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TimS comments on Open Thread, June 16-30, 2013 - Less Wrong
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Assuming what you said is true, can you give a concrete example in one sentence what I should choose differently than I do now?
For example, I would draw from my experience as a lawyer to say:
Absolutely. To start with, I give a simple concrete suggestion in the first paragraph above about how to deal with physical pain.
Another concrete suggestion might be: any time you feel annoyed or angry, express in words exactly what the annoyance or anger is like, using metaphors, and going back and forth between your words and your experience to make sure you've captured the experience in as accurate and original -- or non-cliched -- a way as you possibly can.
A broader way to say the same thing might be: focus on those experiences that cause you emotional disturbance and express them, as accurately and as originally as possible, into an artistic medium of your choice (words, music, painting, whatever), using metaphors appropriate to that medium to convey what your experience is like.
If you do that, my contention is that you will find that your negative experiences bear within them a wealth of beauty.
There's more to it than that, but those are a couple of concrete suggestions.
Constructive suggestion: Write more like this, less like what you posted about.
Substantively, I think one could substitute any emotion or sensation and get the same advice. Thus:
Which I expect is true. But pain is generally no fun, and it isn't clear that you think avoiding pain is worth the effort.
When I stub my toe, I'm not doing something wrong by first choosing to figure out why I stubbed my toe and what to change to avoid that in the future. And once I've done that, I'm not sure I have time to do what you suggested.
Have you heard of Focusing? It's a psychological system based on that premise.
Yes, focusing would be related, and it certainly seems like an excellent technique, but it's not quite the same thing. Focusing is particularly oriented towards bodily sensations, whereas I'm talking about experiences in broader terms, including but not limited to the body. Focusing is also a bit more passive (waiting for thoughts to occur to you) and less oriented towards art & expression. Focusing is also more oriented towards words, whereas I talk more broadly about other means of expresion. And of course the underlying philosophical frameworks are also different.
What you suggest has the benefit of improving one's eloquence and accuracy in conveying experience.
What you suggest can turn the unproductive to the refreshingly inspired productive.
These suggestions need no philosophical support, lest another challenge the assumption they are inherently desirable. Simplicity of expression carries with it persuasion, for the reader can decide themselves whether they want the effects; pre-emptive arguments can turn them away.
I have flouted this advice almost every time I installed software or signed up to a website over the last couple decades, and AFAICT I have never had much trouble as a result.