I think you’re talking about doing your own perceptual chunking, instead of projecting socially received models (or your own prior models) on top of something. This is absolutely critical for being able to do anything new, and almost definitionally difficult to verify based on legible standards. I don’t actually think the problem is that people don’t know how to do it—it’s usually that they perceive an incentive not to do it, and to cover up this fact. And sometimes they’re right!
“doing your own perceptual chunking, instead of projecting socially received models (or your own prior models) on top of something”, and how/why this is “absolutely critical for being able to do anything new”, and also, of course, the bit about incentives not to do it, and covering up.
Interesting. One of the terms that is used in Buddhism is “ego-identification”—this is the belief that all of my perceptions come through a specific physical body, and therefore I am this body. I’m probably oversimplifying, but my understanding is that this belief should be understood to be erroneous, and actually seeing through and letting go of this belief is a major milestone. It occurs to me now that ego-identification is a kind of perceptual chunking, perhaps the most fundamental one.
I think you’re talking about doing your own perceptual chunking, instead of projecting socially received models (or your own prior models) on top of something. This is absolutely critical for being able to do anything new, and almost definitionally difficult to verify based on legible standards. I don’t actually think the problem is that people don’t know how to do it—it’s usually that they perceive an incentive not to do it, and to cover up this fact. And sometimes they’re right!
Related: Do One-Eyed Rule Blind?, The order of the soul
I would love to see an LW post that talks about this in detail.
Which aspect?
“doing your own perceptual chunking, instead of projecting socially received models (or your own prior models) on top of something”, and how/why this is “absolutely critical for being able to do anything new”, and also, of course, the bit about incentives not to do it, and covering up.
So, all of it.
Interesting. One of the terms that is used in Buddhism is “ego-identification”—this is the belief that all of my perceptions come through a specific physical body, and therefore I am this body. I’m probably oversimplifying, but my understanding is that this belief should be understood to be erroneous, and actually seeing through and letting go of this belief is a major milestone. It occurs to me now that ego-identification is a kind of perceptual chunking, perhaps the most fundamental one.