Venkatesh Rao ☀️
@vgr
Theory: humans like to maintain uncertainty at a constant level. If reality gets too predictable we tell more plausible make-believe stories. If it gets less predictable we tell fewer stories. If a coin always comes up heads, we tell stories of a world where it always comes up tails.
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vaughn tan
@vt
is it uncertainty (a very broad category) that humans seek or ambiguity (a particular type of not-knowing where there are multiple possible readings, some of which might be more favourable than current perceived reality)?
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Venkatesh Rao ☀️
@vgr
Hm not sure this nuance is something humans are sensitive to at the unconscious level I think my hypothesis applies. Your categories are good but strike me as constituting an acquired discipline. Almost a protocol for uncertainty. I recall that uncertainty vs ambiguity paper you shared years ago which I cite a lot.
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vaughn tan
@vt
i agree though that we don't explicitly distinguish between diff types of partial knowledge
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