Part of my uncanny valley was failing to realize that being able to identify a pattern was not sufficient to being able to step outside of it. I got to the point where I developed enough awareness to _notice_ that I was currently trapped inside a bad pattern, but I didn’t have the tools to be able to step outside the pattern.
Examples:
Not being able to go from “I notice my current patterns of work are unsustainable” to making them more sustainable.
Knowing I’m overconfident, but not making myself less confident.
Knowing about the planning fallacy, but pleading my own exceptionalism by placing myself in a tiny reference class.
Knowing that doing things like journaling, exercise, eating better, drinking more water, sleeping more, etc. are good for me, but not being able to actually do them.
As I’ve made progress on many of these things, my sense is that trying to solve your problems _until they are actually solved_ is the cornerstone of applied rationality. Techniques let you think about the problems differently and offer new angles of attack, but there is no substitute for _actually practicing_. I think getting people to actually do the thing is a relatively unsolved problem (for rationality, but also for all of society, so not a _particular_ failing on our part).
I got to the point where I developed enough awareness to _notice_ that I was currently trapped inside a bad pattern, but I didn’t have the tools to be able to step outside the pattern.
I’ve been aware for a while now that having enough awareness to notice being trapped is not enough to step outside the pattern, but I can’t step outside this pattern. I also believe that admitting that there is no substitute for practice isn’t going to be causally linked to me actually practicing (due to a special case of the same trap), so I’ll just go on staying trapped for now I guess.
Part of my uncanny valley was failing to realize that being able to identify a pattern was not sufficient to being able to step outside of it. I got to the point where I developed enough awareness to _notice_ that I was currently trapped inside a bad pattern, but I didn’t have the tools to be able to step outside the pattern.
Examples:
Not being able to go from “I notice my current patterns of work are unsustainable” to making them more sustainable.
Knowing I’m overconfident, but not making myself less confident.
Knowing about the planning fallacy, but pleading my own exceptionalism by placing myself in a tiny reference class.
Knowing that doing things like journaling, exercise, eating better, drinking more water, sleeping more, etc. are good for me, but not being able to actually do them.
As I’ve made progress on many of these things, my sense is that trying to solve your problems _until they are actually solved_ is the cornerstone of applied rationality. Techniques let you think about the problems differently and offer new angles of attack, but there is no substitute for _actually practicing_. I think getting people to actually do the thing is a relatively unsolved problem (for rationality, but also for all of society, so not a _particular_ failing on our part).
Oof, I have also ran into this.
I’ve been aware for a while now that having enough awareness to notice being trapped is not enough to step outside the pattern, but I can’t step outside this pattern. I also believe that admitting that there is no substitute for practice isn’t going to be causally linked to me actually practicing (due to a special case of the same trap), so I’ll just go on staying trapped for now I guess.