Annoyance comments on Open Thread: June 2009 - Less Wrong

4 Post author: Cyan 01 June 2009 06:46PM

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Comment author: Annoyance 03 June 2009 08:00:55PM 0 points [-]

That's not nearly enough. To work, you have to pick a situation where the emotional obstacles to thinking rationally are weak, the tendency to avoid extended thought is most likely to be overridden because the outcome is important, and then present the rational strategy in a way that doesn't denigrate magical thinking.

It's difficult to locate such moments, as they are very rare. Better by far simply to find people who genuinely want to be right.

Comment author: AdeleneDawner 03 June 2009 09:12:21PM 0 points [-]

A situation where the person has already figured out that their way of handling things isn't working, and they're looking for advice, fits those criteria. They're still unlikely to ask for advice from someone who's more likely to mock them than to be useful, though, which is probably why you hear about those situations so infrequently.

Comment author: Annoyance 03 June 2009 10:52:14PM 1 point [-]

But such people usually don't conclude that the magical thinking itself isn't working. They just want help finding a specific magical argument that will end up with their getting what they want.

Comment author: AdeleneDawner 03 June 2009 11:27:44PM 1 point [-]

I don't think I've ever known anyone who was actually against rationality altogether. Most people just want a solution that works, and if the one they wind up using is rational, they don't have a problem with that. And if you can teach them some rationalist skills while you're giving them that solution, all the better. It takes time to bootstrap people that way, but it's far from being impossible.