Any time you find yourself being tempted to be loyal to an idea, it turns out that what you should actually be loyal to is whatever underlying feature of human psychology makes the idea look like a good idea; that way, you’ll find it easier to fucking update when it turns out that the implementation of your favorite idea isn’t as fun as you expected!
I agree that there’s an important skill here, but I also want to point out that this seems to tip in a particular direction which may be concerning.
An authenticity-oriented person thinks of honesty as being true to what you’re feeling right now. Quick answers from the gut are more honest. Careful consideration before speaking is a sign of dishonesty. Making a promise and later breaking it isn’t dishonest if you really meant the promise when you made it!
An accuracy-oriented person thinks of honesty as making a real effort to tell the truth. Quick answers are a sign that you’re not doing that; long pauses before speaking are a sign that you are. It’s not just about saying what you really believe; making a factual error when you could have avoided it if you had been more careful is almost the same as purposefully lying (especially given concerns about motivated cognition).
Authenticity and accuracy are both valuable, and it would be best to reconcile them. But, my concern is that your advice against being loyal to an idea tips things away from accuracy. If you have a knee-jerk reaction to be loyal to the generators of an idea rather than the idea itself, it seems to me like you’re going to make some slips toward the making-a-promise-and-breaking-it-isn’t-dishonest-if-you-meant-it direction which you wouldn’t reflectively endorse if you considered it more carefully.
I agree that there’s an important skill here, but I also want to point out that this seems to tip in a particular direction which may be concerning.
Ben Hoffman writes about authenticity vs accuracy.
An authenticity-oriented person thinks of honesty as being true to what you’re feeling right now. Quick answers from the gut are more honest. Careful consideration before speaking is a sign of dishonesty. Making a promise and later breaking it isn’t dishonest if you really meant the promise when you made it!
An accuracy-oriented person thinks of honesty as making a real effort to tell the truth. Quick answers are a sign that you’re not doing that; long pauses before speaking are a sign that you are. It’s not just about saying what you really believe; making a factual error when you could have avoided it if you had been more careful is almost the same as purposefully lying (especially given concerns about motivated cognition).
Authenticity and accuracy are both valuable, and it would be best to reconcile them. But, my concern is that your advice against being loyal to an idea tips things away from accuracy. If you have a knee-jerk reaction to be loyal to the generators of an idea rather than the idea itself, it seems to me like you’re going to make some slips toward the making-a-promise-and-breaking-it-isn’t-dishonest-if-you-meant-it direction which you wouldn’t reflectively endorse if you considered it more carefully.