site banner
naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3669 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 31, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Lightrat. I'm surprised I scored so high, to be quite honest. But I'm curious how people said "studied" for different things. Studied advanced physics like, at a university course you passed, or like on a youtube playlist from a random guy with crazy eyes? But then, maybe the Rats who didn't actually study physics thinking they study physics is what makes them rationalists.

oh, I was a bit confused by those questions, I answered yes for the physics ones because I took grad courses in those subjects. Was the expectation that rats would say they "know how to design nanotechnology" from just reading the sequences or something?

I'm highly skeptical anybody answering that survey actually knows how to design nanotechnology.

Maybe the question should've been "have you read Drexler's Nanosystems and understood all the math?", because "nanotechnology" isn't exactly as well defined as something like quantum mechanics.

Like someone mentioned elsewhere in the thread, I think those could have been there with intention of capturing a Dunning Kruger effect. Which I think is actually and underused tool in surveys to capture certain overconfident opinions people might have.

If graduate school doesn't count as studying something, I don't know what does.

The question isn't necessarily expecting overconfident claims, though. It just expects really high chance of comorbidity.

It's tough maybe being a girl or something.

We're just too pretty for the other rationalists, Fruck.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats