Ok, thanks. This is very interesting, and correct in theory (I guess). And I would be very glad to apply it. But before doing my first steps in it on my own by the trial-&-error method, I would like to know some best practices in doing so, if they are available at all. I strongly doubt this is a common practice in a common population and I slightly doubt that it is the common practice also for a “common” attendee of this forum, but I would still like to make this my (usual) habit.
And the greatest issue I see in this is how to talk to common people around me about common uncertain things that are probabilistic if they actually think of the common things as they would be certain. Should I try to gradually and unnoticeably change their paradigm? Or should I use double language: probabilistic inside, but confidential outside?
(I am aware that these questions might be difficult, and I don’t necessarily expect direct answers.)
I’m not sure what to say besides “Bayesian thinking” here. This doesn’t necessarily mean plugging in numbers (although that can help), but develop habits like not neglecting priors or base rates, considering how consistent the supposed evidence is with the converse of the hypotheses and so forth. I think normal, non-rationalist people reason in a Bayesian way at least some of the time. People mostly don’t object to good epistemology, they just use a lot of bad epistemology too. Normal people understand words like “likely” or “uncertain”. These are not alien concepts, just underutilized.
Ok, thanks. This is very interesting, and correct in theory (I guess). And I would be very glad to apply it. But before doing my first steps in it on my own by the trial-&-error method, I would like to know some best practices in doing so, if they are available at all. I strongly doubt this is a common practice in a common population and I slightly doubt that it is the common practice also for a “common” attendee of this forum, but I would still like to make this my (usual) habit.
And the greatest issue I see in this is how to talk to common people around me about common uncertain things that are probabilistic if they actually think of the common things as they would be certain. Should I try to gradually and unnoticeably change their paradigm? Or should I use double language: probabilistic inside, but confidential outside?
(I am aware that these questions might be difficult, and I don’t necessarily expect direct answers.)
I’m not sure what to say besides “Bayesian thinking” here. This doesn’t necessarily mean plugging in numbers (although that can help), but develop habits like not neglecting priors or base rates, considering how consistent the supposed evidence is with the converse of the hypotheses and so forth. I think normal, non-rationalist people reason in a Bayesian way at least some of the time. People mostly don’t object to good epistemology, they just use a lot of bad epistemology too. Normal people understand words like “likely” or “uncertain”. These are not alien concepts, just underutilized.