Simpleton—your comment struck me as right on target except I would give this a positive value rather than a negative one. A lot of self help takes the form of akrasia-fighting; the question of course is whether it works. Amateur behavioral psychology would be one of the tools for separating effective from ineffective akrasia-fighting, yes?
The word amateur could perhaps use some re-valuing, especially in this context. The amateur, the non-professional, the person who wants to solve this problem for the personal benefit of enhancing his or her own decision making power, rather than for advancing within an established discipline or business: isn’t this very category already subtly implied by the idea of rationality as a martial art?
Up with behavioral psychology + up with amateurs = up with amateur behavioral psychology.
“Amateur” shouldn’t have the negative connotation it has. Using science to improve your life and increase your ability to achieve your goals is in no way a bad thing even if you aren’t an expert in that field of science (pretending to be an expert is another thing entirely).
Do engineers rely on amateur physics to do their jobs?
If we aren’t relying on amateur behavioral psychology in our personal lives aren’t we relying on folk psychology instead?
Simpleton—your comment struck me as right on target except I would give this a positive value rather than a negative one. A lot of self help takes the form of akrasia-fighting; the question of course is whether it works. Amateur behavioral psychology would be one of the tools for separating effective from ineffective akrasia-fighting, yes?
The word amateur could perhaps use some re-valuing, especially in this context. The amateur, the non-professional, the person who wants to solve this problem for the personal benefit of enhancing his or her own decision making power, rather than for advancing within an established discipline or business: isn’t this very category already subtly implied by the idea of rationality as a martial art?
Up with behavioral psychology + up with amateurs = up with amateur behavioral psychology.
“Amateur” shouldn’t have the negative connotation it has. Using science to improve your life and increase your ability to achieve your goals is in no way a bad thing even if you aren’t an expert in that field of science (pretending to be an expert is another thing entirely).
Do engineers rely on amateur physics to do their jobs?
If we aren’t relying on amateur behavioral psychology in our personal lives aren’t we relying on folk psychology instead?