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Moshe Hoffman @Moshe_Hoffman
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:)

(A good illustration of the problem of applying logic/formalism to human intuitions/language.)
(Basically, every analytic philosophy paper I have read. Except those were not intended to be cheeky. And the fallacies are harder to spot.)
It’s odd that given these kinds of issues that analytic philosophers take logic/formalism so seriously?

No?

Why don’t they realize that it’s liable to lead them to all sorts of confusion when applied to vague language and iffy intuitions?

Seems kinda obv no? What am I missing?
Or maybe there is a subtle institutional reason philosophers are nevertheless so motivated to try and formalize their intuitive arguments, despite the inherent flaw with this endeavor?

Perhaps?

Any guesses?
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Another illustrative example of what motivated reasoning looks like in political discourse.
(“Conservatives” didn’t hate on AOC for dancing. One conservative did. But headline “conservatives hate on AOC for dancing” is still *plausibly* true. And makes republicans look worse.)
(But why not criticize republicans for the *actual* bad things they think and say? Not for the *plausibly* bad things? It’s not like there’s nothing legit to criticize...)
Read 3 tweets
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A thread on (the problems with) moral realism.
By moral realism I mean the notion that morals are “discovered” via reasoning. And logical deductions.
I mean the presumption that our moral intuitions can and should be made logically coherent.
Read 86 tweets
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A nice thread summarizing the problems w/ Haidt’s “Moral Foundations Theory.”

And pointing out some additional moral foundations we are likely to have.
(Only qualm: I don’t see why Oliver still attempts a *survey measure* of morals. Anyone able to clarify what that teaches us? Also unclear why focus on innate morality/morals shared with animals. Given so much of our morals are cultural inventions. No? What am I missing?)
(I also don’t quite get how showing that something is universal and evolved makes it pertinent for understanding cross cultural or within cultural variation in morals.

...
Read 4 tweets

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It is possible to discover God purely through the power of intellect. The philosophers of the theistic Samkhya studied the evolutive nature of prakrti but, more importantly, recognized its limitations. In this manner, they worked their way upwards towards spiritual personality.
One fatal mistake that seems to be all-pervading in the scholars' analyses of the Samkhya #philosophy is many of them seem to have succumbed to the erroneous view that the purusa (spiritual personality) is totally devoid of karma. This could also have been the view of some
of the original exponents of this school. This is a mistake of epic proportions and practically strips the purusa of any operative powers reducing him to some substance-like pure entity, albeit of a conscious nature. However, purusa is not a substance-like non-operative entity
Read 22 tweets
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Capitalism does not price strategic assets correctly. This problem of high time preference isn't unique to capitalism but is characteristic of most (?) distributed consensus-like mechanisms among groups of people. This likely sets a limit on the utility of prediction markets.
A good illustration of this problem is the fate of wild tigers. Since the opening of trade with China in the 1970s, wild tiger population has declined 12-fold. The current price for the full set of tiger bones is around $50,000. As tigers become more rare, it will increase.
One can hardly imagine a more perfect system of incentives designed to exterminate a species. Now, surely, a defender of capitalism may say that capitalism has ways of protecting tigers -- one can set up protected areas and charge tourists for visiting them, for example.
Read 8 tweets
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Good morning!

This is a pure revisionist fantasy. Socrates was the friend, lover, and teacher of a group of brutal tyrants who took over Athens and murdered 5% of the population. Socrates was tried for collaboration, not for resistance.
Let's do just a little bit of history to wrap up the week.

I've done versions of this thread before on my old account, but here it is again. Also, I'm writing a book about this and I'm no longer in the habit of giving away my best work for free, so this is very schematic.
The Peloponnesian War was an imperial war between Athens and Sparta for control of the Aegean and the Greek-speaking world. It lasted from 431 BC until 404 BC.

The war ended with the defeat of Athens by Sparta.
Read 30 tweets
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GOOD MORNING it is time for the Writing Advice song, so sing it with me, 🎶writing advice is a product of survivorship bias, an error of false conclusions based on success that is probably at least in part a bit of luuuuuuuck🎶

it's a catchy tune I know you'll dig that jam
next verse

🎶that doesn't make Writing Advice bad but it doesn't make it right either, it just makes it a thiiiiing you should look at and behold and then try or discard at your leiiiiisuuuuure🎶
final verse

🎶the things that work for other writers won't necessarily and don't haaaaave to work for yoooo-hooooo-youuuuu because art and story are not cake recipes or lawnmower repair manuaaaaaals dooby-dooby-doo you do yooooou🎶
Read 28 tweets
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Read and Think Better, Not More (Thread)

I'm going to focus on one golden rule, to surmise: when you read, suspend the mental straitjacket of categories or compartmentalization. Also, this is more of a tirade, bear with me.
1- I am not referring to ontological categories i.e. essentially mutually exclusive things that exist in the natural world. I am referring to conceptual categories. For example, when we read - before thinking - we commit a category act: "this is a history book, etc"
So basically we've limited the potential insights and thinking before the reading begins. Why? The brain makes associations through categories. So when we read a history book, we make mental associations with other texts we've read on history, and so forth.
Read 15 tweets
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If you want to kill people, the most effective way to do this in the modern era (since gun laws and annoying people like the Police will make things awkward) is to persuade people to stop (or never start) a statin.

Over the long term, 1 in 10 will be killed by that choice.
You can even write books about it and make money.
And be seen as a crusader against a crooked medicogovernmental conspiracy.
The internet is a good place to operate, because most lay people can't distinguish scientific reasoning from pseudoscience, and because ...
Excellent question from Arnab:
Read 222 tweets

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