Rationality
Rationality is the characteristic of thinking and acting optimally. That is, a rational agent is an agent that wields its intelligence in such a way as to maximize the convergence between its beliefs and reality; and acts on these beliefs in such a manner as to maximize its chances of achieving whatever goals it has.
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"
