“I have touched before on the idea that a rationalist must have something they value more than “rationality”: the Art must have a purpose other than itself, or it collapses into infinite recursion. But do not mistake me, and think I am advocating that rationalists should pick out a nice altruistic cause, by way of having something to do, because rationality isn’t all that important by itself. No. I am asking: Where do rationalists come from? How do we acquire our powers? It is written in Twelve Virtues of Rationality:” (Eliezer Yudkowsky, Rationality)

Always have a goal other than process improvement

“What would convince me that 2 + 2 = 3, in other words, is exactly the same kind of evidence that currently convinces me that 2 + 2 = 4: The evidential crossfire of physical observation, mental visualization, and social agreement.” (Eliezer Yudkowsky, Rationality)

^3c3d73

The “crossfire” is an interesting one. What are we convinced by?