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lessdazed comments on Teaching Introspection - Less Wrong
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One illustrative example of cause and effect within an environment is the relationship between genotype and phenotype within an environment. To say an aspect of an animal is "just because" of an individual feature of its genotype or environment (or the absence of a feature), is either untrue or assumes for the counterfactual that an endless list of other features and absences is held constant.
"I did it partially because I was angry, were I not angry, I wouldn't have done it," doesn't have the same ring to it though, does it?
If ever it feels like something is just because of something else, that is the first sign that introspection has failed!
"I did it because I was angry" is still a more accurate explanation of cause and effect than "I did it because X is an idiot and deserved it" or "I did it because it's obvious that was what I should do, anyone could see that." You're right that "I did it partially because I was angry, were I not angry, I wouldn't have done it" is an even better illustration of cause and effect, but I was using the example to refer to more naive people who aren't very introspective, but who can't avoid doing it a bit.