I'm going to start a group called "Mentally Healthy People". We use data, logical thinking, and informal peer review. If you disagree with us, our first question will be "what's wrong with mental health?"

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hn_throwaway_99 7 days ago | parent | next [-]

But, to be frank, "Mentally Healthy People" fully acknowledge and accept their emotions, and indeed understand that emotions are the fundamental way that natural selection implements motivation.

Calling yourself "rationalist" doesn't inherently mean that you think you're better than everyone else, or somehow infallible. To me it just means your specific approach to problem solving.

	▲	7 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
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	▲	nyeah 7 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		to be frank, "Mentally Healthy People" fully acknowledge and accept their emotions, and indeed understand that emotions are the fundamental way that natural selection implements motivation. No, no, no! "Mentally Healthy People" is just the name of my group. It has nothing to do with emotions. How could you get confused like that?

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handoflixue 8 days ago | parent | prev [-]

So... Psychiatry? Do you think psychiatrists are particularly prone to starting cults? Do you think learning about psychiatry makes you at risk for cult-like behavior?

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nyeah 8 days ago | parent [-]

No. I have no beef with psychology or psychiatry. They're doing good work as far as I can tell. I am poking fun at people who take "rationality" and turn it into a brand name.

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handoflixue 8 days ago | parent [-]

Why is "you can work to avoid cognitive biases" more ridiculous than "you can work to improve your mental health"?

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nyeah 8 days ago | parent [-]

I'm feeling a little frustrated by the derail. My complaint is about some small group claiming to have a monopoly on a normal human faculty, in this case rationality. The small group might well go on to claim that people outside the group lack rationality. That would be absurd. The mental health profession do not claim to be immune from mental illness themselves, they do not claim that people outside their circle are mentally unhealthy, and they do not claim that their particular treatment is necessary for mental health.

I guess it's possible you might be doing some deep ironic thing by providing a seemingly sincere example of what I'm complaining about. If so it was over my head but in that case I withdraw "derail"!

	▲	handoflixue 7 days ago \| parent [-]
		> My complaint is about some small group claiming to have a monopoly on a normal human faculty, in this case rationality. "Rationalists" don't claim a monopoly any more than Psychiatry does. > The small group might well go on to claim that people outside the group lack rationality. Again, something that psychiatry is quite noteworthy about: the entire point of the profession is to tell non-professionals that they're doing Emotionally Healthy wrong. > The mental health profession do not claim to be immune from mental illness themselves, Rationalist don't claim to be immune to irrationality, and this is in fact repeatedly emphasized: numerous cornerstone articles are about "wow, I really fucked up at this Rationality thing", including articles by Eliezer. > they do not claim that people outside their circle are mentally unhealthy ... what? So if I go to a psychiatrist, you think they're gonna say I'm FINE? No matter what? Have you ever heard of "involuntary commitment"? > and they do not claim that their particular treatment is necessary for mental health. Again, this is about as true as it is for rationalists.