Cypher is an underappreciated gem in my view, and mainly about the ability to trust your own memory.
I think Serpico makes a point very relevant to here - that to be a hero you essentially have to be a bit of a crank.
I enjoyed The Prestige; the plot shows the importance of questioning one's basic assumptions, though the narrative is about becoming great at something but sacrificing a lot to do so - I'm not sure how true that is.
The Other Guys was fun as an antidote to a certain kind of action movie.
And FWIW I hated Primer, as someone who very much enjoyed Memento.
though the narrative is about becoming great at something but sacrificing a lot to do so - I'm not sure how true that is.
Every person who is notable for being the best at what they do who I've heard talk about this emphasizes the importance of focus, specifically not doing other things so that they can do the thing they're the best at. I get the sense that's a very true lesson which is very hard for people to accept.
Hi,
what good movies can you suggest that give ideas or inspirations on how to be more rational?
I just watched [Memento](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_%28film%29) last night and I was very impressed.
(No spoilers in this post)
The main character is a guy who suffers from amnesia, he forgets everything after a couple minutes so he has developed a system to cope with it. He takes pictures and writes notes. E.g. when staying at a hotel he takes a picture of it and put it in his pocket. So later when he doesnt know where he is staying he searches his pockets, finds the picture of the hotel and then he knows.
What I learned
I identified with the character in the movie because in spite of not having amnesia my memory as everyone elses isn't perfect either and I have all the quirks(biases) of a normal human brain. I cant exactly remember what I did last Thursday at 3 PM. Do I actually know why I am doing what Im doing or why I believe what I believe? I may have good rationalizations for both, of course, but that doesnt mean they are the real reasons.
I like to read LW but I havent developed much of a system to actually be more rational. If anyone has, I would be eager to read about it.
Practical Advice
What system could I develop to be more rational? One thing that a lot of management experts(e.g. Peter Drucker) have already pointed out is to write down how we actually spend our time because often how we spend it is not how we think we spend it and we end up spending much more time on unproductive activities than we are aware of. How much time went into random internet browsing last week?
I will start an activity log during work: how much time Im spending on what. This will be a first step.