“Fake thinking and real thinking” by Joe_Carlsmith
(Audio version here, or search for "Joe Carlsmith Audio" on your podcast app.) “There comes a moment when the children who have been playing at burglars hush suddenly: was that a real footstep in the hall?” - C.S. Lewis“The Human Condition,” by René Margritte (Image source here) 1. Introduction Sometimes, my thinking feels more “real” to me; and sometimes, it feels more “fake.” I want to do the real version, so I want to understand this spectrum better. This essay offers some reflections. I give a bunch of examples of this “fake vs. real” spectrum below -- in AI, philosophy, competitive debate, everyday life, and religion. My current sense is that it brings together a cluster of related dimensions, namely: Map vs. world: Is my mind directed at an abstraction, or it is trying to see past its model to the world beyond? Hollow vs. solid: Am I [...] ---Outline:(00:30) 1. Introduction(03:21) 2. Caveats(05:42) 3. Examples(06:18) 3.1 AI(11:54) 3.2 Philosophy(15:41) 3.3 Competitive debate(18:11) 3.4 Everyday life(21:51) 3.5 Lewis on the living God(25:57) 4. Why does this matter?(26:33) 4.1 Spiritual stuff(29:51) 4.2 The telos of thinking(34:24) 5. How do we do real thinking?(35:17) 5.1 Going slow(36:36) 5.2 Following curiosity and aliveness(37:52) 5.3 Staying in tune with your why(39:21) 5.4 Tethering your concepts(42:21) 5.5 Arguments are lenses on the world(48:12) 5.6 Helplessness about the truth(50:07) 5.7 Just actually imagining different ways the world could be(52:41) 5.8 Being wrong/right in both directions(54:07) 5.9 What would the future people think?(59:08) 5.10 No bullshit(01:00:01) 5.11 Real scientists, real philosophers(01:10:49) 6. Staying awakeThe original text contained 40 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: January 28th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/uHDsgBroWB9pEJ32L/fake-thinking-and-real-thinking --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.