N=1 Self Analysis

post by NatashaRostova · 2016-12-04T20:36:08.190Z · LW · GW · Legacy · 1 comments

The N=1 scientific field of self-study doesn't seem to have much established basis. It mostly seems to exist through self-experimentation of drugs by through non-conventional channels (i.e. mostly non-academic).

It seems incredibly useful to me, but very awkward. Our brains are powerful, and arguably the most foundational object of analysis for social sciences. Our own brain is also the only human brain we get unrestricted access to. I think, for most people, the base assumption is their brain is special and not a distinct unit of analysis. For a complex bunch of reasons that are hard to pin down, but probably have to do with the fact that most of us have studied methodology or tech, the LW wrong tends to view our own brains as not particularly special computers.

Combine that with studying the persistent biases human brains have with their interaction with reality, we (or at least I) view my own conscious voice as a guy sitting behind a computer running a really advanced program, but one which has lots of biases he has to adjust for. It's only a metaphor, but I'd bet lots of you have similar metaphors for understanding your own thoughts.

Let me give a contemporary example that sparked this post (but not necessarily the main discussion point, or something I'm going to cite sources to back up): Humans seem to have a strong pull towards tribalistic and in-group tendencies. I match the description of 'white man.' Living in the U.S. for the past couple years I have become acutely aware of this for the first time, after having it pointed out to me (usually as a bad thing). My personal model of the world aligns with guys like Jonathan Haidt -- I view tribal and ethno-divided politics as dangerous for democratic stability.

The only reason I bring this up is I've felt this tribalistic pull 'within my brain' (which is such an awkward and strange thing to say). Once I started feeling this in late 2014 I had a strong prediction that there was going to be a new movement associated (I wasn't sure how big, but I put money on Trump winning in Jan 2015). I knew that I was reading much more than other people, and that if I had this feeling lots of others were going to develop it as well. (My point here is that I'm not tribalistic, don't think it's useful for our gov structure, and actually view it as distracting towards much more fruitful goals, but I can't help but feel it).

It's a frustrating reality though that even though my experimentations within my own brain are some of the highest fidelity ones that exist for understanding human behavior, there doesn't seem to be any methodological way to share it, outside of writing down my reasons/feelings and making predictions. As cool as that is, it's not reproducible and it's still unique to my own brain.

I'm posting this here because I'm interested in how you perceive of your own brains impulses and use that to inform your view on other people in a structured way, or of any cases or examples where you have done that successfully or unsuccessfully.

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