JGWeissman comments on Those who aspire to perfection - Less Wrong

-15 Post author: Will_Newsome 23 July 2011 10:24PM

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Comment author: JGWeissman 23 July 2011 04:19:54PM 3 points [-]

How much effort has been put into teaching an aversion to lost purposes? What has been tried and what have the failures looked like?

Comment author: fiddlemath 23 July 2011 08:24:49PM 1 point [-]

Moreover, given what's being said here, teaching an aversion may be the wrong tack. I suspect it's more motivating to get strong, positive feedback when your efforts align with your goals. It's hard to state the positive condition clearly; it's far easier to point at instances of lost purposes and disapprove than to point at clear goal-oriented behavior and approve. It might be useful to learn, though.

We must thoroughly research this. :j

Comment author: Will_Newsome 23 July 2011 09:52:14PM 0 points [-]

Exactly, it's tricky. I don't know if anyone else will find this funny, but here's a conversation I had recently:

Me: "Alright, I think I've decided to make myself even more horribly afraid of the consequences of flinching away from examining lost purposes and not thinking things through from first principles."
Other: "Um um um um so I'm not sure that's a good idea..."
Me: "Why? See, it's possible that it will destroy my motivation system, but the best thinkers I know by far all seem to have this tendency. My only comparative advantage at this point is in thinking well. Therefore..."
Other: "You bastard."

Comment author: fiddlemath 24 July 2011 01:57:11AM 0 points [-]

I recognize this mental state! I don't know if that's hilarious or terrifying. :/

This actually got me thinking, though... I'm working on a top level comment now.

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