Alejandro1 comments on Rationality Quotes August 2013 - Less Wrong

7 Post author: Vaniver 02 August 2013 08:59PM

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Comment author: wedrifid 02 August 2013 05:17:17AM *  7 points [-]

It's a horrible feeling when you don't understand why you did something.

That is an interesting observation. For my part I do not experience horror in those circumstances, merely curiosity and uncertainty.

Comment author: Alejandro1 02 August 2013 10:47:10AM 2 points [-]

It depends on the context, in particular, whether the situation is one where you "must" have a good reason for your actions. Your reaction is appropriate for most ordinary situations; his is appropriate for the context he's talking about (doing a different movement than than the one you intended in a chess game) and other high stakes situations (blurting an answer you know is wrong in an examination, saying/doing something awkward on a date, making a risky movement driving your car…)

Comment author: wedrifid 02 August 2013 01:41:12PM 9 points [-]

his is appropriate for the context he's talking about (doing a different movement than than the one you intended in a chess game) and other high stakes situations (blurting an answer you know is wrong in an examination, saying/doing something awkward on a date, making a risky movement driving your car…)

I experience horrible feelings when I humiliate myself or put myself at risk. This phenomenon seems to occur independently of whether I have a good causal model for why I did those things.

Comment author: [deleted] 22 August 2013 08:26:32PM 0 points [-]

OTOH, a good causal model may sometimes enable you to take action so as to not do that thing again.