What matters is that this urge seems to be hardware, and it probably has nothing to do with actual truth or your strategic concerns.
You’re wrong dammit! Er… :P
In all seriousness though, it’s absolutely software. I have really toned down my drive to correct people and have taken big chunks out of it for others as well.
It comes from trying to enforce “shoulds”. People shouldn’t be so “irrational”! Gah! Can’t they see how costly it is!? I can’t even imagine why they’d be so stuuuupid! When you’re so focused on how “not-okay” it all is, you tend to knee jerk into fighting it. No time for planning—it must stop NOW!
When you put that aside and acknowledge it as something that is, then you can get into it and figure out why it is and why it grinds your gears. Okay, so they are irrational. I really wish they weren’t, who wouldn’t? And yet they’re irrational. Why is that? Okay, so they’re irrational because of X. Why X? Okay, so of course X, and so of course they’re irrational. What’s so infuriating now? Uh, nothing, I guess. I just have to go change X or get on with my life.
When you put the judgement aside and really dig into why it is the way it is (and associating into it), you come out of it with a new clarity of understanding, no “urges” to resist, and much more effective ways of improving peoples rationality with your new found empathy.
It’s really really cool stuff.
Nyan, how about we have a conversation on Skype sometime and you can write part 2 of this afterwards ;)
Plausible. Seems like hardware to me, but introspection is a rather crappy lens...
I have really toned down my drive to correct people and have taken big chunks out of it for others as well.
...
Totally. My attitude with irrational people now is a deliberate “whatevs, not my problem”. Of course things still rustle my jimmies. I just try to keep it contained.
I was describing parts of me that seem to be mostly under control, but I’d noticed they were not under control in some other aspiring rationalists I know.
Nyan, how about we have a conversation on Skype sometime and you can write part 2 of this afterwards ;)
The skype sounds wonderful, but I dunno about part 2. This one was just something I want to get off my plate as fast as possible. There’s way better stuff in the works than memetic tribalism part 2.
Plausible. Seems like hardware to me, but introspection is a rather crappy lens...
I’m curious, what exactly are you picking up on that makes it feel like hardware? How would it feel if it were software?
I’m guessing it’s the fact that feeling the urge feels like it’s outside your locus of control so that it feels like something “your brain” is doing and not something “you” are doing, and that you can’t see any underlying reasoning. Is that close?
The skype sounds wonderful, but I dunno about part 2. This one was just something I want to get off my plate as fast as possible. There’s way better stuff in the works than memetic tribalism part 2.
Aww, bummer. I was hoping I could work my magic on you and have you post on LW about how it’s totally software and that this is how to change your thinking. That way I wouldn’t have to write it myself and it’d be more easily believable :p
Not in any rigorous or clean way. I basically just mean that it’s “software like” in that it is changeable with interventions like “talking” rather than only interventions like “ice pick”.
I’m interested in the idea and feel like I should share more with the LW crowd. I do still value other people’s instrumental rationality, even though irrationality is less irksome these days :P
I’m not sure how to cross the inferential distance. I’m starting to lose track of what it’s like to not know everything I’ve learned in the past couple years, and the feedback I’m getting on my blog is that it’s pretty hard to follow. I’m not sure exactly what I’d have to say to explain it to the average LWer.
I’m busy enough and out-of-touch-with-my-target-audience enough that I can’t really crank out a sequence on my own right now, however, if you (or anyone else) want to collaborate, I’d be very interested in doing that.
I’m busy enough and out-of-touch-with-my-target-audience enough that I can’t really crank out a sequence on my own right now, however, if you (or anyone else) want to collaborate, I’d be very interested in doing that.
Well, I am probably not be the most suitable collaborator, but I’m certainly fascinated enough by what you are doing to give it a try, if you feel like it. Feel free to email me to this nick at gmail, if you like.
In all seriousness though, it’s absolutely software. I have really toned down my drive to correct people and have taken big chunks out of it for others as well.
You’re wrong dammit! Er… :P
In all seriousness though, it’s absolutely software. I have really toned down my drive to correct people and have taken big chunks out of it for others as well.
It comes from trying to enforce “shoulds”. People shouldn’t be so “irrational”! Gah! Can’t they see how costly it is!? I can’t even imagine why they’d be so stuuuupid! When you’re so focused on how “not-okay” it all is, you tend to knee jerk into fighting it. No time for planning—it must stop NOW!
When you put that aside and acknowledge it as something that is, then you can get into it and figure out why it is and why it grinds your gears. Okay, so they are irrational. I really wish they weren’t, who wouldn’t? And yet they’re irrational. Why is that? Okay, so they’re irrational because of X. Why X? Okay, so of course X, and so of course they’re irrational. What’s so infuriating now? Uh, nothing, I guess. I just have to go change X or get on with my life.
When you put the judgement aside and really dig into why it is the way it is (and associating into it), you come out of it with a new clarity of understanding, no “urges” to resist, and much more effective ways of improving peoples rationality with your new found empathy.
It’s really really cool stuff.
Nyan, how about we have a conversation on Skype sometime and you can write part 2 of this afterwards ;)
Plausible. Seems like hardware to me, but introspection is a rather crappy lens...
Totally. My attitude with irrational people now is a deliberate “whatevs, not my problem”. Of course things still rustle my jimmies. I just try to keep it contained.
I was describing parts of me that seem to be mostly under control, but I’d noticed they were not under control in some other aspiring rationalists I know.
The skype sounds wonderful, but I dunno about part 2. This one was just something I want to get off my plate as fast as possible. There’s way better stuff in the works than memetic tribalism part 2.
I’ll PM you if you haven’t already.
I’m curious, what exactly are you picking up on that makes it feel like hardware? How would it feel if it were software?
I’m guessing it’s the fact that feeling the urge feels like it’s outside your locus of control so that it feels like something “your brain” is doing and not something “you” are doing, and that you can’t see any underlying reasoning. Is that close?
Aww, bummer. I was hoping I could work my magic on you and have you post on LW about how it’s totally software and that this is how to change your thinking. That way I wouldn’t have to write it myself and it’d be more easily believable :p
How do you guys define hardware vs software as applied to brain functions?
Not in any rigorous or clean way. I basically just mean that it’s “software like” in that it is changeable with interventions like “talking” rather than only interventions like “ice pick”.
You really ought to write a sequence based on your blog, unless you don’t care about people being wrong :)
I’m interested in the idea and feel like I should share more with the LW crowd. I do still value other people’s instrumental rationality, even though irrationality is less irksome these days :P
I’m not sure how to cross the inferential distance. I’m starting to lose track of what it’s like to not know everything I’ve learned in the past couple years, and the feedback I’m getting on my blog is that it’s pretty hard to follow. I’m not sure exactly what I’d have to say to explain it to the average LWer.
I’m busy enough and out-of-touch-with-my-target-audience enough that I can’t really crank out a sequence on my own right now, however, if you (or anyone else) want to collaborate, I’d be very interested in doing that.
Well, I am probably not be the most suitable collaborator, but I’m certainly fascinated enough by what you are doing to give it a try, if you feel like it. Feel free to email me to this nick at gmail, if you like.
It’s not like the hardware is unchangeable.