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Beliefs that are invalidated by data are guaranteed to be wrong. Beliefs not conclusively supported by data may be wrong. Some such beliefs turn out to be esse

Beliefs that are invalidated by data are guaranteed to be wrong. Beliefs not conclusively supported by data may be wrong. Some such beliefs turn out to be essential to human functioning, like "My life is not just an extended dream or hallucination," "I have the ability to choose what I do," and "It is wrong to murder other people for their possessions." I'd say the former is more interesting than the latter.

mistermann 4y ago
Oh there are plenty of interesting and innocuous ones in either category... Perhaps the most important part is almost no one cares what is true on certain classes of questions.
- NateEag 4y ago
  > Perhaps the most important part is almost no one cares what is true on certain classes of questions. My experience has been slightly different, which is that almost no one is willing to accept that they could be wrong about certain classes of questions. This has similar effects to no one caring what is actually true, but it is not quite the same thing.
  - mistermann 4y ago
    As I see it this is a specialized version of what I'm talking about, no? I completely agree that that is one of the most harmful manifestations though.
    - NateEag 4y ago
      I don't see it that way. To me, not caring what is true is exactly that - not caring. Your actions might be rooted in truth or not, but you don't care. You get your dopamine hits and who gives a shit how they came to happen? Being certain that you're right is quite different. There, you care very intensely about what's true, but you're so confident in your knowledge of what's true that you can't even conceive of being wrong. Both of them lead to pretty terrible behaviors, but the underlying reasons for those behaviors are quite different, IMO.
      - mistermann 4y ago
        Ah I see what you mean now, agree.
        NateEag 4y ago
        Glad to hear it made sense after some back and forth. Thanks for the discussion!

mistermann 4y ago

Oh there are plenty of interesting and innocuous ones in either category... Perhaps the most important part is almost no one cares what is true on certain classes of questions.

NateEag 4y ago
> Perhaps the most important part is almost no one cares what is true on certain classes of questions. My experience has been slightly different, which is that almost no one is willing to accept that they could be wrong about certain classes of questions. This has similar effects to no one caring what is actually true, but it is not quite the same thing.
- mistermann 4y ago
  As I see it this is a specialized version of what I'm talking about, no? I completely agree that that is one of the most harmful manifestations though.
  - NateEag 4y ago
    I don't see it that way. To me, not caring what is true is exactly that - not caring. Your actions might be rooted in truth or not, but you don't care. You get your dopamine hits and who gives a shit how they came to happen? Being certain that you're right is quite different. There, you care very intensely about what's true, but you're so confident in your knowledge of what's true that you can't even conceive of being wrong. Both of them lead to pretty terrible behaviors, but the underlying reasons for those behaviors are quite different, IMO.
    - mistermann 4y ago
      Ah I see what you mean now, agree.
      - NateEag 4y ago
        Glad to hear it made sense after some back and forth. Thanks for the discussion!