Virtues are traits that one ought to possess, for the benefit of the world or one's own. On LessWrong, the term is often a shorthand for the Twelve Virtues of Rationality, after Eliezer Yudowsky's essay of the same name.
They are (roughly summarized):
- Curiosity - the burning desire to pursue truth;
- Relinquishment - not being attached to mistaken beliefs;
- Lightness - updating your beliefs with ease;
- Evenness - not privileging particular hypotheses in the pursuit of truth;
- Argument - the will to let one's beliefs be challenged;
- Empiricism - grounding oneself in observation and prediction;
- Simplicity - elimination of unnecessary detail in modeling the world;
- Humility - recognition of one's fallibility;
- Perfectionism - seeking perfection even if it's not attainable;
- Precision - seeking narrower statements and not overcorrect;
- Scholarship - the study of multiple domains and perspectives;
- The nameless virtue - seeking truth and not the virtues for themselves.
See Also: Courage, Trust, Honesty, Agency, Altruism, Ambition, Stoicism / Letting Go / Making Peace, Attention, Gratitude...(Read More)