from various translations by Eliezer Yudkowsky.
Particularly acute for traders, who cultivate their illusions more gracefully
to my own detriment, compared to people from other professions (IMHO)).
The first virtue is curiosity.
A burning desire to know much higher, rather than a solemn oath to pursue the truth. To feel this itch, you need to simultaneously be ignorant in something and want to eliminate this ignorance.. If deep down in your soul you are sure, what you already know or if in your heart you don’t want to know, then your questions will be meaningless, and skills will have no application. Curiosity seeks to destroy itself, no curiosity that does not want an answer. The triumph of the riddle is, to be resolved, after which it ceases to be a mystery.
(*approx. Red., Well like, if you are not interested in market research in itself, but I just want babosiks, then you will never guess it)).
Next virtue – it's lightness.
Let the winds of proof carry you like a leaf, without your choice of direction. be careful, when you notice, that you are in the rear of the defense against the facts, when you're reluctant to surrender every foot, only when data pushes you back, feeling cheated at the same time. Surrender to the truth as quickly as you can. Do it at that moment, when will you understand, what are you resisting; in the moment, when you can see, that a quarter of the winds of proof are blowing against you. Treacherously betray your beliefs in favor of a stronger enemy. If you think, that the facts limit you and you want to free yourself - you chain yourself to the chains of your whims. Since you can't make a real city map, sitting in my bedroom with my eyes closed and drawing lines on paper under the influence of the impulse. You need to walk around town and draw those lines, which correspond to, что вы видите. If, seeing the city is unclear, you think, that you can move the line a little to the right, a little to the left, according to your whim, it's still the same mistake.
P. C. Hodgell said: "That, what can be destroyed by the truth will be destroyed by the truth ". Don't give up on experience, which can destroy your beliefs. Thought, which you can't even think of, controls you more, than those thoughts, which you talk about out loud. Take trials and test yourself on fire. Give up emotion, based on erroneous opinion and look for emotion, основанную на фактах. If the iron is quickly approaching your face, and you believe, that he is hot, while he is cold, then the Path condemns your fear. If the iron comes close to your face and you believe, that he is cold, while he's hot, The path condemns your calmness. Assess your beliefs, and only then let your emotions be. Tell yourself: “If he's hot, then i want to believe, that he is hot, and if it's cold, then I want to believe that, that it is cold ".
Next virtue – it's impartiality.
The one, who wants to believe asks: «Позволяют ли факты мне верить?». Another, who wishes to doubt, спрашивает:«Заставляют ли факты меня верить?».
be careful, when you require a thorough proof of only statements, which you don't like, while protecting yourself by, that being a skeptic is right. If from all data you select only those, которые вам нравятся, then the more data you collect, the dumber you become. If you are looking for holes in the arguments of only one side, or look more carefully on one side more, than on the other, then every hole in the arguments, which you find makes you dumber.
If you first write at the bottom of a piece of paper, “Thus, the sky is green!», то не имеет значения, what arguments do you write above in hindsight; the conclusion has already been written and it is already true or already false. Being Smart Arguments Is Not Rationality, this is rationalization. Intelligence, to be useful, should be used for something else, rather than protecting yourself. Listen to hypotheses and their evidence, presented to you, but remember, that you are not a hypothesis, you are the judge. In this way, do not look for arguments for one side or the other, because if you knew your destination, you would be there already.
Next virtue – this is proof.
They, who want to fail, first must convince relatives and friends not to help them. They, who smile and say "I will not argue" distance themselves from help, collective efforts of others. In a dispute, strive for 100% honesty for the sake of others and for your own sake. The same part of you, which distorts what you say, distorts your thoughts too. No need to think, what are you doing others a favor, taking their arguments. If the arguments are true, then you are doing yourself a favor. Don't think, that honesty towards all parties to the dispute, is to take a central position between the parties. The truth is not given out to the parties in equal parts at the beginning of the debate. Factual issues cannot be resolved with fists and insults. Come up with a test / experiment and let reality judge you.
Next virtue – it's simplicity.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery spoke: “Perfection is not when there is nothing to add, and when there is nothing to remove ". Simplicity is a virtue for persuasion, development, planning and justification. When you preach a conviction with many details, every detail adds a chance, that belief is wrong. Each refinement increases the load, which you need to carry. If you can lighten your burden, you must. A chain of thousands of links will only lead you to the correct conclusion if every step is correct., but if one is wrong - conclusions can take you anywhere. In mathematics, a mountain of good deeds cannot atone for one sin.. Therefore, you need to be careful at every step..
Next virtue – this is modesty. Being humble means taking certain actions in anticipation of your mistakes.. Admitting your ability to be wrong, but not doing anything about it is not modesty; this is praising your honesty. Who is the most modest of all? They, who most skillfully prepare for the deepest and most catastrophic mistakes in their beliefs and plans. Since there are many of those in this world, whose understanding of rationality is appallingly low, aspiring students of rationality win controversy and gain an exaggerated opinion of their abilities. But there is no point in being better than someone. We are not given grades for life. The best physicist of ancient Greece could not calculate the trajectory of a falling apple. Even your best efforts are not guaranteed., because you do not need to think better or worse than others. If you compare yourself to others, you will not notice the jambs of thinking., which are common to all people. To be human means to make ten thousand mistakes.. No one in the world reaches perfection. Wherein, if perfection is unattainable, this is not an excuse, so as not to try. In every art form - if you don't strive for excellence, then stop before, how will you take the first steps.
The more mistakes you make in yourself, the more you will find new. If you notice a mistake in yourself, then this is a signal, that you are willing to look for ways to move to the next level. If you accept the mistake, instead of fixing it, you will not go to the next level and you will not get the skill to identify new mistakes. Don't be satisfied with the answer, which is almost true; ищите тот, which is completely correct.
Next virtue – this is accuracy.
One will say that a certain amount between 1 And 100. Second, что между 40 And 50. If this amount 42, then they are both right, but the second expectation stood before a tougher test. That, that the truth for one apple may not be true for another, therefore we can say more about one specific apple, than about all the apples in the world. The narrowest statements cut the deepest, like the edge of a razor blade. The path is precision art. Don't just go to the truth, dance to her. Each step of the dance must be done exactly in the right place.. Every fact from the real world should shift your beliefs the right distance., no more and no less. What's the right distance? To calculate this, you have to learn the theory of probability.. But even if you can't do math, knowing that mathematics exists tells you, that every step of the dance must be precise, there is no place for your whims in it.
Next virtue – this study.
Explore many sciences and absorb their power, as your own. Each area, which you absorbed, makes you stronger. If you absorb enough sciences, the gaps between them will decrease, and your knowledge will become one. If you are insatiable, you will become more powerful than mountains. It is especially important to absorb math and science, related to rationality: evolutionary psychology, heuristics and cognitive biases, social psychology, теорию вероятностей, decision theory. But they may not be the only areas to study.. Art must have goals, different from myself, otherwise it will fall into infinite recursion.