#epistemology #rationality # [[Epistemic status]] #shower-thought # Getting stuck in local minima #to-digest I don't have a lot of occasion of discussing and challenging my ideas, it's hard sometimes, I try to explain what I read for example, but sometimes [[Conversation alignment|the conversation is not aligned]]. When you don't expose your ideas, you take the risk of **getting stuck in local minima**, that is when your [[The Map is not the Territory|map does not reflect the territory]] but you are unaware of it. ![[Pasted image 20220611120609.png]] Exposing your ideas allows you, sometimes, to get out of this local minima (if you have [[Epistemic humility]]), i.e., to revision your map and **understand that you were wrong**. For example, I used to think that in [[Health|health]] looking at [[Evolution|evolution]] was a pretty good heuristic, that is the diet of our ancestors should be quite healthy for us. Someone hinted to me that we don't have that much data about our ancestors, and that our nature might have adapted to our new environment. A good [[Epistemic hygiene]] to avoid these local minima is to get rid of your [[Ego]], in a way, the ego make the climb steeper. ## The descent is steep Say you start believing that the earth is flat, then you will stop believing in [[Relativity|relativity]], in our physics etc. at some point it's too hard to escape the local minima. ![[Pasted image 20220611142518.png]] ![[IMG_20220617_065906 1.jpg]] ([[Karl Popper]]) You'll end up building a [[The Map is not the Territory|map that does not reflect the territory]]. ## [[Adolf Hitler, Ralph Manheim - Mein Kampf|Adolf Hitler]] got stuck in a local minima When you start believing in something, you keep [[Rationalization|rationalizing]] and trying to [[Confirmation bias|confirm]] your [[Belief|belief]]s, it's harder and harder to break the fundamental beliefs, the belief that Jews are evil. ## Diversity is gold >To maintain a false model, it also helps to surround yourself with other people who have the same false beliefs, thus making it more likely that the inputs you receive are consistent with your model. >~ [[Jeff Hawkins]] When you start watching videos on YouTube the algorithm will learn your preferred videos and you will explore a narrow semantic space. [[Philosophy/Rationality/Models/Exploration vs exploitation|Exploiting]] your space allows you to reach [[Philosophy/Epistemology/Knowledge|knowledge]] that nobody on earth reached before >You keep on learning and learning, and pretty soon you learn something no one has learned before. >~ [[Feynman]] But the risk is that your semantic space is a [[The Map is not the Territory|map that is not the territory]] and that you are stuck in a local minima. Your environment and people surrounding you can strengthen your false [[Belief|belief]]s. One trick I experiment to add diversity is to [[Flip a coin]], just watch random videos from time to time (using a software randomiser) # Prompts - What is the purpose of a shower?, - What is the difference between a morning shower and a conversation with a friend?, - Does your hair really hold any form of information? Similar topic links: [[The Map is not the Territory]] [[Fine tuning your mind]]