#superforecasting

[etirabys]

the people in Tetlock’s Superforecasting are who are very good at predicting the future – the ones who outperformed [CIA analysts who had classified info] – fill me with yearning; yearning to be like them, to be around people like them, to have a more uncluttered relationship with truth and uncertainty

every description of them fills me with peace and admiration

[nenad8]

“Once, on the road, Prim met a meditating sage who had spent most of his life on top of a flat rock. They had black bread and shared some ajash, as was custom. The sage was thankful, as the road was not very frequently traveled in those days and he was very near the point of starvation. During his conversation, he was delighted to learn of Prim’s extensive mastery of Empty Palms and the fifty five earthly purities. Delighted, and as payment for his meal, he taught Prim the meaning of watchfulness. This was the old breathing and cold-atum technique often used by warrior monks in those days. It ran through the following methodology: Build a tower, and make it impregnable. Make every stone so tightly sealed that no insect can squeeze through, no grain of sand can make it inside. Your tower must have no windows or doors. It must not accept passage by friend or foe. No weapon, no act of violence, and not one mote of love may penetrate its stony interior. “Why build the tower this way?” said Prim? “It will make you invincible,” said the sage, “This is the way of Ya-at slave monks. Their skin is like iron, and so are their hearts. They are inured to death and fear. Grief shall never find them, and neither shall weakness.” Prim thought a moment, and came upon a realization, for she was wise, obedient, and an excellent daughter. “If a man built a tower this way, he would quickly starve, no matter how strong he became.” The sage was even more delighted. “Yes,” he said, “There is a better way, and I will teach it to you: Once you have built your tower, you must deconstruct it, brick by brick, stone by stone. You must do it meticulously and carefully, so that while you leave no physical trace of it remaining, your tower is still built in your mind and your heart, ready to spring anew at a moment’s notice. You can enjoy the fresh air, and eat fine meals, and enjoy a good drink with your friends, but all the while your tower remains standing. You are both prisoner and warden. This is the hardest way, but the strongest.” Prim saw the wisdom in this, and quickly made to return to the road, but the sage stopped her before she left. “As you to your earlier remark,” the sage said, “The man who builds his tower but cannot take it apart again – that man is at the pinnacle of his strength. But that man will surely perish.”

Prim Masters the Road

[nenad8]

So why did one group do better than the other? It wasn’t whether they had PhDs or access to classified information. Nor was it what they thought—whether they were liberals or conservatives, optimists or pessimists. The critical factor was how they thought. One group tended to organize their thinking around Big Ideas, although they didn’t agree on which Big Ideas were true or false. Some were environmental doomsters (“We’re running out of everything”); others were cornucopian boomsters (“We can find cost-effective substitutes for everything”). Some were socialists (who favored state control of the commanding heights of the economy); others were free-market fundamentalists (who wanted to minimize regulation). As ideologically diverse as they were, they were united by the fact that their thinking was so ideological. They sought to squeeze complex problems into the preferred cause-effect templates and treated what did not fit as irrelevant distractions. Allergic to wishy-washy answers, they kept pushing their analyses to the limit (and then some), using terms like “furthermore” and “moreover” while piling up reasons why they were right and others wrong. As a result, they were unusually confident and likelier to declare things “impossible” or “certain.” Committed to their conclusions, they were reluctant to change their minds even when their predictions clearly failed. They would tell us, “Just wait.” The other group consisted of more pragmatic experts who drew on many analytical tools, with the choice of tool hinging on the particular problem they faced. These experts gathered as much information from as many sources as they could. When thinking, they often shifted mental gears, sprinkling their speech with transition markers such as “however,” “but,” “although,” and “on the other hand.” They talked about possibilities and probabilities, not certainties. And while no one likes to say “I was wrong,” these experts more readily admitted it and changed their minds.

Superforecasting

[etirabys]

I picked up Superforecasting a few months ago at someone’s house and read a chunk of it, and this person is so genuinely inspiring

[tezla7]

Superforecasting

[perdigao1]

UK’s new weapon - superforecasting

In UK politics, an incredible intention forwarded by the UK government that they want to break the Withdrawal Agreement, even if it violates international law. What is also incredible is that MP admit it. Why?

The UK governement, now effectively driven by Dom Cummings, is using a new weapon. SUPER FORECASTING.

While everybody discusses laws, and politics, UK government is using super-forecasting as a way to be ahead in political battles. Superforecasting is a way to determine the outcomes of these decisions. All possible options are considered and outcomes are (super)-forecasted. It is like playing chess and already know all possible moves after several turns. Currently politics is done with the knowledge of one or two moves in advanced, but with superforecasting we can go beyond that. It becomes a hybrid chess and poker game.

Now the question are. What did the UK superforecasting department predicted which led to the decision of dropping the Withdrawal Agreement, risking international condemnation, accusations, and legal punishments?

What else is the UK government is predicting?

What diagrams are in those whiteboards of whitehall.

What is UK end-game? Is Brexit now an obsession, and simply leading to desperation because it simply does not work ? Did they simply exclude cancelling Brexit as a potential better option ? What are the long term and moral consequences?

Are other countries going to up their game and start super-forcasting?

What happens when two decisions based in superforecasting clash? Do they nullify?

[geopoliticalmatters]

UK: No 10 Backlash as chief refuses to acknowledge severity of "super forecaster´s" views

UK: No 10 Backlash as chief refuses to acknowledge severity of "super forecaster´s" views

[news4me]

Andrew Sabisky: What is superforecasting?

[ad_1]

Media playback is unsupported on your deviceMedia captionDominic Cummings leaves for work after Andrew Sabisky row

The prime minister’s chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, has told journalists to “read Philip Tetlock’s Superforecasters, instead of political pundits who don’t know what they’re talking about”.

His comments followed the resignation of Downing Street adviser Andrew…

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