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When?Example?
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1. Reacting to evidence / surprises / arguments you haven't heard before; flagging beliefs for examination.
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a) When I see something odd - something that doesn't fit with what I'd ordinarily expect, given my other beliefs - I successfully notice, promote it to conscious attention and think "I notice that I am confused" or some equivalent thereof.
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b) When somebody says something that isn't quite clear enough for me to visualize, I notice this and ask for examples.
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c) I notice when my mind is arguing for a side (instead of evaluating which side to choose), and flag this as an error mode.
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d) I notice my mind flinching away from a thought; and when I notice, I flag that area as requiring more deliberate exploration.
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e) I consciously attempt to welcome bad news, or at least not push it away.
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2. Questioning and analyzing beliefs (after they come to your attention).
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a) I notice when I'm not being curious.
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b) I look for the actual, historical causes of my beliefs, emotions, and habits; and when doing so, I can suppress my mind's search for justifications, or set aside justifications that weren't the actual, historical causes of my thoughts.
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c) I try to think of a concrete example that I can use to follow abstract arguments or proof steps.
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d) When I'm trying to distinguish between two (or more) hypotheses using a piece of evidence, I visualize the world where hypothesis #1 holds, and try to consider the prior probability I'd have assigned to the evidence in that world, then visualize the world where hypothesis #2 holds; and see if the evidence seems more likely or more specifically predicted in one world than the other.
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e) I try to consciously assess prior probabilities and compare them to the apparent strength of evidence.
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f) When I encounter evidence that's insufficient to make me "change my mind" (substantially change beliefs/policies), but is still more likely to occur in world X than world Y, I try to update my probabilities at least a little.
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3. Handling inner conflicts; when different parts of you are pulling in different directions, you want different things that seem incompatible; responses to stress.
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a) I notice when I and my brain seem to believe different things (a belief-vs-anticipation divergence), and when this happens I pause and ask which of us is right.
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b) When facing a difficult decision, I try to reframe it in a way that will reduce, or at least switch around, the biases that might be influencing it.
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c) When facing a difficult decision, I check which considerations are consequentialist - which considerations are actually about future consequences.
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4. What you do when you find your thoughts, or an argument, going in circles or not getting anywhere.
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a) I try to find a concrete prediction that the different beliefs, or different people, definitely disagree about, just to make sure the disagreement is real/empirical.
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b) I try to come up with an experimental test, whose possible results would either satisfy me (if it's an internal argument) or that my friends can agree on (if it's a group discussion).
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c) If I find my thoughts circling around a particular word, I try to taboo the word, i.e., think without using that word or any of its synonyms or equivalent concepts. (E.g. wondering whether you're "smart enough", whether your partner is "inconsiderate", or if you're "trying to do the right thing".)
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5. Noticing and flagging behaviors (habits, strategies) for review and revision.
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a) I consciously think about information-value when deciding whether to try something new, or investigate something that I'm doubtful about.
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b) I quantify consequences—how often, how long, how intense.
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6. Revising strategies, forming new habits, implementing new behavior patterns.
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a) I notice when something is negatively reinforcing a behavior I want to repeat.
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b) I talk to my friends or deliberately use other social commitment mechanisms on myself.
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c) To establish a new habit, I reward my inner pigeon for executing the habit.
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d) I try not to treat myself as if I have magic free will; I try to set up influences (habits, situations, etc.) on the way I behave, not just rely on my will to make it so.
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e) I use the outside view on myself.
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