Mistaking Language for Reality: Why 'Evolution's Goal' and 'AI Scheming' Are Labels, Not Truths
paraschopra · x · 2026-09-24
paraschopra argues that a common cognitive error—especially among 'cognitive-types'—is mistaking language for reality. Empirical phenomena unfold regardless of how we label them.
Because reality is bigger than anyone can grok at once, different labels offer different useful perspectives, and shutting them down early hurts you. He cites AI-adjacent debates as examples: Does evolution have a 'goal'? Is gradient descent making something come 'alive'? Are AI agents 'scheming'?
His takeaway: all are views of the same underlying reality—some labels more useful than others, but none categorically true or false.
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