idlewire comments on Think Before You Speak (And Signal It) - Less Wrong

23 Post author: Wei_Dai 19 March 2010 10:21PM

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Comment author: taw 20 March 2010 01:39:28AM 5 points [-]

Time spent thinking about something correlates far too much with how much a person likes an idea. People who believe strongly in the Holy Trinity have spent far more time on average thinking about it than people who don't.

So, you will end up very strongly biased if you follow own advice (but then I haven't thought about it much at all).

Comment author: idlewire 24 March 2010 04:25:50PM *  0 points [-]

This kind of brings up the quality of thought that is spent on a subject. Someone with a strong ability to be self-criticizing can more effectively find flaws and come to better conclusions quicker. Those who contemplate on ideas with wrong, but unshakeable (or invisible rather) assumptions, will stew in poor circles until death. The idea of a comforting or powerful diety, unfortunately, sticks so hard when indoctrinated early and consistently.