3 ms·

I see a lot of parallels between the rationalists and the Beatniks- both seem to be a social experiment of radically throwing out the existing culture and lifes

by _yb2s 2y ago

I see a lot of parallels between the rationalists and the Beatniks- both seem to be a social experiment of radically throwing out the existing culture and lifestyle, and trying to think through something new from scratch. In both cases there are a lot of failed experiments, and disastrous personal consequences for many of the individuals involved, but also a lot of discovery and good ideas. Both groups are even obsessed with Moloch (https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/).

azeirah 2y ago
It's odd. I really like the Moloch post. It's a super interesting story that clearly exemplifies a problem in the real world. Well-intended people often end up acting against what's best because they only invest in the self, and don't act as a whole. It's cool philosophy! But um.. Taking it seriously as a sort of religious demon? You can characterize it for that purpose in the settings of stories, myths, theology etc, but in real-life? Nahh.. What the heck man Go join a labor union or something instead, what the heck
Redoubts 2y ago
What were the good ideas?
- _yb2s 2y ago
  Probably better to look and decide for yourself, but generally they teach specific techniques to reason more effectively in certain situations. They introduced me to Bayesianism, which is something I now use extensively in my science career, and I appreciate specific strategies to avoid falling into cognitive biases, and to argue more effectively and honestly, such as steelmanning. None of their lifestyle ideas really jive with me- I have no interest in things like raising children in a polyamorous group home, or in using consequentialist ethics combined with hand wavy mathematical models to make decisions in regular life.

3 ms·

I see a lot of parallels between the rationalists and the Beatniks- both seem to be a social experiment of radically throwing out the existing culture and lifes

by _yb2s 2y ago

azeirah 2y ago
It's odd. I really like the Moloch post. It's a super interesting story that clearly exemplifies a problem in the real world. Well-intended people often end up acting against what's best because they only invest in the self, and don't act as a whole. It's cool philosophy! But um.. Taking it seriously as a sort of religious demon? You can characterize it for that purpose in the settings of stories, myths, theology etc, but in real-life? Nahh.. What the heck man Go join a labor union or something instead, what the heck
Redoubts 2y ago
What were the good ideas?
- _yb2s 2y ago
  Probably better to look and decide for yourself, but generally they teach specific techniques to reason more effectively in certain situations. They introduced me to Bayesianism, which is something I now use extensively in my science career, and I appreciate specific strategies to avoid falling into cognitive biases, and to argue more effectively and honestly, such as steelmanning. None of their lifestyle ideas really jive with me- I have no interest in things like raising children in a polyamorous group home, or in using consequentialist ethics combined with hand wavy mathematical models to make decisions in regular life.