The next time you are making a complicated argument, if you can, try and watch yourself recalling bits and pieces at a time. To me, it feels viscerally like I have the whole argument in mind, but when I look closely, it’s obviously not the case. I’m just boldly going on and putting faith in my memory system to provide the next pieces when I need them. And usually it works out.
Yes! And, I would offer an additional, alternative way of phrasing this: “you” actually do have the whole argument in mind, but it’s a higher-level “you”, a slower but more inclusive one, corresponding to a higher level of memory caching.
(When it doesn’t, there’s this whole failure mode where people continue viscerally feeling like they can make the argument, even though they don’t have the pieces; and I think this is where a lot of bad reasoning comes from.)
The problem here ^ then becomes becomes a problem of maintaining appropriate relationships among the different self-layers.
Yes! And, I would offer an additional, alternative way of phrasing this: “you” actually do have the whole argument in mind, but it’s a higher-level “you”, a slower but more inclusive one, corresponding to a higher level of memory caching.
The problem here ^ then becomes becomes a problem of maintaining appropriate relationships among the different self-layers.