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I'm not sure I follow. It may be useful in some cases to describe why you believe or disbelieve something (as you say). I do not see why it would never be use

by drdeca 12y ago

I'm not sure I follow. It may be useful in some cases to describe why you believe or disbelieve something (as you say). I do not see why it would never be useful to state that because you believe or disbelieve something, you have a certain emotional reaction to some thing. It seems like a potentially useful description of why one has or chooses a given emotional response. Even if it so happens that the belief leading to the emotional response is wrong, it could still be useful to describe the relationship between the belief and the emotions or feelings or opinions on policy. For example, suppose I believe that all insects have a significant chance of poisoning food they land on. In this case, might not it be useful to know that the reason I am not ok with flies is because of this belief? So even if the person is wrong about their beliefs about AI, I don't think their explanation of why they are OK with AI as a result is "meaningless".

danieltillett 12y ago
The reason why is the same as I originally stated, reality does not care what you believe. Either AI is possible (or not) and it does not matter if you believe in it or not. To put it more bluntly it is meaningless what you believe, the only thing that matters is why you believe what you believe.
- drdeca 12y ago
  Maybe I do not understand what you mean by meaningless? Beliefs can have consequences that do not depend on the cause of the belief. The actions one takes depend on one's beliefs more directly than they do ones reasons for those beliefs, in many cases. (For the insect+food example, consider the options of taking it as axiomatic on a whim, or being made to believe it via propaganda+magic(magic here just for sake of argument). What causes the person to believe the thing does not effect whether the person intends to allow a fly to land on their food.) (If I believe my hand is on fire, whether I attempt to remedy this does not depend on whether I see it or feel it, nor on whether it is on fire. If I attempt to remedy it, while it is not on fire, there may be an unpleasant result. The truth does of course matter, but beliefs are a useful predictor of future actions.)

by drdeca 12y ago

danieltillett 12y ago

The reason why is the same as I originally stated, reality does not care what you believe. Either AI is possible (or not) and it does not matter if you believe in it or not. To put it more bluntly it is meaningless what you believe, the only thing that matters is why you believe what you believe.

drdeca 12y ago
Maybe I do not understand what you mean by meaningless? Beliefs can have consequences that do not depend on the cause of the belief. The actions one takes depend on one's beliefs more directly than they do ones reasons for those beliefs, in many cases. (For the insect+food example, consider the options of taking it as axiomatic on a whim, or being made to believe it via propaganda+magic(magic here just for sake of argument). What causes the person to believe the thing does not effect whether the person intends to allow a fly to land on their food.) (If I believe my hand is on fire, whether I attempt to remedy this does not depend on whether I see it or feel it, nor on whether it is on fire. If I attempt to remedy it, while it is not on fire, there may be an unpleasant result. The truth does of course matter, but beliefs are a useful predictor of future actions.)