I, too, am uncomfortable with the “too comfortable” heuristic. Social comfort doesn’t seem like the problematic thing here.
Here are several alternate warning signs for being in too much of a filter bubble:
Are you getting accurate feedback on what matters? The way I interpreted Cheat to Win was that you’re trying to surround yourself with people who value the things you value, so that the feedback you get on what you’re doing is meaningful to you. Feedback from others may just be on an irrelevant metric of quality. But, perhaps there are some things which you can’t just rely on close allies for. If you are trying to write a novel to be a nationwide best seller, you might not be able to get the feedback you need from your pre-existing fans.
Are you ignoring some potential consequences of your actions? Maybe you’re trying to revolutionize 3D printing, and you only hang out with guns-rights activists who think giving everyone the ability to print a gun is pure upside. So ask yourself: do your actions only effect you and your group of supporters? If no, have you thought seriously about who else is being effected and whether you might be ignoring negative effects?
Is there a group of people who seriously disagree with some assumptions you make? Would you know if there were? (Have you checked?) If there is, have you engaged with their concerns to the point where you’re satisfied? Is it possible you’ll be kicking yourself years later for not engaging more?
I, too, am uncomfortable with the “too comfortable” heuristic. Social comfort doesn’t seem like the problematic thing here.
Here are several alternate warning signs for being in too much of a filter bubble:
Are you getting accurate feedback on what matters? The way I interpreted Cheat to Win was that you’re trying to surround yourself with people who value the things you value, so that the feedback you get on what you’re doing is meaningful to you. Feedback from others may just be on an irrelevant metric of quality. But, perhaps there are some things which you can’t just rely on close allies for. If you are trying to write a novel to be a nationwide best seller, you might not be able to get the feedback you need from your pre-existing fans.
Are you ignoring some potential consequences of your actions? Maybe you’re trying to revolutionize 3D printing, and you only hang out with guns-rights activists who think giving everyone the ability to print a gun is pure upside. So ask yourself: do your actions only effect you and your group of supporters? If no, have you thought seriously about who else is being effected and whether you might be ignoring negative effects?
Is there a group of people who seriously disagree with some assumptions you make? Would you know if there were? (Have you checked?) If there is, have you engaged with their concerns to the point where you’re satisfied? Is it possible you’ll be kicking yourself years later for not engaging more?