Experience has shown me that human beings have a tendency to “naturalize” their subjective judgements of the world- that is, they present those judgements as immutable (and axiomatically correct) truths of the world around them. This essay lays out why I think people do this, and how to avoid falling into this trap.
Epistemic Status
Cognitohazard-free since 1989. V̴̛̤̪̫͕̙̖̺̳̘̅̀͆̽́̚͝ơ̸̡̼͙̗͎̳̦̻̩͐̅̿͒̿̈́̌́̕ḭ̷̺͖̞̠̻̼͎̠̱̲̞̌̀͛̈́͒̅̒̃̿̈́̾͆͐̃̚ͅd̵̰̪̟̩̑̾̈́͂̀̊ ̷̨̣̞̣̹͖͖̌̆̃̉̅̎͗̒̌́̏͝ͅw̵̡̢͍̬̰̙͒̐́̒̌ͅͅh̵̖̣̗̱̩͓̙̖̙̬̥̳̝̳͓̗͂̑́̽͛̓è̷̮̾̊r̸͕̀̀̉̐̎ȩ̷̲͚̫̫̮͈̜̺̩͙̜͕̐͂̇̓̈́̕͝ ̴̯̮̏̍̉p̷̖̯͔͚̙̽̍̇̋̉̈́̌̈́͝r̸̨̹͙̬̥͇̥͎̜͈͕̳̯̼̉͒͋̿̌̅ǫ̴̪̫̰͚̫̝̬͉͖͆̂͑̀͝h̴̡̡̢̧̛̲̣͍̤͉̜͚̲̓̑̃̿̏̽̿̃i̷̧̧̻̩̩̦̘̯̽͂̓̃̐̔̍͋͒̚b̵̢̛̦̖͓̺̪̳̣̫̫̘͉̼̌̏̄͜͝í̵͙̼̟̫̳̱̣̮͑̒̽͌̕͘͘̕t̵̨̢̢̛̗͍͙̖͙̫̋͘̕͠ȩ̴̼̜̰̚ͅd̴̡̳̤͕̦̖͔̙̆̓̽̾̊̾̉͌̓͘.
Definitions
This essay deals with some of the technical minutae of words, so I’ll lay them out at the outset. These definitions are pulled from Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary, as of 2024-05-31:
3a: characteristic of or belonging to reality as perceived rather than as independent of mind
1a: expressing or dealing with facts or conditions as perceived without distortion by personal feelings, prejudices, or interpretations
1a: producing a decided, decisive, or desired effect (emphasis mine)
Judge, jury, and…
What is the difference between the following statements?
- ”That light switch is on."
- "This brush is effective at combing my hair.”
Naturally, my dear
I’ve taken to calling the above process naturalization: a subconscious blurring of the lines between one’s judgements and interpretations of the world, and the world itself.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na%C3%AFve_realism_(psychology)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_projection_fallacy
Poor pitches prove projections
- https://livelab.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2021/07/Poor-Pitch_Singing_in_the_Absence_of_Tone_Deafness.pdf
- https://dallabella-lab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Dalla-Bella_2015_Defining-Poor-Pitch-Singing-A-Problem-of-Measurement-and-Sensitivity.pdf