Along this same line I try and always keep my beliefs and actions under the banner of a more general ideal or goal. For instance, if I wanted to help decrease existential risk and decided that the best way was to move to San Francisco to be closer to SIAI, then instead of simply caching the goal ‘Move to SF’ in my mind, I would try and cache ‘Reduce existential risk by moving to SF’.
This takes extra memory, but it serves to remind you to question the validity of your subgoals in the context of your supergoals. I also feel more motivated to work on a project/goal when I can quickly trace the justification for working to my supergoals.
Along this same line I try and always keep my beliefs and actions under the banner of a more general ideal or goal. For instance, if I wanted to help decrease existential risk and decided that the best way was to move to San Francisco to be closer to SIAI, then instead of simply caching the goal ‘Move to SF’ in my mind, I would try and cache ‘Reduce existential risk by moving to SF’.
This takes extra memory, but it serves to remind you to question the validity of your subgoals in the context of your supergoals. I also feel more motivated to work on a project/goal when I can quickly trace the justification for working to my supergoals.
(Great post btw!)