Philosophical personality test

[Celtinfj]

Wanna talk about a lack of logic!

Spiritualist

5 optimism, 3 faith, and 0 logic!

[RansomedbyFire]

In case you haven't guessed already - Spiritualist.

[meanlittlechimp]

Regressionist

Started reading about Feyerabend. Very reasonable fellow from what I've read so far.

"One of the criteria for evaluating scientific theories that Feyerabend attacks is the consistency criterion. He points out that to insist that new theories be consistent with old theories gives an unreasonable advantage to the older theory. He makes the logical point that being compatible with a defunct older theory does not increase the validity or truth of a new theory over an alternative covering the same content. That is, if one had to choose between two theories of equal explanatory power, to choose the one that is compatible with an older, falsified theory is to make an aesthetic, rather than a rational choice. The familiarity of such a theory might also make it more appealing to scientists, since they will not have to disregard as many cherished prejudices. Hence, that theory can be said to have "an unfair advantage".

[reason]

"One of the criteria for evaluating scientific theories that Feyerabend attacks is the consistency criterion. He points out that to insist that new theories be consistent with old theories gives an unreasonable advantage to the older theory. He makes the logical point that being compatible with a defunct older theory does not increase the validity or truth of a new theory over an alternative covering the same content. That is, if one had to choose between two theories of equal explanatory power, to choose the one that is compatible with an older, falsified theory is to make an aesthetic, rather than a rational choice. The familiarity of such a theory might also make it more appealing to scientists, since they will not have to disregard as many cherished prejudices. Hence, that theory can be said to have 'an unfair advantage'."

That's interesting, "rather than a rational choice" he says, but what would a rational choice look like? We can but wonder...

[ygolo]

Regressionist

Started reading about Feyerabend. Very reasonable fellow from what I've read so far.

"One of the criteria for evaluating scientific theories that Feyerabend attacks is the consistency criterion. He points out that to insist that new theories be consistent with old theories gives an unreasonable advantage to the older theory. He makes the logical point that being compatible with a defunct older theory does not increase the validity or truth of a new theory over an alternative covering the same content. That is, if one had to choose between two theories of equal explanatory power, to choose the one that is compatible with an older, falsified theory is to make an aesthetic, rather than a rational choice. The familiarity of such a theory might also make it more appealing to scientists, since they will not have to disregard as many cherished prejudices. Hence, that theory can be said to have "an unfair advantage".

I think the preference for compatibility with the "old theory" is a natural one since that decision would then allow for creating a large number of new inferences by combining the new and old theories, which would, in turn, yield more testable hypotheses.

Also, if an old theory is being "replaced" by a new theory, then the predictions of the new theory should match the predictions of the old theory just to "save the phenomena".

[sassafrassquatch]

Rationalist: 1 optimism, -4 faith, 6 logic. Suck it, jesus.

[aeon]

Your Score: Rationalist
2 optimism, 0 faith, and 2 logic!

It doesn't describe me well, but hey, it's OK Cupid.

That, and I am very tired.


cheers,
Ian

[ygolo]

Your Score: Optimist
2 optimism, 2 faith, and 3 logic!

Optimists are a dying breed in this day and age. To the optimists, the world is a positive place. Everything is inherently good, and all things will work out in the end. They believe violence will one day be replaced with logic and reason, and that all religions can coexisist peacefully. These are the people who always see the glass half full, and believe that we live in the best possible world.

Famous optimists include: Gottfried Leibniz, William Godwin.

The opposite of Optimism is Skepticism.

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 50% on optimism
You scored higher than 75% on faith
You scored higher than 55% on logic

[UnitOfPopulation]

Your Score: Regressionist
0 optimism, -2 faith, and 5 logic!

Regressionists believe that every question must have an answer, and anything that cannot be answered must not be true.

Incorrect. I answered the questions truthfully, and I do not think the reality as so. What the test results describe here is the philosophy of constructivism. I believe that some well-defineded problems are undecidable.

Thus, their search for truth is based around asking the question "Why?" rather than "How?". They're also the most annoying type to have a conversation with.

Thanks, Okcupid.

"It's hot today."
"Why?"
"Because there's no clouds blocking the sun, and no wind to create a breeze."
"Why?"
"Because the vapors in the air haven't condensed enough to form clouds, and the wind patterns haven't shifted to our region."
"Why?"

And so on.

Actually, I'd be the likely candidate for the one doing the explanations.

Famous regressionists include: Paul Feyerabend.

The opposite of Regressionism is Spiritualism.


My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 9% on optimism

Sounds ok

You scored higher than 17% on faith

yep

You scored higher than 91% on logic

Well applied logic is different from theoretical logic.

[substitute]

Funny, I've done a different one ages ago and scored high as a Stoic.

Existentialist:
In Greek mythology, a man named Sisyphus had angered the gods during his life. When he died, he was sent to Hades, and punished by constantly having to push a boulder up a hill. Every time he reached the top, the boulder rolled back down to the bottom and he had to start over. This process repeats itself for eternity.

That's more or less how existentialists view life. We're much like Sisyphus - struggling to push a rock up a hill, knowing that even if we succeed, it won't matter. No matter how great our achievements may be, in the end, they're completely meaningless. But like Sisyphus, we should continue living our meaningless lives, in order to defy whatever force is punishing us.

Famous existentialists include: Albert Camus, Friedrich Nietzsche.

The opposite of Existentialism is Rationalism.