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sockpuppet2  6d ago (astralcodexten.com)   2393 thread views

Scott: Come On, Obviously The Purpose Of A System Is Not What It Does

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This made me reflect that I hadn't actually thought critically about the phrase (at least, commensurate to how often it's used). For fun, if you think the purpose of a system is what it does, write what you think that means, before reading Scott's critique, then write if you've updated your opinion. For example: I think it's a useful way of re-framing obviously dysfunctional systems, so as to analyze their dysfunction, but Scott is persuasive that it's not a good means of understanding systems, in general, so people should be more cautious about adopting this framing and using the phrase, rhetorically.

(Spoilers go between two sets of "||")

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This is a high-grade well akshually post from Scott and I like it. Is Scott going to catalog all the lame sloganeering that gets thrown around as rhetorical javelins? Top 10 Memes Shitposters Use to Own the Libs now on ACX. If example tweets are not People of Consequence, then a moderator at The Motte who is already mildly annoyed might ask him to steelman the usage. My guess is he saw someone he respected use the phrase and that bugged him.

The personal is political, facts don't care about feelings, and the purpose of a system is what it does. It's a bludgeon to attack perceived dysfunction in systems that are usually guarded in some way.

A reading program's purpose is to help kids learn to read good. The local teacher's union advocates for more teachers to work it, the National Association for Reading Good pushes its adoption in various districts, and a city politician decides to make it a campaign promise to increase funding to the city's program. Yet, in places where the program exists reading scores trend downwards. The purpose of a system is what it does!

We shouldn't rely on fashionable quips to think for us, but it's a phrase with meaning that points at a commonly understood dynamic. As a commenter at SSC sub said, "It's a similar phrase to 'actions speak louder than words.'" Akshually, actions don't literally speak at all.

I've run into people here, quite recently, who have used that phrase. My usual response is something along the lines that the purpose of anything is entropy maximization.

The meaning of life, as measured by what it does? Increase entropy.

The meaning of coffee? Just the same.

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