From Twitter
I've come to believe that the biggest problem in the human world is what I call "meme-based" reasoning.
Meme-based reasoning is basically doxastic voluntarism—you hear ideas, you like them, so you choose to believe them. 🧵
From Twitter
I could summarize it as "axiomatic reasoning in which the axioms are numerous and chosen according to taste."
Like Carlos here, a Christian who thinks reason is overrated—not enough metanoia (repentance) & thymos (heart). https://squarecircle.substack.com/p/no-fire-in-the-equations
From Twitter
"High performers fly by intuition," he says. He means "spiritual" intuition. What does this mean? I was only a Christian for over 20 years, so damned if I know.
I think this is unavoidable. Some axioms are necessary, and axioms cannot prove themselves.
From Twitter
So why isn't "the spirit guides" a good axiom?
Simple—it can lead anywhere. Different "spiritual expeiences" lead to different destinations, often incompatible ones. For one it leads to Buddhism, another Protestantism, another Mormonism, another Islam, another ISIS.
From Twitter
The correct axioms are those that would lead two unrelated species on two different planets (or at least, Native Americans physically isolated from the Old World) to believe similar things. These are axioms that don't tell you where to go but still lead people to the same place.
From Twitter
As far as I know, I rely on only two foundational axioms:
1. My mind has conscious monadal elements.
2. All other beliefs MUST be based on evidence and logic.
Note that these two beliefs are themselves empirical:
From Twitter
I observe that I seem to be monadal, and that evidence/logic "work" in real life if used correctly (where "correctly" means "in such a way that they seem to work better than anything else").
What do these axioms mean?
From Twitter
"Monadal" means an indivisible unit of substance viewed as a basic element of physical reality. "Conscious" means "having qualia". "Qualia" are basic elements of experience, such as "the redness of red" or "how a texture feels".
From Twitter
(1) is axiomatic because there's no separate evidence for this "phenomenal consciousness", and I believe it because it is the foundation of my morality.
From Twitter
(2) is axiomatic because logic cannot prove its own correctness or its value in reality. Its value and correctness can be seen inductively, but not deductively. If you deduce the correctness of logic using logic, you end up relying on circular reasoning, which is a logical error.
From Twitter
Likewise for evidence—I don't know how to prove the importance of evidence, it's just evident that (Bayesian) evidence-based belief formation "works better" than everything else people propose. It allows belief convergence of isolated groups, rather than the usual divergence.
From Twitter
The word "MUST" is included because without it, you'll tend to adopt other axioms. Axioms are bad because they cannot be proven and they tend to lead to inherently irreconcilable conflicts with other people who believe different axioms; therefore, it's best to have few of them.
From Twitter
These two seem to be enough, and perhaps if The Hard Problem of Consciousness were solved, we would only need one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_problem_of_consciousness
From Twitter
Okay, but all ideas including monadal consciousness and evidence-based reasoning are themselves memes. So isn't my own belief system "meme-based reasoning" just like everyone else's?
It seems like there's some truth to that, since I've always had a taste for reason and logic.
From Twitter
Ultimately though, people do choose their own beliefs. Why choose my axioms, then? Again, I would only point out that
1. every axiom is an irreconcilable difference that can cause human conflict. Bob insists Axiom X is true, Joe insists X is false. Since axioms are unprovable,
From Twitter
there's no way to resolve the disagreement.
2. Evidence and reason work and are broadly accepted and uncontroversial, so "all other beliefs MUST be based on evidence and logic" is a good axiom. This axiom isn't sufficient to derive morality, though; hence the previous axiom.
From Twitter
Still, I was a Mormon. Basically for 30 years I *badly wanted* to believe in it, yet it turned out to be false. I think this gives me a unique perspective on the dangers of choosing beliefs according to taste. My life was a cautionary tale on believing things you want to be true.