I would never say not to use reason! Rather, it’s a good servant and a terrible master (how you said it in the fascinating opening). And I wouldn’t conflate reason with mere behavioral economics.
Focusing on overcoming cognitive biases doesn’t work bc it presupposes that there is an underlying optimal path. There isn’t -- it is ever unfolding and discovered via a interplay between intuition and reason. “Trust your cognitive biases” is a tongue in cheek way of saying “don’t be a dork and get living”
Also, most cognitive biases are actually good for you (confirmation bias) in the context of your entire life, and making your life about trying to undo that error will fuck you up far more than if you just developed a deeper connection with your intuition.
Basically, behavioral economics is mostly midwit nonsense. I won’t apologize for that! Haha.
Thanks for your response. No, behavioral economics is not the same as logic, but it is the key to finding the errors in intuition.
The optimal path is found through that interplay of intuition and reason, but cognitive biases help us avoid the times when we are likely to stray from the path.
It sounds like you’re still not convinced, and I think it’s probably because you can’t think of enough examples where cognitive biases are helpful (another bias- availability bias). But I want to tell those 40 examples in the next one and hopefully the argument will feel more compelling.
I still disagree about confirmation bias. In my experience, what separates an intelligent person from a dogmatist or fool is the willingness to consider other alternatives-- indeed, to seek them out. Whenever there is a gap between my understanding of the world and the world itself, I want to find out why. Meanwhile most people stay in their bubbles and believe what they want. Can you explain how confirmation bias is good for you and how avoiding it can “fuck up your life”?
It’s not that they’re don’t work in their realms. I fully understand how they work. But they miss the subtlety of a lived experience. They are like doing math to understand love. Just takes the wind out of the sails.
To be clear: they are true in a certain context, I understand that. But just because you can trick your senses in a contrived context, doesn’t mean that you need to worry about that in the long run.
Confirmation bias, for example, is a rule of thumb solution to relevance realization (there are infinite facts, which one should you pay attention to?) trying to “pay attention to everything” is not possible, so what is the real solution to this bias? Probably humility. Also the solution to like 25 other biases, too.
So I’d rather just focus on being a good person. Which I know we’re coming aligned on.
Also, if you like studying the biases, that’s fine too. I’m just telling you why they rub me the wrong way.
Great essay! Much of my work with trauma victims is around teaching people to listen and trust their instinct, Aka Holy Spirit, Women’s intuition. Too many times their instincts tell them to believe and do something that is too frightening so they silence them. The result is living with years of cognitive distortions that do not serve them well in the long run but may indeed keep them safe in the short term. I believe it’s imperative to surround ourselves with wise and trustworthy people who can help us navigate this dilemma.
I would never say not to use reason! Rather, it’s a good servant and a terrible master (how you said it in the fascinating opening). And I wouldn’t conflate reason with mere behavioral economics.
Focusing on overcoming cognitive biases doesn’t work bc it presupposes that there is an underlying optimal path. There isn’t -- it is ever unfolding and discovered via a interplay between intuition and reason. “Trust your cognitive biases” is a tongue in cheek way of saying “don’t be a dork and get living”
Also, most cognitive biases are actually good for you (confirmation bias) in the context of your entire life, and making your life about trying to undo that error will fuck you up far more than if you just developed a deeper connection with your intuition.
Basically, behavioral economics is mostly midwit nonsense. I won’t apologize for that! Haha.
Thanks for the response man. Fun stuff.
Thanks for your response. No, behavioral economics is not the same as logic, but it is the key to finding the errors in intuition.
The optimal path is found through that interplay of intuition and reason, but cognitive biases help us avoid the times when we are likely to stray from the path.
It sounds like you’re still not convinced, and I think it’s probably because you can’t think of enough examples where cognitive biases are helpful (another bias- availability bias). But I want to tell those 40 examples in the next one and hopefully the argument will feel more compelling.
I still disagree about confirmation bias. In my experience, what separates an intelligent person from a dogmatist or fool is the willingness to consider other alternatives-- indeed, to seek them out. Whenever there is a gap between my understanding of the world and the world itself, I want to find out why. Meanwhile most people stay in their bubbles and believe what they want. Can you explain how confirmation bias is good for you and how avoiding it can “fuck up your life”?
It’s not that they’re don’t work in their realms. I fully understand how they work. But they miss the subtlety of a lived experience. They are like doing math to understand love. Just takes the wind out of the sails.
To be clear: they are true in a certain context, I understand that. But just because you can trick your senses in a contrived context, doesn’t mean that you need to worry about that in the long run.
Confirmation bias, for example, is a rule of thumb solution to relevance realization (there are infinite facts, which one should you pay attention to?) trying to “pay attention to everything” is not possible, so what is the real solution to this bias? Probably humility. Also the solution to like 25 other biases, too.
So I’d rather just focus on being a good person. Which I know we’re coming aligned on.
Also, if you like studying the biases, that’s fine too. I’m just telling you why they rub me the wrong way.
Completely aligned*
Great essay! Much of my work with trauma victims is around teaching people to listen and trust their instinct, Aka Holy Spirit, Women’s intuition. Too many times their instincts tell them to believe and do something that is too frightening so they silence them. The result is living with years of cognitive distortions that do not serve them well in the long run but may indeed keep them safe in the short term. I believe it’s imperative to surround ourselves with wise and trustworthy people who can help us navigate this dilemma.