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Benito comments on Rationality Reading Group: Fake Beliefs (p43-77) - Less Wrong Discussion
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I tnk it would be really useful for everyone to give as many examples of belief in belief as possible, that are concrete and not religious (religion is the example case, and is too easy).
The one I read somewhere on LW, was about someone who believes they believe they are good at chess. They're reluctant to actually play a game, because somewhere they anticipate as if they might lose, but they'll tell you they're very good.
Would people offer more examples so that this can become a really, practical tool?
I think the following is a really common example, especially among LWers, and among intelligent perfectionists in particular:
Sometimes when I study a textbook on a technical topic, I skip the exercises even though I should do them. I believe that I believe that I understand enough to skip the exercises, but when I really just believe that I understand, then I do the exercises, because doing them is trivial, or even fun. I'm really anticipating as though I might not understand the topic yet, and if I don't, then trying to do the exercises will confirm that I don't. This threatens me because if I don't understand, then I'll have to re-read, and the fact that I might have to read something more than once to understand it would reflect poorly on my intelligence, and my intelligence is a great source of self-esteem.
You might even say that there are two instances of belief in belief in that example. The first has to do with understanding the particular material. The second has to do with my innate intelligence. I believe that I believe that I'm genius-level intelligent, only having to read things once, but I'm anticipating as though I'm not genius-level intelligent by avoiding tests that might confirm that I'm not.
A non-religion related example that I think Eliezer also talked about is "the power of positive thinking". Suppose someone hears the claim "If you believe you will succeed, then you will." and believes it. However, this person is unable to convince himself that he can succeed at his goals. He believes that believing in his own ability is virtuous (belief in belief), but he doesn't actually hold the belief.