RomeoStevens comments on Checklist of Rationality Habits - Less Wrong

117 Post author: AnnaSalamon 07 November 2012 09:19PM

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Comment author: Kaj_Sotala 07 November 2012 01:26:39PM 28 points [-]

Very nice list! I feel like this one in particular is one of the most important ones:

I try not to treat myself as if I have magic free will; I try to set up influences (habits, situations, etc.) on the way I behave, not just rely on my will to make it so. (Example from Alicorn: I avoid learning politicians’ positions on gun control, because I have strong emotional reactions to the subject which I don’t endorse.) (Recent example from Anna: I bribed Carl to get me to write in my journal every night.)

To give my own example: I try to be vegetarian, but occasionally the temptation of meat gets the better of me. At some point I realized that whenever I walked past a certain hamburger place - which was something that I typically did on each working day - there was a high risk of me succumbing. Obvious solution: modify my daily routine to take a slightly longer route which avoided any hamburger places. Modifying your environment so that you can completely avoid the need to use willpower is ridiculously useful.

Comment author: RomeoStevens 07 November 2012 10:58:58PM *  7 points [-]

For me this was the biggest insight that dramatically improved my ability to form habits. I don't actually decide things most of the time. Agency is something that only occurs intermittently. Therefore I use my agency on changing what sorts of things I am surrounded by rather than on the tasks themselves. This works because the default state is to simply be the average of what I am surrounded by.

Cliche example: not having junk food in the house improves my diet by making it take additional work to go out and get it.