TL;DR: Your discernment in a subject often improves as you dedicate time and attention to that subject. The space of possible subjects is huge, so on average your discernment is terrible, relative to what it could be. This is a serious problem if you create a machine that does everyone's job for them.

See also: Reality has a surprising amount of detail. (You lack awareness of how bad your staircase is and precisely how your staircase is bad.) You don't know what you don't know. You forget your own blind spots, shortly after you notice them.

An afternoon with a piano tuner

I recently played in an orchestra, as a violinist accompanying a piano soloist who was playing a concerto. My 'stand partner' (the person I was sitting next to) has a day job as a piano tuner.

I loved the rehearsal, and heard nothing at all wrong with [...]

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Outline:

(00:42) An afternoon with a piano tuner

(02:56) Hear how it rolls over?

(03:43) Are any of these notes brighter than others?

(04:31) Yeah the beats get slower, but they dont get slower at an even rate...

(05:19) This string probably has some rust on it somewhere.

(06:55) Please at least listen to this guy when you create a robotic piano tuner and put him out of business.

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First published:
August 4th, 2024

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PJu2HhKsyTEJMxS9a/you-don-t-know-how-bad-most-things-are-nor-precisely-how

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

“You don’t know how bad most things are nor precisely how they’re bad.” by Solenoid_Entity

LessWrong (30+ Karma)