I don’t think that this is good advice. I know a local rationalist who thought a lot about the importance of focusing only on what matters which resulted in him finding less joy in mundane activities and becoming depressed.
I think it’s a general failure case that’s problematic for many rationalists.
I don’t think the main takeaway was to focus only on what matters, I understood it as advice to spend more time thinking about what is worth different levels of focus and why.
That advice is about not trusting System I to direct where the focus should go and instead let System II decide. That can get people to ignore insights that System I has.
I don’t think that this is good advice. I know a local rationalist who thought a lot about the importance of focusing only on what matters which resulted in him finding less joy in mundane activities and becoming depressed.
I think it’s a general failure case that’s problematic for many rationalists.
I don’t think the main takeaway was to focus only on what matters, I understood it as advice to spend more time thinking about what is worth different levels of focus and why.
That advice is about not trusting System I to direct where the focus should go and instead let System II decide. That can get people to ignore insights that System I has.