Dorikka comments on How to Beat Procrastination - Less Wrong

156 Post author: lukeprog 05 February 2011 06:49PM

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Comment author: Vladimir_Nesov 05 February 2011 10:48:53PM *  8 points [-]

Edit: Apparently not actually pseudomath, only looks like it, due to undefined scale and meaning of parameters. Although still contains a simplification made for rhetorical reasons that makes the formula wrong (see footnote 6).

This leaves us with "the procrastination equation":

I don't believe such pseudomath is a good way of evoking the relevant intuitions, given the downside of being meaningless. Isn't it strictly better to just say is as follows?

These are the factors that influence motivation the most:

  • Expectancy and Value promote motivation.
  • Impulsiveness and Delay decrease motivation.
Comment author: Dorikka 06 February 2011 12:04:28AM *  2 points [-]

I'm not sure whether I agree with you or not. The four terms in the equation don't have nearly as much predictive power as one might hope to obtain from an equation: specifically, we don't really know what units any of the four quantities are measured in.

On the other hand, having an equation does give us marginally more data than your preferred presentation does. At least we know that the relationship looks more like (E)(V)/((I)(D)) as opposed to, say, (E+V)/(I+D), or some such. I do feel that having an equation present (with the appropriate mathematical disclaimers) helps me gain an intuitive understanding of the concept presented.

Edit: Fixed order of operations.

Comment author: lukeprog 06 February 2011 05:26:34AM *  1 point [-]

Dorikka,

See here.

Comment author: Dorikka 06 February 2011 06:12:48AM 1 point [-]

I now understand. Thanks.

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