Well, if you want the complicated answer: four or five years ago, about when I started lurking here, I came with a good mindset, and intent on learning skills rather than rules, for precisely the reason you mention. That was right before I entered university, and I think I screwed up that bit. Got depressed, and have remained too out of it to actually use rationality to improve my life much since then. But that’s changing, and the first step is to pick up my rationality practice where I left it four years ago, when I started focusing only on reading blog posts to forget them soon afterward.
In other words: yeah, I know that ‘valley of bad rationality’ thing. Just digging myself out of one as we speak, actually.
And, apart from that, thanks for the great advice. Will heed it :-)
Well, if you want the complicated answer: four or five years ago, about when I started lurking here, I came with a good mindset, and intent on learning skills rather than rules, for precisely the reason you mention. That was right before I entered university, and I think I screwed up that bit. Got depressed, and have remained too out of it to actually use rationality to improve my life much since then. But that’s changing, and the first step is to pick up my rationality practice where I left it four years ago, when I started focusing only on reading blog posts to forget them soon afterward.
In other words: yeah, I know that ‘valley of bad rationality’ thing. Just digging myself out of one as we speak, actually.
And, apart from that, thanks for the great advice. Will heed it :-)
Gotcha. I’m sorry to hear about the setback, but I’m glad that things have been getting better recently.
So there aren’t any meetups near you?