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Distinctions

TagLast edit: Mar 14, 2021, 4:45 PM 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 KokotajloJun 17, 2021, 9:36 AM
351 points
33 comments8 min readLW link3 reviews

The Quo­ta­tion is not the Referent

Eliezer YudkowskyMar 13, 2008, 12:53 AM
76 points
14 comments3 min readLW link

Fal­la­cies of Compression

Eliezer YudkowskyFeb 17, 2008, 6:51 PM
103 points
27 comments4 min readLW link

Sapir-Whorf for Rationalists

Duncan Sabien (Inactive)Jan 25, 2023, 7:58 AM
155 points
49 comments20 min readLW link

Ter­mi­nal Values and In­stru­men­tal Values

Eliezer YudkowskyNov 15, 2007, 7:56 AM
118 points
46 comments10 min readLW link

Scien­tific Ev­i­dence, Le­gal Ev­i­dence, Ra­tional Evidence

Eliezer YudkowskyAug 19, 2007, 5:36 AM
145 points
18 comments3 min readLW link

What Do We Mean By “Ra­tion­al­ity”?

Eliezer YudkowskyMar 16, 2009, 10:33 PM
409 points
20 comments6 min readLW link

Con­fi­dence lev­els in­side and out­side an argument

Scott AlexanderDec 16, 2010, 3:06 AM
238 points
192 comments6 min readLW link

De­bunked And Well-Refuted

Scott AlexanderDec 13, 2014, 12:08 PM
51 points
4 comments6 min readLW link

Choos­ing the right ask for a context

ChristianKlDec 28, 2020, 2:58 PM
14 points
6 comments2 min readLW link

A List of Nuances

abramdemskiNov 10, 2014, 5:02 AM
67 points
24 comments10 min readLW link

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

AnnaSalamonDec 20, 2016, 6:39 PM
237 points
58 comments7 min readLW link

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

BuckFeb 22, 2019, 8:01 PM
270 points
21 comments9 min readLW link2 reviews

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

AnnaSalamonFeb 14, 2021, 3:32 AM
324 points
95 comments2 min readLW link3 reviews

Gears Level & Policy Level

abramdemskiNov 24, 2017, 7:17 AM
63 points
8 comments7 min readLW link

Re­la­bel­ings vs. Ex­ter­nal References

Chris_LeongSep 20, 2019, 2:20 AM
12 points
4 comments3 min readLW link

Notic­ing Frame Differences

RaemonSep 30, 2019, 1:24 AM
220 points
40 comments9 min readLW link2 reviews

De­scrip­tive vs. pre­scrip­tive optimism

jasoncrawfordJan 22, 2022, 7:50 PM
18 points
1 comment1 min readLW link
(rootsofprogress.org)

Disjunc­tions, An­tipre­dic­tions, Etc.

Eliezer YudkowskyDec 9, 2008, 3:13 PM
28 points
26 comments5 min readLW link

Model­ling Trans­for­ma­tive AI Risks (MTAIR) Pro­ject: Introduction

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

Fake Reductionism

Eliezer YudkowskyMar 17, 2008, 10:49 PM
98 points
44 comments2 min readLW link

Ac­tive Cu­ri­os­ity vs Open Curiosity

UnrealMar 15, 2019, 4:54 PM
76 points
24 comments3 min readLW link

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

abramdemskiFeb 28, 2021, 6:56 PM
108 points
26 comments3 min readLW link

Ask and Guess

[deleted]Dec 1, 2010, 5:54 PM
136 points
66 comments2 min readLW link

Spirits vs Terms as Ar­bi­tra­tion Norms

raiMar 18, 2021, 5:07 AM
20 points
0 comments2 min readLW link

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

Ben PaceApr 11, 2021, 10:47 PM
87 points
17 comments3 min readLW link

Every­thing Okay

ZviJan 23, 2021, 2:50 PM
62 points
13 comments7 min readLW link
(thezvi.wordpress.com)

Risk aver­sion vs. con­cave util­ity function

dvasyaJan 31, 2012, 6:25 AM
3 points
35 comments3 min readLW link

Tac­ti­cal vs. Strate­gic Cooperation

sarahconstantinAug 12, 2018, 4:41 PM
75 points
18 comments5 min readLW link

Frac­tal Con­ver­sa­tions vs Holis­tic Response

abramdemskiMay 5, 2021, 3:04 PM
43 points
4 comments3 min readLW link

The Case for Pri­vacy Optimism

bmgarfinkelMar 10, 2020, 8:30 PM
43 points
1 comment32 min readLW link
(benmgarfinkel.wordpress.com)

Urges vs. Goals: The anal­ogy to an­ti­ci­pa­tion and belief

AnnaSalamonJan 24, 2012, 11:57 PM
129 points
72 comments7 min readLW link

Utilons vs. Hedons

PsychohistorianAug 10, 2009, 7:20 PM
40 points
119 comments6 min readLW link

Ra­tional vs. Scien­tific Ev-Psych

Eliezer YudkowskyJan 4, 2008, 7:01 AM
36 points
50 comments3 min readLW link

So­ciety Is Fixed, Biol­ogy Is Mutable

Scott AlexanderSep 11, 2014, 12:27 AM
49 points
1 comment3 min readLW link

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

Alex_AltairApr 6, 2022, 4:57 AM
21 points
5 comments5 min readLW link

The Proper Use of Doubt

Eliezer YudkowskyAug 6, 2007, 8:29 PM
92 points
35 comments3 min readLW link

Ex­ten­sions and Intensions

Eliezer YudkowskyFeb 4, 2008, 9:34 PM
103 points
32 comments4 min readLW link

“Beliefs” vs. “No­tions”

David Scott Krueger (formerly: capybaralet)Mar 12, 2021, 4:04 PM
12 points
7 comments1 min readLW link

Reflec­tive Bayesianism

abramdemskiApr 6, 2021, 7:48 PM
62 points
27 comments13 min readLW link

Learn­ing-In­ten­tions vs Do­ing-In­ten­tions

RubyJan 1, 2019, 10:22 PM
51 points
14 comments4 min readLW link

In­ter­pre­ta­tions of “prob­a­bil­ity”

So8resMay 9, 2019, 7:16 PM
69 points
22 comments5 min readLW link

Public Po­si­tions and Pri­vate Guts

VaniverOct 11, 2018, 7:38 PM
85 points
13 comments8 min readLW link

The Proper Use of Humility

Eliezer YudkowskyDec 1, 2006, 7:55 PM
197 points
54 comments5 min readLW link

Risk and un­cer­tainty: A false di­chotomy?

MichaelAJan 18, 2020, 3:09 AM
6 points
9 comments20 min readLW link

Ex­plain/​Wor­ship/​Ig­nore?

Eliezer YudkowskySep 2, 2007, 8:01 PM
122 points
88 comments2 min readLW link

Distinc­tions of the Moment

abramdemskiJun 20, 2017, 2:38 PM
10 points
4 comments1 min readLW link

Ac­tors and scribes, words and deeds

BenquoApr 26, 2017, 5:12 AM
38 points
5 comments9 min readLW link

Ene­mies vs Malefactors

So8resFeb 28, 2023, 11:38 PM
229 points
69 comments5 min readLW link4 reviews

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

Yoav RavidApr 14, 2023, 6:22 AM
8 points
4 comments1 min readLW link

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

LukeOnlineOct 20, 2021, 1:48 PM
10 points
9 comments4 min readLW link

Yes to Fea­ture Re­quests, No to Entitlement

jefftkNov 11, 2020, 3:50 AM
18 points
1 comment2 min readLW link
(www.jefftk.com)

Selec­tion vs Control

abramdemskiJun 2, 2019, 7:01 AM
178 points
26 comments11 min readLW link2 reviews

Op­ti­mism ver­sus cryonics

lsparrishOct 25, 2010, 2:13 AM
48 points
110 comments1 min readLW link

Dist­in­guish­ing claims about train­ing vs deployment

Richard_NgoFeb 3, 2021, 11:30 AM
68 points
29 comments9 min readLW link

Re­veal Culture

MalcolmOceanJul 25, 2020, 3:36 AM
92 points
18 comments7 min readLW link2 reviews

Tools ver­sus agents

Stuart_ArmstrongMay 16, 2012, 1:00 PM
49 points
39 comments5 min readLW link

Ex­pla­na­tion vs Rationalization

abramdemskiFeb 22, 2018, 11:46 PM
16 points
11 comments4 min readLW link

Skill: The Map is Not the Territory

Eliezer YudkowskyOct 6, 2012, 9:59 AM
119 points
180 comments5 min readLW link

Two types of deference

Joe CarlsmithFeb 22, 2021, 3:32 AM
4 points
0 comments5 min readLW link

Com­bat vs Nur­ture & Meta-Contrarianism

abramdemskiJan 10, 2019, 11:17 PM
66 points
12 comments4 min readLW link

Fu­sion and Equiv­o­ca­tion in Korzyb­ski’s Gen­eral Semantics

abramdemskiDec 21, 2020, 5:44 AM
66 points
14 comments3 min readLW link

Rule Thinkers In, Not Out

Scott AlexanderFeb 27, 2019, 2:40 AM
238 points
67 comments4 min readLW link4 reviews
(slatestarcodex.com)

Gears vs Behavior

johnswentworthSep 19, 2019, 6:50 AM
120 points
14 comments7 min readLW link1 review

The Rec­og­niz­ing vs Gen­er­at­ing Distinction

lifelonglearnerOct 9, 2017, 4:56 PM
6 points
2 comments1 min readLW link
(mapandterritory.org)

Mo­ral un­cer­tainty vs re­lated concepts

MichaelAJan 11, 2020, 10:03 AM
26 points
13 comments16 min readLW link

Du­pli­ca­tion ver­sus probability

Stuart_ArmstrongJun 20, 2018, 12:18 PM
27 points
12 comments2 min readLW link

Fic­tional Ev­i­dence vs. Fic­tional Insight

Wei DaiJan 8, 2010, 1:59 AM
50 points
46 comments2 min readLW link

Ineffi­cient Doesn’t Mean Indifferent

ZviApr 29, 2018, 11:30 AM
39 points
17 comments3 min readLW link
(thezvi.wordpress.com)

Com­pact vs. Wide Models

VaniverJul 16, 2018, 4:09 AM
31 points
5 comments3 min readLW link

In­stru­men­tal vs. Epistemic—A Bardic Perspective

MBlumeApr 25, 2009, 7:41 AM
95 points
189 comments3 min readLW link

Church vs. Taskforce

Eliezer YudkowskyMar 28, 2009, 9:23 AM
86 points
88 comments5 min readLW link

Re­v­ersed Stu­pidity Is Not Intelligence

Eliezer YudkowskyDec 12, 2007, 10:14 PM
191 points
121 comments3 min readLW link

Free Speech as Le­gal Right vs. Eth­i­cal Value

ozymandiasNov 28, 2017, 4:49 PM
14 points
8 comments2 min readLW link

Toolbox-think­ing and Law-thinking

Eliezer YudkowskyMay 31, 2018, 9:28 PM
180 points
49 comments12 min readLW link

Fair­ness vs. Goodness

Eliezer YudkowskyFeb 22, 2009, 8:22 PM
15 points
21 comments1 min readLW link

Refer­ence Post: For­mal vs. Effec­tive Pre-Commitment

Chris_LeongAug 27, 2018, 12:04 PM
16 points
44 comments2 min readLW link

Com­mon vs Ex­pert Jar­gon

RaemonSep 21, 2017, 3:05 AM
56 points
17 comments4 min readLW link

Want­ing vs. Lik­ing Revisited

Scott AlexanderJul 9, 2011, 8:54 PM
64 points
9 comments4 min readLW link

Three types of Evidence

Rafael HarthJan 19, 2021, 5:25 PM
15 points
0 comments1 min readLW link

Sys­tem­iz­ing and Hacking

SatvikBeriMar 23, 2018, 6:01 PM
40 points
1 comment1 min readLW link

Levels of Action

alyssavanceApr 14, 2011, 12:18 AM
188 points
47 comments9 min readLW link

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

Scott AlexanderNov 21, 2014, 2:34 PM
106 points
9 comments18 min readLW link

“Gift­ed­ness” and Ge­nius, Cru­cial Differences

ArthurLidiaJan 28, 2019, 8:22 PM
6 points
0 comments29 min readLW link

Distinc­tions in Types of Thought

sarahconstantinOct 10, 2017, 3:36 AM
37 points
24 comments13 min readLW link

Recom­men­da­tions vs. Guidelines

Scott AlexanderApr 13, 2018, 4:10 AM
77 points
18 comments5 min readLW link
(slatestarcodex.com)

Missed Distinctions

jimrandomhApr 11, 2009, 3:15 AM
38 points
13 comments2 min readLW link

Search ver­sus design

Alex FlintAug 16, 2020, 4:53 PM
109 points
40 comments36 min readLW link1 review

Emo­tional valence vs RL re­ward: a video game analogy

Steven ByrnesSep 3, 2020, 3:28 PM
12 points
6 comments4 min readLW link

Mo­ral­ity vs re­lated concepts

MichaelAJan 7, 2020, 10:47 AM
26 points
17 comments8 min readLW link

Re­mem­ber to trans­late your thoughts back again

brookNov 1, 2022, 8:49 AM
25 points
11 comments3 min readLW link
(forum.effectivealtruism.org)

The Prac­tice & Virtue of Discernment

ozziegooenMay 26, 2021, 12:34 AM
41 points
11 comments11 min readLW link

Utility ver­sus Re­ward func­tion: par­tial equivalence

Stuart_ArmstrongApr 13, 2018, 2:58 PM
19 points
5 comments5 min readLW link

Fire­wal­ling the Op­ti­mal from the Rational

Eliezer YudkowskyOct 8, 2012, 8:01 AM
175 points
313 comments5 min readLW link

Rest Days vs Re­cov­ery Days

UnrealMar 19, 2019, 10:37 PM
226 points
36 comments6 min readLW link1 review

Sup­port vs Ad­vice & Hold­ing Off Solutions

abramdemskiFeb 23, 2021, 1:12 AM
29 points
6 comments2 min readLW link

Utility ≠ Reward

Vlad MikulikSep 5, 2019, 5:28 PM
131 points
24 comments1 min readLW link2 reviews

Con­flict vs. mis­take in non-zero-sum games

NisanApr 5, 2020, 10:22 PM
169 points
40 comments2 min readLW link1 review

Con­ver­sa­tional Cul­tures: Com­bat vs Nur­ture (V2)

RubyDec 31, 2019, 8:23 PM
143 points
92 comments9 min readLW link5 reviews

Distinc­tions Between Natal­ism Positions

ozymandiasOct 19, 2017, 1:06 AM
12 points
0 comments2 min readLW link

Tran­shu­man­ism and the de­no­ta­tion-con­no­ta­tion gap

PhilGoetzAug 18, 2010, 3:33 PM
25 points
31 comments2 min readLW link

Prob­a­bil­ity vs Likelihood

abramdemskiNov 10, 2020, 9:28 PM
110 points
10 comments12 min readLW link
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