The hottest Rationalism Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Philosophy Topics

The Zizians and the Rationalist death cults

Read Max • 12066 implied HN points • 31 Jan 25
📖 Philosophy Rationalism Cults Psychology Ethics Self-Improvement
  1. Rationalism can lead to cult-like groups, like the Zizians, which have been tied to violence and criminal activities. These groups often arise from complex social dynamics within the Rationalist community.
  2. The Rationalist Movement emphasizes personal development and reasoning, but this can make its members susceptible to extreme beliefs and social manipulation. As a result, some might fall into harmful ideologies.
  3. Many people involved in the Rationalist community seek deep connections and self-improvement, but this often comes with pressure to conform and can push members toward risky behaviors or affiliations with dangerous groups.

Open Thread 383

Astral Codex Ten • 1858 implied HN points • 26 May 25
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Meetups Online Courses Rationalism
  1. There's an open thread where you can talk about anything or ask questions. It’s a place for free conversation.
  2. Meetups are happening around the world, including one in London this week. It’s a good chance to connect with others.
  3. There are several upcoming conferences and courses related to AI and safety. You can get involved and learn more about important topics.

Open Thread 359

Astral Codex Ten • 5024 implied HN points • 09 Dec 24
📖 Philosophy Ethics Charity Community Debate Rationalism
  1. You can participate in an open thread where you can share thoughts or ask questions. It's a great way to connect and engage in discussions.
  2. There are charities you can support that directly help people, like GiveDirectly which gives cash to poor families in Africa. Supporting effective charities can make a real difference.
  3. Lightcone supports the rationalist community and works on infrastructure for online platforms. Donating can help continue their valuable work and make improvements for events and resources.

Does The Past Exist?

Castalia • 579 implied HN points • 19 Dec 23
📖 Philosophy Existence Literature History Critique Rationalism Aesthetics
  1. Some people believe that the past doesn't matter as much because they think progress leads to better results today. They argue that everything improves over time, like athletes breaking records.
  2. However, the author argues that past achievements in areas like literature and chess have their own unique value and should not be dismissed. The past has lessons and beauty that are still relevant today.
  3. It's important to respect the past and recognize its significance. It shouldn't just be seen as a stepping stone for the present.

David Hume—Why we change our mind

Ralph Ammer • 668 implied HN points • 02 May 23
📖 Philosophy Empiricism Rationalism Induction
  1. David Hume believed that our knowledge comes from outside through observation, not from within through reason.
  2. Empiricists trust that the material world has structure through cause and effect, but Hume questioned the certainty of this trust.
  3. Deductions provide logical certainty, while inductions offer general rules based on probability.
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Bird Perspectives and Outside Views

Seeking Bird Perspectives • 6 implied HN points • 02 Dec 24
📖 Philosophy Rationalism Epistemology Logic Ethics Cognitive Science
  1. The bird perspective means looking at things from a higher viewpoint to understand the bigger picture. It helps you see how your situation fits into a larger context.
  2. The outside view uses past experiences and similar cases to predict outcomes, but it can miss important details about your specific situation. It's important to find a balance between general predictions and unique factors.
  3. Using these perspectives can help reduce biases in decision-making. They inspire clearer thinking, but they shouldn't be used as the only way to argue or win a debate.

Pancritical Rationalism: An Extropic Metacontext for Memetic Progress

Extropic Thoughts • 39 implied HN points • 13 Apr 23
📖 Philosophy Epistemology Rationalism
  1. Pancritical rationalism encourages continuous improvement by embracing criticism and rejecting dogmatism.
  2. PCR aligns with Extropian values, promoting dynamic optimism, self-transformation, and intelligent technology.
  3. A metacontext like PCR can help create an environment for rationality to flourish by fostering open-mindedness and critical thinking.

Rationalism and social rationalism

Philosophy bear • 2 HN points • 10 Mar 23
📖 Philosophy Rationalism Belief Epistemology
  1. It's more important for society to get questions right than for individuals to be right, especially for political, existential risk, scientific, technological, and ethical questions.
  2. Different aspects of belief can go in different directions within a single person, and collective rationality can differ from individual rationality.
  3. Advocating beliefs should consider the gap between personal belief and societal belief, and focus on contributing unique information to enhance public reason.

With the assistance of cannibal witches

Meaningness • 0 implied HN points • 02 Oct 20
📖 Philosophy Rationalism Logic
  1. The post discusses the end of logic and the challenges that logical rationalism faces due to limited knowledge.
  2. The chapter explores how we don't know everything, which poses a significant difficulty for rationalism.
  3. The post is part of a series that covers logical rationalism and probabilistic rationalism, with this chapter focusing on the concept of incomplete knowledge.

Power tools for confusion

Meaningness • 0 implied HN points • 25 Oct 20
🔬 Science Statistics Rationalism Replication Crisis
  1. The post discusses how rationalist misunderstanding of statistics contributed to the replication crisis in some sciences, revealing that much of what was believed to be true was false.
  2. The section focuses on probabilistic rationalism and sheds light on the importance of statistics in research and decision-making processes.
  3. The post is geared towards paid subscribers, providing exclusive content on challenging topics related to confusion and rationalism.