Thanks! I do also rely to some extent on reasoning… for example, Chapter 3 is my argument for why we should expect to be better off with (on the margin) more scout mindset and less soldier mindset, compared to our default settings. I point out some basic facts about human psychology (e.g., the fact that we over-weight immediate consequences relative to delayed consequences) and explain why it seems to me those facts imply that we would have a tendency to use scout mindset less often than we should, even just for our own self interest.
The nice thing about argumentation (as compared to citing studies) is that it’s pretty transparent—the reader can evaluate my logic for themselves and decide if they buy it.
That’s good to hear! I haven’t yet gotten super far into the book, so can’t judge for myself yet, and my guess about doing more first-principles reasoning was mostly based on priors.
Thanks! I do also rely to some extent on reasoning… for example, Chapter 3 is my argument for why we should expect to be better off with (on the margin) more scout mindset and less soldier mindset, compared to our default settings. I point out some basic facts about human psychology (e.g., the fact that we over-weight immediate consequences relative to delayed consequences) and explain why it seems to me those facts imply that we would have a tendency to use scout mindset less often than we should, even just for our own self interest.
The nice thing about argumentation (as compared to citing studies) is that it’s pretty transparent—the reader can evaluate my logic for themselves and decide if they buy it.
That’s good to hear! I haven’t yet gotten super far into the book, so can’t judge for myself yet, and my guess about doing more first-principles reasoning was mostly based on priors.