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arundelo comments on Group Rationality Diary, October 1-15, plus frequency poll - Less Wrong Discussion

1 Post author: therufs 30 September 2013 07:44PM

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Comment author: arundelo 08 October 2013 04:00:04PM 3 points [-]

This is called rubber ducking or the teddy bear technique.

Comment author: shminux 08 October 2013 04:24:46PM *  -1 points [-]

Not quite. Conversing with an imaginary intelligent interlocutor is more advanced than simple rubber ducking.

Comment author: Luke_A_Somers 08 October 2013 09:46:46PM *  1 point [-]

You're supposed to have the rubber duck ask these questions too.

The difference here was that I was actually writing a letter / forum post that other people could have seen. I was doing this with the urgency of 'If there's an obvious solution to this, I'm going to look like a moron'. In contrast, a rubber duck, well... it's just me.

I think the distinction you drew in the other branch of this conversation is more important. Getting a little skin in the game of 'get this right now (or satisfy yourself that it's genuinely hard)'.