[extropy-chat] Physicians and Spirituality

[Russell Wallace]

On 6/23/05, Eliezer S. Yudkowsky <sentience at pobox.com> wrote:
> I once had a dentist whom I sent to my Bayes page.  He reported that he tried
> to read it and just couldn't understand it.  If you've read my Bayes page, you
> know that means he couldn't readily handle algebra.

I have, but I don't think that's what it means.

I think what he meant was: "Out of politeness to a customer, I took a
glance at your page, hoping it would contain some fluff I could make
lightly joking comment on, thereby oiling the wheels of social
interaction. Crap, there's a lot of math there - sure, I can grok that
if I try, but honestly, I have more than enough hard intellectual work
to do as it stands; you're not paying me enough to take flashbacks to
algebra class - why do you think I play golf for entertainment? It's
because it gives my brain a _rest_. Erg - you might take offense at
that; I don't want to insult a customer. Hmm, it's socially acceptable
to plead ignorance. I'll just say I didn't understand it, I'll put it
lightly and jokingly, that'll get me by."

- Russell