Yes steelmanning doesn't just exist with the rationalist community - neither does rationality! ;) I like the thoughts here. On the Peterson framework building, I saw a clip of him saying to PBD that that's how he remembers things - thinking how they fit into the meta theory he's trying to build. It seems a great way to remember things - fit them into one huge narrative. But also hugely vulnerable to confirmation bias and just not a rational epistemic strategy
It's a way of remembering things, sure. But barring certain conditions being the case for Peterson (which I lay out in my upcoming post), I think it's a selfish way of operating. And even if it helps him remember, it doesn't justify his waffling.
Yes steelmanning doesn't just exist with the rationalist community - neither does rationality! ;) I like the thoughts here. On the Peterson framework building, I saw a clip of him saying to PBD that that's how he remembers things - thinking how they fit into the meta theory he's trying to build. It seems a great way to remember things - fit them into one huge narrative. But also hugely vulnerable to confirmation bias and just not a rational epistemic strategy
It's a way of remembering things, sure. But barring certain conditions being the case for Peterson (which I lay out in my upcoming post), I think it's a selfish way of operating. And even if it helps him remember, it doesn't justify his waffling.