The Nonlinear Library LW - [Valence series] 1. Introduction by Steven Byrnes
Dec 4, 2023
24:41
Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: [Valence series] 1. Introduction, published by Steven Byrnes on December 4, 2023 on LessWrong.
1.1 Summary & Table of Contents
This is the first of a series of five blog posts on valence, which I'll be serializing over the next couple weeks. (Or
email me to read it all right now.) Here's an overview of the whole series, and then we'll jump right into the first post!
1.1.1 Summary & Table of Contents - for the whole Valence series
Let's say a thought pops into your mind: "I could open the window right now". Maybe you then immediately stand up and go open the window. Or maybe you don't.
("Nah, I'll keep it closed," you might say to yourself.) I claim that there's a final-common-pathway signal in your brain that cleaves those two possibilities: when this special signal is positive, then the current "thought" will stick around, and potentially lead to actions and/or direct-follow-up thoughts; and when this signal is negative, then the current "thought" will get thrown out, and your brain will go fishing (partly randomly) for a new thought to replace it.
I call this final-common-pathway signal by the name "valence". Thus, the "valence" of a "thought" is roughly the extent to which the thought feels demotivating / aversive (negative valence) versus motivating / appealing (positive valence).
I claim that valence plays an absolutely central role in the brain - I think it's one of the most important ingredients in the brain's Model-Based Reinforcement Learning system, which in turn is one of the most important algorithms in your brain.
Thus, unsurprisingly, I see valence as a shining light that illuminates many aspects of psychology and everyday mental life. This series explores that idea. Here's the outline:
Post 1 (Introduction) will give some background on how I'm thinking about valence from the perspective of brain algorithms, including exactly what I'm talking about, and how it relates to the "wanting versus liking" dichotomy. (The thing I'm talking about is closer to "motivational valence" than "hedonic valence", although neither term is great.)
Post 2 (Valence & Normativity) will talk about the intimate relationship between valence and the universe of desires, preferences, values, goals, etc. - i.e. the "normative" side of the "positive-versus-normative" dichotomy, or equivalently the "ought" side of
Hume's "is-versus-ought". I'll start with simple cases: for example, if the idea of doing a certain thing right now feels aversive (negative valence), then we're less likely to do it. Then I'll move on to more interesting cases, including what it means to like or dislike a broad concept like "religion", and ego-syntonic versus ego-dystonic desires, and a descriptive account of moral reasoning and value formation.
Post 3 (Valence & Beliefs) is the complement of Post 2, in that it covers the relationship between valence and the universe of beliefs, expectations, concepts, etc. - i.e. the "positive" side of the "positive-versus-normative" dichotomy, or equivalently the "is" side of "is-versus-ought". The role of valence here is less foundational than it is on the normative side, but it's still quite important. I'll talk specifically about motivated reasoning, the halo effect (a.k.a. affect heuristic), and some related phenomena.
Post 4 (Valence & Social Status) argues that social status (by which I mean more specifically
"prestige" not "dominance") centers around valence - more specifically, the valence that Person X's brain assigns to the thought of Person Y. It's slightly more complicated than that, but only slightly. I'll discuss how this hypothesis sheds light on various status-related phenomena, like imitating the mannerisms of people you admire, and I'll also discuss the implications for status-related innate drives.
Post 5 ('Valence Disorders' in Mental Health & Person...
1.1 Summary & Table of Contents
This is the first of a series of five blog posts on valence, which I'll be serializing over the next couple weeks. (Or
email me to read it all right now.) Here's an overview of the whole series, and then we'll jump right into the first post!
1.1.1 Summary & Table of Contents - for the whole Valence series
Let's say a thought pops into your mind: "I could open the window right now". Maybe you then immediately stand up and go open the window. Or maybe you don't.
("Nah, I'll keep it closed," you might say to yourself.) I claim that there's a final-common-pathway signal in your brain that cleaves those two possibilities: when this special signal is positive, then the current "thought" will stick around, and potentially lead to actions and/or direct-follow-up thoughts; and when this signal is negative, then the current "thought" will get thrown out, and your brain will go fishing (partly randomly) for a new thought to replace it.
I call this final-common-pathway signal by the name "valence". Thus, the "valence" of a "thought" is roughly the extent to which the thought feels demotivating / aversive (negative valence) versus motivating / appealing (positive valence).
I claim that valence plays an absolutely central role in the brain - I think it's one of the most important ingredients in the brain's Model-Based Reinforcement Learning system, which in turn is one of the most important algorithms in your brain.
Thus, unsurprisingly, I see valence as a shining light that illuminates many aspects of psychology and everyday mental life. This series explores that idea. Here's the outline:
Post 1 (Introduction) will give some background on how I'm thinking about valence from the perspective of brain algorithms, including exactly what I'm talking about, and how it relates to the "wanting versus liking" dichotomy. (The thing I'm talking about is closer to "motivational valence" than "hedonic valence", although neither term is great.)
Post 2 (Valence & Normativity) will talk about the intimate relationship between valence and the universe of desires, preferences, values, goals, etc. - i.e. the "normative" side of the "positive-versus-normative" dichotomy, or equivalently the "ought" side of
Hume's "is-versus-ought". I'll start with simple cases: for example, if the idea of doing a certain thing right now feels aversive (negative valence), then we're less likely to do it. Then I'll move on to more interesting cases, including what it means to like or dislike a broad concept like "religion", and ego-syntonic versus ego-dystonic desires, and a descriptive account of moral reasoning and value formation.
Post 3 (Valence & Beliefs) is the complement of Post 2, in that it covers the relationship between valence and the universe of beliefs, expectations, concepts, etc. - i.e. the "positive" side of the "positive-versus-normative" dichotomy, or equivalently the "is" side of "is-versus-ought". The role of valence here is less foundational than it is on the normative side, but it's still quite important. I'll talk specifically about motivated reasoning, the halo effect (a.k.a. affect heuristic), and some related phenomena.
Post 4 (Valence & Social Status) argues that social status (by which I mean more specifically
"prestige" not "dominance") centers around valence - more specifically, the valence that Person X's brain assigns to the thought of Person Y. It's slightly more complicated than that, but only slightly. I'll discuss how this hypothesis sheds light on various status-related phenomena, like imitating the mannerisms of people you admire, and I'll also discuss the implications for status-related innate drives.
Post 5 ('Valence Disorders' in Mental Health & Person...