Related to this, what kicks me in the Less Wrong Parts is that I can be in a bad mood and thinking irrationally, be aware that I am in a bad mood and thinking irrationally, and helplessly watch myself continue to think irrationally.
Moods, for me, are very sticky, and any strategy I develop for extricating myself from a foul mood ends up only working within the context for which it was designed. I feel like if I got a handle on my moods, my demonstrated rationality would skyrocket.
It might help to mention that I am not depressed or even unusually moody. In fact, I’m more even-keeled than average. Maybe this is what makes it feel that much worse when I do find myself in a foul mood. It is an unaccustomed state I don’t know how to deal with.
any strategy I develop for extricating myself from a foul mood ends up only working within the context for which it was designed.
Have you tried designing strategies specifically so that they wouldn’t work in the context where you’re designing them, and then running tests on those? Say, leave a post-it note somewhere visible saying “you are in a bad mood, and will respond to this observation with irrational anger,” then updating the last bit recursively until it’s accurate enough that the tired, stupid version of you is forced to agree, or is at least thrown off-balance enough to break the behavioral pattern.
Related to this, what kicks me in the Less Wrong Parts is that I can be in a bad mood and thinking irrationally, be aware that I am in a bad mood and thinking irrationally, and helplessly watch myself continue to think irrationally.
Moods, for me, are very sticky, and any strategy I develop for extricating myself from a foul mood ends up only working within the context for which it was designed. I feel like if I got a handle on my moods, my demonstrated rationality would skyrocket.
It might help to mention that I am not depressed or even unusually moody. In fact, I’m more even-keeled than average. Maybe this is what makes it feel that much worse when I do find myself in a foul mood. It is an unaccustomed state I don’t know how to deal with.
Have you tried designing strategies specifically so that they wouldn’t work in the context where you’re designing them, and then running tests on those? Say, leave a post-it note somewhere visible saying “you are in a bad mood, and will respond to this observation with irrational anger,” then updating the last bit recursively until it’s accurate enough that the tired, stupid version of you is forced to agree, or is at least thrown off-balance enough to break the behavioral pattern.