Jarrod Studies “Yes or No Philosophy” and “Critical Fallibilism Course Videos”

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Examples of qualitative vs quantitative traits

Health

  • Quantitative health metrics:

    • How much can one benchpress

    • How fast can one run a 5K

    • Steps per day

    • Hours per week spent exercising

  • Qualitative health goals:

    • Being able to live independently (not in a nursing home) when one’s 95

    • At age 95, age-related aches and pains don’t prevent one from doing the things that one likes to do

    • Being strong and flexible enough to play with one’s grandkids

Relationships

  • Quantitative relationship metrics:

    • Number of friends

    • Number of social gatherings per month

    • Hours per week spent socializing

  • Qualitative relationship traits:

    • Sharing important values and having similar interests

    • Are one’s friends quality people

    • Are one’s friends IRL or online

Hobbies

  • Quantitative hobby metrics:

    • Hours per week spent on hobbies

    • Dollars per year spent on hobbies

  • Qualitative:

    • Is one’s hobby more intellectual (e.g. studying philosophy) or more physical/sport-like (e.g. trail running)

    • Does one feel rejuvenated after spending time on one’s hobby?

    • What type of hobby does one have? (E.g., model building, RC vehicles, mountain biking, fishing)

Work

  • Quantitative metrics:

    • Salary

    • Commute duration

  • Qualitative traits:

    • Intellectually stimulating

    • Important to society

    • Competence: is one good at one’s work?

The problem with rating qualitative traits

Some qualitative traits could be given a 1 to 5 rating. E.g.:

  • Health: Rate your age-related aches and pains on a 1 to 5 scale (1 = minimal, 5 = debilitating)

  • Relationships: Rate the quality of your friends on a 1 to 5 scale (1 = toxic & dishonest, 5 = wise, kind, & erudite)

  • Hobbies: Rate how rejuvenating your hobby is on a 1 to 5 scale

  • Work: Rate how intellectually stimulating your career is on a 1 to 5 scale

A problem with rating qualitative traits is that it obscures errors/refutations. E.g., rather than giving one’s job a 2-out-of-5 rating for intellectual stimulation, one should say that one hates one’s job because it never gives one the opportunity to learn new things or solve novel problems or meet cool people.

Review

I didn’t find this helpful. I don’t think it made me understand CF any better.

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