I would start with the ideas that natural behavior is typically adaptive, and that society is built for people who behave naturally. Rationality is highly effective at the margins, but tends to cause issues if used without restraint. Don’t go overboard. If you do one thing at professional quality, it’s okay to be normal everywhere else.
In a related note, we all have meta-preferences that are different than our preferences; there are many things that we want to have done but don’t actually want to do. And often our preferences are wiser than our meta-preferences; spending your youth studying and self-improving is not always a better use of your time than getting drunk with attractive people. You don’t have to be superhuman, which is good since it isn’t an option. Have some compassion for yourself; it’s okay to be merely okay.
Note that this is the opposite of the advice that I would give to an underachieving slacker. Some people need to learn to act with intent, and some people need to learn to chill. You seem to be the second type.
Rationalism is like climbing stairs , its easier to say then to do , one look up to know the direction no to despair at one’s position ,one feel humble that everyone is on a stair some were/when . pride at being higher then other and advancing , and know when to take breaks so one doesn’t fall down.
climbing stairs is dangerous , so running up depend on one’s condition.
naivete is looking from a certain stair , its justified on its own or looking down on lower stairs , but not when thinking one is at the top.
I need to start off by saying that I strongly encourage those who can to achieve fluency with the techniques of rationality. They’re often very useful, and not knowing them is often crippling.
Having said that, if reason is the only tool in your toolkit you’re not likely to get far. Empathy, charisma, confidence, psychology, and physical attractiveness are often even more useful. You are surrounded by seven billion apes who are smart enough to invent nuclear weapons and stupid enough to use them; they are by far the most important part of your environment and Donald Trump is better at manipulating them than Eliezer Yudkowski.
Beyond that there are the insights of meta-rationality. If you think of rationality in terms of optimization, meta-rationality is the art of choosing what to optimize. If rationalism is like climbing stairs, meta-rationality is deciding which staircases are worth climbing (there’s a lot more to it than that.).
What I’m trying to say is- don’t be so proud of your rationalism. It’s only a part of what you need.
I would start with the ideas that natural behavior is typically adaptive, and that society is built for people who behave naturally. Rationality is highly effective at the margins, but tends to cause issues if used without restraint. Don’t go overboard. If you do one thing at professional quality, it’s okay to be normal everywhere else.
In a related note, we all have meta-preferences that are different than our preferences; there are many things that we want to have done but don’t actually want to do. And often our preferences are wiser than our meta-preferences; spending your youth studying and self-improving is not always a better use of your time than getting drunk with attractive people. You don’t have to be superhuman, which is good since it isn’t an option. Have some compassion for yourself; it’s okay to be merely okay.
Note that this is the opposite of the advice that I would give to an underachieving slacker. Some people need to learn to act with intent, and some people need to learn to chill. You seem to be the second type.
Rationalism is like climbing stairs , its easier to say then to do , one look up to know the direction no to despair at one’s position ,one feel humble that everyone is on a stair some were/when . pride at being higher then other and advancing , and know when to take breaks so one doesn’t fall down.
climbing stairs is dangerous , so running up depend on one’s condition.
naivete is looking from a certain stair , its justified on its own or looking down on lower stairs , but not when thinking one is at the top.
I need to start off by saying that I strongly encourage those who can to achieve fluency with the techniques of rationality. They’re often very useful, and not knowing them is often crippling.
Having said that, if reason is the only tool in your toolkit you’re not likely to get far. Empathy, charisma, confidence, psychology, and physical attractiveness are often even more useful. You are surrounded by seven billion apes who are smart enough to invent nuclear weapons and stupid enough to use them; they are by far the most important part of your environment and Donald Trump is better at manipulating them than Eliezer Yudkowski.
Beyond that there are the insights of meta-rationality. If you think of rationality in terms of optimization, meta-rationality is the art of choosing what to optimize. If rationalism is like climbing stairs, meta-rationality is deciding which staircases are worth climbing (there’s a lot more to it than that.).
What I’m trying to say is- don’t be so proud of your rationalism. It’s only a part of what you need.