The strength of a theory is not what it allows, but what it prohibits; if you can invent an equally persuasive explanation for any outcome, you have zero knowledge.
Eliezer YudkowskyRead
The obvious choice isn't always the best choice, but sometimes, by golly, it is. I don't stop looking as soon I find an obvious answer, but if I go on looking, and the obvious-seeming answer still seems obvious, I don't feel guilty about keeping it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The best choice isn't always the most apparent one, but it's okay to trust your instincts when it is.
This quote emphasizes the idea that while the most obvious solution may not always be optimal, it can still be valid. It encourages a balance between critical thinking and intuition, suggesting that we should not neglect the straightforward answers that present themselves, especially if they continue to feel right after deeper contemplation.
Themes
ChoiceObviousSolutionThinkingIntuition
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about decision-making strategies, one might say, 'As Eliezer Yudkowsky suggests, the obvious choice isn't always the best choice, but we shouldn't dismiss it outright.'
More from Eliezer Yudkowsky
All quotes βYour strength as a rationalist is your ability to be more confused by fiction than by reality. If you are equally good at explaining any outcome, you have zero knowledge.
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If our extinction proceeds slowly enough to allow a moment of horrified realization, the doers of the deed will likely be quite taken aback on realizing that they have actually destroyed the world. Therefore I suggest that if the Earth is destroyed, it will probably be by mistake.
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In our skulls, we carry around 3 pounds of slimy, wet, greyish tissue, corrugated like crumpled toilet paper. You wouldn't think, to look at the unappetizing lump, that it was some of the most powerful stuff in the known universe.
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[...] intelligent people only have a certain amount of time (measured in subjective time spent thinking about religion) to become atheists. After a certain point, if you're smart, have spent time thinking about and defending your religion, and still haven't escaped the grip of Dark Side Epistemology, the inside of your mind ends up as an Escher painting.
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When something is universal enough in our everyday lives, we take it for granted to the point of forgetting it exists.
Eliezer YudkowskyRead
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