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Eitan_Zohar comments on I need a protocol for dangerous or disconcerting ideas. - Less Wrong Discussion

3 Post author: Eitan_Zohar 12 July 2015 01:58AM

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Comment author: buybuydandavis 13 July 2015 06:04:12AM 1 point [-]

I have a talent for reasoning my way into terrifying and harmful conclusions.

I often worked through them myself, always by refuting the horrible consequences of them to my own satisfaction

This is a good start. Assemble your data.

Catalogue the terrifying conclusions which have troubled you, and record the life cycle of each.

Currently still terrified? If not, how was the terror resolved? How long after the thought first terrified you until the terror was resolved?

Stop reasoning and take data. Often patterns becomes obvious once data is tidily assembled in place. And if you clearly and concisely assemble the data here, other people may be able to spot the patterns which you don't see - "given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow".

Comment author: Eitan_Zohar 13 July 2015 10:23:49AM 0 points [-]

They are arbitrary. Some lasted years, some lasted days.