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Distinctions

TagLast edit: 14 Mar 2021 16:45 UTC by Yoav Ravid

A common Failure mode is failing to notice a Distinction between two or more things. on the other hand, noticing distinctions can lead to insight, dissolving confusion, and better results.

“intelligence is the measure of the number and the quality of the distinctions you have in a given situation”—Tony Robbins

Thus, making and noticing distinctions is a core skill.

See also: Decoupling vs Contextualizing, Conflict vs Mistake, Compartmentalization, Bucket Errors, Map and Territory, Fallacy of Gray, Wanting and liking

External Links:
Use–mention distinction

Ta­boo “Out­side View”

Daniel Kokotajlo17 Jun 2021 9:36 UTC
350 points
33 comments8 min readLW link3 reviews

Fal­la­cies of Compression

Eliezer Yudkowsky17 Feb 2008 18:51 UTC
96 points
27 comments4 min readLW link

The Quo­ta­tion is not the Referent

Eliezer Yudkowsky13 Mar 2008 0:53 UTC
75 points
14 comments3 min readLW link

Sapir-Whorf for Rationalists

Duncan Sabien (Deactivated)25 Jan 2023 7:58 UTC
149 points
49 comments19 min readLW link

Ter­mi­nal Values and In­stru­men­tal Values

Eliezer Yudkowsky15 Nov 2007 7:56 UTC
115 points
45 comments10 min readLW link

Con­fi­dence lev­els in­side and out­side an argument

Scott Alexander16 Dec 2010 3:06 UTC
234 points
192 comments6 min readLW link

Scien­tific Ev­i­dence, Le­gal Ev­i­dence, Ra­tional Evidence

Eliezer Yudkowsky19 Aug 2007 5:36 UTC
129 points
18 comments3 min readLW link

What Do We Mean By “Ra­tion­al­ity”?

Eliezer Yudkowsky16 Mar 2009 22:33 UTC
367 points
19 comments6 min readLW link

De­bunked And Well-Refuted

Scott Alexander13 Dec 2014 12:08 UTC
46 points
4 comments6 min readLW link

A List of Nuances

abramdemski10 Nov 2014 5:02 UTC
67 points
24 comments10 min readLW link

Choos­ing the right ask for a context

ChristianKl28 Dec 2020 14:58 UTC
14 points
6 comments2 min readLW link

“Flinch­ing away from truth” is of­ten about *pro­tect­ing* the epistemology

AnnaSalamon20 Dec 2016 18:39 UTC
233 points
58 comments7 min readLW link

“PR” is cor­ro­sive; “rep­u­ta­tion” is not.

AnnaSalamon14 Feb 2021 3:32 UTC
318 points
95 comments2 min readLW link3 reviews

“Other peo­ple are wrong” vs “I am right”

Buck22 Feb 2019 20:01 UTC
262 points
20 comments9 min readLW link2 reviews

Gears Level & Policy Level

abramdemski24 Nov 2017 7:17 UTC
61 points
8 comments7 min readLW link

Urges vs. Goals: The anal­ogy to an­ti­ci­pa­tion and belief

AnnaSalamon24 Jan 2012 23:57 UTC
126 points
71 comments7 min readLW link

Disjunc­tions, An­tipre­dic­tions, Etc.

Eliezer Yudkowsky9 Dec 2008 15:13 UTC
28 points
26 comments5 min readLW link

Tac­ti­cal vs. Strate­gic Cooperation

sarahconstantin12 Aug 2018 16:41 UTC
74 points
18 comments5 min readLW link

Risk aver­sion vs. con­cave util­ity function

dvasya31 Jan 2012 6:25 UTC
3 points
35 comments3 min readLW link

Risk and un­cer­tainty: A false di­chotomy?

MichaelA18 Jan 2020 3:09 UTC
6 points
9 comments20 min readLW link

Reflec­tive Bayesianism

abramdemski6 Apr 2021 19:48 UTC
62 points
27 comments13 min readLW link

The Proper Use of Humility

Eliezer Yudkowsky1 Dec 2006 19:55 UTC
189 points
54 comments5 min readLW link

The Proper Use of Doubt

Eliezer Yudkowsky6 Aug 2007 20:29 UTC
91 points
34 comments3 min readLW link

“Tak­ing your en­vi­ron­ment as ob­ject” vs “Be­ing sub­ject to your en­vi­ron­ment”

Ben Pace11 Apr 2021 22:47 UTC
86 points
17 comments3 min readLW link

Re­la­bel­ings vs. Ex­ter­nal References

Chris_Leong20 Sep 2019 2:20 UTC
12 points
4 comments3 min readLW link

Model­ling Trans­for­ma­tive AI Risks (MTAIR) Pro­ject: Introduction

16 Aug 2021 7:12 UTC
91 points
0 comments9 min readLW link

Distinc­tions of the Moment

abramdemski20 Jun 2017 14:38 UTC
10 points
4 comments1 min readLW link

Sen­tience, Sapi­ence, Con­scious­ness & Self-Aware­ness: Defin­ing Com­plex Terms

LukeOnline20 Oct 2021 13:48 UTC
10 points
8 comments4 min readLW link

Learn­ing-In­ten­tions vs Do­ing-In­ten­tions

Ruby1 Jan 2019 22:22 UTC
51 points
14 comments4 min readLW link

Frac­tal Con­ver­sa­tions vs Holis­tic Response

abramdemski5 May 2021 15:04 UTC
43 points
4 comments3 min readLW link

De­scrip­tive vs. pre­scrip­tive optimism

jasoncrawford22 Jan 2022 19:50 UTC
18 points
1 comment1 min readLW link
(rootsofprogress.org)

Ac­tors and scribes, words and deeds

Benquo26 Apr 2017 5:12 UTC
38 points
5 comments9 min readLW link

Fake Reductionism

Eliezer Yudkowsky17 Mar 2008 22:49 UTC
93 points
43 comments2 min readLW link

When to use “meta” vs “self-refer­ence”, “re­cur­sive”, etc.

Alex_Altair6 Apr 2022 4:57 UTC
21 points
5 comments5 min readLW link

Ra­tional vs. Scien­tific Ev-Psych

Eliezer Yudkowsky4 Jan 2008 7:01 UTC
35 points
50 comments3 min readLW link

[Question] What’s the differ­ence be­tween Wis­dom and Ra­tion­al­ity?

Yoav Ravid14 Apr 2023 6:22 UTC
8 points
4 comments1 min readLW link

Ene­mies vs Malefactors

So8res28 Feb 2023 23:38 UTC
203 points
60 comments1 min readLW link

Notic­ing Frame Differences

Raemon30 Sep 2019 1:24 UTC
215 points
39 comments9 min readLW link2 reviews

Ask and Guess

[deleted]1 Dec 2010 17:54 UTC
132 points
66 comments2 min readLW link

Every­thing Okay

Zvi23 Jan 2021 14:50 UTC
62 points
13 comments7 min readLW link
(thezvi.wordpress.com)

So­ciety Is Fixed, Biol­ogy Is Mutable

Scott Alexander11 Sep 2014 0:27 UTC
45 points
1 comment3 min readLW link

Ex­ten­sions and Intensions

Eliezer Yudkowsky4 Feb 2008 21:34 UTC
99 points
32 comments4 min readLW link

The Case for Pri­vacy Optimism

bmgarfinkel10 Mar 2020 20:30 UTC
43 points
1 comment32 min readLW link
(benmgarfinkel.wordpress.com)

“If You’re Not a Holy Mad­man, You’re Not Try­ing”

abramdemski28 Feb 2021 18:56 UTC
106 points
26 comments3 min readLW link

Ex­plain/​Wor­ship/​Ig­nore?

Eliezer Yudkowsky2 Sep 2007 20:01 UTC
114 points
88 comments2 min readLW link

Public Po­si­tions and Pri­vate Guts

Vaniver11 Oct 2018 19:38 UTC
85 points
13 comments8 min readLW link

“Beliefs” vs. “No­tions”

David Scott Krueger (formerly: capybaralet)12 Mar 2021 16:04 UTC
12 points
7 comments1 min readLW link

Ac­tive Cu­ri­os­ity vs Open Curiosity

Unreal15 Mar 2019 16:54 UTC
76 points
24 comments3 min readLW link

Utilons vs. Hedons

Psychohistorian10 Aug 2009 19:20 UTC
40 points
119 comments6 min readLW link

In­ter­pre­ta­tions of “prob­a­bil­ity”

So8res9 May 2019 19:16 UTC
69 points
22 comments5 min readLW link

Spirits vs Terms as Ar­bi­tra­tion Norms

nonveumann18 Mar 2021 5:07 UTC
12 points
0 comments2 min readLW link

The Prac­tice & Virtue of Discernment

ozziegooen26 May 2021 0:34 UTC
41 points
11 comments11 min readLW link

Re­mem­ber to trans­late your thoughts back again

brook1 Nov 2022 8:49 UTC
25 points
11 comments3 min readLW link
(forum.effectivealtruism.org)

Mo­ral un­cer­tainty vs re­lated concepts

MichaelA11 Jan 2020 10:03 UTC
26 points
13 comments16 min readLW link

Rest Days vs Re­cov­ery Days

Unreal19 Mar 2019 22:37 UTC
212 points
36 comments6 min readLW link1 review

Free Speech as Le­gal Right vs. Eth­i­cal Value

ozymandias28 Nov 2017 16:49 UTC
14 points
8 comments2 min readLW link

Tran­shu­man­ism and the de­no­ta­tion-con­no­ta­tion gap

PhilGoetz18 Aug 2010 15:33 UTC
25 points
31 comments2 min readLW link

Ineffi­cient Doesn’t Mean Indifferent

Zvi29 Apr 2018 11:30 UTC
39 points
17 comments3 min readLW link
(thezvi.wordpress.com)

Sys­tem­iz­ing and Hacking

SatvikBeri23 Mar 2018 18:01 UTC
40 points
1 comment1 min readLW link

Utility ≠ Reward

Vlad Mikulik5 Sep 2019 17:28 UTC
130 points
24 comments1 min readLW link2 reviews

Com­pact vs. Wide Models

Vaniver16 Jul 2018 4:09 UTC
31 points
5 comments3 min readLW link

Distinc­tions in Types of Thought

sarahconstantin10 Oct 2017 3:36 UTC
37 points
24 comments13 min readLW link

Distinc­tions Between Natal­ism Positions

ozymandias19 Oct 2017 1:06 UTC
12 points
0 comments2 min readLW link

Missed Distinctions

jimrandomh11 Apr 2009 3:15 UTC
38 points
13 comments2 min readLW link

The Rec­og­niz­ing vs Gen­er­at­ing Distinction

lifelonglearner9 Oct 2017 16:56 UTC
6 points
2 comments1 min readLW link
(mapandterritory.org)

Con­flict vs. mis­take in non-zero-sum games

Nisan5 Apr 2020 22:22 UTC
167 points
40 comments2 min readLW link1 review

Search ver­sus design

Alex Flint16 Aug 2020 16:53 UTC
108 points
40 comments36 min readLW link1 review

Op­ti­mism ver­sus cryonics

lsparrish25 Oct 2010 2:13 UTC
48 points
110 comments1 min readLW link

Du­pli­ca­tion ver­sus probability

Stuart_Armstrong20 Jun 2018 12:18 UTC
27 points
12 comments2 min readLW link

Tools ver­sus agents

Stuart_Armstrong16 May 2012 13:00 UTC
49 points
39 comments5 min readLW link

Utility ver­sus Re­ward func­tion: par­tial equivalence

Stuart_Armstrong13 Apr 2018 14:58 UTC
18 points
5 comments5 min readLW link

Prob­a­bil­ity vs Likelihood

abramdemski10 Nov 2020 21:28 UTC
110 points
10 comments12 min readLW link

Rule Thinkers In, Not Out

Scott Alexander27 Feb 2019 2:40 UTC
226 points
67 comments4 min readLW link4 reviews
(slatestarcodex.com)

Recom­men­da­tions vs. Guidelines

Scott Alexander13 Apr 2018 4:10 UTC
77 points
18 comments5 min readLW link
(slatestarcodex.com)

The Cat­e­gories Were Made For Man, Not Man For The Categories

Scott Alexander21 Nov 2014 14:34 UTC
97 points
9 comments18 min readLW link

Re­v­ersed Stu­pidity Is Not Intelligence

Eliezer Yudkowsky12 Dec 2007 22:14 UTC
182 points
120 comments3 min readLW link

Want­ing vs. Lik­ing Revisited

Scott Alexander9 Jul 2011 20:54 UTC
63 points
9 comments4 min readLW link

Church vs. Taskforce

Eliezer Yudkowsky28 Mar 2009 9:23 UTC
83 points
88 comments5 min readLW link

Emo­tional valence vs RL re­ward: a video game analogy

Steven Byrnes3 Sep 2020 15:28 UTC
12 points
6 comments4 min readLW link

Ex­pla­na­tion vs Rationalization

abramdemski22 Feb 2018 23:46 UTC
16 points
11 comments4 min readLW link

Toolbox-think­ing and Law-thinking

Eliezer Yudkowsky31 May 2018 21:28 UTC
169 points
49 comments12 min readLW link

“Gift­ed­ness” and Ge­nius, Cru­cial Differences

ArthurLidia28 Jan 2019 20:22 UTC
6 points
0 comments29 min readLW link

Re­veal Culture

MalcolmOcean25 Jul 2020 3:36 UTC
91 points
18 comments7 min readLW link2 reviews

Yes to Fea­ture Re­quests, No to Entitlement

jefftk11 Nov 2020 3:50 UTC
18 points
1 comment2 min readLW link
(www.jefftk.com)

Com­bat vs Nur­ture & Meta-Contrarianism

abramdemski10 Jan 2019 23:17 UTC
66 points
12 comments4 min readLW link

Con­ver­sa­tional Cul­tures: Com­bat vs Nur­ture (V2)

Ruby31 Dec 2019 20:23 UTC
143 points
92 comments9 min readLW link5 reviews

Fire­wal­ling the Op­ti­mal from the Rational

Eliezer Yudkowsky8 Oct 2012 8:01 UTC
171 points
313 comments5 min readLW link

Fu­sion and Equiv­o­ca­tion in Korzyb­ski’s Gen­eral Semantics

abramdemski21 Dec 2020 5:44 UTC
66 points
14 comments3 min readLW link

Fair­ness vs. Goodness

Eliezer Yudkowsky22 Feb 2009 20:22 UTC
15 points
21 comments1 min readLW link

Levels of Action

alyssavance14 Apr 2011 0:18 UTC
186 points
47 comments9 min readLW link

Gears vs Behavior

johnswentworth19 Sep 2019 6:50 UTC
114 points
14 comments7 min readLW link1 review

Selec­tion vs Control

abramdemski2 Jun 2019 7:01 UTC
172 points
25 comments11 min readLW link2 reviews

Com­mon vs Ex­pert Jar­gon

Raemon21 Sep 2017 3:05 UTC
50 points
17 comments4 min readLW link

Three types of Evidence

Rafael Harth19 Jan 2021 17:25 UTC
15 points
0 comments1 min readLW link

Skill: The Map is Not the Territory

Eliezer Yudkowsky6 Oct 2012 9:59 UTC
112 points
180 comments5 min readLW link

Dist­in­guish­ing claims about train­ing vs deployment

Richard_Ngo3 Feb 2021 11:30 UTC
68 points
29 comments9 min readLW link

Refer­ence Post: For­mal vs. Effec­tive Pre-Commitment

Chris_Leong27 Aug 2018 12:04 UTC
16 points
44 comments2 min readLW link

In­stru­men­tal vs. Epistemic—A Bardic Perspective

MBlume25 Apr 2009 7:41 UTC
90 points
189 comments3 min readLW link

Fic­tional Ev­i­dence vs. Fic­tional Insight

Wei Dai8 Jan 2010 1:59 UTC
50 points
46 comments2 min readLW link

Mo­ral­ity vs re­lated concepts

MichaelA7 Jan 2020 10:47 UTC
26 points
17 comments8 min readLW link

Two types of deference

Joe Carlsmith22 Feb 2021 3:32 UTC
4 points
0 comments5 min readLW link

Sup­port vs Ad­vice & Hold­ing Off Solutions

abramdemski23 Feb 2021 1:12 UTC
29 points
6 comments2 min readLW link
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