A Brief Introduction to Step 2: Determine Your Ideological Tree
The complex decisions we have to make on a daily basis do not allow us to simply reference an objective function and reach a “correct answer.”
Two people who believe that pleasing God—or maximizing the ongoing viability of the human species—is the only thing of intrinsic value may decide on entirely different and contradictory paths of action in order to achieve that goal. This happens because these two people have different ideological trees.
Within this guide, we define an ideology as a hypothesis about how the world works that you utilize to maximize your objective function. For example, if your objective function is to relieve suffering in others, then one of your ideologies might be socialism because you hypothesize that socialism is an effective means of relieving suffering in others.
Ideologies exist within a branching hierarchy—an ideological tree—in which some ideologies are strictly subservient to others. An ideological tree may have Southern Baptism at its root with its political branch starting with representative democracy, followed by the Republican party, followed by a particular presidential candidate. The reason we think of ideology as a tree is that it helps us contextualize that some ideologies, e.g., “my belief that we should elect X candidate for president,” may be directly subservient to other beliefs, e.g., “I believe that Y political party is the best path forward for our country.” The further down the tree an ideology is for you, the more other ideologies rely on its correctness and therefore the more it is worth expending mental energy on ensuring it is correct.
In this framework, ideologies are hypotheses about how the world works and as hypotheses we should always be open to evidence that disproves them. You should always be aware of what type of evidence would be necessary for you to alter a particular path in your ideological tree. If you hypothesize that socialism is the best political system for relieving suffering, what standard of information is required for you to change your mind? Might that information already exist in the world? Have you tried to seek it out? Where might you find it?
Almost as important as our objective function is the “standard of evidence” we choose when building our ideological tree. One person may view a shift in the consensus of the scientific community as sufficient evidence that a chosen ideology is wrong while another may be willing to dismiss the consensus of the scientific community in the face of a personal experience.
This chapter will drill into the various standards of evidence a person may choose, the various advantages and disadvantages of each, and methods for maintaining an up-to-date ideological tree. We all know someone whose ideological tree ossified with age or through intellectual stagnation—someone who became resistant to new ideas or the concept that their present views of the world could be wrong. None of us wants to be that person. We all want to be able to change how we view the world in light of new information. This chapter will provide you with the framework you need to ensure your ideological tree never ossifies.