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Is there somewhere a guide for preventing and/or overcoming these cognitive biases?

optimalsolver 5y ago
https://www.amazon.com/Rationality-AI-Zombies-Eliezer-Yudkowsky-ebook/dp/B00ULP6EW2 https://www.amazon.com/Rationality-AI-Zombies-Eliezer-Yudkow...
metta2uall 5y ago
For those who prefer video there's Julia Galef's channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz-RZblnhjXK_krP1jDybeQ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz-RZblnhjXK_krP1jDybeQ She is a co-founder of the Center for Applied Rationality & host of the Rationally Speaking podcast.
kords 5y ago
I like this book: "The Art of Thinking Clearly" by Rolf Dobelli. It has some tips on how to avoid some of them. https://www.amazon.com/Art-Thinking-Clearly-Rolf-Dobelli/dp/0062219693 https://www.amazon.com/Art-Thinking-Clearly-Rolf-Dobelli/dp/...
dionidium 5y ago
Honesty and a willingness to accept that you're just as biased as anyone else can get you pretty far. A reasonable enough test might be: do you believe anything to be true that you wish weren't true? If every explanation you adopt for every social ill, every natural phenomenon, every historical event neatly fits a model that generates no discomfort, do you think it's more likely that the world really is that way or that you're privileging particular explanations?
- mistermann 5y ago
  > Honesty and a willingness to accept that you're just as biased as anyone else can get you pretty far. I am very confident that there is a phenomena whereby someone can do this, but that in doing so their mind is in a certain "mode" of some kind (abstract, for starters), but when the mind is in a different mode (discussion or arguing about object level ideas, culture war topics tend to work best), the knowledge that they formerly had becomes inaccessible, often even if reminded of it. My armchair theory is that this plays a part in it (but there are surely other things going on): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-dependent_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-dependent_memory
acituan 5y ago
Practice cognitive behavioral therapy and specifically their cognitive distortions, eg fill in a “daily mood log” form (look it up). Reading about distortions propositionally is not going to get you better, you have to train yourself finding them in the context of your life. Turns out most of the time we are bummed there is a high chance of these biases being in play.

https://www.amazon.com/Rationality-AI-Zombies-Eliezer-Yudkowsky-ebook/dp/B00ULP6EW2 https://www.amazon.com/Rationality-AI-Zombies-Eliezer-Yudkow...

metta2uall 5y ago

For those who prefer video there's Julia Galef's channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz-RZblnhjXK_krP1jDybeQ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz-RZblnhjXK_krP1jDybeQ She is a co-founder of the Center for Applied Rationality & host of the Rationally Speaking podcast.

kords 5y ago

I like this book: "The Art of Thinking Clearly" by Rolf Dobelli. It has some tips on how to avoid some of them. https://www.amazon.com/Art-Thinking-Clearly-Rolf-Dobelli/dp/0062219693 https://www.amazon.com/Art-Thinking-Clearly-Rolf-Dobelli/dp/...

dionidium 5y ago

Honesty and a willingness to accept that you're just as biased as anyone else can get you pretty far. A reasonable enough test might be: do you believe anything to be true that you wish weren't true? If every explanation you adopt for every social ill, every natural phenomenon, every historical event neatly fits a model that generates no discomfort, do you think it's more likely that the world really is that way or that you're privileging particular explanations?

mistermann 5y ago
> Honesty and a willingness to accept that you're just as biased as anyone else can get you pretty far. I am very confident that there is a phenomena whereby someone can do this, but that in doing so their mind is in a certain "mode" of some kind (abstract, for starters), but when the mind is in a different mode (discussion or arguing about object level ideas, culture war topics tend to work best), the knowledge that they formerly had becomes inaccessible, often even if reminded of it. My armchair theory is that this plays a part in it (but there are surely other things going on): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-dependent_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-dependent_memory

acituan 5y ago

Practice cognitive behavioral therapy and specifically their cognitive distortions, eg fill in a “daily mood log” form (look it up). Reading about distortions propositionally is not going to get you better, you have to train yourself finding them in the context of your life. Turns out most of the time we are bummed there is a high chance of these biases being in play.