Steven Pinker's new book, "Rationality", was just released. My impression, 1/4 through, is that it could use a strong dose of "meta-/post-rat" (whatever that means)!
e.g. how do we deal with the nebulosity of "vegetable"? neural nets and weights! sure, in some sense, but…
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Pleased to see that the book includes quite a concise but clear explainer of causal networks.
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this problem is more accurately posed and solutions proposed in Skinner's 'Verbal Behavior'; for one reason or another it continues to be discarded or discredited without reference to any of its consequences
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for example, where is a mathematical foundation for Skinner's analysis in Verbal Behavior and how does it compare to whatever else everyone is talking about here and elsewhere? Is there no corresponding mathematical foundation for some fundamental reason?
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I think David Deutsch is also working on a related book, though with a completely different conception of rational/irrational.
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Something like:
Innumeracy and statistical ignorance, when they’re problems at all, are inconsequential beside the real problem; stultifying ideas.
Ideas that prevent one conceiving of - and pursuing - improvements.
Errors analogous to the destruction of free speech.
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postrats don't actually deny or oppose to this imo, just seeing it in another angle which is more "meaningful"
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Yeah, but they'd find it odd to discuss only this angle as it applies to various issues, without some broader framing of its limitations and alternatives.
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After reading Better Angels, I'm not sure I want to read another Pinker book. Is he more concise with this one? Every point he made felt so laboured.
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“planty things that make up a major component of a meal but whose main purpose is not calories or protein but vitamins and other nutrients”
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Do the postrat people have a better way to deal with nebulosity other than “it exists and it’s hard ¯\_(ツ)_/¯”?
Any neural net model Pinker comes up with won’t capture our intuitions perfectly but he knows that, and this is likely how our brains use concepts.