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-carrymanati

Yesterday I was trying to understand what Eliezer was trying say in his article, “Feeling Rational”. I didn’t get far with it, so I am continuing decoding the article.

Feeling Rational

So is rationality orthogonal to feeling? No; our emotions arise from our models of reality. If I believe that my dead brother has been discovered alive, I will be happy; if I wake up and realize it was a dream, I will be sad. P. C. Hodgell said: “That which can be destroyed by the truth should be.” My dreaming self’s happiness was opposed by truth. My sadness on waking is rational; there is no truth which destroys it.

What the fuck does he mean by models of reality?

I think plants grow as a result of photosynthesis. I think, if I jump off a cliff, I will fucking fall down due to gravity. These are all beliefs. My brother is alive is a belief. So it appears to me that possibly ‘models of reality’ means belief.

It appears that emotions arise from our beliefs. When we are confronted by the truth against our belief, we should update our Map. This is nothing but rationality. When my dreaming self’s happiness is opposed by the truth, I update my map. I feel sad as a result of my map updating to the truth. My emotion is as a result of my belief being shattered.

My sadness on waking is rational; there is no truth which destroys it.

My sadness on waking seems to be a result of rationality. But what does it mean to say, “My sadness on waking is rational, there is no truth which destroys it.

Counter example

It is my belief that women will make my life 10x better. When I don’t get women I am sad, When I get them I am happy. Emotions arise from my belief that women will make my life 10x better. What is rational about this emotion? I didn’t update any belief.

I don’t don’t see or understand what it means to say that emotions are rational.

P.S This is more than mind boggling. Fuck its a simple few sentences, but yet, I cannot understand it. It feels like I am puzzling out the intended meanings of words. So fucking hard. This sucks, that it comes from Eliezer.