I appreciate collections of rationality techniques, and I admire the spirit with which this was made. However, after Duncan raised the possibility of uncanny-valley problems, I cross-checked this with what I remember as a CFAR alum and a few issues jumped out at me.
Hamming circles: This needs a warning. If you organize a group into Hamming Circles and they don’t know what they’re doing, aren’t in the right mindspace, or don’t have enough shared context and trust, it can backfire pretty severely. People’s Hamming problems are often things that are aversive to think about, and attempting to discuss them but having it go poorly can make the problem worse.
Comfort zone expansion: This is not what CFAR means by the phrase at all. The first link describes a mindful walkthrough, which is something one might do prior to comfort zone expansion. The second link is by someone not associated with CFAR, and it says some things that diametrically oppose things I recall CFAR instructors saying and which I think are objectionable.
Focused Grit: This description is the first step of a 3-step process. Step two is, if after having tried for five minutes you haven’t solved the problem, then set another 5-minute timer and spend it brainstorming 5-minute exercises for solving the problem. Then step 3 is doing some of those exercises.
I appreciate collections of rationality techniques, and I admire the spirit with which this was made. However, after Duncan raised the possibility of uncanny-valley problems, I cross-checked this with what I remember as a CFAR alum and a few issues jumped out at me.
Hamming circles: This needs a warning. If you organize a group into Hamming Circles and they don’t know what they’re doing, aren’t in the right mindspace, or don’t have enough shared context and trust, it can backfire pretty severely. People’s Hamming problems are often things that are aversive to think about, and attempting to discuss them but having it go poorly can make the problem worse.
Comfort zone expansion: This is not what CFAR means by the phrase at all. The first link describes a mindful walkthrough, which is something one might do prior to comfort zone expansion. The second link is by someone not associated with CFAR, and it says some things that diametrically oppose things I recall CFAR instructors saying and which I think are objectionable.
Focused Grit: This description is the first step of a 3-step process. Step two is, if after having tried for five minutes you haven’t solved the problem, then set another 5-minute timer and spend it brainstorming 5-minute exercises for solving the problem. Then step 3 is doing some of those exercises.
Thanks. I appreciate your input. I have updated the post and I think that should have fixed the issues you have described.