DocWatts

Scientism is the 'I'm not like other girls' of epistemologies 😆

Thought I might share this write-up for my philosophy book, '7 Provisional Truths', on how Scientism is an incoherent perspective that's parasitical upon genuine science. Some additional context for this section is that it's part of a chapter which critiques Transcendental Rationality in favor of Metarationality, using conceptual categories to illustrate how context and perspective are features - not bugs - of human reason. * Note that 'Transcendental' here, refers to the viewpoint that ideas and concepts transcend our human perspective, and are inherent features of a mind-independent Reality. (Plato's 'Theory of Forms' is an excellent example of this kind of thinking, along with Scientific Realism and Kantian Idealism). ____________________________________________________________ Transcendental Illusions: The Scientism Trap At its core, this phenomenological approach to categories seeks to embrace, rather than transcend, the limitations of our human perspective. Beyond how counterintuitive this approach may seem, an additional objection might be raised. Doesn't a means of accounting for our human biases already exist, built into the structure of the scientific method? To address this objection, we first need to distinguish between simplified portrayals of the scientific method in popular culture, and how it operates in a real-world context. These portrayals tend to overlook the integral role of human interpretation in scientific inquiry. In this folk understanding, scientific practice consists of a gradual accumulation of perspectiveless, uninterpreted ‘facts’, retrieved from a mind-independent Reality. In actuality, science is heavily interpretative; driven by a productive tension between competing viewpoints that, despite their differences, ultimately fuels scientific progress. While this tension between competing viewpoints is crucial for scientific progress, it operates within a structured framework. This framework, known as the scientific method, provides the rigor and consistency that distinguishes science from other forms of inquiry. A more thorough characterization of science, therefore, must begin with the scientific method. The scientific method is a systematic process for investigating the behavior of the natural world. It uses careful observation and controlled experimentation to develop iterative, falsifiable models that distinguish true cause-and-effect relationships from coincidental patterns. Much could be said about the degree to which science achieves this laudable aim in practice. For our present purposes, we’ll confine ourselves to what this more nuanced perspective on the scientific method means for our intuitions about categories. In essence, it demolishes the assumed link between ‘Transcendental Categories’ and genuine scientific principles, exposing noticeable shortcomings in folk theories of science. What’s essential to understand about this assumed link is that it’s derived from metaphysical assumptions, not a rigorous application of scientific principles. The supposition that our conceptual categories are transcendent representations of a mind-independent Reality is not a falsifiable conclusion that can be evaluated through controlled scientific experimentation. Instead, it’s a starting assumption that incorrectly gets associated with the precision and authority of science. The same critique also applies to ‘‘Transcendental Objectivity’ and ‘Transcendental Reason’. At their core, these Transcendental epistemologies exhibit a parasitical relationship with science; riding the coattails of its authority, while foregoing the rigor that makes science a credible source of knowledge. Unlike scientific theories, which are subject to testing and falsification, these transcendental concepts are beyond the scope of controlled experimentation. This would be fine, since not every type of truth is amenable to the methods of science (including many of the ideas within this book), except that Transcendental epistemology is often veiled within an aura of unassailable truth. This is problematic because it reinforces a distorted perception of science that’s disconnected from how the discipline actually operates. At its worst, Transcendental epistemology can morph into a view known as scientism. This perspective, while claiming to champion science, actually misrepresents it in a profound way. In contrast to genuine science, scientism is a murky chimera of scientific aesthetics and metaphysical suppositions. It contends that the only ‘valid’ forms of truth are those that are amenable to the scientific method. While at the same time, it insists that Transcendental metaphysical assumptions, which are beyond the scope of science, are absolutely true. Needless to say, this is an inconsistent, and arguably incoherent, viewpoint; it’s the epistemological equivalent of trying to have one’s cake and eat it too.

Absolutely 👍

@Leo Gura I believe you mentioned that you were writing a book, but it's been awhile since I've heard anything else about it. Any details about the book that you'd be comfortable sharing?

Thanks for asking. I estimate that it's about %30-40 written at this point, so most likely another 2-3 years until it's completed, since I'm writing it in my spare time. (While also being mindful to maintain a sustainable pace to avoid burnout). Going to continue putting chapters on my website as I complete them, for anyone who's interested. Should also have a recording of a presentation on the material by the end of the summer, that I'm planning on giving at a Metrationality conference I'll be attending.

If we're sticking with Spanish, how about 'la caca naranja'? 😆

Partisan Loyalty Without Issue Awareness: They may vote consistently for a party without a deep understanding of that party's current platform. Brings to mind that a shocking number of Americans have zero idea which political party is behind major policies that impact them directly. A good recent example are misconceptions that Biden's $35 a month insulin price cap was a bipartisan effort, when in actuality every single Republican voted against it. Many of these folks knew someone (such as an elderly family member) who directly benefited from this policy. I personally know people who bitch and moan that the economy isn't working for ordinary Americans, or that our taxes should be doing more to help poor people. And when elections come around they cast their ballots for the Republican Party. It's kind of wild how banal this sort of thing has become, to be honest.

Thought it might be interesting / useful to have a more precise definition of a 'low information voter'. Of these, 'Partisan Loyalty Without Issue Awareness', 'Reliance on Entertainment-Focused Media', and 'Overreliance on Simplistic Narratives' stood out as particularly relevant right now. _________________________ Q - "What would be some reasonable heuristics for precisely defining a 'low information voter', in the context of contemporary American politics?" ChatGPT: Defining "low information voters" (LIVs) in the context of contemporary American politics involves identifying characteristics and behaviors associated with limited political knowledge, awareness, or engagement. Here are some reasonable heuristics: 1) Limited Political Knowledge: Low Awareness of Issues: LIVs may lack detailed understanding of key political issues, policies, or candidates' platforms. Limited Knowledge of Political Processes: They might be unfamiliar with how government institutions work or the roles of different political offices. 2) Media Consumption: Reliance on Entertainment-Focused Media: LIVs may primarily consume news from entertainment-oriented sources, social media, or platforms with low journalistic standards. Infrequent News Consumption: They may rarely follow political news or only do so during major events like elections. 3) Voting Behavior: Single-Issue Voting: LIVs may vote based on a single issue, often without considering broader implications or the full spectrum of a candidate’s policies. Partisan Loyalty Without Issue Awareness: They may vote consistently for a party without a deep understanding of that party's current platform. 4) Civic Engagement: Low Participation in Civic Activities: LIVs might not engage in civic activities such as attending town halls, participating in political discussions, or volunteering for campaigns. Limited Research Before Voting: They may decide how to vote with minimal research or consideration of the candidates and issues on the ballot. 5) Cognitive Engagement: Minimal Critical Thinking Applied to Politics: LIVs might not critically analyze political information or question the validity of sources. Overreliance on Simplistic Narratives: They may prefer and accept simple, often emotional narratives over more complex and nuanced explanations. These heuristics aim to capture the characteristics of voters who engage less deeply with political information and processes, leading to less informed voting decisions. However, it’s important to recognize that this concept is subjective and can be influenced by bias in how information is judged as "low" or "high" quality. Q - "What percentage of Americans might fit these heuristics? A super rough estimate is okay" ChatGPT: A super rough estimate might suggest that around 25% to 40% of American voters could fit the description of "low information voters" based on the heuristics mentioned. This estimate considers several factors: Media Consumption Habits: Surveys show that a significant portion of Americans get their news from social media or entertainment-based sources, which tend to provide less comprehensive coverage of political issues. Political Knowledge and Engagement: Research has often found that a sizable portion of the electorate is not well-informed about political processes, candidates, or policy details. For instance, polls often reveal gaps in basic political knowledge or low engagement with political news. Voting Behavior: Many voters make decisions based on party loyalty, single issues, or the appeal of a candidate's personality, rather than a detailed understanding of platforms. While this estimate is rough and somewhat speculative, it reflects the idea that a considerable minority of the electorate may not be highly informed or engaged in a nuanced way with political issues.

@Leo Gura Thanks for the reply. Take care of yourself Leo, hope your health issues improve. Appreciate ya', and looking forward to whatever you put out in the future

@NightHawkBuzz You've fallen prey to a Christian Nationalist cult of personality, my man. These folks are currently trying to destroy American democracy. Healthy conservatism has a constructive role to play in American politics and culture, but this ain't it. It's the most warped and destructive version of those values.

While it's very much true that the world is far better off today than it was in the past, it's a fact that's not of much use to people who are being harmed and exploited today. Too often people like Stephen Pinker (some of whose work I do find valuable) use it to hand-wave and apologize for current serious systemic failures. Imagine telling a black person living under Jim Crow in the 1950s : "Sure you live in an apartheid regime that denies you basic rights and you're a second class citizen in your own country, but did you know that things are less bad for your people right now than at any point in history? While that may be true from a comparative standpoint, you shouldn't be surprised when they kindly tell you to fuck off. 😆

😂😂😂 Best use of a meme I've seen on the Forum in some time. Kudos.

Thought I might add this follow up section, which touches upon the misconception that a Transcendental interpretation of categories is 'scientific'. _________________________________________________ Why Our Limitations Matter The first of these potential pitfalls involves a misconstrual of what this ‘shot across the bow’ to absolute knowledge actually entails. The assertion that conceptual categories aren’t a retrieval of mind-independent distinctions that are ‘out there’ in the world may seem strange. This strangeness is understandable. We live in a scientific culture that’s long since dethroned mankind from the center of the universe, and the suggestion that categories aren’t external to us may seem as if it flies in the face of established knowledge. Naturally, this rejection of mind-independent categories raises some questions, chief among them: doesn’t it resurrect the outdated idea that we occupy a privileged position at the center of Reality? After all, our everyday categories certainly seem to correspond to external, mind-independent distinctions. Before we tackle these concerns, let’s introduce some shorthand that will be helpful going forward. We’ll use ‘Transcendental Categories’ to refer to the tacit assumption that conceptual categories are fixed features of Reality which transcend our human perspective. By contrast, recall that phenomenology is a methodology for scrutinizing how the world shows up for us in the directness of our lived experience. ‘Phenomenological Categories’, then, refers to the idea that categories are anthropocentric schemas that arise from our embodied interactions with the world. With this shorthand in mind, let’s return to the issues that are raised by this phenomenological interpretation of categories. The key question is whether it contradicts well-established observations that we have good reason to trust. To that end, let’s look at it from the perspective of modern science. One of the underlying assumptions of modern science, known as the Mediocrity Principle, holds that we have no inherently privileged position within the cosmos. It’s a denial that our cosmic vantage point holds any special importance within the grand scheme of the universe, just because we happen to be occupying it. Essentially, the principle aims to avoid introducing unintentional anthropocentric bias into our study of the natural world. This is a noble intention, not just for scientific inquiry, but for philosophical investigation as well. Given its emphasis on how conceptual categories are unavoidably anthropocentric, it may be surprising to discover that this phenomenological approach doesn’t contradict the Mediocrity Principle. Instead, it extends it in a more fundamental way. By emphasizing how categories are grounded in a human perspective, we can avoid projecting our own needs, interests, and capacities onto nature. Counterintuitively, by acknowledging the anthropocentric origins of our categories, we gain the ability to critically examine their limitations. This is important because it facilitates a far less biased interpretation of their meaning and significance. Consequently, this phenomenological perspective stands in sharp contrast to the unrealistic assumption that our categories are transcendent representations of a mind-independent Reality. In sum, we gain notable clarity by questioning this insistence that there’s a single correct understanding of Reality that transcends the human perspective. By embracing this human vantage point, and incorporating its underlying limitations into our abstractions, we more effectively safeguard ourselves against self-deception as we interpret Reality through these frameworks.

I thought I might share this write up on meta-rationality which I drafted for the philosophy book I'm working on, 7 Provisional Truths. In it I discuss both the usefulness and limitations of conceptual categories, and make the case that 'Reason' is inherently tied to a human perspective within Reality. And that this is a feature - not a bug - of rationality. _______________________________________________________________________ Context Is King for Categorization What a context refers to is the background situation and circumstances that shape our interpretation of something. Consider spoken language, for instance - and the degree to which tone, body language, and personal relationships contribute to the meaning of a verbal conversation. Although we readily recognize context’s influence on speech, we often fail to acknowledge its foundational importance for the categories we use to make sense of the world. Notably, this contextual influence doesn’t just apply to elusive categories like ‘truth’ and ‘beauty’, whose meanings have been discussed and debated for centuries. It extends to concrete phenomena in the everyday world as well. This includes material objects like tables and chairs, sensory properties like color and texture, and even spatiotemporal fundamentals like space and time. Our intuitions tell us that these everyday categories correspond to ‘objective’ categories that exist in nature; yet this is a mistaken assumption. As we’ll discover, a more complex and fascinating truth awaits us, if we can let go of our rigid insistence that our categories are mirrors of Reality. The roots of this deceptive intuition arise from a fundamental misunderstanding about the formation and function of the categories we use. Conceptual categories, even for seemingly concrete things, aren’t a straightforward retrieval of pre-existing distinctions that are ‘out there’ in the world. Instead, they are more like mental frameworks that help us make sense of our embodied experience. These mental frameworks, or schemas, are inherently tailored to our needs, capacities, and purposes as human beings. In this sense, categories are unavoidably anthropocentric - reflecting our uniquely human perspective within Reality. A schema, simply put, is a pattern for organizing and interpreting information within a given domain. Categories, then, can be understood as anthropocentric schemas, which are unavoidably tied to our embodied experience within the world. This understanding of categories as anthropocentric schemas reveals an important insight into their formation and structure. At their core, categories are functional rather than objective. Their purpose is to help us make predictive generalizations about what we encounter within the world, which is integral to our ability to reason. Reason, then, is our capacity to manipulate and extend these ‘predictive generalizations’ - using them to draw inferences, predict patterns, and reflect upon our embodied experience. A closer look at the formation and structure of categories also invites us to reexamine many of our intuitions about Reason - chief among them, the prevailing assumption that Reason is primarily a detached, intellectual activity. This traditional view presupposes that reason is inherently transcendental, meaning that it literally transcends our human perspective. Reason, in this view, is an inherent feature of Reality, independent of any thinking beings. Going forward, we’ll refer to this perspective as Transcendental Reason. When we use the word ‘Reason’ with a capital R, it’s to this transcendental conception of Reason that we’re referring. The alternative perspective we’ll be exploring aims to show how human reason arises from our embodied, everyday experience - and that reasoning relies significantly upon emotion, imagination, and metaphor. In contrast to capital 'R' Reason, when we use the word with a lowercase 'r', it's to this embodied, human reason that we refer. In connection with this alternate account of reason, we’ll also challenge prevailing assumptions around ‘Objectivity’. These notions often presuppose that there’s a single, correct view of Reality that transcends our human perspective - in essence, a ‘‘Transcendental Objectivity’. In contrast to the transcendental perspective, what we’ll be articulating is a fundamentally ‘human objectivity’. Where the focus is on leveraging a shared human context to arrive at common forms of understanding, without resorting to the unrealistic idea that Reality can be understood from a 'neutral', perspective-free viewpoint. As with our account of ‘Reason’ and ‘reason’, we’ll use a capital ‘O’ when we’re referring to Transcendental Objectivity, and a lowercase ‘o’ for human objectivity. So why draw attention to these distinctions? It’s to highlight that being bound within a context and a perspective isn’t a ‘flaw’ of human reasoning - it’s an essential feature. The epistemological ramifications of this observation are huge. In essence, it’s a ‘shot across the bow’ to notions that we can have absolute or universal knowledge.

Section 3 of 14th Amendment wasn't just written for the Confederacy, it's eminently reasonable to interpret that it was meant to apply to any other violent insurrection attempts in the future as well. Doesn't seem like there should be much ambiguity for anyone who's actually adhering to the spirit of the law in good faith. Trump inciting a violent mob to stop a peaceful transfer of power is a good faith interpretation of an 'insurrection'. Republican claims that Biden's handling of the Southern border somehow constitutes an 'insurrection' is not. In other words, it's almost impossible to write a law that's completely immune from Bad Faith interpretation. (This is leaving aside that it would be better for the country if Trump is defeated at the ballot box, rather than being disqualified. The Law seems pretty clear on this).

I suggest that you introspect on where those feelings are coming from. It's all too easy to misconstrue our feelings of personal discomfort into moral outrage. It's a form of psychological projection that I would invite you to examine. It's okay to feel personally uncomfortable with a lifestyle that feels unfamiliar to you - it's not okay to use that discomfort as justification to dehumanize those people or to strip them of their rights. Maybe you should get to actually know some LGBTQ individuals? Doing so will give you an opportunity to see that they're just regular people, not the abnormal Boogeyman that you're imaging them to be. If you jump into politics without working on integrating this obvious shadow that you have, you'll just end up making the world a worse place.

What you're describing is something called 'Constitutional Hardball'. It's a go-to tactic of 21st century authoritarians who are working within democratic systems. While this is the bread and butter of the modern Republican Party, Trump himself is dumb enough to commit flagrantly criminal actions on top of this. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_hardball From Wikipedia: Constitutional hardball is the exploitation of procedures, laws and institutions by political actors for partisan gain in ways which violate pre-established norms and push the bounds of legality.[1][2] Legal scholars and political scientists have characterized constitutional hardball as a threat to democracy, because it undermines shared understanding of democratic norms and undermines the expectation that the other side will comply with democratic norms. As a result, the use of constitutional hardball by one side of partisans encourages other partisans to respond in similar fashion.[3][4][2]

To me, the Devil brings to mind someone suave and alluring, who seduces you with charisma and half truths. Not a spray tanned man-child who throws temper tantrums on Twitter He's more like an octogenarian version of Cartman.

Yes, it should have. And if the Republican Party were still a conservative small 'd' democratic party, that should have been the end of his career in politics. In Reality, the entirety of the Republican Party's apparatus has been enabling Trump. The right wing propaganda machine has not only perpetuated Trump's Big Lie, but has spent years grooming roughly a third of the country for fascism. We have the most corrupt Supreme Court in the history of the country supporting and enabling Trump, making it difficult if not impossible to hold him accountable for his flagrant violations of US Laws and the Constitution.

Since John Verveake was brought up, his 'Awakening From The Meaning Crisis' series on YouTube is an excellent place to start. Good example of how one can use thier academic training and credentials to speak to people on a substantive issues outside of academia.

Problem is that low-information voters who haven't been following politics are likely to have a mindset that thier day-to-day life didn't change all that drastically last time Trump was president. As a result, they're also likely to think that our warnings about Trump's dangerous plans are overblown (many people living in early 1930s thought the same thing about Hitler, thinking that he wouldn't be able to sustain his radicalism once he was brought into the government). They aren't able to see how thier day-to-day observations connect to the broader social context in which that experience takes place; if they were able to, they wouldn't be on the fence or undecided.

@Leo Gura Tell me this isn't effective messaging for apolitical normies who haven't been following what's been going on with Trump and Project 2025.

You know that. And I know that. It's obvious to any minimally informed person. But to the lowest common denominator, apolitical low-information voter (who's not already voting for Trump), the 'weirdo' rhetoric seems to be working. So I say go with it - since it's not wrong, and it complimentary to pointing out how dangerous and brainwashed Christian Nationalists are. They're dangerous weirdos.

Best possible choice for a VP pick. Popular progressive governor. A military veteran and labor advocate who's very likable, and gets bonus points for starting the trend of calling Trump and the Christian Nationalists 'weirdos'.