Monthly Meta: Common Knowledge

T.C. Chamberlin's "Method of Multiple Working Hypotheses", as discussed by Abram here, is pretty much a summary of LW epistemic rationality. The idea is that you should look at your data, your hypothesis, and the next best hypothesis that fits the data. Some applications:

Wason 2-4-6 task: if you receive information that 1-2-3 is okay and 2-4-6 is okay while 3-2-1 isn't, and your hypothesis is that increasing arithmetic progressions are okay, the next best hypothesis for the same data is that all increasing sequences are okay. That suggests the next experiment to try.

Hermione and Harry with the soda: if the soda vanishes when spilled on the robes, and your hypothesis is that the robes are magical, the next best hypothesis is that the soda is magical. That suggests the next experiment to try.

Einstein's arrogance: if you have a hypothesis and you've tried many next best hypotheses on the same data, you can be arrogant before seeing new data.

Witch trials: if the witch is scared of your questioning, and your hypothesis is that she's scared because she's guilty, the next best hypothesis is that she's scared of being killed. If your data doesn't favor one over the other, you have no business thinking about such things.

Mysterious answers: if you don't know anything about science, and your hypothesis is that sugar is sweet because its molecule is triangular, the next best hypothesis is that the molecule is square shaped. If your data doesn't favor one over the other, you have no business thinking about such things.

Religion: if you don't see any miracles, and your hypothesis is that God is hiding, the next best hypothesis is that God doesn't exist.

And so on. It's interesting how many ideas this covers.

Slack: Slack is one of the concepts that seems to have gained the most traction. Unfortunately, I don't think we have a clear definition yet. Zvi defined Slack as the absence of binding constraints on behaviour. I suggested that this would make it merely a synonym for freedom and that his article seems to describe, "freedom provided by having spare resources", but Zvi wasn't happy with it and I don't know if he's settled on a precise definition yet.

I suspect that this idea is so popular because it gives people a word to describe the disadvantages of running a system near maximum capacity. Zvi explains how slack reduces stress, allows you to pursuing opportunities that arise, allows you to avoid bad trade-offs and allows long-term thinking. In another key article, Raemon explains how it can lead to fragile design decisions and making poor decisions that go unnoticed.

I recently reread Zvi's Out to Get You, which I think might actually be more important than Slack (although they're fairly intertwined).

Whereas Slack communicates a concept that opens up discussion and primes you to think about a dimension of your life you might not have been thinking about, Out to Get You delves in detail into a particular class of think that will eat your Slack if you don't stop it:

Some things are fundamentally Out to Get You.

They seek resources at your expense. Fees are hidden. Extra options are foisted upon you. Things are made intentionally worse, forcing you to pay to make it less worse. Least bad deals require careful search. Experiences are not as advertised. What you want is buried underneath stuff you don’t want. Everything is data to sell you something, rather than an opportunity to help you.

When you deal with Out to Get You, you know it in your gut. Your brain cannot relax. You lookout for tricks and traps. Everything is a scheme.

It isn't a synonym for money. Lack of money doesn't lead to burnout which was one example in the linked article.

This is a great initiative, too bad there aren't more answers!

As for my contribution, two mythology-inspired personifications:

Moloch: A personification of the system, or rather of the mechanisms that perpetuate the system, even though nobody likes it. It's the avatar of the tragedy of the commons and the non-iterated prisoner dilemma.

Ra: A personification of the malign establishment, of the attitude of idealizing vagueness and despising clarity.

The Establishment is primarily an upper-class phenomenon, that it is more about social and moral legitimacy than mere wealth or raw power, and that it is boringly evil — it produces respectable, normal, right-thinking, mild-mannered people who do things with very bad consequences.

The worship of Ra involves a preference for stockpiling money, accolades, awards, or other resources, beyond what you can meaningfully consume or make practical use of; a felt sense of wanting to attain that abstract radiance of “bestness”.

Feel free to add to those definition if you think a crucial aspect is missing!