If we have strong views on an established field of study we’ve never directly engaged in, we should probably subject those views to scrutiny.
Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. You’ve listed some symptoms, I guess if you catch yourself engaging in such behaviour, there are potential solutions?
Avoid heterodoxy by reading opposing viewpoints while steelmanning as much as possible.
I have an ongoing project to read an introductory textbook for every subject I claim to be interested in. This won’t make me an expert in those subjects, but it should hopefully stop me saying things that cause actual experts to facepalm.
I can see what you mean, but rephrasing what someone else has said is the opposite of using unnecessarily confusing phrasing, no? It’s just good practice, and a big part of what the guide to words stuff was all about.
But you’re right, I should probably put in a link for steelmanning, just in case.
So kind of like an intellectual chuunibyou.
Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. You’ve listed some symptoms, I guess if you catch yourself engaging in such behaviour, there are potential solutions?
Avoid heterodoxy by reading opposing viewpoints while steelmanning as much as possible.
To avoid grandstanding via vocab, keep things simple. Make sure you can play taboo with words, or up goer five.
For rules and tips, make sure you’re clear with yourself on when your rules don’t apply as well as when they’re useful.
But really, it is a hard one to notice in yourself, and a hard one to fix without actually becoming an expert.
I have an ongoing project to read an introductory textbook for every subject I claim to be interested in. This won’t make me an expert in those subjects, but it should hopefully stop me saying things that cause actual experts to facepalm.
I present exhibit A.
(Meant lightly, but this really is a good example of phrasing that could be unnecessarily confusing to an average reader.)
I can see what you mean, but rephrasing what someone else has said is the opposite of using unnecessarily confusing phrasing, no? It’s just good practice, and a big part of what the guide to words stuff was all about.
But you’re right, I should probably put in a link for steelmanning, just in case.