poke at "Student Dysphoria"
[Ultimately_Untrue_Thought.git] / content / 2020 / teleology.md
1 Title: Teleology
2 Date: 2020-04-29 05:00
3 Category: other
4 Tags: epistemology
5
6 "I mean, if that explanation actually makes you feel happier, then fine."
7
8 "Feeling happier isn't what explanations are for. Explanations are for [predicting our observations](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/a7n8GdKiAZRX86T5A/making-beliefs-pay-rent-in-anticipated-experiences).
9
10 "Emotions, too, are functional: happiness measures whether things in your life are going well or going poorly, but does not _constitute_ things going well, much as a high reading on a thermometer measures heat as 'temperature' without itself _being_ heat.
11
12 "If the explanation that predicts your observations makes you unhappy, then the explanation—and the unhappiness—are functioning as designed."