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felipec  unbelief  2yr ago (felipec.substack.com)   3599 thread views

2+2 = not what you think

felipec.substack.com

Changing someone's mind is very difficult, that's why I like puzzles most people get wrong: to try to open their mind. Challenging the claim that 2+2 is unequivocally 4 is one of my favorites to get people to reconsider what they think is true with 100% certainty.

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I haven't heard anything about maths or modularism or whatever the hell this is about. What I see is someone chortling about how smart they are.

Someone going around challenging people that "hey, are you sure 2+2=4?" is not opening minds, they're being an attention-seeking prat. There may be ways of shaking up ways of thinking, but boasting that you like puzzles most people get wrong (but I don't, I'm So Smart) as a great way to change minds (because I know the Right Way To Think, unlike these poor less smart people) is not that way.

It's being "this so deep" and we would do a lot more good to "jumpstart him further along the road" not by patting him on the head for "Did you think this up all by yourself, Junior?" but pointing out that nobody likes a smartarse, and he needs to decide if he is more interested in getting people to challenge their assumptions, or just showing off My Big Brain.

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