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Quote by Eliezer Yudkowsky

“If the iron is hot, I desire to believe it is hot, and if it is cool, I desire to believe it is cool.”

Quote by Eliezer Yudkowsky

Author

Eliezer Yudkowsky

Eliezer Yudkowsky is a writer known for his contributions to the fields of artificial intelligence and cognitive science, particularly in the areas of reinforcement learning and rationalist philosophy. more

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“Between hindsight bias, fake causality, positive bias, anchoring/priming, et cetera et cetera, and above all the dreaded confirmation bias, once an idea gets into your head, it's probably going to stay there.”

Ideas Fake Bias Hindsight Confirmation Causality

Author:Eliezer Yudkowsky

“The strength of a theory is not what it allows, but what it prohibits; if you can invent an equally persuasive explanation for any outcome, you have zero knowledge.”

Ifs Theory Explanation Outcomes Zero Persuasive

Author:Eliezer Yudkowsky

“The police officer who puts their life on the line with no superpowers, no X-Ray vision, no super-strength, no ability to fly, and above all no invulnerability to bullets, reveals far greater virtue than Superman - who is only a mere superhero.”

Lines Ability Vision Virtue Greater Police Mere Officers Rays Bullets Superhero Police Officer Superpower Invulnerability

Author:Eliezer Yudkowsky

“If people got hit on the head by a baseball bat every week, pretty soon they would invent reasons why getting hit on the head with a baseball bat was a good thing.”

People Ifs Reason Week Baseball Good Things Reason Why Bats

Author:Eliezer Yudkowsky

“The purpose of a business is to create a customer.”

Source: The Frontiers of Management

“There are no surprising facts, only models that are surprised by facts; and if a model is surprised by the facts, it is no credit to that model.”

Ifs Facts Models Credit Surprising

Author:Eliezer Yudkowsky

“Science has heroes, but no gods. The great Names are not our superiors, or even our rivals, they are passed milestones on our road; and the most important milestone is the hero yet to come.”

Important Names Hero Superiors Rivals Milestone

Author:Eliezer Yudkowsky

“You are personally responsible for becoming more ethical than the society you grew up in.”

Grew Becoming Grew Up Responsible Ethical Becoming More

Author:Eliezer Yudkowsky

“Do not flinch from experiences that might destroy your beliefs. The thought you cannot think controls you more than thoughts you speak aloud. Submit yourself to ordeals and test yourself in fire. Relinquish the emotion which rests upon a mistaken belief, and seek to feel fully that emotion which fits the facts.”

Thinking Feels Facts Might Belief Speak Emotion Fire Fit Tests Submit Mistaken Ordeals

Author:Eliezer Yudkowsky

“I ask the fundamental question of rationality: Why do you believe what you believe? What do you think you know and how do you think you know it?”

Thinking Knows Believe Asks Fundamentals Rationality You Think You Know

Author:Eliezer Yudkowsky