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Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 8, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I'm surprised by how similar the errors of the modern rationalists are to the errors of their 17th century counterparts.

What are some examples?

The main thing I’m noticing is that’s there’s an unwillingness to examine priors deeply. Spinoza just takes things like causality as a given, just like the EA people take utilitarianism as a given.