My main takeaway reading this thread is a point that I emphatically agree with:
For any given thing that you want to get good at, the thing that makes the biggest difference is practice.
You can make that practice more effective or efficient with skilled reflection and rationality (like noticing confusion, looking for more efficient ways to accomplish your goal, etc), and exercise design. But those are compliments for and not substitutes for doing the practice.
Like, rationality is not best thought of as an engine that accomplishes impressive stuff. It’s more like a the skill of a good mechanic, which can take an existing engine and tune it to maximize its output.
My main takeaway reading this thread is a point that I emphatically agree with:
For any given thing that you want to get good at, the thing that makes the biggest difference is practice.
You can make that practice more effective or efficient with skilled reflection and rationality (like noticing confusion, looking for more efficient ways to accomplish your goal, etc), and exercise design. But those are compliments for and not substitutes for doing the practice.
Like, rationality is not best thought of as an engine that accomplishes impressive stuff. It’s more like a the skill of a good mechanic, which can take an existing engine and tune it to maximize its output.