Curated. I resonate with many of the examples in this, and have made a lot of similar mistakes (including before I met the rationalist and the EA communities). This essay described those thinking patterns and their pathologies pretty starkly and helps me look at them directly. I expect to reference this post in future conversations when people I know are making big decisions, especially where I feel they’re not understanding how much they’re sacrificing for this one decision, with so many decisions still ahead (i.e. your framing about policies vs one-shot).
One hesitation I have is that, while I strongly inside-view connect to this post, perhaps I am typical-minding on how much other people share these thinking patterns, and people might find it a bit uncomfortable to read. But I do think a lot of people I respect have thoughts like this, so expect it will strongly help a lot of people to read it. (Also it’s a well-written essay and quite readable.)
Curated. I resonate with many of the examples in this, and have made a lot of similar mistakes (including before I met the rationalist and the EA communities). This essay described those thinking patterns and their pathologies pretty starkly and helps me look at them directly. I expect to reference this post in future conversations when people I know are making big decisions, especially where I feel they’re not understanding how much they’re sacrificing for this one decision, with so many decisions still ahead (i.e. your framing about policies vs one-shot).
One hesitation I have is that, while I strongly inside-view connect to this post, perhaps I am typical-minding on how much other people share these thinking patterns, and people might find it a bit uncomfortable to read. But I do think a lot of people I respect have thoughts like this, so expect it will strongly help a lot of people to read it. (Also it’s a well-written essay and quite readable.)