The purpose for writing and thinking about things isn’t only to talk with people about. I keep such a list (encrypted and not online) for my own internal exploration of truth and prediction.
Anonymous surveys like this (if I actually thought it were truly anonymous) could be useful if they show that the Overton window is closer than I thought to my private thoughts. And could be incredibly useful if it give me ideas (even if held privately) that let me model the world better.
I wonder if I am (or you are, or both of us) falling prey to the typical mind fallacy. I get a lot of value in structuring my ideas for writing, even if not shared. I get a fair bit of value as a reminder as well, for later consideration. I guess that could be “transmission and dialogue” with my future self, but that doesn’t feel like a simple model.
For me, I also get value from anonymous lists like this, even if I can’t estimate the frequency or weight of such beliefs in others—it can spark ideas or help me analytically update aspects of my models to even consider things that I hadn’t before.
Suppose I come up with an idea about how to solve a math problem. I decide to (try to) write a proof, with no intention of sharing the proof with anyone. Later on, I’m better at working with stuff in that domain of math, which is useful for communicating with others about the subject—whether it’s being better at asking questions, or better at answering them.
At a more meta level, I might create a list of ‘math beliefs’ I have. Over time, thinking it over, doing research, learning more, trying to write proofs, succeeding and failing, sometimes finding a statement is true, or that a special case is true, or the whole is wrong, etc. - my beliefs change upon reflection/computation/research/feedback.
The purpose for writing and thinking about things isn’t only to talk with people about. I keep such a list (encrypted and not online) for my own internal exploration of truth and prediction.
Anonymous surveys like this (if I actually thought it were truly anonymous) could be useful if they show that the Overton window is closer than I thought to my private thoughts. And could be incredibly useful if it give me ideas (even if held privately) that let me model the world better.
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I wonder if I am (or you are, or both of us) falling prey to the typical mind fallacy. I get a lot of value in structuring my ideas for writing, even if not shared. I get a fair bit of value as a reminder as well, for later consideration. I guess that could be “transmission and dialogue” with my future self, but that doesn’t feel like a simple model.
For me, I also get value from anonymous lists like this, even if I can’t estimate the frequency or weight of such beliefs in others—it can spark ideas or help me analytically update aspects of my models to even consider things that I hadn’t before.
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Why I might mkae a list of my beliefs:
To revise them.
Hypothetical situation:
Suppose I come up with an idea about how to solve a math problem. I decide to (try to) write a proof, with no intention of sharing the proof with anyone. Later on, I’m better at working with stuff in that domain of math, which is useful for communicating with others about the subject—whether it’s being better at asking questions, or better at answering them.
At a more meta level, I might create a list of ‘math beliefs’ I have. Over time, thinking it over, doing research, learning more, trying to write proofs, succeeding and failing, sometimes finding a statement is true, or that a special case is true, or the whole is wrong, etc. - my beliefs change upon reflection/computation/research/feedback.
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