The Nine Causes of Disagreement

December 21, 2011

There are an incredible range of subjects that people disagree about, but only a small number of core reasons that people disagree. When we encounter complex and difficult to resolve disputes, it can be helpful to break them down in terms of these reasons. This process can help give us insight into what is preventing a consensus from being reached. Disagreements can be caused by: 1. Facts. Peopl...

Wanting While Not Wanting

December 18, 2011

Why do people who hate that they overeat keep overeating? Why do people who know that their girlfriends or boyfriends are bad for them keep taking these girlfriends and boyfriends back? Why do so many people who want to go to the gym never actually bother to do it? These circumstances can be explained, at least partially, in terms of desires changing and conflicting with each other. What we wan...

Do We Know Why We Act?

November 10, 2011

Looking back on our decisions, we generally feel as though we can explain them. Why did we hire that candidate instead of this one? Because he was clearly more qualified for the job. Why did we go on a date with that person and not the other one? Because he or she seemed nicer. Why did we sentence that criminal to a harsher sentence than this other one? Because she committed a more damaging crime....

How Great We Are

November 8, 2011

Most of us know we are great. We easily see our own potential, goodness, and areas of skill. We're sure we have strong justifications for our behaviors and beliefs. When things go wrong for us, it usually isn't fundamentally our fault. When things go well, we know we deserve the credit. Just ask people. In a poll of high school seniors, only 2% thought they were below average in leadership abil...

Testing Too Many Hypotheses

October 10, 2011

For each dataset, there is a limit to what we can use that dataset to test. Using the standard p-value based methods of science, the more hypotheses we check against the data, the more likely it will be that some of these checks give inaccurate conclusions. And this presents a big problem for the way science is practiced. Let's take an example to illustrate the principle. Suppose that you have ...

Your Beliefs as a Temple

September 27, 2011

Your beliefs form something like a temple. The temple has many columns, rooms, and towers. The columns are facts and reasons that support the rooms. The rooms of the temple represent your major beliefs. The towers correspond to beliefs that build on each other. For example, you have rooms corresponding to aspects of your moral philosophy. On top of these rooms, supported by your moral philosoph...

Surprised? Update your model.

September 24, 2011

In order to make predictions, your brain must have a model of reality. This model is necessarily much simpler than reality itself. To see why, imagine that you are about to drop a baseball from waist height. Your brain can't possibly know enough about the atoms composing that baseball and the air around it to simulate what will happen at the atomic level. And even if your brain did have accurate k...

Deconstructing Accomplishment

September 17, 2011

Accomplishments are usually only achieved when a number of factors all come together. Take, for example, a tennis player. It is unlikely that he will accomplish a lot if he doesn't have ambitious goals. If he only plays for fun, or to be the best player in his tennis club, it is very unlikely he'll put in sufficient effort to win a major tournament. So ambition will be an important ingredient in d...

Human Symbiogenesis

September 10, 2011

One of the most mutually beneficial states that two people can achieve is symbiogenesis, where they take such pleasure in each other's happiness (and displeasure in each other's unhappiness) that they start viewing each other's interests almost as their own. The more strongly this happens, the closer the pair is to being a single, two bodied organism, working towards a common set of goals. One ...

If That Didn’t Solve Your Problems, Try Something Else

September 8, 2011

One of the big challenges to self-improvement is getting yourself to try a new strategy instead of the same thing over and over again. If you already experimented with calorie counting diets four times, only to gain the weight back after a few months, you'll be very likely to gain the weight back again next time you try this type of diet. If you tried to get yourself to exercise by buying a monthl...