How to Actually Change Your Mind
How to Actually Change Your Mind
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Liv Boeree
I came away feeling like I’d finally found the tools with which to understand both myself and the world around me. - Liv Boeree
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How to Actually Change Your Mind

How to Actually Change Your Mind

Eliezer Yudkowsky
By
Eliezer Yudkowsky
4.3
243
ratings on Goodreads

In "How to Actually Change Your Mind," Eliezer Yudkowsky embarks on a profound exploration of human cognition, challenging us to confront our deepest biases and to refine the art of thinking. With the precision of a logician and the insight of a philosopher, Yudkowsky dissects the mechanisms by which our minds resist change, even when faced with overwhelming evidence. This book is not merely a guide to adjusting opinions; it is a manifesto for a revolution in reason, a call to elevate our collective pursuit of truth. Through a series of lucid essays, Yudkowsky demonstrates that changing one's mind is not a sign of weakness but the ultimate testament to human intelligence and adaptability. Delving into the realms of decision theory, cognitive biases, and rationality, Yudkowsky offers readers a toolkit for thought, designed to navigate the complexities of the modern information landscape. "How to Actually Change Your Mind" is an urgent reminder that the ability to update our beliefs, to admit we were wrong, is a critical skill in an era of unprecedented change. This work is an invitation to participate in the noble task of refining our thoughts, ensuring that we do not waste the three-pound superweapon nature has bestowed upon us: our brain. With clarity and wit, Yudkowsky shows us how to harness this power, steering us towards a future where truth and reason prevail.

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Released
2018
1 Jan
Length
310
Pages

1

recommendations

recommendation

I came away feeling like I’d finally found the tools with which to understand both myself and the world around me. - Liv Boeree
deliberately think about whatever hurts the most. Don’t rehearse standard objections whose standard counters would make you feel better. Ask yourself what smart people who disagree would say to your first reply, and your second reply. Whenever you catch yourself flinching away from an objection you fleetingly thought of, drag it out into the forefront of your mind. Punch yourself in the solar plexus. Stick a knife in your heart, and wiggle to widen the hole. In the face of the pain, rehearse only this:1 What is true is already so. Owning up to it doesn’t make it worse. Not being open about it doesn’t make it go away. And because it’s true, it is what is there to be interacted with. Anything untrue isn’t there to be lived. People can stand what is true, for they are already enduring it.
— Eliezer Yudkowsky, How to Actually Change Your Mind

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