so if you think about how you do it you’ll have a good idea
The problem is, if I go solely by internal perceptions/feelings I can’t reliably distinguish the cases where I’m a beacon of light and reason and where I’m an arrogant self-deluding idiot. What I need is real-life testing.
So yes, I agree with the “effectiveness” point, but at least in my case I have doubts about elegance and “clicks”. To figure out whether something “clicks” is easy for me, so that’s an early threshold an idea/theory/explanation has to pass. And “checking against other people” is not terribly useful because if I’m right then they are doing it wrong so the check will only confirm that we see things differently.
All of this is true. Though in many cases when people “are doing it wrong” you find not that they have opinions opposed to you, you find that they don’t have any consistent opinion at all. Which makes it OK to stick with your version until you find something better.
I’d mention that in many cases the best thing to do might be to lay off the topic for some time, work on other problems, improve your overall thinking, check facts known from respectable science, wait for your feelings of attachment to die, and revisit the original topic with a fresh perspective much later.
This can be repeated many times, and I guess it’s actually the core of my description of caring about “pastures”. This is a kind of a meta-technique that seems to be central to not becoming “stuck” in stupidity.
you find that they don’t have any consistent opinion at all.
Well, they might not be expressing any consistent opinion, but if they are doing the same thing over and over, then there is a clear implied position (similar to revealed preferences).
the best thing to do might be to lay off the topic for some time
Might be—unless you need to make a decision in the near future. If the topic is something you can ponder for a long time without needing to come to any conclusions, well, the question that comes to my mind is “Are you sure it’s important?” :-/ (yes, I know that’s not applicable to science)
The problem is, if I go solely by internal perceptions/feelings I can’t reliably distinguish the cases where I’m a beacon of light and reason and where I’m an arrogant self-deluding idiot. What I need is real-life testing.
So yes, I agree with the “effectiveness” point, but at least in my case I have doubts about elegance and “clicks”. To figure out whether something “clicks” is easy for me, so that’s an early threshold an idea/theory/explanation has to pass. And “checking against other people” is not terribly useful because if I’m right then they are doing it wrong so the check will only confirm that we see things differently.
All of this is true. Though in many cases when people “are doing it wrong” you find not that they have opinions opposed to you, you find that they don’t have any consistent opinion at all. Which makes it OK to stick with your version until you find something better.
I’d mention that in many cases the best thing to do might be to lay off the topic for some time, work on other problems, improve your overall thinking, check facts known from respectable science, wait for your feelings of attachment to die, and revisit the original topic with a fresh perspective much later.
This can be repeated many times, and I guess it’s actually the core of my description of caring about “pastures”. This is a kind of a meta-technique that seems to be central to not becoming “stuck” in stupidity.
Well, they might not be expressing any consistent opinion, but if they are doing the same thing over and over, then there is a clear implied position (similar to revealed preferences).
Might be—unless you need to make a decision in the near future. If the topic is something you can ponder for a long time without needing to come to any conclusions, well, the question that comes to my mind is “Are you sure it’s important?” :-/ (yes, I know that’s not applicable to science)