Zvi 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: DanArmak 06 October 2009 09:42:16PM *  3 points [-]

Short summary:

  1. To achieve a goal, it's usually best to plan the entire sequence of actions in advance.
  2. Coming up with a really good plan is often much harder than carrying it out.
  3. We humans have a common failure mode where we don't stop to plan, or don't think out a plan before executing it, or even feel a problem is insoluble without having tried to come up with a plan.
  4. Therefore it's useful to plan explicitly, to recognize when we do and don't have a plan, and to have a good estimate of success for the plan and of each step in it.

As far as I understand, all the rest is examples. Did I miss anything?

Comment author: Zvi 07 October 2009 10:24:08PM 0 points [-]

While I would say that it is more common for people to plan too little than to plan too much, I think that point one here is worded so strongly I would disagree. Most plans don't even consist of entire sequences of actions, even for very small simple tasks such as writing this comment, during which I took multiple unplanned actions including noting that I took them, none of which would have been worth planning for.

Comment author: DanArmak 08 October 2009 11:09:34AM 0 points [-]

Plans have a level of granularity beyond which you don't plan in advance. As I said in another reply, stopping at the correct regularity is important and sometimes difficult.

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