7 votes

A first lesson in meta-rationality

4 comments

  1. [4]
    mrbig
    (edited )
    Link
    I had some trouble understanding where this author is coming from. I couldn't find an about me or anything of the sort on the website. Maybe I'm missing some obvious link, IDK. That's something I...

    I had some trouble understanding where this author is coming from. I couldn't find an about me or anything of the sort on the website. Maybe I'm missing some obvious link, IDK. That's something I look for when I encounter extraordinary claims.

    1 vote
    1. [3]
      skybrian
      Link Parent
      There is a brief “about me” at the bottom of this page. David Chapman writes some interesting stuff, but he also writes a lot and all his websites are incomplete. I’m not sure what you’re seeing...

      There is a brief “about me” at the bottom of this page.

      David Chapman writes some interesting stuff, but he also writes a lot and all his websites are incomplete.

      I’m not sure what you’re seeing as an extraordinary claim in this article but I would take it as making arguments about the philosophy of science. (It seems philosophical to me even though Chapman has a dim view of philosophy.)

      2 votes
      1. [2]
        mrbig
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        I followed another link to this website recently. I mean, the word metarationality itself seems to point at something exceedingly ambitious. Some words he uses point towards philosophy but I don't...

        I followed another link to this website recently.

        I mean, the word metarationality itself seems to point at something exceedingly ambitious. Some words he uses point towards philosophy but I don't think this is supposed to be philosophy. The author, from what I can gather, makes little effort to establish credibility (why should I believe him?).

        Maybe I'm just not the intended audience.

        This quote certainly makes me less likely to read any further:

        I have founded, managed, grown, and sold a successful biotech informatics company. That may explain a certain practical orientation, and lack of interest in philosophical theories that depend on the world being very unlike the way it appears

        1 vote
        1. skybrian
          Link Parent
          Well, that's a reference to nihilism, extreme skepticism, "are we really in a simulation" and stuff like that. On the other hand he's very interested in buddhism, though less in the religious and...

          Well, that's a reference to nihilism, extreme skepticism, "are we really in a simulation" and stuff like that. On the other hand he's very interested in buddhism, though less in the religious and spiritual aspects of it.

          I think he overestimates his interest in practicality; much of his writing isn't all that practical and is very high-theory.

          I'm a fan of his writing because he writes interesting things, not because I consider him an authority. I find his writing at least as interesting as most philosophers.

          3 votes