On not trusting stories

Here's a 16 minute lecture by Tyler Cowan about the limits of the human default of thinking in stories.

The central idea is that you need to leave out a lot (mostly the messiness of the real world) in order to make a compelling story, and that while you can't give up stories (they're built into human nature), it's worth developing dubiousness about getting engaged in them.

I just tried to check some details, and the site wouldn't let me play the lecture twice until I deleted the cookie for the lecture.

Anyway, he suggests that any story with good vs. evil, or about getting tough, or that one's life is something coherent like a journey should be viewed with suspicion.

Link thanks to Less Wrong.

The comments there mention Nassim Taleb as also cautioning people against stories.

Composing a Life by Mary Catherine Bateson is about women's lives not fitting into the neat trajectories expected of men's lives. At this point, I'm wondering whether men's lives aren't that tidy either.

On not trusting stories

Here's a 16 minute lecture by Tyler Cowan about the limits of the human default of thinking in stories.

The central idea is that you need to leave out a lot (mostly the messiness of the real world) in order to make a compelling story, and that while you can't give up stories (they're built into human nature), it's worth developing dubiousness about getting engaged in them.

I just tried to check some details, and the site wouldn't let me play the lecture twice until I deleted the cookie for the lecture.

Anyway, he suggests that any story with good vs. evil, or about getting tough, or that one's life is something coherent like a journey should be viewed with suspicion.

Link thanks to Less Wrong.

The comments there mention Nassim Taleb as also cautioning people against stories.

Composing a Life by Mary Catherine Bateson is about women's lives not fitting into the neat trajectories expected of men's lives. At this point, I'm wondering whether men's lives aren't that tidy either.

Adjectives distant from their nouns

gubernatorial governor
Athens Attic
(George Bernard) Shaw Shavian
uncle avuncular


Any others?

Adjectives distant from their nouns

gubernatorial governor
Athens Attic
(George Bernard) Shaw Shavian
uncle avuncular


Any others?

A copy editor for trials

In a recent comment, I said

I've felt for a long time that there's something wrong (epistomologically? ethically?) with the idea that prosecuting and defending attorneys should just try as hard as they can to win (within very wide limits), but I've never been able to put a finger on it.

Maybe there should be a third "side" which is supposed to point out logical and factual errors without being biased towards any of the parties in a legal case. Judges don't seem to be terribly thorough at it.

Here's a little more detail....

I'm not sure who should pay the copy editor so as to discourage conflicts of interest. If the defense has the resources, it would be reasonable to split the cost between the defense and the prosecution, but frequently, the defense doesn't [1]. Having the government pay the copy editor (any suggestions for a better name?) seems like the only alternative since I can't imagine a charity raising enough money to pay for all the copy editors which are needed.

I'm sure that a lot of people would love the work, and that the meetings of the Association of Justice System Copy Editors would be interesting in some sense or other.

A copy editor for trials

In a recent comment, I said

I've felt for a long time that there's something wrong (epistomologically? ethically?) with the idea that prosecuting and defending attorneys should just try as hard as they can to win (within very wide limits), but I've never been able to put a finger on it.

Maybe there should be a third "side" which is supposed to point out logical and factual errors without being biased towards any of the parties in a legal case. Judges don't seem to be terribly thorough at it.

Here's a little more detail....

I'm not sure who should pay the copy editor so as to discourage conflicts of interest. If the defense has the resources, it would be reasonable to split the cost between the defense and the prosecution, but frequently, the defense doesn't [1]. Having the government pay the copy editor (any suggestions for a better name?) seems like the only alternative since I can't imagine a charity raising enough money to pay for all the copy editors which are needed.

I'm sure that a lot of people would love the work, and that the meetings of the Association of Justice System Copy Editors would be interesting in some sense or other.