This sounds an awful lot like one of the examples I gave above. Ok, so you’re focused on “risk reduction” and “reducing akrasia.” So what’s that mean? You’ve decided to buckle-up, wear sunscreen, and not be so lazy? Can’t I get that from Reader’s Digest or my mom?
Telling people to buckle up is nothing special. Successfully persuading people to buckle up—helping people understand and fix the internal sources of error that stood in the way of doing so in the past—will save a life if you can do it enough.
Ob has changed people’s practical lives in some major ways. Not all of these are mine personally:
“I donated more money to anti aging, risk reduction, etc”
“I signed up for cryonics.”
“I wear a seatbelt in a taxi even when no one else does.”
“I stopped going to church but started hanging out socially with aspiring rationalists.”
“I decided rationality works and started writing down my goals and pathways to them.”
“I decided it’s important for me to think carefully about what my ultimate values are.”
Yes! Or even further, “I am now focusing my life on risk reduction and have significantly reduced akrasia in all facets of my life.”
This sounds an awful lot like one of the examples I gave above. Ok, so you’re focused on “risk reduction” and “reducing akrasia.” So what’s that mean? You’ve decided to buckle-up, wear sunscreen, and not be so lazy? Can’t I get that from Reader’s Digest or my mom?
Telling people to buckle up is nothing special. Successfully persuading people to buckle up—helping people understand and fix the internal sources of error that stood in the way of doing so in the past—will save a life if you can do it enough.