Consider my opinion changed.

September 10, 2008 2:58 PM

Overcoming Bias [via]
posted by fantabulous timewaster (26 comments total)

All your bias are belong to us.
posted by Elmore at 3:10 PM on September 10, 2008

THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST
posted by turgid dahlia at 3:14 PM on September 10, 2008 [1 favorite]

Now, why might a Hollywood scriptwriter make those particular mistakes?

Because it makes for a more interesting story, which is kind of the point, you narrow-minded goofus.

Many quite openly despise economics and economists. ... So why aren't such expressions considered hate speech?

Because, unlike you, we're not all wannabe, borderline Asperger's ninnies, and have a sense of context.

But some of the articles are interesting food for thought.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:14 PM on September 10, 2008

I'd like to read your link, but I don't like your wording.
posted by boo_radley at 3:16 PM on September 10, 2008

THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST THE BIAST

THE MUSHROOM THE MUSHROOM
posted by davejay at 3:20 PM on September 10, 2008 [1 favorite]

Should be retitled "Manipulating Language for Fun and to Support Our Own Biases".

Sadly lacking in sincerity. Flagged.
posted by wendell at 3:21 PM on September 10, 2008

THE MUSHROOM THE MUSHROOM

BADGER BADGER BADGER
posted by desjardins at 3:21 PM on September 10, 2008

THE MUSHROOM THE MUSHROOM

OHHH, A SNAAAAAKE!

(get in the car!)
posted by turgid dahlia at 3:22 PM on September 10, 2008

Nice tags, though.
posted by fixedgear at 3:27 PM on September 10, 2008

BIAS IS COOL.
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:29 PM on September 10, 2008

I do love the blog, it's got some interesting discussion. Especially when they're talking hard-ish science. But flagged.
posted by Lemurrhea at 3:43 PM on September 10, 2008

Len Bias would have approved.
posted by porn in the woods at 3:48 PM on September 10, 2008

You know, people used to link to interesting blogs all the time on MeFi. When did that become verboten?
posted by monju_bosatsu at 3:52 PM on September 10, 2008

Interesting Blog > Video of Inflatable Slide Shaped Like Penis

(not that the latter still isn't all kinds of great)
posted by namespan at 3:56 PM on September 10, 2008 [1 favorite]

74772: Number of the Biast.
posted by eritain at 4:19 PM on September 10, 2008

But If this election is really more important that the typical topic covered by an academic review article, why not write election review articles to advise academics like me who are honestly uncertain how to vote?

Because it's a moronic idea. If you haven't made up your mind yet, you're too goddamn stupid to be allowed to vote.
posted by Rangeboy at 4:23 PM on September 10, 2008

If you haven't made up your mind yet, you're too goddamn stupid to be allowed to vote.

What of those who have chosen the wrong candidate-- how stupid are they?
posted by Pyry at 4:35 PM on September 10, 2008

What of those who have chosen the wrong candidate-- how stupid are they?

They are stupidest.
posted by psmealey at 4:54 PM on September 10, 2008

Are you biased against the stupid, psmealey?
posted by Lesser Shrew at 5:07 PM on September 10, 2008

Wow, tough crowd. The missing context is that Yudkowsky is trying to talk about Real AI and the problems inherent in it. He's slowly making his way through huge tracts of context where our ideas and even thought processes are counterintuitive, misleading or useless due to the fact that we are intelligent ourselves. Single posts don't stand alone all that well without that purpose and, of course, the last few months of context-building.

Hence the movie AI bit. I don't buy that that makes a better story at all, it just makes an easier to write one. And it certainly does illustrate our preconceptions in the realm of AI and emotion pretty well.
posted by Skorgu at 5:12 PM on September 10, 2008

I don't really understand the snarking about this. It's an interesting site with thought-provoking little essays. Here, for instance:

Politics is an extension of war by other means. Arguments are soldiers. Once you know which side you're on, you must support all arguments of that side, and attack all arguments that appear to favor the enemy side; otherwise it's like stabbing your soldiers in the back - providing aid and comfort to the enemy. People who would be level-headed about evenhandedly weighing all sides of an issue in their professional life as scientists, can suddenly turn into slogan-chanting zombies when there's a Blue or Green position on an issue.

That's well put and useful. I look forward to investigating more of the site. Thanks for the post!
posted by languagehat at 5:16 PM on September 10, 2008

5:58 : post
6:00 : "seems to be a blog. flagged." (hooray for moderators.)
6:14 : "food for thought"
8:16 : "thought-provoking" extended quotation from eighteen months ago

Somewhere in here, a meta-lesson is buried: how long does it take to feed a thought?
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 5:38 PM on September 10, 2008

I was introduced to OB by a coworker who is seriously invested in the AI Singularity.

Reading OB got me interested in Bayes theorem, and that in turn made me smarter.

The best way to read OB is to go to 'beginners start here' and follow the suggestions. I also recommend going to http://yudkowsky.net/, Yudkowsky is a mayor contributor at OB, and reading An Intuitive Explanation of Bayesian Reasoning and The Simple Truth. The simple truth has a very nice story that is always useful when discussing rationality vs. magic/religion.

I am reading one or two posts a day, in chronological order, and hope to catch up ina couple of months.
posted by dirty lies at 5:48 PM on September 10, 2008 [2 favorites]

It might be worthwhile to point out: there are two regular contributers. Robin Hanson doesn't share Yudkowsky's fixation on the possible AI singularity, which makes the overlap between the two men's thought processes much more interesting. This morning's post, for instance, articulates a point I've wanted to express for a while now.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 6:54 AM on September 11, 2008

Just came here to say what fantabulous just said. Great minds waste time alike.

What is your daily blog route timewaster?Apart from mefi and all the obvious ones, I do pharyngula 2 or 3 times, the loom just to check if there is something new, valleywag so I have something to talk about with everyone here, wikipedia random walk + youtube searches, overcoming bias while eating lunch, and that is basically it.
posted by dirty lies at 7:45 AM on September 11, 2008

Should be retitled "Manipulating Language for Fun and to Support Our Own Biases".

Sadly lacking in sincerity. Flagged.

So, ironically, it's a well-documented bias to doubt the sincerity and question the motives of people you disagree with, even in the absence of evidence. But it's necessary for conversation and growth to listen to people on their own terms.
posted by grobstein at 11:22 AM on September 11, 2008