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Comment by CSmith on Rationality Quotes: July 2010 · 2010-07-02T04:53:11.059Z · LW · GW

"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."

--Friedrich Nietzsche

Comment by CSmith on Attention Lurkers: Please say hi · 2010-04-20T05:36:28.753Z · LW · GW

Agreed on all counts. Ironically, this is yet another example of everything I thought about saying already being said. But I suppose I will still add a hello, since that's what this thread asked for.

Hello!

Comment by CSmith on Tips and Tricks for Answering Hard Questions · 2010-01-18T03:30:06.466Z · LW · GW

Agreed. I tend to have moments of insight not immediately after starting to think about something, but a few hours later as I continue to mull over it throughout my day to day affairs. You never know when something is just going to click, but you do know when it's not going to click - when you're not thinking about it.

I would also stress the importance of actually listening to what other people have to say and considering it with an open mind. I think people tend to get stuck on a certain train of thought - many mind games and puzzles take advantage of this by presenting a problem that seems impossible given the assumptions that most people make to begin with. Solving the problem requires finding the false assumption, but this is often hard to do. If you happen to go down a dead end when answering a hard question, genuinely considering other people's arguments might help you to identify you error and put you on the right track.