Overall I agree, however I have a nitpick about point 2.
People differ a lot in how much they defy societal defaults, and do so at all points of both intelligence and domain competence spectra. I would not bet that “trust your reasoning more than the default choice”, especially outside ones few competence domains, is good advice on average, not even for LessWrong readers. Maybe it is, maybe it is not.
E.g. I can easily intuit that the education system in my own country is far from optimal along any reasonable metric: its evolution is not driven by clear goals, nor by especially competent people, there are clear failings in attracting talented teachers etc. It does not mean that I know any single affordable action that I can take that would in expectation improve the system (or the education of someone I cared about whose default path is trough this system).
I believe taking the “normal” options for all choices that do not affect your top priorities and/or intersect with your particular comparative advantages is, in fact, a good policy.
Overall I agree, however I have a nitpick about point 2.
People differ a lot in how much they defy societal defaults, and do so at all points of both intelligence and domain competence spectra. I would not bet that “trust your reasoning more than the default choice”, especially outside ones few competence domains, is good advice on average, not even for LessWrong readers. Maybe it is, maybe it is not.
E.g. I can easily intuit that the education system in my own country is far from optimal along any reasonable metric: its evolution is not driven by clear goals, nor by especially competent people, there are clear failings in attracting talented teachers etc. It does not mean that I know any single affordable action that I can take that would in expectation improve the system (or the education of someone I cared about whose default path is trough this system).
I believe taking the “normal” options for all choices that do not affect your top priorities and/or intersect with your particular comparative advantages is, in fact, a good policy.