It was phrased as a scientific question, but I think of it more on philosophical, ethical and human behavior lines. If you accept that you are not special, you will tend to be nicer to other human beings. If you accept that your country is not special you might avoid the aggressive behaviors that lead to wars because "God is on your side".
The Mediocrity Principle
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Re: The Mediocrity Principle
#42"The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile, but that it is indifferent. If we can come to terms with this indifference, then our existence as a species can have genuine meaning. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light." , Stanley Kubrick
"As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself—so like a brother, really—I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the d…
Wow, read that book when I was young and loved it, will have to read it again, sent chills down my spine.
Re: The Mediocrity Principle
#43About some of the other comments: We need a term on HN for this is something you'd understand if you weren't apt to take things so literally and see it as a logical argument.
Re: The Mediocrity Principle
#44"The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile, but that it is indifferent. If we can come to terms with this indifference, then our existence as a species can have genuine meaning. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light." , Stanley Kubrick
"Since Alice had never received any religious instruction, and since she had led a blameless life, she never thought of her awful luck as being anything but accidents in a very busy place. Good for her." - Kurt Vonnegut (about his sister's death from cancer)
Re: The Mediocrity Principle
#45About some of the other comments: We need a term on HN for this is something you'd understand if you weren't apt to take things so literally and see it as a logical argument .
Amen. I mean, maybe I expect too much of other people, but I always try to interpret what they say in the most coherent sense possible. People talking about this kind of stuff don't usually just mash the keyboard - they have something to say and assuming that it's crap because the literal interpretation is crap is dumb.
Re: The Mediocrity Principle
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What does he mean by "special" I think he means that the universe does not gain meaning by our existence. The universe will (or will not) be there regardless of whether we happen to exist or not , because our existence is just a fortunate combination of physical laws. Given a slightly different combination (the Sun being slightly further away from this planet, for example), you/we wouldn't exist at all, but the uni…
This is debatable. The universe is not an observer of our existence IF the universe is not a simulation. If the universe happens to be a simulation than there is some external entity or rather the universe in itself, that is some kind of observer. As such, if he does fancy a stroll inside my particular life, I can suddenly become a graph of relationships and influences that have "special" meaning. If the universe is…
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Re: The Mediocrity Principle
#47How is this different from humility? "Be humble" is an easier sell than "Be mediocre" if the message is the same.
Re: The Mediocrity Principle
#48I don't really understand what is being argued. Two statements are made: > A: The mediocrity principle simply states that you aren't special. > B: Most of what happens in the world is just a consequence of natural, universal laws. The argument being that B implies A. First this is self-contradictory: B implies B and nothing more. What does he mean by "special". Are we talking about some mushy, subjective definition o…
Based on reading his blog Pharyngula a few years ago, I suspect that was a response to the "Biology is stupid because it says God didn't create us as his special children" sort of thing he's probably heard too much of when teaching intro bio classes.
Re: The Mediocrity Principle
#49See, this is really begging the question. As in actually "begging the question" - the logical fallacy.
The author states that people who have weird religious beliefs that imply that people are the centre of the universe should not do so because science shows us that the universe is indifferent to us. We are not special but part of the universe and a product of the same rules that produced everything else. But this is obviously begging the question: if you accepted the scientific view of the world you wouldn't have a nutty religious view to start with.
In essence, the author says: accept science because science. No different to when Christians say: accept Christianity because of what the bible says.
The author is correct but his argument is crap.
Re: The Mediocrity Principle
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
I take "special" here to mean "deserving of privileges over and above other instances". In this sense, if you think you are "special" that means you think that you ought to be able to bend the rules more than other people, or that cashiers ought to be nicer to you than to the rest of the people in line, or that you deserve to get that last discount TV on the shelf on Black Friday, or that it's okay for you to zoom pa…
It's a false dichotomy to say the only two choices are 1) Acceptance of the Mediocrity Principle or 2) Believing you are the center of the universe. I can easily posit a third option where some aspect of our Universe and existence is special without needing to be the center of it all.
Who said there are only two choices? The point is that it's often more useful to assume the Mediocrity Principle. Not that it's the truth. And not even that it's always better. Just that more often than not it's more useful.