I feel overstimulated and it's difficult to focus. This happens to be quite a bit, I now realize, usually at least every few weeks. I think cutting down on my internet media consumption would help but that's quite difficult for obvious reasons. Perhaps I should set up an extension that prevents quick page loading a la this. Normally I would suggest that's outside my range of possibilities (at present, it is), but I did finally make it back to Codecademy yesterday, so perhaps not. Wait and see.
Actually, that relates to another issue I've been thinking about. Two conflicting themes I see in the rationalist movement are constraining your anticipation (in particular taming one's optimism) and overcoming learned helplessness. It seems to me that those goals are at odds, at least partially.
Suppose I wish to accomplish a task. It doesn't really matter what, but for purposes of this example imagine one that is relatively difficult but not necessarily impossible. If I believe myself capable of completing it easily, I can become quite bogged down from my optimism. On the other hand, if I believe myself insufficiently capable of completing it--doing so would be too time consuming, painful, or challenging--then my pessimism will prevent me from finishing.
Optimism/pessimism is an oversimplistic way of looking at this situation. First, there's serious psychological phenomena causing each. Second, optimism and pessimism are usually attitudes, while here they stand as a placeholder for beliefs. The difference is significant, though one might expect optimistic attitudes to accompany overconfident beliefs, and the converse.
I think I'm supposed to say something about calibration here. I have this post bookmarked but haven't done much with it. Maybe I'll try incorporating that into a habit-a-week project for 2016. Something else to do over winter break....--Wrong! Start making a list now, Nathaniel! brb making a google doc.
Okay, that didn't take very long. I'll add to it as ideas come along. If 52 unique ideas is too much...oh well. Something is better than nothing.
Another, related project I'd like to try at some point: quarterly life reviews. CGP Grey had some comments in one of his podcasts (I think it was the first Hello Internet of 2015, though I'll have to go back and check at some point). Perhaps even monthly reviews are in order--but that might be excessive. I'll do some more research (when, Nathaniel?) and develop an introspection routine to start in the new year. Writing in my diary daily is insufficiently rigorous (and frequently gets skipped because I'm lazy). Something done at a set time, regularly but not every day, might solve the problem. Or it might not, in which case I'll drop it.
