Vitalik Buterin on Warpcast

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Vitalik Buterin

I agree this is a problem. In retrospect, reading Yudkowsky's Sequences was far more valuable to me than reading various pre-1900 philosophers' works firsthand. https://twitter.com/PradyuPrasad/status/1757745612072894477

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Vitalik Buterin pfp

Vitalik Buterin

Though ironically I think ancient philosophy is *more* valuable than 1600s stuff. Ancient philosophy is like, "these are some ideas on living a good life I've acquired by instinct". 1600s was starting to make deeper systematizations, but we were very inexperienced then, and 21st century systematizations are better.

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bigjaymes.eth 🎩 pfp

bigjaymes.eth 🎩

It’s a good point, but also it can be useful to see where ideas started and how they progressed. The context is often relevant and can be eye-opening. Eg. it’s useful to understand how Newton created a model that explained/predicted a lot of things correctly, but was ultimately wrong as a description of reality.

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accountless pfp

@accountless.eth

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Eddy Lazzarin 🟠 pfp

Eddy Lazzarin 🟠

This is generally true but there are pre-1900 works that impacted me very differently from reading second hand accounts: - The Ancient City by Fustel de Coulanges (1864) - Nietzsche (1880s) - The Federalist Papers (1787-1788) - Capital by Marx (1867) - The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico by Díaz del Castillo (1568)

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Daniel Fernandes

I feel this is just an excuse for bad scholarship/not citing sources/passing off old ideas as new. LessWrong did this a lot, like "continuum fallacy" became "fallacy of the grey" We also learn "wrongish" equations in Physics like 'momentum = m*v' for historical reasons (& unlearn them later).

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Connor McCormick

wow I've been avoiding sequences all this time because I thought they were over hyped. reading them now

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three9s pfp

Wisdom != intelligence That's not too say that it can't be improved upon, just that we're more likely to find "progess" there via some monks in a temple than via technocrats, which very rarely tend to spread influence. Additionally, wisdom must come from within, rather than peer-to-peer like intellectual knowledge.

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yesyes pfp

I disagree and I am sure some others would disagree as well. Philosophy is different from other subjects. Reading older philosophy texts definitely provides me a broader perspective on things and makes me more aware of the bubble I am in.

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▫️Onyx 📚 🎩 pfp

▫️Onyx 📚 🎩

@cipherscript.eth

Philosophical puzzles remain unchanged from Aristotle to Yudkowsky; unlike science, where new discoveries shift old views. Thoughts?

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Brent Fitzgerald

This has me wondering what progress means in philosophy.

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ツンデレ ✈️ pfp

ツンデレ ✈️

Modern philosophers re interpret the ancients. There's nothing modern about them besides the fact they are desperately trying to make a name and a buck using someone else's 🍆 I suggest (for west): La Scienza Nuova 3 Kratylos and generally logical outlines around Pythagoras, heracletus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle.

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Piter Pasma pfp

Don't think this person has actually read works thousands of years old for Philosophy class, but the modern translations+commentary. I always interpreted learning Philosophy to be learning the _counterarguments_ to these old famous theories. Cause the ones set in stone/proven are no longer part of Philosophy.

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Callum Wanderloots ✨

@wanderloots.eth

Agree, though I think there is a benefit to reading the original writing of philosophy in the context of the time. If something was a problem 2000 years ago, and it's still a problem now, odds are the universalism of the issue is innate to humanity, and still valuable now. Just finished HPMOR for the third time 🪄

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▫️Onyx 📚 🎩 pfp

▫️Onyx 📚 🎩

@cipherscript.eth

For those wondering: Yudkowsky is an AI safety and rationality expert. He authored the "Sequences" on LessWrong, exploring decision theory, cognitive biases, and rational thinking, offering a foundational guide to critical thinking and rationality. Rationality: From AI to Zombies https://www.lesswrong.com/tag/sequences

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GREENCROSS.xcp 🎩

@greencross.eth

shut up and take my 25000 $DEGEN

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Jordan 🎩🐲⛓️ pfp

Jordan 🎩🐲⛓️

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Eclectic Method

@eclecticmethod

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madvi pfp

Yes - however if there is an original language version and you can read that you often gain a level of understanding deeper than any translation can ever give you

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Ridgely pfp

Kierkegaard holds up better as a primary text.

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