I find it helpful for certain things to remind myself that I am a rationalist.
Keep your identity small. “Being a rationalist” is not a reason to draw any conclusion or make any decision. You just draw the conclusions that are right, because they are right, and make decisions that are good, because they are good, not because “you are a rationalist”.
If therefore “being a rationalist” isn’t playing any epistemic or decision making role, it should be abandoned as a meaningless label.
I’ll try to turn my “I am a rationalist, I can do X.” idiom into “I can do X”.
If it doesn’t work, it will be because saying “I am a rationalist” first primes all the rationality memes (decision theoretic courage, do what wins, etc).
Keep your identity small. “Being a rationalist” is not a reason to draw any conclusion or make any decision. You just draw the conclusions that are right, because they are right, and make decisions that are good, because they are good, not because “you are a rationalist”.
If therefore “being a rationalist” isn’t playing any epistemic or decision making role, it should be abandoned as a meaningless label.
Identity sucks; agree.
I’ll try to turn my “I am a rationalist, I can do X.” idiom into “I can do X”.
If it doesn’t work, it will be because saying “I am a rationalist” first primes all the rationality memes (decision theoretic courage, do what wins, etc).