Introspection considered questionable, reflection considered absolutely mandatory.

Sometimes you can elicit the difference by first asking yourself why you believe/do something, then asking yourself how you came to believe/do something. "Why didn't I upvote this article? Well because it doesn't have qualities X, Y, Z and J. Oh, how did I come to not upvote this article? Well I never really actually considered that course of action, so it's not like I ever had the option to, now that I think about it." Notice the difference between moral justification/reasons and explanatory justification/reasons. Everything has reasons, but many reasons pretend to be the "true" reasons when they're not. When you downvote a LW comment or post ask what caused you to downvote it and try to answer honestly, rather than introspecting on why you downvoted it. They can be the same question but it's surprising how often they're not. Likewise for all negative social judgments: ask the self-reflective question, How did I come to be so contemptuous of this person/idea/group?, not the other-focused Why is this person/idea/group so contemptible? It's really important that you frame such questions the right way if you want your reflection to not accidentally spit out pleasant-sounding "introspection". Doing this regularly makes rationalization or cloaked signalling look obvious, both from yourself and others, and serves as a basis for still further reflection.