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vgr's profile
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
@vgr

Tweets

Venkatesh Rao

@vgr

Conversational account. For work follow @ribbonfarm, @breaking_smart, @artofgig. Tweets are 90% vacuous views, apathetically held. Mediocritopian. IKEA builder.

Los Angeles, CA
venkateshrao.com
Joined August 2007

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    1. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 21 Apr 2018
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      Replying to @vgr @nils_gilman

      Most random curiosity does not, and should not, seek more than satisficing. It’s better than knowing no answers, and better than trying to dive deep on everything indiscriminately. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing sure, but I prefer it to elites+illiterates condition.

      1 reply 0 retweets 4 likes
    2. Nils Gilman‏ @nils_gilman 21 Apr 2018
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      Replying to @vgr

      Well, if the standard is “satisfying random curiosity” then yes, Wikipedia is the best thing ever. But if the standard is producing more knowledgeable (the OP said “better informed”) citizens, I beg to differ.

      1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
    3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 21 Apr 2018
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      Replying to @nils_gilman

      They *are* better informed. Just not about the things *you* think they ought to better informed about. Things that will give them more agency and opportunities and community in their own lives. “Better citizenship” is your priority for them.

      2 replies 0 retweets 1 like
    4. swann, (failed langlands) programmer  🌃 🌸 🍜 🍑 🦿 🐙‏ @evertedsphere 21 Apr 2018
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      Replying to @vgr @nils_gilman

      I think Nils and you are talking about slightly different things: his "knowledge" is more in line with how it works in soc-sci or philosophy, where you are expected to understand the heritage of an idea and how it responds to everything that came before it

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
    5. swann, (failed langlands) programmer  🌃 🌸 🍜 🍑 🦿 🐙‏ @evertedsphere 21 Apr 2018
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      Replying to @evertedsphere @vgr @nils_gilman

      Wikipedia does encourage people to acquire CliffsNotes-style overviews of things, which is excellent for maths and physics (the radius of the first orbit in a hydrogen atom needs no context) but perhaps less so for the kind of "liberal arts" knowledge that citizenship goes with

      3 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
    6. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 21 Apr 2018
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      Replying to @evertedsphere @mrkgrnao @nils_gilman

      I barely ever use Wikipedia for science/math. I mostly use it for social science/humanities where I’d otherwise have known nothing, not read a book.

      2 replies 1 retweet 2 likes
    7. Nils Gilman‏ @nils_gilman 21 Apr 2018
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      Replying to @vgr @mrkgrnao

      I think you’re demonstrating my point: if Wikipedia didn’t exist, maybe you’d actually read a book. And then you’d be much better informed. By analogy: it’s like how, when you take away a kid’s device, they go play outside — which is good for them, even if they whine about it.

      3 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
    8. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 21 Apr 2018
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      Replying to @nils_gilman @mrkgrnao

      And aha, the kid reference nails *your* key blindspot here: you’re unwilling to give up a society based on information consumption paternalism. Adults outside formal education institutions choosing more freely what to read, and to what depth, is a net good.

      2 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
    9. Nils Gilman‏ @nils_gilman 21 Apr 2018
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      Replying to @vgr @mrkgrnao

      God damn right. Some people know more and better than others.

      1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
    10. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 21 Apr 2018
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      Replying to @nils_gilman @mrkgrnao

      I’m glad we teased out the essential difference here. Of course some people *always* know better, and where that matters (jobs requiring that particular expertise) it should count.

      2 replies 0 retweets 1 like
      Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 21 Apr 2018
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      Replying to @vgr @nils_gilman @mrkgrnao

      Demanding higher general public knowledge on some topics is not about embodying noble collectivist values. It’s about making your job easier to do and justify. Special interests masquerading as general public interest.

      9:43 AM - 21 Apr 2018
      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        1. New conversation
        2. Nils Gilman‏ @nils_gilman 21 Apr 2018
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          Replying to @vgr @mrkgrnao

          That whole way of thinking, coming out of public choice theory—that expertise and public-mindedness should be assumed a ruse for self-promotion and rent-seeking until proven otherwise—is one of the most pernicious lines of thought ever developed, IMO. But I’m boarding a plane...

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 21 Apr 2018
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          Replying to @nils_gilman @mrkgrnao

          Hah by rules of twitter engagement I win by plane-boarding clause

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
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