Right. But it’s notable that almost no-one in the world is stuck in an actual infinite why-regress, in that there don’t seem to be many people sitting around asking themselves “why” until they die, or sitting with a partner asking “why” until one person dies. (I also don’t think this is what is happening for monks or other contemplative folks.) I guess in practice people escape by shifting attention elsewhere. But sometimes that is a helpful thing to do, such as when stuck in a rut, and sometimes it is an unhelpful thing to do, such as when already overwhelmed with information. Furthermore some people at very good at shifting their attention around in a way that leads to understanding. Chaitin strikes me as exactly such a person and discusses allocation of attention in that talk (thank you for the lovely link btw—really delightful read!). So what actually is our attentional mechanism and in what way can we trust it?
Right. But it’s notable that almost no-one in the world is stuck in an actual infinite why-regress, in that there don’t seem to be many people sitting around asking themselves “why” until they die, or sitting with a partner asking “why” until one person dies. (I also don’t think this is what is happening for monks or other contemplative folks.) I guess in practice people escape by shifting attention elsewhere. But sometimes that is a helpful thing to do, such as when stuck in a rut, and sometimes it is an unhelpful thing to do, such as when already overwhelmed with information. Furthermore some people at very good at shifting their attention around in a way that leads to understanding. Chaitin strikes me as exactly such a person and discusses allocation of attention in that talk (thank you for the lovely link btw—really delightful read!). So what actually is our attentional mechanism and in what way can we trust it?
Interested in any thoughts you may have.
Hope you are well.