khafra comments on Have you changed your mind lately? On what? - Less Wrong

25 Post author: Emile 04 June 2012 07:54PM

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Comment author: khafra 06 June 2012 08:07:00PM 1 point [-]

Would the Litany of Tarski and a hug from nyan_sandwich help?

I'm interested in the ways you and Sarokrae actually noticed these "blips." I usually don't notice myself making decisions, when I make them; perhaps if I did spend some time predicting how a person in my circumstances would make bad decisions, I could notice them afterwards.

Comment author: Sarokrae 07 June 2012 06:16:27PM 3 points [-]

I'm not sure if describing what the blip feels like would help without going through the process of discovery, but I'll have a go anyway: it's noticing that you have a thought in your head without remembering the process you got through to reach it. When there's a new thought formed that's within easy mental grasp distance, especially when it's a judgement of a person or an emotion e.g. attraction, and the reason for it is not within an easy grasp distance, then that's a sign for me that it's an unconscious conclusion.

Basically if a new thought that feels "near" appears, but when I ask myself why, the answer feels "far", that's a sign that if I did retrieve the answer it would be a rationalisation rather than the actual explanation, and I attempt to abort the retrieval process (or at least proceed with many mental warning signs).