#BryanCaplan on minimum rules to engage in intellectual #arguments:
“Remain calm, take nothing personally, use probabilities, face hypotheticals head-on, and spurn Social Desirability Bias like the plague.”
https://www.econlib.org/silence-is-stupid-argument-is-foolish/
This is all very important to me, and a constant source of frustration when debating with other people, so I just added it to #Vita:
https://tripu.github.io/Vita/doc/life#4-debates-and-discussing-with-people
@gasull
Interesting, thanks. I see what you mean. I've been considering for years a similar argument against the need/usefulness to/of keeping up with “the news”. I'm still undecided about that one.
What I don't like is that my “area of influence” is so tiny that your advice in practice would mean: “don't bother learning, reflecting and discussing with others about anything — except with colleagues about work, with your neighbour about where best to park the trash bin, and with your partner about what furniture to buy”…
@tripu Once a week I read the weekly summary by The Economist. That's all for me. I also skim over what my friends share on Twitter. And there are accounts on Mastodon/Twitter and newsletters that I follow for special interests of mine, mostly tech-related.
Your area of influence is large: your health (how to eat or workout), your wealth (how to save and invest), your brain (how to meditate or learn new skills), your relationships, etc.
@gasull
I'm glad there's much overlap in our way of thinking about these issues 😊
I take that point re the many personal areas one can improve by learning, thinking & discussing. I've applied the same argument to the news and to reading, although I still have doubts:
https://tripu.github.io/Vita/doc/logic#21-about-the-importance-of-reading
I'm curious: don't you feel bad somehow about being ignorant of a lot of politics and “the news”? And, do you read any books that are neither hugely entertaining per se nor actionable, but are widely considered paramount or influential (eg, “The Iliad”, “Walden”, “Das Kapital”)?
About #newsletters: I've been a daily reader of the NYT's “Morning Briefing”; recently I've subscribed to around 16 newsletters, from different outlets, from several countries, with varied editorial stances, in the three languages I can read — planning to share a detailed comparison, and keep only the two or three of them I consider best and mutually complimentary. (Hopefully soon on my GH.)
@tripu I don't feel bad at all about not reading the news. I actually feel better informed than most people. I knew about covid before most and I was warning everyone in my circle. Most news are he-said-she-said and they are a massive waste of time.
I think reading should be goal oriented. The goal could be having fun and that's fine. But reading mindlessly out of habit doesn't make your life better.
Yes, our thinking seems to overlap a lot 😉
@tripu Maybe I am one step further. Some debates are not worth having, even with people that follow those rules. A good debate is a brainstorming session for solutions to a problem. But why engaging in debates over problems you can't influence (like most of politics)? The opportunity cost doesn't make sense. It's better to focus on your area of influence.