- In the '88, I had a standard economist-reading-libertarian-engineer mindset. Philosophy is silly. I was 16.
- In '90, I read Rand...and took philosophy seriously. I was never quite able to buy the Randian position on a lot of stuff, and by '94-ish I would tend to say I agree in broad strokes, but I disagree on every specific point. Free will, Rights derivation, Meta-Ethics and Minarchism are among the most obvious issues. I think her epistemology is shockingly good.
- By '92 I was a teacher.
- By '94 I was a homeschool advocate and practitioner (Well-trained mind, or similar).
- By '95 I hit sociobiology in an anthropology class, and was hooked on evolution as an explanation for everything.
- By '96 I was a Sudbury/Unschooler advocate.
- In '99 I read Dennett, and became convinced of the Compatibilist argument.
- From 2000-2008, I was pretty intellectually lazy.
- In '01, I became convinced that superslow + paleo were the correct answers to nutrition and exercise.
- In '05, I became convinced that in engineering and software problems, BUF planning is insane.
- By 2008, I'd read Deming and Boyd, and believed that BUF planning is always insane. Feedback systems win everything always.
- In '08, I became convinced that you get better decision via groups with good filtering mechanisms than you can by any individual -- The anti-Randian position.
- Also by '08, the radical Hayek/Hanson/Hume position of real uncertainty applied to self finally made sense.
- In '09, I became convinced that the progressive position was not insane...just coopted by the political class...and actually very important and valuable. Presently, I think that Egalitarianism is an important position.
- In '09, Sumner's convinced me of both neo-monetarist macro and to look seriously at the huge value-to-citizens being enjoyed by the nordic states and their large, redistributive governments.
- In '10 Kahneman knocked my socks off with the present/future distinction in happiness.
- Also in '10, I more or less gave up theoretically on the notion that brains are good for finding truth.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Bloggiversary Changing Positions
How have I shifted positions over time.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
Great, thanks!
This post, in conjunction with the previous one is very valuable. I would say my positions are very similar to yours.
On the specifics, I wonder how much neo-Austrians Sumner has converted to quasi-monetarism.
I have read the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and I don't remember Rand dealing with uncertainty too much. Did I miss something? Or have you found a way to combine her epistemology with the radical skepticism of Hume (and Taleb)? Regardless, I think her metaphysics is dreadful.
That was me -- Contemplationist
Rand's HUGE contribution to the epistemology of uncertainty was to say that "Will the sun come up tomorrow" is indeed certain. To say otherwise is to confuse the meaning of certainty. Also great stuff on the inductive/deductive split.
Metaphysics? ehh...I think she thinks she can start with metaphysics, but in reality she has to start with epistemology, which gets her all tangled up at the beginning.
Rand's HUGE contribution to the epistemology of uncertainty was to say that "Will the sun come up tomorrow" is indeed certain. To say otherwise is to confuse the meaning of certainty.
Okay so that can be accomplished by simply adhering to a probabilistic framework - moving away from the boolean. I guess I'm too young to remember that being revolutionary! We Are All Bayesians Now (TM).
Her metaphysics has screwed up many a mind. I remember arguing with some Randian/Austrian about the Egyptian riots and he was adamant that simply watching certain videos of Hoppe and understanding Rand's deductive reasoning would lead me away from my erroneous non-universalist notions that maybe the protests weren't an unalloyed force for good!
Post a Comment