrive at the correct conclusion; rather than trust Aristotle that heavier items fall faster, I can duplicate any number of experiments that show that any two objects with equal specific air resistance fall at exactly the same speed.
Downside: It is more expensive to evaluate the merits of the evidence than the credentials of the expert.
I relate to this.
There simply isn’t enough time to evaluate everything. When it’s really important, I’ll go to a significant amount of trouble. If not, I use heuristics like “how likely is it that something as easy to test as this made it’s way into the school curriculum and is also wrong?” if I have too little time or the subject is of little importance, I may decide the authoritative opinion is more likely to be right than my absolutely not thought out at all opinion, but that’s not the same as trusting authority. That’s more like slapping duct tape on, to me.
Slightly wrong heuristic. Go with “What proportion of things in the curriculum that are this easy to test have been wrong when tested?” The answer is disturbing. Things like ‘Glass is a slow-flowing liquid’.
Actually ‘Glass is a slow-flowing liquid’ would take decades to test, wouldn’t it? I think you took a different meaning of “easy to test”. I meant something along the lines of “A thing that just about anyone can do in a matter of minutes without spending much money.”
Unless you can think of a fast way to test the glass is a liquid theory?
Look at old windows that have been in for decades. Do they pile up on the bottom like caramel? No. Myth busted.
More interesting than simple refutation though is “taboo liquid”. Go look at non-newtonian fluids and see all the cool things that matter can do. For example, Ice and rock flow like a liquid on a large enough scale (glaciers, planetary mantle convection).
I actually believed that myth for ages because the panes in my childhood house were thicker on the bottom than on the top, causing visible distortion. Turns out that making perfectly flat sheets of glass was difficult at the time it was built, and that for whatever reason they’d been put in thick side down.
Oh. Yeah. Good point. Obviously I wasn’t thinking too hard about this. Thank you.
Wait, so they put the glass is a liquid theory into school curriculum and it was this easy to test?
I don’t recall that in my own school curriculum. I’ll be thinking about whether to reduce my trust for my own schooling experience. It can’t go much further down after reading John Taylor Gatto, but if the remaining trust that is there is unfounded, I might as well kill it, too.
You can’t taboo a word used in the premise.
Non-Newtonian fluids aren’t liquids, except when they are.
Granted, they are pretty cool though.