Rationality
From Lesswrongwiki
The art of thinking. Systematic methods of attaining a map that reflects the territory, or achieving goals. The primary topic of Less Wrong.
For the canonical article, see What Do We Mean By "Rationality"?.
Contents |
Epistemic rationality
Believing, and updating on evidence, so as to systematically improve the correspondence between your map and the territory. The art of obtaining beliefs that correspond to reality as closely as possible. This correspondence is commonly termed "truth" or "accuracy", and we're happy to call it that.
Instrumental rationality
Achieving your values. Not necessarily "your values" in the sense of being selfish values or unshared values: "your values" means anything you care about. The art of choosing actions that steer the future toward outcomes ranked higher in your preferences. LW sometimes shortens this to "winning".
For humans, instrumental rationality benefits from deliberation techniques — for identifying your better courses of action — and implementation techinques — to help you act the way you've decided upon.
Blog posts
- What Do We Mean By "Rationality"?
- The Martial Art of Rationality
- Your Rationality is My Business
- Why truth? And...
- All Less Wrong posts tagged "Rationality"
