pjeby comments on Pain and gain motivation - Less Wrong

45 Post author: Kaj_Sotala 07 April 2010 06:48PM

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Comment author: Sideways 08 April 2010 05:17:58PM -1 points [-]

As a tentative rephrasing, something that's "emotionally implausible" is something that "I would never do" or that "could never happen to me." Like you, I can visualize myself falling with a high degree of accuracy; but I can't imagine throwing myself off the bridge in the first place. Suicide? I would never do that.

It occurs to me that "can't imagine" implies a binary division when ability to imagine is more of a continuum: the quality of imagination drops steadily between trying to imagine brushing my teeth (everyday), calling 911 (very rare, but I've done it before), punching through a wall (never done it, but maybe if I was mad enough), and jumping off a bridge (I would never do that).

For all four, I can imagine the physical events as bare facts; but for the first two I can easily place myself in the simulation, complete with cognitive and emotional states. That's much harder in the third case; in the fourth, I'm about as confident in my imagination as I am in trying to imagine a world where 1+1=3.

Comment author: pjeby 08 April 2010 05:51:32PM *  2 points [-]

As a tentative rephrasing, something that's "emotionally implausible" is something that "I would never do" or that "could never happen to me."

Allow me to rephrase more precisely for you. It's not plausibility that's at issue, it's whether you have a thought that causes you to stop visualizing.

If, as you mentioned in your previous comment, you imagine slapping your mother and "fail utterly", it's not because you can't imagine it, it's because your (early) evaluation of what you imagine causes you to stop before you can really put yourself in the situation.

Knowing that, you can ignore the reaction that tells you it's bad, and proceed. IOW, it's not that you can't imagine slapping your mother, it's that you prefer to stop before you actually experience what it would be like. In other words, it's not "can't", it's won't.