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New on LessWrong: Collecting and hoarding crap, useless information

LessWrong is one of my favorite discussion sites on the internet. It's a discussion site about rationality, and I highly recommend it. Don't be intimidated by how high the level of discussion gets sometimes - there's many good ways to get started. I wrote "You Should Probably Study Rationality" with some intro material. "References and Resources for LessWrong" was just posted today on LW and looks like a good starting point too.

Collecting and Hoarding Crap, Useless Information LessWrong discussion here: http://lesswrong.com/lw/2uu/collecting_and_hoarding_crap_useless_information/

I am realizing something that many, many intelligent people are guilty of - collecting and hoarding and accumulating crap, useless information. This is dangerous, because it feels like you're doing something useful, but you're not.

However, speaking personally - once I decide to start focusing and researching something systematically to get better at it, it gets harder to do. For instance, I taught myself statistics mostly using baseball stats. It was a fun, easy, harmless context to learn statistics.

I read lots of history and historical fiction. I read up lots on business and entrepreneurship. This is easy and fun and enjoyable.

Letter: "I've been pleasantly surprised how happy people are to move on to better ideas; when doing so doesn't involve loss of face."

Another brilliant reply to "Defecting by Accident - A Flaw Common to Analytical People" - this time from a civil servant, who has granted me permission to share this, but asked not to receive credit for obvious reasons :)

Hello Sebastian,

Just read your post on Defecting by Accident. I think there's some valuable insight there which fits with my own experience (I'm a junior civil servant in ---).

One tactic I've acquired/developed for the 'someone proposes something unworkable' situation is to: a) agree pleasantly and b) propose something different. People who have practised assuming an air of authority can come across as being more certain/committed to plans than they actually are. I've been pleasantly surprised how happy people are to move on to better ideas; when doing so doesn't involve loss of face. Doesn't work all the time, but it helps. Forgoing the temptation to nitpick requires a bit of willpower but it gets easier, like a diet.

There's a potential Nash equilibrium where you have a better idea, but think 'They seem to believe this strongly, so I'll just accept it and avoid conflict.'