Comment by khafra
4 days ago
Slate Star Codex's review of The Secret of Our Success, arguing specifically in favor of strong Chesterton's Fences, was voted #5 in the 2019 Best of LessWrong review. SSC's review of Seeing Like a State, presenting a similar argument and directly naming Chesterton, was a notable 2017 hit. "Schelling Fences on Slippery Slopes" also argues in favor of maintaining traditional bright lines, hit 700 karma on LW, and is included in the "Best Essays of LessWrong" collection. "Schelling Fences versus Marginal Thinking" is a 2019 hit following these.
I apologize if this list of counterexamples ran too long.
The chesterton's fence principle is all about a tradition's underlying reason for existing. I'm not sure why you think it contradicts what I said?
I didn't intend to fully contradict what you said, but to make a stronger case, and address similar remarks by others--you made the best comment along those lines, regardless of your balance and nuance.
What G.K. Chesterton said is that, if you can't make an affirmative case for the tradition's origins and show why the cause no longer applies, you should leave the tradition in place.
In the listed examples, rationalists celebrate this principle with examples such as the bitter cassava preparations of the Tukanoan people, which were very labor- and time-intensive. A much shorter processing would have eliminated the obvious, short-term toxicity of the plant, so someone scientific experiments to determine how much processing was actually necessary would likely end up damaging themselves and their reproductive prospects in ways that wouldn't show up for years or decades.
So there's evidence that the rationalist community actually appreciates tradition more strongly than the average person, and searches harder before discarding it.
Hang on, your list of counter examples is “one rationalist gave another a thumbs up”?
The list of counter examples is some of the most popular and well-received posts in the rationalist community which are actually in favour of tradition having value.
"The Secret of Our Success" literally starts with how European explorers starved to death in environments that other humans thrived in because they lacked the cultural knowledge local hunter gatherers had, includes many other examples of how pure reason can be counter-productive to survival, and ends with a warning that the idea that now it's finally different may not be true.