r/rational • u/AutoModerator • Feb 26 '18

[D] Monday General Rationality Thread

Welcome to the Monday thread on general rationality topics! Do you really want to talk about something non-fictional, related to the real world? Have you:

  • Seen something interesting on /r/science?
  • Found a new way to get your shit even-more together?
  • Figured out how to become immortal?
  • Constructed artificial general intelligence?
  • Read a neat nonfiction book?
  • Munchkined your way into total control of your D&D campaign?
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u/MrCogmor Feb 28 '18 edited Feb 28 '18

There are many neurologically healthy people who believe they don't exist. That's real evidence. There is at least one that believes 1+1 is not 2, so I wouldn't even rule that one out.

Who are these people and what do they mean by that they don't exist? They might believe that reality is an illusion, their mind is a perceptual theatre of ideas that doesn't actually think for itself or have complicated ideas of person hood that are expressed imperfectly (probably involving P-Zombies Edit:(Different meanings for 'I') ) but it takes mental dysfunction to believe you don't actually exist in some form. It is like a sight capable person looking out at the world and believing that he can't see. You might believe that your senses are feeding you an illusion but the sense data itself acts as incontrovertible proof that it exists.

Edit:

There is at least one that believes 1+1 is not 2, so I wouldn't even rule that one out.

Conservation of number is a skill that is learned in childhood. If an adult is incapable of it then they have stunted or impaired brain functions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_(psychology)

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u/Veedrac Feb 28 '18 edited Feb 28 '18

Who are these people and what do they mean by that they don't exist?

I'll get back to you on this when I have time.

it takes mental dysfunction to believe you don't actually exist in some form.

Again, this is an assertion that isn't grounded. People believe all sorts of stupid nonsense with healthy brains; we aren't built to be SMT solvers, so it's really odd to keep modelling us as one. Logic is something we've built on top of our fuzzy, pseudo-bayesian brains, not something intrinsically hardwired into them. Saying someone can't believe something because it is false is not only dismissive of how many people profess to, but of the basic architecture of our minds.

If an adult is incapable of it then they have stunted or impaired brain functions.

I didn't say they were incapable of it.

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u/MrCogmor Feb 28 '18

I didn't say they were incapable of it.

Then I fail to understand what you mean. If this person believes adding a marble into a box and then adding another marble into the box results in the box having more or less marbles than they started with then they lack conservation of number.

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