Comment by James7 on The Meaning of Right · 2008-07-29T23:38:00.000Z · LW · GW

Eliezer once wrote that "We can build up whole networks of beliefs that are connected only to each other - call these "floating" beliefs. It is a uniquely human flaw among animal species, a perversion of Homo sapiens's ability to build more general and flexible belief networks.

The rationalist virtue of empiricism consists of constantly asking which experiences our beliefs predict - or better yet, prohibit."

I can't see how nearly all of the beliefs expressed in this post predict or prohibit any experience.

Comment by James7 on What Would You Do Without Morality? · 2008-07-01T02:58:00.000Z · LW · GW

I'd think Eliezer was funnin' me. Whenever any committed empiricist purports to have a proof of any claim beginning with "There are no X such that..." or "For all X..." I know he's either drunk or kidding.

If it seemed that Eliezer actually believed his conclusion, I'd avoid leaving my wallet within his reach.