4 ms·

When you already know the answer

52 points by kaeruct 5y ago

jimmyed 5y ago
Secret 2.0
otikik 5y ago
This was the first time I encountered the "Inner Simulator" name, although I have certainly used it a lot in the past. It is mentioned in the article, but maybe not with enough stress: asking the right questions about the right topics is *key*. I have had problems in the recent past where I would ask my Inner Simulator "If this could go wrong somehow, how could it be?". And I would ask that about everything. It was a constant mental energy drag, I am better now.
wombatmobile 5y ago
> If I asked person X for advice, what would they say? This reveals a key characteristic of the homo sapien brain vis a vis other mammals. Humans have a very large neocortex. Its primary functionality is to hold a database of a few hundred people, organised in bands of social closeness. Your inner circle might be only a few people, but you know them well and you can predict what they would say about most things. Your village is about 150 people, including your co-workers, the merchants who sell you things most days, the bus driver, and the people in your street. You know them well, at some superficial level, but its enough to be able to predict what they'll say, more or less, whenever your paths cross. And then there's your boss, and the local cop, and your mayor, and your governor. You can predict what they'll say in certain situations, and that's exactly why you don't always speed when you're driving, because you carry the cop around in your head. You are always consulting with this village of people in your head. They prescribe a lot of your behaviour. Somewhere deep inside of you are your own instincts and urges, but by the time you allow them to be expressed as behaviour, you've filtered them by consulting all the people in your head about what you should or shouldn't do or say.
- Judgmentality 5y ago
  I don't buy this theory. The reason I don't speed is because I don't want to get a ticket - I don't care if it's given to me by a person or an automated camera. And I never actually have to talk to a person to resolve a speeding ticket. The notion that our entire sense of behavior can only be driven by imaginary conversations seems like a bold statement. Maybe your theory is true for some people (I'm skeptical) or it's partially true (very plausible), but I don't think this is the first line of thinking for everything and everyone.
  - wombatmobile 5y ago
    Do you ever hear your mom’s voice or your dad’s voice? If not their voice, their words telling you to do something or not do something? Your older brother or sister? Spouse? Ex-spouse? A movie actor? The kids in school who teased or praised you? Your coach? If you never or rarely hear any of these people, does it follow that your behaviour just springs forth of its own accord, an original choreography generated in the moment by your original machinery?
    - Judgmentality 5y ago
      Maybe I was unclear. I'm not saying nobody hears voices (I believe most people do although because of conversations on this very site I actually came to believe some people don't), I'm saying not everybody has a miniature village in their head they navigate to make everyday decisions. I apologize if I'm misinterpreting your comment, but that was how I took it. I certainly have conversations in my head, but not everything is an imaginary conversation with someone that somehow represents society. Sometimes there's no conversation at all. > Do you ever hear your mom’s voice or your dad’s voice? If not their voice, their words telling you to do something or not do something? I honestly can't remember the last time this happened. I would guess it's been a very long time. > If you never or rarely hear any of these people, does it follow that your behaviour just springs forth of its own accord, an original choreography generated in the moment by your original machinery? Usually there is an internal conversation, which I believe is the larger point you're trying to get at. Sometimes though I think without words, simply navigating feelings without any sort of dialogue. My original comment was a poorly worded criticism of how you made it seem more like a village, but even so there are people who actually don't have these internal conversations at all (or at least that's what they claim but having spoken to them I believe them).
someperson 5y ago
I think the term "mental model" is preferable to "inner simulator"

52 points by kaeruct 5y ago

Secret 2.0

This was the first time I encountered the "Inner Simulator" name, although I have certainly used it a lot in the past. It is mentioned in the article, but maybe not with enough stress: asking the right questions about the right topics is *key*. I have had problems in the recent past where I would ask my Inner Simulator "If this could go wrong somehow, how could it be?". And I would ask that about everything. It was a constant mental energy drag, I am better now.

wombatmobile 5y ago

> If I asked person X for advice, what would they say? This reveals a key characteristic of the homo sapien brain vis a vis other mammals. Humans have a very large neocortex. Its primary functionality is to hold a database of a few hundred people, organised in bands of social closeness. Your inner circle might be only a few people, but you know them well and you can predict what they would say about most things. Your village is about 150 people, including your co-workers, the merchants who sell you things most days, the bus driver, and the people in your street. You know them well, at some superficial level, but its enough to be able to predict what they'll say, more or less, whenever your paths cross. And then there's your boss, and the local cop, and your mayor, and your governor. You can predict what they'll say in certain situations, and that's exactly why you don't always speed when you're driving, because you carry the cop around in your head. You are always consulting with this village of people in your head. They prescribe a lot of your behaviour. Somewhere deep inside of you are your own instincts and urges, but by the time you allow them to be expressed as behaviour, you've filtered them by consulting all the people in your head about what you should or shouldn't do or say.

Judgmentality 5y ago
I don't buy this theory. The reason I don't speed is because I don't want to get a ticket - I don't care if it's given to me by a person or an automated camera. And I never actually have to talk to a person to resolve a speeding ticket. The notion that our entire sense of behavior can only be driven by imaginary conversations seems like a bold statement. Maybe your theory is true for some people (I'm skeptical) or it's partially true (very plausible), but I don't think this is the first line of thinking for everything and everyone.
- wombatmobile 5y ago
  Do you ever hear your mom’s voice or your dad’s voice? If not their voice, their words telling you to do something or not do something? Your older brother or sister? Spouse? Ex-spouse? A movie actor? The kids in school who teased or praised you? Your coach? If you never or rarely hear any of these people, does it follow that your behaviour just springs forth of its own accord, an original choreography generated in the moment by your original machinery?
  - Judgmentality 5y ago
    Maybe I was unclear. I'm not saying nobody hears voices (I believe most people do although because of conversations on this very site I actually came to believe some people don't), I'm saying not everybody has a miniature village in their head they navigate to make everyday decisions. I apologize if I'm misinterpreting your comment, but that was how I took it. I certainly have conversations in my head, but not everything is an imaginary conversation with someone that somehow represents society. Sometimes there's no conversation at all. > Do you ever hear your mom’s voice or your dad’s voice? If not their voice, their words telling you to do something or not do something? I honestly can't remember the last time this happened. I would guess it's been a very long time. > If you never or rarely hear any of these people, does it follow that your behaviour just springs forth of its own accord, an original choreography generated in the moment by your original machinery? Usually there is an internal conversation, which I believe is the larger point you're trying to get at. Sometimes though I think without words, simply navigating feelings without any sort of dialogue. My original comment was a poorly worded criticism of how you made it seem more like a village, but even so there are people who actually don't have these internal conversations at all (or at least that's what they claim but having spoken to them I believe them).

someperson 5y ago

I think the term "mental model" is preferable to "inner simulator"