buybuydandavis comments on Meta Addiction - Less Wrong

17 Post author: Voltairina 15 March 2012 04:58AM

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Comment author: buybuydandavis 15 March 2012 06:52:13PM 1 point [-]

Most definitely. That's sort of what I meant by conceptual OCD. We internally survey our ideas, they seem a mess, and we feel a compulsion to tidy them up. Once we're tidy internally, we feel ok, and take a nap.

We are good idea maximizers, once all the data is stuffed into our heads. But the application of the ideas to make a change outside ourselves is not something that motivates us. We're model builders, not model appliers.

As you suggest, that probably leaves our ideas half baked. We haven't caught the inconsistencies and inadequacies, because we've never tested the model against reality, or even against a clear powerpoint presentation outside our own heads.

We're internal inconsistency minimizers. Once the internals seem coherent, we feel fine and move on. We're powerful and useful machines, if used properly.