[test version of soon-to-be-blog] A few weeks back I mentioned (and also talked a lot at the EA Summit) about why I think some specific rationality memes make for very bad mental health. This is one of the two I talked about most: Strategy Changing For Big Goals: Say you have a big thing you think is The Biggest Thing (TBT). x-risk of some kind, saving the world, etc. Almost everybody I interact with in the community (and I recognize this has selection effects) endorses that these exist, and that we should be very concerned about them. Not only that, but that the nebulous Others arent fixing them...and might not even know about them. Okay, so its really important that you/we all do something! Simultaneously, youre keeping an eye on *how* youre doing that something. Youll probably change strategy a bunch. Maybe you change from petitions to raise awareness to having a facebook group where everyone can talk about TBT, and then you realize nope, thats not changing things most effectively. Maybe you take a CFAR workshop and update a lot. You change your life plan. Then you re-analyze (because now youre more careful about analyzing if your plans are the best) and change again. And maybe it turns out THAT wasnt the right plan either, so you switch again. Maybe this time you start an organization to get more focus and power behind the In the meantime, youre learning a bunch of things: -the current strategy you have probably isnt the correct one to solve TBT. In fact, youll almost definitely find new information that makes you want to change in the future (even if your current plan is the best, given the information you have). -theres not measurable progress towards TBT -you can sort of counteract this by creating mini-goals within your strategy. For instance, get 100,000 signatures on petition or get job in sector you think helps solve TBT -EXCEPT, when you change strategies, youre also learning that your mini-goals arent necessarily even getting you closer to saving the world at all. -you might be *wasting* time in the incorrect strategies. and if TBT is a pressing problem that you know, might destroy the world as we know it, or is causing children to die, this feels awful. Also, since time keeps progressing, its likely that youll get stuck into one strategy, knowing all of the above. Maybe you started an org and people depend on you for leadership and paychecks and stability. Maybe you started a family. Got married. You could probably counteract some of these by focusing on the idea that youre accomplishing a little, or getting better at selecting strategy, or able to show others what not to do. You could decide that being personally happy is very important, or to focus on something thats not TBT. But for most rationalists I talk to, this feels like self-deception or lying, and they want to look truth in the face. They feel like the Others have done damage, or delayed solving this problem by choosing happy ignorance. [For the record, I think many parts of this community that cause this are net good. Its great to examine whether or not youre being effective! Its great to keep updating! Its very important to care about TBTs! Its also pretty damn hard on your mental health.]
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 18:40:44 +0000
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