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Debiasing by rationalizing your own motives
Some time back, I saw somebody express an opinion that I disagreed with. Next, my mind quickly came up with emotional motives the other person might have for holding such an opinion, that would let me safely justify dismissing that opinion.
Now, it’s certainly conceivable that they did have such a reason for holding the opinion. People do often ( Read more... ) -
The muted signal hypothesis of online outrage
Everyone, it sometimes seems, has their own pet theory of why social media and the Internet often seem like so unpleasant and toxic places. Let me add one more.
People want to feel respected, loved, appreciated, etc. When we interact physically, you can easily experience subtle forms of these feelings. For instance, even if you just hang out in the ( Read more... ) -
The parliamentary model as the correct ethical model
In 2009, Nick Bostrom brought up the possibility of dealing with moral uncertainty with a “parliamentary model” of morality. Suppose that you assign (say) 40% probability to some form particular of utilitarianism being correct, and 20% probability to some other form of utilitarianism being correct, and 20% probability to some form of deontology ( Read more... ) -
Confidence and patience don’t feel like anything in particular
After doing my self-concept work, I’ve been expecting to feel confident in social situations. And observing myself in them or after them, I have been more confident. But I haven’t felt particularly confident.
The thing is, being confident doesn’t feel like much in particular. I was pretty confident in my ability to open my laptop and write this ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
http://kajsotala.fi/2017/07/how-i-found-fixed-the-root-problem-behind-my-depression-and-anxiety-after-20-years/
So, I haven't talked about this in public before because I wanted to wait and make sure that the changes would last, but...
I believe that I recently managed to find and fix what was the root problem of all of the depression and anxiety ( Read more... ) -
Meditation insights: suffering and pleasure are intrinsically bound together
A principle which I've been gradually been able to observe and internalize, thanks both to meditation and some other mind-hacking practices, is that suffering is never about the pain itself. There are conditions in which people report pain but do not mind it; pain is just an attention signal. Pain does not intrinsically cause suffering: what ( Read more... ) -
Books that have had the biggest impact on my life/thought
In roughly chronological order:
1. J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit / The Lord of the Rings
2. Eliezer Yudkowsky: The Less Wrong Sequences
3. Michele Boldrin & David K. Levine: Against Intellectual Monopoly
4. Olivia Fox Cabane: The Charisma Myth
5. Marshall Rosenberg: Non-Violent Communication
6. Eugene Gendlin: Focusing; Connirae Andreas & Tamara ( Read more... ) -
Cognitive Core Systems explaining intuitions behind belief in souls, free will, and creation myths
A book I’m currently reading, Cognitive Pluralism, cites research suggesting that human infants as well as many non-human animals (particularly primates) are born with four “hard-coded” core reasoning systems:
- A Core Object System which identifies cohesive and continuous objects (as opposed to say liquids or heaps), enables tracking of such objects ( Read more... )
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Relationship compatibility as patterns of emotional associations
Much of relationship compatibility comes down to a fuzzy concept that’s variously referred to as “chemistry”, “clicking”, or just feeling good and comfortable in the other’s presence. This is infamously difficult to predict by any other means than actually spending time around the other. OKCupid-style dating sites, with their extensive batteries of ( Read more... ) -
Empowering the growth of others: an underutilized desire for game design?
There’s a human desire which is very emotionally powerful, and which I’m a little surprised to realize that very few video games seem to have tapped into. (That I know of? Please let me know about any counter-examples!)
The desire is for a specific way of helping others and seeing the consequences of that help. It’s when you help someone acquire a ( Read more... )