I really enjoy this. This can cut through a large number of annoying problems with one trick:
If you split and commit and the actions for all the likely paths are essentially the same, you can ignore which thing is true for now.
“What if I’m a Boltzmann Brain?”
If I am not, then I should proceed as normal.
If I am, then it does not matter.
--> Proceed as normal.
“What if my shirt is blue?”
if it is not, then I’ll wear it.
If it is, then I’ll wear it.
--> Wear the shirt
It might sound silly, but I think Split and Commit is an easy-sell technique which can free you from a lot of unnecessary investigations automatically. Sure, it’s also a good method for operating under uncertainty, but you get simplification for free.
Last note: I find this a good technique to explicitly invoke when someone close to me is anxious. We can build plans for the anxiety being true or not, but if it turns out to change nothing, we can ignore it.
Popping back in on this one after a while.
I really enjoy this. This can cut through a large number of annoying problems with one trick: If you split and commit and the actions for all the likely paths are essentially the same, you can ignore which thing is true for now.
“What if I’m a Boltzmann Brain?” If I am not, then I should proceed as normal. If I am, then it does not matter. --> Proceed as normal.
“What if my shirt is blue?” if it is not, then I’ll wear it. If it is, then I’ll wear it. --> Wear the shirt
It might sound silly, but I think Split and Commit is an easy-sell technique which can free you from a lot of unnecessary investigations automatically. Sure, it’s also a good method for operating under uncertainty, but you get simplification for free.
Last note: I find this a good technique to explicitly invoke when someone close to me is anxious. We can build plans for the anxiety being true or not, but if it turns out to change nothing, we can ignore it.