Group Rationality Diary, August 1-15

therufs

This is the public group instrumental rationality diary for August 1-15.

It's a place to record and chat about it if you have done, or are actively doing, things like:

Established a useful new habit

Obtained new evidence that made you change your mind about some belief

Decided to behave in a different way in some set of situations

Optimized some part of a common routine or cached behavior

Consciously changed your emotions or affect with respect to something

Consciously pursued new valuable information about something that could make a big difference in your life

Learned something new about your beliefs, behavior, or life that surprised you

Tried doing any of the above and failed

Or anything else interesting which you want to share, so that other people can think about it, and perhaps be inspired to take action themselves. Try to include enough details so that everyone can use each other's experiences to learn about what tends to work out, and what doesn't tend to work out.

Thanks to cata for starting the Group Rationality Diary posts, and to commenters for participating!

Immediate past diary: July 16-31

Next diary: August 16-31

Rationality Diaries archive

This is the public group instrumental rationality diary for August 1-15.

It's a place to record and chat about it if you have done, or are actively doing, things like:

Established a useful new habit

Obtained new evidence that made you change your mind about some belief

Decided to behave in a different way in some set of situations

Optimized some part of a common routine or cached behavior

Consciously changed your emotions or affect with respect to something

Consciously pursued new valuable information about something that could make a big difference in your life

Learned something new about your beliefs, behavior, or life that surprised you

Tried doing any of the above and failed

Or anything else interesting which you want to share, so that other people can think about it, and perhaps be inspired to take action themselves. Try to include enough details so that everyone can use each other's experiences to learn about what tends to work out, and what doesn't tend to work out.

Thanks to cata for starting the Group Rationality Diary posts, and to commenters for participating!

Immediate past diary: July 16-31

Next diary: August 16-31

Rationality Diaries archive

These two weeks I have succeeded at avoiding web procrastination from Monday to Friday. (This is what I have decided in advance, because I don't want to give up the web completely -- especially LW -- I just don't want it to harm my work, or take away all the evenings during the weekdays. Then I use the weekend to read all the new stuff.) As a proof, see my disappearence from the "top contributors, 30 days" list. :D

The technique is susprisingly easy (for me; that is not an evidence it would work for anyone else). Each week I write on a piece of paper "I will not browse the web during this week (Monday to Friday)", and I keep the paper always with me in my pocket. However, there is an exception: I can browse the web as much as I want, assuming I will eat that paper first. Every morning, and every time I feel the temptation, I touch the paper with my tongue to remind myself (in near mode) about the conditions. At the end of the week I happily tear the paper to pieces and throw it away, as a symbol of success.

Some speculation about why it works: The punishment for going to internet is precisely calculated: It is not too big to become unrealistic. For example if instead I decided "if I go to internet, I will kill myself", I know that I really wouldn't; I can't precommit to a serious self-punishment. However, I don't really have a good excuse for not eating a piece of paper. So this threat cannot be removed by some clever reasoning. On the other hand, licking the paper really is unpleasant. Doing it when I feel the temptation probably helps associate the unpleasant feeling with web browsing, which should help. It is easy to keep the paper always with me.

See you next Saturday!