Challenging the Foundation of LessWrong: Survival First, Rationality Second
"The road to wisdom?" — these are the first words of the introduction.
My question is: Why do you need wisdom? What is it for?
My answer: For survival. For the survival of you, of your society, and of humankind.
I say: survival first, everything else second.
If you don't need wisdom to survive, throw it away.
Say, if humanity is dead, nobody needs anything, including wisdom.
What is your answer? Rationality first?
Let me question the definitions of Rationality as they are used on LessWrong:
- Rationality is thinking in ways that systematically arrive at truth? What is the truth? Unclear.
- Rationality is thinking in ways that cause you to systematically achieve your goals? What goals? Let me find the ultimate goal. What is the goal of your goal, and the goal of that goal? My answer: it is survival. Existence itself is the ultimate goal that requires no further justification.
- Rationality is trying to do better on purpose? Better for what? For survival.
- Rationality is reasoning well even in the face of massive uncertainty? Reasoning well for what purpose? For survival.
- Rationality is making good decisions even when it’s hard? Good for what? For survival.
- Rationality is being self-aware, understanding how your own mind works, and applying this knowledge to thinking better? Better for what purpose? For survival.
I think being truly self-aware means realizing that Rationality is merely a servant to the instinct of survival. Believing that Rationality is the most important thing is a form of groupthink—group egoism. It is what the instinct of an intellectual group says when its survival depends on convincing society of Rationality's supreme importance.
I call upon every human being to awaken the instinct for the collective survival of mankind. The survival of mankind comes first; Rationality comes second, as it is needed for only one ultimate purpose: survival.
If a critical mass of people does not adopt this point of view, our humankind will die, because not enough people will defend its life while the majority is distracted by secondary things like Rationality.
This is a vital realization. None of the existing mainstream ideas are helping humankind stop on its road to suicide.
My instinct for the survival of mankind tells me this. Do you have this instinct inside you?