“Times when I noticed I was confused”. In theory, noticing you’re confused sounds like an effective heuristic. But the explanation in the sequences only gave a retroactive example of when Eliezer should have applied it, and didn’t. I’d like to see more examples of when this has and hasn’t worked in practice, and useful habits to acquire that make you more likely to be able to notice.
Most of my examples here are trite individually, but significant collectively; that is, I remember the habit more easily than any particular examples. There have been situations where I had some niggling doubt, said “I’m confused, I ought to resolve this uncertainty,” and after research concluded that I was wrong and by acting early I saved myself some hardship. But while I’m certain there have been at least three of those, I have trouble remembering them or thinking that the ones I do remember are worth sharing.
Most of my examples here are trite individually, but significant collectively; that is, I remember the habit more easily than any particular examples. There have been situations where I had some niggling doubt, said “I’m confused, I ought to resolve this uncertainty,” and after research concluded that I was wrong and by acting early I saved myself some hardship. But while I’m certain there have been at least three of those, I have trouble remembering them or thinking that the ones I do remember are worth sharing.
That’s the kind of position I see frequently here—but from the outside it’s very unconvincing. So I’d very much like to see concrete examples.