Read on Twitter
think I noticed something
may actually be wrong (or worse, boring) but some of you may find it useful
may actually be wrong (or worse, boring) but some of you may find it useful
I was just shaving my chest when I started ruminating on this convo with @SimianSunny
I think there's something interesting here
The idea of classifying groups by the method of generating knowledge or evaluating information
Epistemological Cultures https://twitter.com/SimianSunny/status/1304605898153897984?s=19
I think there's something interesting here
The idea of classifying groups by the method of generating knowledge or evaluating information
Epistemological Cultures https://twitter.com/SimianSunny/status/1304605898153897984?s=19
I think this class of exercises is (i) a major strand of what a lot of rats and adjacents are up to, and (ii) sadly, suddenly very socially important
(i) first
Greater Rationality /does/ have a bunch of rarefied--I won't call them insular, that's not quite right--ideas about epistemology
Greater Rationality /does/ have a bunch of rarefied--I won't call them insular, that's not quite right--ideas about epistemology
I was never much of a LW Rationalist, and I won't try to characterize their approach, but historically they've liked things like conceptual Bayesianism, prediction tracking, and timeless decision theory, whatever that is
And they spent a lot of time thinking about Bias
And they spent a lot of time thinking about Bias
Postrats as I understand the grouping (ymmv) by contrast were--this is one framing--less interested in specific methods than the means by which methods are selected.
I shall give some examples.
I shall give some examples.
. @Meaningness has a pretty core outline of one framework here, mulling the nature and generation of a fluid mindset; an emphasis on system selection, rather than within-system optimization
you might analogize this with game theory and mechanism design https://meaningness.com/metablog/stem-fluidity-bridge
you might analogize this with game theory and mechanism design https://meaningness.com/metablog/stem-fluidity-bridge
one thing to draw attention to is that in a sense this is a Kegan 6 (
) essay: how do we design a system that enables people to develop to think in this metasystematic manner?
this will be important in part (ii)
) essay: how do we design a system that enables people to develop to think in this metasystematic manner?this will be important in part (ii)
Consider also @literalbanana on something called Indexicality
in one sense, the banana's essay is an attempt to suss out where certain systematic epistemology might actually be useful, and where systems are actually inimical to understanding https://twitter.com/literalbanana/status/1222019385834950656?s=20
in one sense, the banana's essay is an attempt to suss out where certain systematic epistemology might actually be useful, and where systems are actually inimical to understanding https://twitter.com/literalbanana/status/1222019385834950656?s=20
here is a shorter summary of that essay, it may help to consider this before diving in https://twitter.com/literalbanana/status/1222516132759793664?s=19
a lot of what we seem to agonize over, as well, is how to avoid dying of brain worms
thinking Clearly about information systems seems necessarily subjective(??), and doing this well is difficult in an environment rife with hostile self-aware entities https://twitter.com/eigenrobot/status/967114911401652225?s=19
thinking Clearly about information systems seems necessarily subjective(??), and doing this well is difficult in an environment rife with hostile self-aware entities https://twitter.com/eigenrobot/status/967114911401652225?s=19
(I link myself only for variety, everyone should be aware that banana is the OG and respected as such)
(ii) why does any of this shit matter
well maybe it doesnt
hammer, nail, etc but it does seem to me that we are suffering a certain sort of epistemological crisis
well maybe it doesnt
hammer, nail, etc but it does seem to me that we are suffering a certain sort of epistemological crisis
looping back to the motivating conversation: it seems to me that we are very much in a sort of epistemological interregnum
traditional Knowledge Authorities--universities, media, religion--have lost the mandate of heaven
traditional Knowledge Authorities--universities, media, religion--have lost the mandate of heaven
i can imagine at least two causes
one I talk about here with @collinofzion--this is an old story, but its simply a printing press-to-Reformation analogue
universities and media authority relied on distributional barriers, and the Internet broke those
one I talk about here with @collinofzion--this is an old story, but its simply a printing press-to-Reformation analogue
universities and media authority relied on distributional barriers, and the Internet broke those
this has been building for a while, and is arguably even older than the internet--look at the proliferation of alternate right media in the 80s, or underground left media in the 60s and 70s
the internet and social media in particular blew everything wide open, tho
the internet and social media in particular blew everything wide open, tho
covid has been a second and acute disaster for traditional information authority
experts fucked it up
their mandate was to predict, prevent, and mitigate this sort of unusual event and they failed
they failed embarrassingly badly
and others did not fail
experts fucked it up
their mandate was to predict, prevent, and mitigate this sort of unusual event and they failed
they failed embarrassingly badly
and others did not fail
things like the replication crisis and rampant politicization have been eating away at institutional academic authority for a while, but that was mostly inside baseball and a slow boil compared to fucking up covid
you_had_one_job.jpg
you_had_one_job.jpg
in summary this is what I am thinking is a major social role of our corner of twitter
our epistemological system is broken; the mandate of heaven is up for grabs
@wesyang talks about a successor ideology, but i am more interested in the successor epistemology
our epistemological system is broken; the mandate of heaven is up for grabs
@wesyang talks about a successor ideology, but i am more interested in the successor epistemology
its not just a matter of algorithms or methods; its the design of institutions and platforms that teach and propagate such methods, their staffing, and their propagation
humans and robots are the substrates for and originators of memes
this is in short a cultural question
humans and robots are the substrates for and originators of memes
this is in short a cultural question
so: yes
rationalists and adjacents have weird knowledge generating systems
this is absolutely the time for that kind of metaexploration
let us fuck around and find us
rationalists and adjacents have weird knowledge generating systems
this is absolutely the time for that kind of metaexploration
let us fuck around and find us
