I’m Leisha. I originally came across this site quite a while ago when I read the Explain/Worship/Ignore analogy here. I was looking for insight into my own cognitive processes; to skip the unimportant details, I ended up reading a whole lot about the concept of infinity once I realized that contemplating the idea gave me the same feeling of Worship that religion used to. It still does, to some extent, but at least I’m better-informed and can Explain the sheer scale of what I’m thinking of a little better.
I didn’t return here until yesterday, when I was researching the concept of rational thought (by way of cognitive processing, Ayn Rand, and Vulcans!) For background, I’m a Myers-Briggs F-type (INFJ) who has come to realize that while emotion has its value, it’s certainly not to be relied upon for making sound judgements. What I’m looking to do, essentially, is to repair the faulty processes within my own mind. I’ve spent a lot of time reaching invalid conclusions because the premises I have been working from were wrong; the original input I was given (before I was of an age to think critically) was incorrect. I’m tracing back the origin of a lot of the aliefs I have, only to find that they’re based on values I no longer hold to be important. My value-sets need tweaking.
Unlike with a computer, though, with a mind you can’t just delete what you need to and start over. Those detrimental thought-processes need to be overwritten with something that works better. That’s why I’m here, essentially, as a complement to my inner work. I’m here to read about a more rational way of thinking, to try out ideas, to compare and to analyze. I intend to work through the Sequences, a little at a time.
I expect to read much more than I comment. If I assess myself honestly and fairly, then I’m not an unintelligent person, but I am (particularly by comparison with the subset represented at this website!) uneducated, and so a great deal of the math and science will likely be beyond my comprehension at this point. However, I thought I’d post here to introduce myself anyway, and to say what a valuable resource this site looks to be. I look forward to reading more.
Other trivia: I’m female, which I know puts me in the minority here. I enjoy science fiction and am working on some original pieces of my own. I’m interested in psychology, anthropology and the “weirder” parts of physics. I like to think about the very large and very small ends of the scale, and contemplate the big questions about who we are, how we got here and where we’re going. I’m a libertarian and a feminist, and I drink tea.
Hmm… Explain/worship/ignore is one of the first articles I remember reading too.
I wish you the warmest welcome.
Make sure to at least read the Core Sequences (Map and Territory, Mysterious Answers to Mysterious Questions, Reductionism), as there is a tendency in discussion on this site to be rash against debaters who have not familiarized themselves with the basics.
Thank you for the kind welcome and for the advice. I don’t intend to jump into discussion without having done the relevant reading (and acquired at least a small understanding of community norms) so hopefully I’ll avoid too many mistakes. I’m working through Mysterious Answers to Mysterious Questions now, and what strikes me is how much of it I knew, in a sense, already, but never could have put forward in such a coherent and cohesive way.
So far, what I’ve read confirms my worldview. Being wary of confirmation bias and other such fun things, I’ll be curious to see how I react when I read an article here that challenges it, as I’m near-certain will happen in due course. (And even typing that makes me wonder what exactly I mean by I there in each case, but that’s off-topic for this thread)
Hi everyone,
I’m Leisha. I originally came across this site quite a while ago when I read the Explain/Worship/Ignore analogy here. I was looking for insight into my own cognitive processes; to skip the unimportant details, I ended up reading a whole lot about the concept of infinity once I realized that contemplating the idea gave me the same feeling of Worship that religion used to. It still does, to some extent, but at least I’m better-informed and can Explain the sheer scale of what I’m thinking of a little better.
I didn’t return here until yesterday, when I was researching the concept of rational thought (by way of cognitive processing, Ayn Rand, and Vulcans!) For background, I’m a Myers-Briggs F-type (INFJ) who has come to realize that while emotion has its value, it’s certainly not to be relied upon for making sound judgements. What I’m looking to do, essentially, is to repair the faulty processes within my own mind. I’ve spent a lot of time reaching invalid conclusions because the premises I have been working from were wrong; the original input I was given (before I was of an age to think critically) was incorrect. I’m tracing back the origin of a lot of the aliefs I have, only to find that they’re based on values I no longer hold to be important. My value-sets need tweaking.
Unlike with a computer, though, with a mind you can’t just delete what you need to and start over. Those detrimental thought-processes need to be overwritten with something that works better. That’s why I’m here, essentially, as a complement to my inner work. I’m here to read about a more rational way of thinking, to try out ideas, to compare and to analyze. I intend to work through the Sequences, a little at a time.
I expect to read much more than I comment. If I assess myself honestly and fairly, then I’m not an unintelligent person, but I am (particularly by comparison with the subset represented at this website!) uneducated, and so a great deal of the math and science will likely be beyond my comprehension at this point. However, I thought I’d post here to introduce myself anyway, and to say what a valuable resource this site looks to be. I look forward to reading more.
Other trivia: I’m female, which I know puts me in the minority here. I enjoy science fiction and am working on some original pieces of my own. I’m interested in psychology, anthropology and the “weirder” parts of physics. I like to think about the very large and very small ends of the scale, and contemplate the big questions about who we are, how we got here and where we’re going. I’m a libertarian and a feminist, and I drink tea.
Hmm… Explain/worship/ignore is one of the first articles I remember reading too.
I wish you the warmest welcome.
Make sure to at least read the Core Sequences (Map and Territory, Mysterious Answers to Mysterious Questions, Reductionism), as there is a tendency in discussion on this site to be rash against debaters who have not familiarized themselves with the basics.
It’s a good article!
Thank you for the kind welcome and for the advice. I don’t intend to jump into discussion without having done the relevant reading (and acquired at least a small understanding of community norms) so hopefully I’ll avoid too many mistakes. I’m working through Mysterious Answers to Mysterious Questions now, and what strikes me is how much of it I knew, in a sense, already, but never could have put forward in such a coherent and cohesive way.
So far, what I’ve read confirms my worldview. Being wary of confirmation bias and other such fun things, I’ll be curious to see how I react when I read an article here that challenges it, as I’m near-certain will happen in due course. (And even typing that makes me wonder what exactly I mean by I there in each case, but that’s off-topic for this thread)