These heuristics are relatively obvious to our verbal/analytic reasoning faculties when we bother to think about them, but, absent training, are mostly not part of our automatic reward-gradients and motives.
I think d) for example (gather information) is pretty ‘automatic’ for many (if not most) people. It is the natural first step for many people. It is often difficult to find accurate information and detect and ignore misinformation so simply taking this step is not sufficient on its own however and I think it is in the execution that most people fail.
If you find that e.g. (a) and (c) come fairly naturally to you, ask yourself why, and see if you can spell out the mechanics in ways that may work for more of us.
Both a) and c) have come naturally to me for as long as I can remember. I’m afraid I can’t offer any more detail through introspection. It still strikes me as odd when people don’t do these automatically even though I’ve learned over time that many people do not.
For some of the other heuristics, e) for example, I’ve had to consciously work to develop them as habits of thought (still imperfectly in this case). My general approach has been to consciously think through what other heuristics I could apply periodically (usually prompted by getting stuck / not making progress on some goal) and then apply any heuristics that I realize I have neglected. Over time some things can move from this ‘meta’ level of analysis to become more automatic habits.
I think d) for example (gather information) is pretty ‘automatic’ for many (if not most) people. It is the natural first step for many people. It is often difficult to find accurate information and detect and ignore misinformation so simply taking this step is not sufficient on its own however and I think it is in the execution that most people fail.
I disagree for everything people have enough information of to have performed a prior opinion. Gathering information is predicated on the idea that you do not have enough information. Most people believe they already know what they need to know, and all that is left are the details.
The perfect example is the one in the article: I want to become a comedian, so I will watch Garfield. Where is the intermediate step of finding out whether or not watching a funny show is a good way to learn how to be funny? You need more information to even begin to answer that, yet he skips this step. Why? It is almost certainly because he has already decided that the way to learn to be funny is to study funny things, and he thinks Garfield is funny, so he is going to study.
Now, it is entirely possible he could learn to be funny just by watching Garfield and asking the right questions, but given his track record I seriously doubt it. It’s also re-inventing the wheel, because other people have figured out the secret of funny before him (else there would be no one funny to study) and the information is available for those who seek it.
If a person is aware he lacks information, then yes I would agree that gathering information is automatic. However, most people in most situations where this comes up are not aware that they lack information. They believe they know exactly how to do what it is they want to do, even though they are almost certainly wrong, and even though they are wrong on these matters all the time (the many failures to achieve their goals). Therefore, there is no need to seek new information, so seeking information is not automatic.
Another way of putting it is that you can’t seek the right information if you aren’t looking for it.
I would agree that, when people are aware that they lack information, they generally try to inform themselves.
You can edit your comment to fix the quote formatting. We use Reddit Markdown syntax—you can see the most-used options by clicking “Help” below the comment box while you are writing/editing a comment (to the right of the “comment” and “cancel” buttons). To quote something, just start the paragraph with > .
I think d) for example (gather information) is pretty ‘automatic’ for many (if not most) people. It is the natural first step for many people. It is often difficult to find accurate information and detect and ignore misinformation so simply taking this step is not sufficient on its own however and I think it is in the execution that most people fail.
Both a) and c) have come naturally to me for as long as I can remember. I’m afraid I can’t offer any more detail through introspection. It still strikes me as odd when people don’t do these automatically even though I’ve learned over time that many people do not.
For some of the other heuristics, e) for example, I’ve had to consciously work to develop them as habits of thought (still imperfectly in this case). My general approach has been to consciously think through what other heuristics I could apply periodically (usually prompted by getting stuck / not making progress on some goal) and then apply any heuristics that I realize I have neglected. Over time some things can move from this ‘meta’ level of analysis to become more automatic habits.
I disagree for everything people have enough information of to have performed a prior opinion. Gathering information is predicated on the idea that you do not have enough information. Most people believe they already know what they need to know, and all that is left are the details.
The perfect example is the one in the article: I want to become a comedian, so I will watch Garfield. Where is the intermediate step of finding out whether or not watching a funny show is a good way to learn how to be funny? You need more information to even begin to answer that, yet he skips this step. Why? It is almost certainly because he has already decided that the way to learn to be funny is to study funny things, and he thinks Garfield is funny, so he is going to study.
Now, it is entirely possible he could learn to be funny just by watching Garfield and asking the right questions, but given his track record I seriously doubt it. It’s also re-inventing the wheel, because other people have figured out the secret of funny before him (else there would be no one funny to study) and the information is available for those who seek it.
If a person is aware he lacks information, then yes I would agree that gathering information is automatic. However, most people in most situations where this comes up are not aware that they lack information. They believe they know exactly how to do what it is they want to do, even though they are almost certainly wrong, and even though they are wrong on these matters all the time (the many failures to achieve their goals). Therefore, there is no need to seek new information, so seeking information is not automatic.
Another way of putting it is that you can’t seek the right information if you aren’t looking for it.
I would agree that, when people are aware that they lack information, they generally try to inform themselves.
You can edit your comment to fix the quote formatting. We use Reddit Markdown syntax—you can see the most-used options by clicking “Help” below the comment box while you are writing/editing a comment (to the right of the “comment” and “cancel” buttons). To quote something, just start the paragraph with > .
Thanks :)
Ah… silly me, I meant to look up exactly how to do quotes before I posted, and I forgot. My mistake.