Subskill: Analyze the underlying reasons why you're trying to rationalize for or against something - why a conclusion feels required, or disallowed.

Important subskill: Notice when a candidate "the reason I'm trying to rationalize something" is a poor guess or itself a rationalization - when it's a guess that sounds plausible about someone like you in your position, but doesn't seem to ring true.

5 second level for evidence as soldiers

1. Notice that all your evidence favors your belief; or Notice the anger/resentment/fear when coming across evidence against your belief.
2. Pause and remember that
   1. beliefs are just expectations and truth is a measure of how accurate your expectations are
   2. evidence is not for or against a belief, it is a flow of probability between expectations
3. Feel aversion to not internalizing all the evidence, to not letting reality constrain your expectations (beliefs)
4. Make an bayesian calculation, incrementally incorporating all the evidence, so that your expectations (beliefs) are accurate (true).

A recent example for me comes from reading The Nurture Assumption and Selfish Reasons to Have more Kids.

1. I noticed I was really convinced by a lot of evidence in favor of the view that parental influence is less important than I thought.
2. My beliefs were being updated, but only by evidence in one direction - in favor of the hypothesis.
3. Not wanting to be inaccurate about the best way to raise children I searched google scholar for twin/adoption studies and criticisms.
4. I updated by beliefs based on the criticisms of the studies and I now feel confident in my expectations about parental influence.

Exercises include picking a belief (maybe one you recently acquired from a convincing friend) and researching all arguments for and against the belief. Write down your expectations before the research. As you research compare the research to your expectations and update your expectations as you go (I actually mean writing down so others can read it what you actually expect). Repeat. Eventually pick beliefs you have held for a long time and are a part of your identity (after practicing on recent beliefs that matter less).

Grunching. (Responding to the exercise/challenge without reading other people's responses first.)

Letting go is important. A failure in letting go is to cling to the admission of belief in a thing which you have come not to believe, because the admission involves pain. An example of this failure: I suggest a solution to a pressing design problem. Through conversation, it becomes apparent to me that my suggested solution is unworkable or has undesirable side effects. I realize the suggestion is a failure, but defend it to protect my identity as an authority on the subject and to avoid embarrassment.

An example of success: I stop myself, admit that I have changed my mind, that the idea was in error, and then relinquish the belief.

A 5-second-level description:

• I notice that my actual belief state and my professed belief state do not match. This is a trigger that signals that further conscious analysis is needed. What I believe (the suggestion will have undesirable side effects) and what I desire to profess (the suggestion is good) are in conflict.

• I notice that I feel impending embarrassment or similar types of social pain. This is also a trigger. The feeling that a particular action may be painful is going to influence me to act in a way to avoid the pain. I may continue to defend a bad idea if I'm worried about pain from retreat.

• Noticing these states triggers a feeling of caution or revulsion: I may act in a way opposed to what I believe merely to defend my ego and identity.

• I take a moment to evaluate my internal belief state and what I desire to profess. I actively override my subconscious desire to evade pain with statements that follow from my actual internal belief. I say "I'm sorry. I appear to be wrong."

An exercise to cause these sub-5-second events:

I proposed a scenario to my wife wherein she was leading an important scientific project. She was known among her team as being an intelligent leader and her team members looked up to her with admiration. A problem on the project was presented: without a solution the project could not move forward. I told my wife that she had had a customary flash of insight and began detailing the solution. A plan to resolve the problem and moving the project forward.

Then, I told her that a young member of her team revealed new data about the problem. Her solution wouldn't work. Even worse, the young team member looked smug about the fact she had outsmarted the project lead. Then I asked "what do you do?"

My wife said she would admit her solution was wrong and then praise the young team member for finding a flaw. Then she said this was obviously the right thing to do and asked me what the point of posing the scenario was.

I'm not sure my scenario/exercise is very good. The conversation that followed the scenario was more informative for us than the scenario itself.

I wish I still lived in Madison, I would be there

Where can I get an IQ test? I am an adult and was never tested as a child. Searching google has only given me online tests. I want a professionally done test.

I considered myself intelligent, but some of the sequences/posts on this site are quite challenging for me. It has made me curious on exactly how intelligent I am. I don’t want to be too over or under confident when it comes to intelligence. I try to learn new things and that helps me find the limits of my intelligence, but I figure my IQ will also be interesting to know as well.

Thanks.