Title: Theory / Unimportant / Human / blog / Less wrong / Elephant in the brain

Name: Elephant in the room
Definition: An important issue that people are reluctant to acknowledge or address;
Page: 17
Chapter: Intro
Name2: a social taboo

Name: Elephant in the brain
Definition: An important but unacknowledged feature of how our minds work
Page: 17
Chapter: Intro
Name2: an introspective taboo.

Question: Why do people self-deceive and don't see their own elephant ?
Answer: It's easier to deceive other if you believe what you says. So you must believe it. (For example, in a fight, if the ennemy thinks you can win, they'll avoid fighting)
Page: 25
Chapter: Intro
Section: THE CORE IDEA

Question: If religion is not about belief, what is it about ?
Answer: Conspicuous public professions of belief that help bind groups together
Page: 38
Chapter: Intro
Section: THE CORE IDEA

Question: If school is not about what you recall, about what is it ?
Answer: getting graded, ranked, and credentialed, stamped for the approval of employers
Page: 38
Chapter: Intro
Section: THE CORE IDEA

Question: Why is discovering the "elephants" a good news
Answer: Once you know real motives, it's easier to make the change you want
Page: 38
Chapter: Intro
Section: THE CORE IDEA

Question: When is knowledge suppression useful ?
Answer: when others have partial visibility into your mind; and
Page: 60
Chapter: I1
Section: Human behaviors
Answer2: when others are judging you, and meting out rewards or punishments, based on what they “see” in your mind.

Question: Often a species’ most important competitor is
Answer: itself.
Page: 67
Chapter: I2
Section: PARABLE OF THE REDWOODS

Question: Example of a species competing with itself
Answer: Redwood tree is the tallest in the world. It can't be taller and send ground's water up to top's leaf. But it needs to be taller than other trees to survive
Page: 67
Chapter: I2
Section: PARABLE OF THE REDWOODS
Answer2: Humans not only must win over preys, they must wins over other humans

Name: Dominance
Definition: the kind of status we get from being able to intimidate others
Context: Elephant in the brain
Example: Joseph Stalin

Name: Prestige
Definition: kind of status we get from being an impressive human specimen
Context: Elephant in the brain
Example: Merill Streep

Name: Social statuses
Definition: Dominance
Context: Elephant in the brain
Definition2: Prestige
Conjdef: Both

Last name: Streep
First name: Meryl
Known for: Often described as the "best actress of her generation"
Research subject3: Meryl Streep

Name: Handicap principle
Definition: To signal your value, you need to do something risky
Page: 93
Example: Animal signal with high-constrast colour signal they can avoid predators

Question: What is important in honest signal
Answer: It should be costier to counterfect the trait signaled than to really have this trait
Page: 91
Chapter: 2
Section: SIGNALS AND SIGNALING

Name: Honest signal
Definition: A signal reliabling corresponding to an underlying trait or fact about the sender
Page: 91
Chapter: 2
Section: SIGNALS AND SIGNALING

Name: Dishonest signal
Definition: A signal which is not honest
Page: 91
Chapter: 2
Section: SIGNALS AND SIGNALING
Name2: Deffective signal

Name: Norm
Definition: rules or standards about how members of a community should behave
Page: 95
Chapter: 3
Section: SIGNALS AND SIGNALING
Context: Elephant in the brain
Example: What to wear according to where you are
Example2: Things which may cause gossip
Counterexample: Not stealing because you fear the owner retaliate
Counterexample2: Not speaking ill of the dictator because of his secret police

Question: Main reason to deceive ourself about our own intentions
Answer: Desire to skirt/subvert norms
Page: 95
Chapter: 3
Section: SIGNALS AND SIGNALING

Question: Why do society develop norm
Answer: bottom-up: because they benefit the group,
Page: 95
Chapter: 3
Section: SIGNALS AND SIGNALING
Answer2: top-down because they benefit people in power able to enforce them

Question: How come modern society influence the forager society which still exists, even without interacting with them
Answer: If they were left alone, it means that they are in place which are not interesting to produce a lot, or hard to access. Thus they are a particular kind of forager society
Page: 95
Chapter: 3
Section: SIGNALS AND SIGNALING

Name: Countersignalling
Definition: Signalling that you don't have to signal
Page: 95
Chapter: 3
Section: SIGNALS AND SIGNALING
Example: Using a friendly insult to speak to a close friend

Name: reverse dominance hierarchy
Definition: The fact that people, acting in concert, have dominance over the strongest person if they defects alone
Page: 110
Chapter: 3
Section: SIGNALS AND SIGNALING

Name: Collective enforcement
Definition: An enforcement which is ensured by everyone and not by a single authority
Page: 110
Chapter: 3
Section: SIGNALS AND SIGNALING

Question: What's the interest of gossip
Answer: Allow to create a consensus opinion, people coordinating, but without anyone standing in front and taking more risk
Page: 110
Chapter: 3
Section: SIGNALS AND SIGNALING

Question: What's the difference between animal motives and human motives
Answer: Social norms is strong for humans and inexistant for animals
Page: 110
Chapter: 3
Section: SIGNALS AND SIGNALING

Name: The meta norm
Definition: A norm of punishing anyone who doesn’t punish other
Page: 118
Index: 4
Kind: Box

Name: Common knowledge
Definition: The fact that everyone know a fact, and that everyone know that everyone knows ... that everyone knows the fact
Page: 118
Index: 4
Kind: Box

Question: What is taken into account to decide whether a crime should be stopped
Answer: Whether the person really want to stop the crime (i.e. a murder: yes. Drinking in the street, may be not)
Page: 118
Answer2: Whether it is plausible to state that we didn't know the crime (alcohool bottle in a brown bag in the street)
Index: 4
Kind: Box
Answer3: Whether there is little cost in stopping it. I.e. not a lot of bureaucracy, and that it's possible to convince the judges
Answer4: Whether the person comitting it has power or not
Answer5: whether there is an excuse for the crime that some people may believe

Question: Why do you want the right to be sued
Answer: Because, thus, everyone car trust you, knowing that you don't have any interest in deceiving. Otherwise, they'll make business with other people
Page: 163
Chapter: 5

Question: How to win the chicken game
Answer: Prove your opponent that you removed the brake of your car
Page: 163
Chapter: 5

Question: When is it useless to deceive anyone
Answer: If the ennemy has no theory of mind. Such as a tornado
Page: 163
Chapter: 5

Question: Why would a company want to be suable ?
Answer: Because it makes sure that the company can be trusted.

Question: Why would a company want to limit it's options
Answer: Being able to be sued means that you can be trusted
Page: 161
Answer2: Closing/degrading channel of communication, so you can tell you didn't know
Answer3: Having false information can increase your luck of success

Question: Kind of helpful self-deception
Answer: Madman
Page: 167
Answer2: Loyalist
Answer3: Cheerleader
Answer4: Cheater

Name: Madman
Definition: Self-deception in which you make everyone think you're mad enough to follow your thought even if it would be your self interest
Page: 167
Context: Self-deception
Example: Nixon's Vietnam strategy; in order to make them begging peace

Name: Loyalist
Definition: Self-deception used to show that you are loyal to a tribe.
Page: 167
Context: Self-deception
Intuition: A faith can be used to prove loyalty only when it's a faith in falsity

Name: Cheerleader
Definition: Self-deception used to convince people that what you say is true, which will make it true
Page: 167
Context: Self-deception
Example: If a politician convince he'll win, they may indeed win

Name: Cheater
Definition: Self-deception used to hide the intention behind an action, when the action is correct in itself
Page: 167
Context: Self-deception
Example: Flattery used to obtain a favor or a date

Question: What's the point of press secretary
Answer: Not knowing real motive, they can't admit things by accident
Answer2: Not knowing real motive, they can be convincing about the one they heard
Answer3: They can tel honestly they ignore things the president should have known

Name: Press secretary
Definition: Part of the brain responsible for construction explanation to anything
Context: Self-deception

Question: How do you prove the existence of «Press secretary» in the brain
Answer: Ask people to rate three products. Give them the same in different package. They'll explain their preferences with false reasons
Context: Self-deception

Name: Body language
Page: 223
Chapter: 7
Name2: nonverbal communication

Question: Why are we not consciensiously aware of body language
Answer: Mind is too slow to interpret it
Page: 223
Chapter: 7
Answer2: Since we can't control expression, it would mean we can't control what we say. We would not be rational

Name: Aposematism
Definition: Strategy that animals take, to make themselves seen, so that other think they fear not
Page: 223
Chapter: 7

Definition: Ration of eye contact while speaking to eye contact while listening
Page: 255
Chapter: 7
Abbreviation: ROTC
Intuition: A big number indicates a dominant status

Name: Superiority theory
Definition: Laugh is a form of mockery, derision or scorn
Page: 260
Chapter: 8
Context: Laugh

Name: Relief theory
Definition: Laugh allows to dissipate a tension due to «nervous energy»
Page: 260
Chapter: 8
Context: Laugh

Name: Incongruity theory
Definition: Laugh represents the violation of an expectation
Page: 260
Chapter: 8
Context: Laugh

Question: Why would a company want to be able to be sued
Answer: it means that you can be trusted
Page: 161

Question: Why would a company want to closing/degrading channel of communication
Answer: so you can tell you didn't know
Page: 161

Question: Why would a company want having false information
Answer: can increase your luck of success
Page: 161