In the spirit of Recommendations vs. Guidelines (by Scott Alexander, who gets mentioned here a lot) I wish the prescriptions were written as guidelines. Let me try:
Don’t take ideas seriouslyif you are no expert (credentialed or from deep lay interest) in the domain.
Don’t change your views when you hear counterarguments by people who have a vested interest in persuading or impressing you esp. if they are likely competent at that unless you can reliably counter these effects.
In the spirit of Recommendations vs. Guidelines (by Scott Alexander, who gets mentioned here a lot) I wish the prescriptions were written as guidelines. Let me try:
Don’t take ideas seriously if you are no expert (credentialed or from deep lay interest) in the domain.
Don’t change your views when you hear counterarguments by people who have a vested interest in persuading or impressing you esp. if they are likely competent at that unless you can reliably counter these effects.
Avoid having “strong opinions, weakly held” on topics where you have no deep understanding of the domain.