This link has been bookmarked by 3 people . It was first bookmarked on 18 Jan 2009, by Ambika Kilaparthi.
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22 Mar 09
Todd SuomelaRobin Hanson continues his speculation on near/far thoughts. Our effort to appear to have good near thoughts might lead to detatched details that look good but have low impact on near decisions and low resource costs.
psychology perception future phenomenology experience hypocrisy mental management cognition religion decision-making empathy escapism
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If our far thoughts are more distorted to present good images, then the next step down the rabbit hole is this: to judge how we will typically act, others should prefer to see our near thoughts, at least if they can distinguish near versus far thoughts. After all, near thoughts drive most day to day actions. And we should each look more to our own near thoughts to judge our own sincerity.
Once we evolved to weigh near others' thoughts more heavily, the next step would be to look for cheap ways to have good-looking near-thoughts, without paying the full price of distorting important actions. That is, our mind designer would look for ways to show "detached" near thoughts, consistent with good-image far-thoughts, but not actually impacting much on important near decisions.
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A movie can let you feel not only that people in distant times and places should fight Nazis or free slaves, but that if you were actually in such situations with near systems fully engaged, you would actually do such things. But of course since the movie's scenario has little overlap with your real life, there is little risk that near habits acquired would interfere with your usual near actions. You rarely watch movies about, say, helping poor neighbors or illegal immigrants, since those stories are less detached from your ordinary life. There is a reason they call it "escapism," after all.
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Don't assure yourself that your vivid near thoughts mean you are being more realistic, if those vivid thoughts are little connected with real personal experience. It might just be detached detail, there more to flesh out far thoughts than to advise important decisions. When you stand at a real street corner looking to see if it is safe to cross, that is attached detail; when you imagine being tempted by a grinning ten foot devil after fasting for weeks in the hot red desert, that is detached detail.
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