3 ms·

Smart is how fast you think not how much you know. Tradition isn't smarter than you, it's the exact opposite - it's main feature is that it's VERY slow to adapt

by ajuc 4y ago

Smart is how fast you think not how much you know. Tradition isn't smarter than you, it's the exact opposite - it's main feature is that it's VERY slow to adapt, to the point that some people still don't eat pigs millenia after we discovered how to do it safely, and other still bathe in "saint rivers" full of pollution and germs millenia after it ceased to be a net health benefit. Tradition might in some cases be wiser than you, because it gathered the wisdom over a much longer period, no matter how inefficiently it did so. But the obvious solution is to do science to take the things that work, and throw the other things out. You need to challenge the traditions to do so. Some conservatives admit that there are harmful traditions at least, but very few acknowledge the opportunity cost of not figuring out why the traditions that are beneficial - developed in the first place. For example maybe the knowledge of the substances that manioc processing removes would be beneficial for drug development or some other uses? By keeping the tradition sacred we will likely never discover that, even if we save a few lives initially. Or maybe there's a way to grow manioc that doesn't need all the processing steps?

d0gsg0w00f 4y ago
> But the obvious solution is to do science to take the things that work Science only gives you gives you facts. It doesn't tell you what to do with those facts to help you and your descendants live full and meaningful lives. Only Culture can handle that complexity.
- ajuc 4y ago
  Both "optimal way to achieve X given Y is Z" and "setting P as your goal leads to Q" are facts. So in fact science also gives you ways to achieve your goals and even to evaluate and change them to better suit you. You can see this in very simple model that is chess. The only thing chess engines do is estimate how good a position is. But that's plenty enough to win against any human player. As for "meaningful" lives - culture can be a source of meaning, and it can be a cause of lack of meaning (for example if you happen to have a calling to become a pilot but your culture forces you to become a housewife instead).

by ajuc 4y ago

d0gsg0w00f 4y ago

> But the obvious solution is to do science to take the things that work Science only gives you gives you facts. It doesn't tell you what to do with those facts to help you and your descendants live full and meaningful lives. Only Culture can handle that complexity.

ajuc 4y ago
Both "optimal way to achieve X given Y is Z" and "setting P as your goal leads to Q" are facts. So in fact science also gives you ways to achieve your goals and even to evaluate and change them to better suit you. You can see this in very simple model that is chess. The only thing chess engines do is estimate how good a position is. But that's plenty enough to win against any human player. As for "meaningful" lives - culture can be a source of meaning, and it can be a cause of lack of meaning (for example if you happen to have a calling to become a pilot but your culture forces you to become a housewife instead).