Emile comments on Never Leave Your Room - Less Wrong

66 Post author: Yvain 18 March 2009 12:30AM

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Comment author: ciphergoth 18 March 2009 01:19:17PM 3 points [-]

There even seems to be a tacit awareness that it's not actually magic, though I don't think the awareness ever becomes explicit.

AFAICT most chaos magicians believe in the supernatural, but at least some have been thoroughgoing materialists who believe only in the psychological power of suspension of disbelief.

Comment author: Yvain 18 March 2009 02:31:05PM *  5 points [-]

The few times I experimented with similar techniques (usually expressed as self-help rather than magic), I found it impossible to suspend disbelief, and ended up laughing at myself and giving up. I wonder if other rationalists would have the same experience, and if this would be different between self-selected rationalists and random people put through a course in a rationality dojo. I'd also like to see to whether this is mediated by the hypnotizability trait.

So many studies to do, so little status as a real psychologist who can do studies and stuff. I do want to run a survey of Less Wrong members and gather some demographic/other interesting data once I get working survey software, though.

Comment author: Emile 18 March 2009 02:44:41PM 3 points [-]

Dude! using surveys to collect scientific data! that would be totally awesome!

Post a poll asking people to do stuff, and then come back and use their results as the poll result. Like, "squirt water in your ear, and tell us of the result", "Ask a set of questisons to strangers in the street, 10 times dressed as in a suit, 10 times dressed as a clown, 10 times dressed as a scruffy activist".