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[…] or philosophy). **The process of truth-seeking within a culture is integrated; the parts are nevernot independent of the whole.** Ultimately, the life of the mind is […]

[…] reasons. Now this taboo was not unreasonable, I think. But it did leadmay have led to the Greeks not penetrating as deeply into the nature of […]

[…] these pursuits each have their own sociopolitical implications. In other words, our description motivates prescription. Put simply, any one of these pursuits (though perhaps […]

[…] to question, and to transcend. A willingness to let one's mind wander, without. Without fear. This freedom must be protected. One historical analogy I can […]

[…] and strangeness of our world is one part of the problem. But, whenWhen it comes to the human mind specifically, though, there is more to it than that. Namely: ideas about human intelligence […] "mental illness", etc.; these pursuits each have their own sociopolitical implications. That isIn other words, our description motivates prescription. Put simply, any one of these pursuits (though perhaps […]

[…] People would steadfastly deny the role of genetics in determining athleticism. YouIt wouldn'’t be allowedaccepted to "measure" someone as being out of shape physically, either. Any differences in athletic ability would be ipso facto proof of, say, an athleticism-enhancing upbringing (whatever that means). And this in turn would mean […] to society, not the individual. [What higher order effects could this have, I wonder?] Ultimately, I think the study of the mind still has a […]

[…] of research limits thinking about the human mind. That is, I knowcan think of many "prisoners of those invisible and despotic circles which delimit the universe of a certain milieu […]

[…] intellectual culture being so vibrant (in e.g. mathematics or philosophy). **The process of truth-seeking apparatus ofwithin a culture is integrated; no part isparts are never independent of the other partswhole.** Ultimately, the life of the mind is worth celebrating. I love […]

[…] their intellectual culture being so vibrant (in e.g. mathematics or philosophy). **The truth-seeking apparatus of a culture is integrated; no part is independent of the other parts.** Ultimately, the life of the mind is worth celebrating. I love learning […]

[…] I can then create my own solution, which I think is alwaysgenerally the best way to do things.

[…] thing. People follow incentives. That will never change. What can change is: the specific incentives resultant from a society's organization. All of this […]

[…] their intellectual culture being so vibrant (in e.g. mathematics or philosophy). The truth-seeking apparatus of a culture is integrated; no part is independent of the other parts. Ultimately, the life of the mind is worth celebrating. I love learning […]

[…] the freedom of the individual. Here I am talking about the freedom, or rather the right, to be intellectually honest. The freedom to pursue the truth, independent […]

[…] to grant agency to people with, broadly speaking, "mental illness", etc.; all these pursuits each have their own sociopolitical implications. DescriptionThat is, description motivates prescription. Put simply, any one of these pursuits (though perhaps […]

[…] But, when it comes to the human mind specifically, there is even more to it than that. Namely: ideas about human intelligence are socially […]

[…] it than that. Namely: ideas about human intelligence are socially controversial. To name aA few examples: the idea of a metric for intelligence, the practice […]

[…] transcend. A willingness to let one's mind wander, without fear. This kind of freedom must be protected. One historical analogy I can think of is […]

[…] it than that. Namely: ideas about human intelligence are socially controversial. Related pursuits have political implications. To name a few examples: the idea of a metric for intelligence, […] of how to grant agency to people with, broadly speaking, "mental illness", etc. These descriptives can motivate prescriptives; all these pursuits have sociopolitical implications. Description motivates prescription. Put simply, any one of these pursuits (though perhaps none of them) […]

[…] it than that. Namely: ideas about human intelligence are socially controversial. ARelated pursuits have political implications. To name a few examples: the idea of a metric for intelligence, the practice […] of how to grant agency to people with, broadly speaking, "mental illness", etc. All of these pursuits have political implicationsThese descriptives can motivate prescriptives. Any Put simply, any one of these pursuits (though perhaps none of them) could be a piece of the puzzle. But they are alleach evaluated along a social or political dimension. And while this doesn't […]

[…] it than that. Namely: ideas about human intelligence are socially controversial. To name aA few examples: the idea of a metric for intelligence, the practice […] how to grant agency to people with, broadly speaking, "mental illness", etc.... none All of these pursuits are politically trivial, to say the leasthave political implications. But any Any one of themthese pursuits (though perhaps none of them) could be a piece of the scientific puzzle. Ultimately all these pursuitsBut they are all evaluated along a social or political dimension. And while this doesn't necessarily […]

[…] Grothendieck I love these quotes. Now, criticism isn't really ever useful, but, (primarily just for myself,) I want to sharpen the response that came to mind. Within me,try and apply these quotes to our world today. They set an intuition ablaze within me, which I want to sharpen. Here goes: Roughly, I think these quotes roughly capture something about how, in my view, the current climate of research […]

[…] may be only indirect - effected only through social pressure. But still, it can be erosive. Freedom is not just "in principle". Freedom is […] kind of internal confidence to strive, to question, and to transcend. And itA willingness to let one's mind wander, without fear. This kind of freedom must be protected. One historical analogy I can think of is […]

[…] from a society's organization. All of this is to say: culture matters. And culture can change. I hope it does. P.S. I don’t consider the above […]

[…] What can change: the specific incentives resultant from a society's organization. TheAll of this is to say: culture can change. I hope it does. P.S. I don’t consider […]

[…] strive, to question, and to transcend. And it must be protected. The bestOne historical analogy I can think of is this: in ancient Greece, there was a strong taboo against human dissection, - for various reasons. Now, this taboo was not unreasonable, I think. But it did lead […]

[…] wonder?] Ultimately, I think the study of the mind still has an enormousa long way to go. And then: putting it side by side with […] talking about the freedom, or rather the right, to be intellectually honest:. The freedom to pursue the truth, independent of other considerationconsiderations. Now, the restriction (of freedom) may be only indirect - effected […]

[…] What can change: the specific incentives resultant from a society's organization. That is,The culture can change. I hope it does. P.S. I don’t consider […]

[…] of the human body as they perhaps could have, with their intellectual culture being so vibrantly intellectualvibrant (in e.g. mathematics or philosophy). Ultimately, the life of the mind […] I think more steps should be taken to actively support the endeavor, even if it is hard. I believe it is not just giving individuals "in principle" rights […] What can change: the specific incentives resultant from a society's organization. That is, culture can change. I hope they doit does. P.S. I don’t consider the above thoughts as being especially “useful”; […]

[…] or rather the right, to be intellectually honest: to pursue the truth the truth, independent of other considerationsconsideration. Now, the restriction (of freedom) may be only indirect - effected […]

[…] their culture being so vibrantly intellectual (in e.g. mathematics or philosophy). TodayUltimately, the life of the mind is worth celebrating. I love learning about all the wonderful tricks humans have figured out for their intellectual pursuits. The life ofAnd I enjoy synthesis -- putting together the mind is worth celebratingpieces. I think more steps should be taken to actively support the endeavor. Ultimately, I thinkbelieve it is not just giving individuals "in principle" rights, but supporting […] incentives. That will never change. What can change: the specific incentives downstream ofresultant from a society's organization. I hope they do. P.S. I don’t consider the above thoughts as being especially “useful”; generally criticisms aren’t. I am using this thread to organize my thoughts so I can then create my own solution, which I think is always the best way to do things.

[…] reasons. Now, this taboo was not unreasonable, I think. But it did, perhaps, lead to the Greeks not penetrating as deeply into the nature of the human body as they perhaps could have, with their culture being so vibrantly intellectual (in e.g. mathematics […]

[…] effected only through social pressure. But still it can be erosive. For freedomFreedom is not just "in principle". Freedom is a feeling. It is […] nature of the human body as they could have, with their culture being so vibrant andvibrantly intellectual culture (in e.g. in mathematics or philosophy). Today, I love learning about all the wonderful tricks humans have figured out for their intellectual pursuits. The life of the mind is worth celebrating. I think more steps should be taken to actively support thisthe endeavor. Ultimately, I think it is not just giving individuals "in […] incentives. That will never change. What can change: the specific incentives that are downstream of a society's organization. I hope they do. P.S. I don’t […]

[…] considerations. Now, the restriction (of freedom) may be only indirect - achievedeffected only through social incentivespressure. But still it can be erosive. For freedom is not just […]

[…] rather the right, to be intellectually honest: to pursue the truth and only the truth, independent of any and all other considerations. Now, thisthe restriction (of freedom) may be only indirect - achieved only through social incentives. But, still it can be erosive. For freedom is not just "in principle". Freedom is a feeling. It […]

[…] that are downstream of a society's organization. I hope they do. P.S. I don’t consider the above thoughts as “useful”; generally criticisms aren’t. I am using this thread to organize my thoughts so I can then create my own solution, which is always the best way to do things.

[…] ideas about human intelligence are socially controversial. To name a few examples: the idea of a metric for intelligence, the practice of measuring […] broadly speaking, "mental illness", etc.... none of these pursuits are politically trivial, to say the least. But any one of them (though perhaps none of them) could […]

[…] to grant agency to people with, broadly speaking, "mental illness", etc.... none of all these pursuits, are politically trivial. But any one of them (though perhaps none of them) could be a piece of the scientific puzzle. Nonetheless,Ultimately all these pursuits are evaluated along a social or political dimension. WhileAnd while this doesn't necessarily prohibit people from exploring them, it doescan disincentivize it. Of course, there are reasons why these efforts to make the study of intelligence """scientific""" are restrictedface pushback. And they're not unreasonable; in fact, this very well may be the right approach for polite society to adopt. SoBut I do have my gripe, then,which is simply this: when something is "off-limits", it teaches people to shut down their thinking. And while that may aid inmight increase the efficiency of society, but it does not serve our intellectual culture well. Imagine if we treated […] of the individual. Here I am talking about the freedom, or evenrather the right, to be intellectually honest: to pursue the truth and only the truth, independent of any and all other considerations. Now, this restriction (of freedom) may be only indirect […]

[…] always will be. We will always overestimate our understanding, while the very conditions of that understanding go unnoticed. So the vastness and strangeness of […]

[…] only stranger than we imagine, but stranger than we can imagine”. UltimatelyThat said, though this has always been true of human society, and it always will be. We will always overestimate our understanding, while the pre-conditions of that understanding go unnoticed. So the vastness and strangeness of […]

[…] came to mind. Within me, these quotes set an intuition ablaze: Roughly, I think these quotes roughly capture something about how, in my view, the current climate of research […] milieu in a given era." What ideas are off-limits? Well firstly, of course, anything not strictly materialist. This one is not surprising: I think most people would rather believe science is “almost done”, than over the alternative: the universe is “not only stranger than we imagine, but stranger than we can imagine”. Ultimately, though this has always been true of human society. We will always overestimate our understanding, while the pre-conditions of that understanding go unnoticed. So the vastness and strangeness of our world is one part […] But, when it comes to the human mind specifically, there is even more to it than that. Namely: many ideas about human intelligence are socially controversial. To name a few: the idea of a metric […] of different people having different kinds of intelligence, the question of grantinghow to grant agency to people with, broadly speaking, "mental illness", etc.... these areof all interestingthese pursuits, and any one of them (though perhaps none of them) could be a […]

[…] vibrant and intellectual culture (e.g. in mathematics or philosophy). Today, I think understandinglove learning about all the wonderful tricks humans have figured out for their intellectual accomplishment is fascinatingpursuits. And I think more steps should be taken to actively support this endeavor in a positive way. Ultimately, I think it is not just giving individuals "in principle" […]

[…] And I think steps should be taken to support this endeavor in a positive way. Ultimately, I think it is not just giving individuals "in principle" […]

[…] be the right approach for polite society to adopt. So my gripe, then, is simply this: when something is "off-limits", it teaches people to shut […]

[…] ideas are off-limits? Well firstly, of course, anything not strictly materialist. And thisThis one is not surprising: I think most people would rather believe science […] only stranger than we imagine, but stranger than we can imagine”. HoweverUltimately, this has always been true of human society; we. We will always overestimate our understanding. So the vastness and strangeness of […] could be a piece of the puzzle. Nonetheless, all these pursuits faceare evaluated along a social pushbackor political dimension. While this doesn't necessarily prohibit people from exploring them, it does disincentivize it. Then, there is the resultant problem that people who are interested in these things often end up on the fringes, which is something in itself. Anyway I digress. Of course, there are reasons why these efforts to make the […] well may be the right approach for polite society to adopt. MySo my gripe, then is simply this: when something is "off-limits", it teaches people to shut down their thinking! That. And that may aid in the efficiency of society, but it does not serve well our intellectual culture well. Imagine if we treated sports (physical pursuits) like we did intellectual […] they do today, people would argue about the "goat myth" (i.e. theypeople would argue the distribution of athletic achievement is linear, not non-linear). […] Any differences in athletic ability would be ipso facto proof of a privileged,an athleticism-enhancing upbringing (whatever that means). ThisAnd this in turn would mean athletic accomplishments are credited to society, not […] of the mind still has an enormous way to go. And then: putting it side by side with other social problems, or subjugating it within some institution that has multiplicity of purpose, can restrict the powerfreedom of the individual. Here I am talking about the powerfreedom, or even right, to be intellectually honest: to pursue the truth […] restriction (of freedom) may be only indirect - achieved only through socializationsocial incentives. But, freedom is not just "in principle". Freedom is a feeling. […] intellectual culture (e.g. in mathematics or philosophy). Today, I think understanding all the wonderful tricks humans have for intellectual accomplishment is fascinating. And I think steps should be taken to support this endeavor. It Ultimately, I think it is not just giving individuals "in principle" rights, but supporting athe culture of free inquiry. This is a different thing. People follow incentives. That will never change. What can change: the specific incentives that are downstream of a society's organization. I hope they do.

[…] ever useful, but, primarily just for myself, I want to sharpen a pointthe response that came to my mind. Within me, these quotes set an intuition ablaze: Roughly, I think […]

[…] really ever useful, but, primarily just for myself, I want to makesharpen a point that came to my mind. Within me, these quotes set an intuition ablaze, and I want to sharpen it: Roughly, I think these quotes capture something about how, in my […]

[…] as being out of shape physically, either. Any differences in athletic accomplishmentability would be ipso facto proof of ana privileged, athleticism-enhancing upbringing (whatever that means). This in turn would mean athletic […] an enormous way to go. And putting it side by side with other problems, or subjugating it within some institution that has multiplicity of purpose, can restrainrestrict the power of the individual. This restrainingHere I am talking about the power, or even right, to be intellectually honest: to pursue the truth and only the truth, independent of all other considerations. Now, this restriction (of freedom) may be only indirect, - achieved only through socialization. But, freedom is not just "in principle". Freedom is a feeling. It is a kind of internal confidence to strive, to question, and to transcend. And it must be […]

[…] ideas are off-limits? Well firstly, of course, anything not strictly materialist. ButAnd this is not surprising: I think most people would rather believe […] only stranger than we imagine, but stranger than we can imagine”. ThisHowever, this has always been true of human society; we will always overestimate […] and strangeness of our world is one part of the problem. But, when it comes to the human mind specifically, there is more to […]

[…] but stranger than we can imagine”. This has always been true of human society; humanswe will always overestimate our understanding. So the vastness and strangeness of […]

[…] certain milieu in a given era." What ideas are off-limits? Well firstly, of course, anything not strictly materialist. ThisBut this is not surprising: I think most people would rather believe science […] only stranger than we imagine, but stranger than we can imagine”. This has always been true; humans will always overestimate our understanding. So the vastness and strangeness of our world is one part of […]

[…] perhaps none of them) could be a piece of the puzzle. HoweverNonetheless, all these pursuits, in my experience, face social pushback. While this doesn't necessarily prohibit people from exploring […]

[…] are credited to society, not the individual. [What higher order effects this could this have, I wonder?] Ultimately, I think the study of the mind still […]

[…] off-limits? Well, of course, anything not strictly materialist. This is not surprising, though.: I think most people would rather believe science is “almost done”, […] of purpose, can restrain the individual. This restraining may be only indirect, achieved through socialization. But freedom is not just "in principle". Freedom is an internala feeling,. It is a kind of confidence to strive, to question, and to transcend. […]

[…] humans have for intellectual accomplishment is fascinating. And I think steps mustshould be taken to support this endeavor. It is not just giving […]

[…] follow incentives. That will never change. What can change: the specific incentive structures set by the organizationincentives that are downstream of a society's organization. I hope they do.

[…] think understanding the tricks humans have for intellectual accomplishment is fascinating. And I think steps must be taken to support this endeavor. It is not just giving individuals "in principle" rights, but supporting a […] free inquiry. People follow incentives. That will never change. What can change, on: the other hand, are the specific incentive structures set by the organization of a society. I hope they do.

[…] reasons. Now, this taboo was not unreasonable, I think. But it did, perhaps, lead to the Greeks not penetrating as deeply into the nature of […]

[…] but, primarily just for myself, I want to make a point. These quotes makeWithin me feel, these quotes set an intuition ablaze, whichand I want to sharpen it: Roughly, I think these quotes capture something about how, in my view, the […] etc.... these are all interesting pursuits, and any one of them (though perhaps none of them) could be a piece of the puzzle. However, all these pursuits, in my experience, face social pushback. ThisWhile this doesn't necessarily prohibit people from exploring them, but it does disincentivize it. Then, there is the resultant problem here that people who are interested in these things often end up on […] in itself. Anyway I digress. Of course, there are reasons why these efforts to make the study of intelligence """scientific""" are restricted. And they're not unreasonable; in fact, this may very well may be the bestright approach for polite society to adopt. My gripe, then, is this: when something is "off-limits", it teaches people to shut down their thinking! That may aid in the efficiency of society, but it does not serve well our intellectual culture. Imagine if we treated sports (physical pursuits) like we did intellectual pursuits. […] (whatever that means). This in turn would mean athletic accomplishments are of thecredited to society, not the individual. [What higher order effects this could have, I wonder?] Ultimately, I think the study of the mind still has a lotan enormous way to go. And putting it side by side, or subjugating it within some institution that has multiplicity of purpose, can, even indirectly, restrain the individual. FreedomThis restraining may be only indirect. But freedom is not just "in principle"; freedom. Freedom is an internal feeling, a kind of confidence to strive, to question, and to transcend. FreedomAnd it must be protected. The best historical analogy I can think of […] think understanding the tricks humans have for intellectual accomplishment is fascinating. It is not just giving individuals "in principle" rights, but supporting a culture of free inquiry. People follow incentives. That will never change. What can change, on the other hand, are the specific incentive structures set by the organization of a society.

[…] I love these quotes. Now, criticism isn't really ever useful, but, primarily just for myself, I want to make a point. These quotes make me feel an intuition, which I want to sharpen an intuition I feel: I think these quotes capture something about how, in my view, the current climate of research limits thinking about the human mind. To my viewThat is, I know many "prisoners of those invisible and despotic circles which […] What ideas are off-limits? Well, of course, anything not strictly materialist. This is not surprising, though. I think most people would rather believe science is “almost done”, than […] only stranger than we imagine, but stranger than we can imagine”. TheSo the vastness and strangeness of our world is one part of the problem. But when it comes to the human mind specifically, there is more to it than that, particularly when it comes to understanding the mind! Many: many ideas are socially controversial. TheTo name a few: the idea of a metric for intelligence, the practice of quantifyingmeasuring intelligence, the notion of different people having different kinds of intelligence, the levelquestion of granting agency to grant to the people with, broadly speaking, "mental illness", etc.... all these are all interesting pursuits, and ideasany one of them could be a piece of the puzzle. However, all these pursuits, in my experience, face social pushback. ThatThis doesn't necessarily preventprohibit people from exploring them, but it does disincentivize it. Then, there is the resultant problem here that people who are interested in these things often end up on the fringes, which is something in itself. Anyways,Anyway I digress. Of course, there are reasons why efforts to make […] intelligence """scientific""" are restricted. And they're not unreasonable; in fact, this mightmay very well be the best approach for polite society to adopt. My gripe, then, is simply this: when something is "off-limits", it teaches people to shut down their minds when they try to how to understand how humans thinkthinking! Imagine if we treated sports (physical pursuits) like we did intellectual […] not non-linear). People would deny the role of genetics in determining athleticism, entirely. You wouldn't be allowed to "measure" someone as being out of […] differences in athletic accomplishment would be ipso facto proof of an athletic performanceathleticism-enhancing upbringing (whatever that means). This in turn would mean athletic accomplishments are of the society, not the individual. Ultimately, I think the study of the mind has a lot to go. And putting it side by side, or within some institution that has multiplicity of purpose, can, even indirectly, restrain the individual. Freedom is not just "in principle"; freedom is an internal feeling, a kind of confidence to strive, to question, and to transcend. Freedom must be protected. The best historical analogy I can think of is this: in ancient Greece, there was a strong taboo against human dissection, for various reasons. ThisNow, this taboo iswas not unreasonable, I think. But it did lead to the Greeks […] with their being so vibrant and intellectual culture (e.g. in mathematics or philosophy). Today, I think understanding the tricks humans have for intellectual accomplishment is fascinating.

[…] Any differences in athletic accomplishment would be ipso facto proof of an athletic performance-enhancing upbringingsupbringing (whatever that means). The best historical analogy I can think of is this: in […] into the nature of the human body as they could have, with their being aso vibrant and intellectual culture (e.g. in mathematics). And that's a shame.

[…] the notion of different people having different kinds of intelligence, the questionlevel of agency forto grant to the people with, broadly speaking, "mental illness", etc.... all these pursuits and ideas, in my experience, face social pushback. And thatThat doesn't necessarily prevent people from exploring them, but it does heavily disincentivize it. Then there is the resultant problem that people who are […] allowed to "measure" someone as being out of shape physically, either. Any differences in athletic accomplishment would be ipso facto proof of athletic performance-enhancing upbringings. The best historical analogy I can think of is this: in ancient […]

[…] What ideas are off-limits? Well, of course, anything not strictly materialist. I think most people would rather believe science is “almost done”, than the alternative: the universe is “not only stranger than we imagine, but stranger than we can imagine”. The vastness and strangeness of our world is one part of the problem. But there is more to it than that, particularly when it comes to understanding the brainmind! TheMany ideas are socially controversial. The idea of a metric for intelligence, the practice of quantifying intelligence, the notion of different people having different kinds of intelligence, the levelquestion of agency for the people with, broadly speaking, "mental illness", etc.... all these questions and pursuits, in my experience, face social pushback. ThatAnd that doesn't necessarily prevent people from exploring them, but it does heavily […] often end up on the fringes, which is something in itself. Anyways, I digress. Of course, there are reasons why efforts to make the study of […]

[…] anything not strictly materialist. But there is more than that, particularly when it comes to understanding the brain! The ideaideas of a metric for intelligence, the practice of quantifying intelligence, the idea of different people having different kinds of intelligence, the level of agency for the people with, broadly speaking, "mental illness", etc.... all these questions and pursuits, in my experience, face social pushback. That doesn't necessarily prevent people […]