RobinZ comments on The First Step is to Admit That You Have a Problem - Less Wrong

53 Post author: Alicorn 06 October 2009 08:59PM

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Comment author: Psychohistorian 07 October 2009 12:55:22AM *  4 points [-]

This is an interesting idea, though I'm not sure if it's terribly useful.. Here's a summary that may make more sense for some readers. The examples are entertaining, but they may obfuscate the central point a little.

-A "task" is where you have some goal, D, and some series of operations, A, B, and C that will result in the attainment of this goal. All you have to do is actually carry out those operations and you should attain your goal.

-A "problem" is where you have goal D, but you do not know any series of operations that you could potentially perform to attain that goal. You need some additional information so that you can understand what procedures will yield D as a result. Once you have this information, you no longer have a problem; you have a task, and you merely need to perform the series of operations and you'll have D.

I think this gets the central point across effectively.

Comment author: RobinZ 07 October 2009 07:59:33PM 0 points [-]

Additional information or additional resources, if I read the article correctly.

Comment author: Psychohistorian 07 October 2009 09:35:32PM 0 points [-]

Yes, that got left out - see my other top-level comment. I think a lack of resources is best thought of as a lack of the knowledge of how to attain such resources, which I explain in detail in another comment.