an observable “epistemic effort” correlate of virtue signaling distinguishes it from virtue owl232.net/papers/passivi
Conversation
are there phenomena/institutions/techs that harness low-epistemic-effort energies for good?
3
3
Replying to
Hmm this assumes sufficient intelligence to question superficial claims of efficacy. Ie virtue signaling may be indistinguishable from virtue in the stupid.
An intelligence independence test may be how you react when credibly informed that a signal activity is in fact useless
1
2
For example, a few years ago I learned that recycling is largely useless except for aluminum. Not something I could have easily discovered on my own, but once I learned, my behavior did change. I’m now sincere in recycling aluminum. Other things only for social acceptability.
Finally there’s value in installing a lower-cost cognitive norm even when it’s not locally meaningful. Is stopping at a 4-way when there are no other cars anywhere near the intersection a) virtue signaling b) internalized traffic cop superego c) “simpler rule” cognition hack?
1
4
d) good habit cultivation
Quote Tweet
Is there a word for acting in a way that permits/fosters coexistence even if there’s no one coexisting at the moment? Eg driving on one side of an unmarked road instead of the middle.
Show this thread
1
Edit: not just intelligence, but energetic skepticism of everything. Just not worth questioning 90% of the time whether a low-cost ritual in particular is efficacious or not. If it is, you gain a lot. If not, you lose a little.
1
1
Basically I think this line of thought conflates intent to virtue signal from deep laziness social harmony compliance. There’s a behavioral regime you could call conventionalism that lies between conscious virtue signaling and empirically refined efficacious action.
2
Re your q, traffic behavior may in fact be the example you’re looking for (low epistemic-effort for good). Most traffic rules are decent. Limited “no signage has lower accidents” experiments should be taken with huge grain of salt since they’re untested against long-term laziness
3



