It is written that rationalists should win, but in order to craft an Art of Thinking, a Winning Way, there has to be some criterion that specifies what counts as a Win. Aspiring rationalists are obligated to give up their their most cherished beliefs and plans if and only if they are wrong, but what's to stop a human from cheating, from saying, "Well, I meant to do that"? The answer is that you must have something to protect, some value that you need to defend at any and all cost. If your only goal is to be certified as "rational", then you have every incentive to cheat: even for the pure of heart, it may be too tempting in your darkest hour to plead, "But I did everything the Great Teacher told me to do!" Whereas the true student of the Way, the one who has something to protect will ask, "What have I been doing wrong?"—and will strive to answer the question.
It is written that rationalists should win, but in order to craft an Art of Thinking, a Winning Way, there has to be some criterion that specifies what counts as a Win. Aspiring rationalists are obligated to give up their their most cherished beliefs and plans if and only if they are wrong, but what's to stop a human from cheating, from saying, "Well, I meant to do that"? The answer is that you must have something to protect, some value that you need to defend at any and all cost. If your only goal is to be certified as "rational", then you have every incentive to cheat: even for the pure of heart, it may be too tempting in your darkest hour to plead, "But I did everything the Great Teacher told me to do!" Whereas the true student of the Way, the one who has something to protect will ask, "What have I been doing wrong?"—and will strive to answer the question.
Hmm, seems there was some controversy of this one. Used to be a description that was removed.
From the old Discussion page:
Talk:Something to protect