All this article did for me is induce a sense of dread, because I don't run in the kind of type-A high-achieving circles that this person runs in, and I know I never will, despite wanting to...
All this article did for me is induce a sense of dread, because I don't run in the kind of type-A high-achieving circles that this person runs in, and I know I never will, despite wanting to accomplish things.
Also:
Conclusions come to mind quickly and effortlessly; keeping them out would require playing a perpetual game of mental whack-a-mole.
If only that were true for me! I'm constantly in a state of uncertainty---yes, even about basic things like "How would I feel if X happened?"
I think a lot of self-help articles work, or not, depending on what you need. The part about working too hard definitely doesn't apply to me anymore, but there are people it would make sense for....
I think a lot of self-help articles work, or not, depending on what you need. The part about working too hard definitely doesn't apply to me anymore, but there are people it would make sense for.
It would also work better for people who are over-confident about some of their opinions, but not that well for people who are too uncertain to act.
Though, maybe it helps to realize that when people are very confident, it's not necessarily based on much?
I kind of agree with that sentiment. The premise was kinda good, but I had trouble relating with him. Every time I get asked a question I cannot answer, I simply say "I don't know" and follow it...
I kind of agree with that sentiment. The premise was kinda good, but I had trouble relating with him. Every time I get asked a question I cannot answer, I simply say "I don't know" and follow it up with an approximation.
I also am content with my life and I know being competent at everything is impossible. I'm happy putting an infinite amount of time getting slowly better at everything, I don't see a finality, just the road.
A foolproof way to stop yourself from making stupid judgments is to avoid judgment altogether. When someone asks you how the economy is doing, just go “Gosh, I haven’t the faintest.”
The problem with this strategy is it requires a superhuman level of mental fortitude—if you’re capable of pulling it off, you’ve probably already ascended to a higher plane. You know how in movies whenever someone is using a psychic power—say, telekinesis—and their face gets all strained and their eyes start bugging out and their nose starts bleeding, and then after they’ve, like, lifted a car off of their friend, they collapse from exertion? That’s what it feels like to maintain uncertainty. Conclusions come to mind quickly and effortlessly; keeping them out would require playing a perpetual game of mental whack-a-mole.
Even if we can never whack all the moles, though, it’s still good practice to whack a few. Keeping track of what you know and what you don’t know is just basic epistemic hygiene—it’s hard to think clearly unless you’ve done that first, just like it’s hard to do pretty much any job if you haven’t brushed your teeth for two years. Separating your baseless conjectures from your justified convictions is also a recipe for avoiding pointless arguments, since most of them boil down to things like “I like it when the president wears a blue tie” vs. “I like it when the president wears a red tie.”
Plus, maintaining the appropriate level of uncertainty prevents you from becoming a one-man misinformation machine. [...]
All this article did for me is induce a sense of dread, because I don't run in the kind of type-A high-achieving circles that this person runs in, and I know I never will, despite wanting to accomplish things.
Also:
If only that were true for me! I'm constantly in a state of uncertainty---yes, even about basic things like "How would I feel if X happened?"
I think a lot of self-help articles work, or not, depending on what you need. The part about working too hard definitely doesn't apply to me anymore, but there are people it would make sense for.
It would also work better for people who are over-confident about some of their opinions, but not that well for people who are too uncertain to act.
Though, maybe it helps to realize that when people are very confident, it's not necessarily based on much?
I kind of agree with that sentiment. The premise was kinda good, but I had trouble relating with him. Every time I get asked a question I cannot answer, I simply say "I don't know" and follow it up with an approximation.
I also am content with my life and I know being competent at everything is impossible. I'm happy putting an infinite amount of time getting slowly better at everything, I don't see a finality, just the road.
It was a fun read, though.
From the article:
This guy is great. Adding him to my RSS feed.